It really isn't looking too good and I don't even know which is worse - National on its own or National + ACT? I suppose having Peter Dunne in there will keep things closer towards the centre but he only holds one seat while ACT is likely to bring in five seats including....Roger Douglas!!
Things haven't looked too good out west. While David Cunliffe and Chris Carter are likely to win their seats Lynne Pillay is likely to be out, being about 1000 votes behind Paula Bennette of National with 81% of the vote being counted.
To make things worse the National party vote has outnumbered the Labour party vote in all three West Auckland electorates, even if it is by a hundred or so votes.
One of the weirdest things I heard on TV tonight was by an Indian guy voting for National -
"Labour's done a lot of good things for the country but it's time for a change."
He is, in Paul Henry's mind and words, a 'stupid voter'!
Saturday, 8 November 2008
It's all On!!!
It's about twenty minutes till voting closes and the counting starts, talk about the excitement building! The election campaign has ended and we'll soon find out who will be leading our country for the next three years.
Yesterday saw a late flurry of campaigning with candidates and helpers waving banners and making a lot of noise at various intersections and round-abouts. I caught Tau Henare at the Te Atatu South round-about, while Labour supporters had the New Lynn intersection covered. I did my part by honking my horn as I went past them, only to have my mum shout at me for nearly colliding with the middle barrier!
This morning voting booths were open at the school I teach recorder, and so I taught the kids before I went to lose my voting virginity. Boy are some of those kids getting cheeky! I had one of the girls saying to me
"You're still single! Eeeeewwwwwwwwww!!!!!"
And before the conversation went started to be about me hitting on them (which I absolutely didn't!) I decided to completely change the topic and get them playing music!
Anyway in true Election Day spirit I conducted my own poll of 6-9 year old children (with a margin of error of...I have no idea...):
Yesterday saw a late flurry of campaigning with candidates and helpers waving banners and making a lot of noise at various intersections and round-abouts. I caught Tau Henare at the Te Atatu South round-about, while Labour supporters had the New Lynn intersection covered. I did my part by honking my horn as I went past them, only to have my mum shout at me for nearly colliding with the middle barrier!
This morning voting booths were open at the school I teach recorder, and so I taught the kids before I went to lose my voting virginity. Boy are some of those kids getting cheeky! I had one of the girls saying to me
"You're still single! Eeeeewwwwwwwwww!!!!!"
And before the conversation went started to be about me hitting on them (which I absolutely didn't!) I decided to completely change the topic and get them playing music!
Anyway in true Election Day spirit I conducted my own poll of 6-9 year old children (with a margin of error of...I have no idea...):
Calum's Election Day Poll of 9 - 11 Year Old Children
Labour 0
National 1
New Zealand First 0
Maori Party 1
Act 0
HUH???&% 4
Labour 0
National 1
New Zealand First 0
Maori Party 1
Act 0
HUH???&% 4
So according to these results the seats in parliament will be split 50/50 by the National and Maori Party. I'll report on the results and how accurate this poll turns out to be as results come to hand!
Finally after recorder lessons and the violin lesson, Hamish my mum and I finally got to voting. I went in and gave my two ticks to a certain political party and nearly put it in the wrong box but thanks to my mum who called out to me just in time I stopped myself and made my vote count!
Let's roll on the elections!!
Let's roll on the elections!!
Examache
Blasted exams meant I missed watching the American elections vote count and only just got out in time to hear that Obama had won! History is made and I'm stuck doing a stupid exam!
I got a week off to prepare for exams and so this time I went into uni everyday to study so I wouldn't get distracted. I don't know how much I spent on V energy drinks! It's really hard finding somewhere to study at uni as the General Library and Information Commons are so full! I also tend to get intimidated by others around me studying so intently, so I have been doing most of my study in the public library.
Actually there was one day I was on the bus thinking how great it was that I was absorbing the stuff I was reading! That was until this heavy metal guy sat across the aisle from me. His music was on so loud that he definitely wasn't the only one listening to it, the rest of us with no way to block out his sound were forced to listen to it too! Thank goodness he got off a little while later,
The distractions didn't stop that day though. I was trying to study in the public library and I happened to be close to this conference room where one woman and one man were having some sort of meeting. They didn't however realise that their room wasn't sound-proof and so they were quite loud! The man left the room for a while before returning and I was sorta looking at him. I think he must've got the clue as after that they were a lot quieter!
I've met some new people during the study period too, like this girl I randomly met in the Information Commons who seems to know everyone! I also caught up with her again a few days later in the Architecture Library which was the first time I'd ever been in there! I had no idea where it was either! We kinda whispered to each other for quite a while till we got shushed by someone (I admit it was a bit rude of us, I would hate to be trying to study around us! We really should've left the library!). I'm not too sure if I'll go there again anytime soon! haha
I had about three exams within a week starting last Saturday morning which meant I couldn't teach that morning and couldn't perform at the school's violin concert. That exam was a bit icky with all these questions on plants and sludge which I wasn't too confident on.
I admit I wasn't studying he night before that exam but instead went with my youth group to Laserforce and bowling over in North Shore. Well I needed a break!! It was the first time I had been to Laserforce and it was pretty intense for the 10-15 minutes it lasted (it felt much longer!). Our team won overall in points and I managed to score the most points, but only because I shot these targets that give you bonus points!
Bowling was quite fun too, albeit slightly frustrating! I was playing my D game and did quite badly, while Aonghas was scoring highly! The bowling alley stuffed up a few times though, like when it set the pins and a few at the back fell over. Hamish also bowled so slowly the ball didn't make it to the pins and stopped half way there in the gutter. Someone else from youth group tried bowling another ball to push that ball along, only to get her ball stuck!
We finished the night off though with a surprise car race along the motorways with our youth group leader (which we didn't expect from him, especially since he has a family and everything!). We had a guy and his younger brother in our car while the rest were in the other car. We stuck to the speed limit though...honestly!! I'm not so sure about the others though.. The funniest thing was that the boy in our car made a prayer request that following Sunday morning at children's Sunday School to
'Thank the Lord for Laserforce, bowling and the car chase at 120km per hour'
Hmm hope that's not what he told his parents!
Back to exams! My Pharmacy exam on the following Monday wasn't too bad, only that it was quite long and we only got two hours! My first three exams have all been three hours so that hasn't been too bad.
As I mentioned earlier, my Medsci exam later that week coincided with the American elections which was really disappointing! I was telling one of my pharmacy friends how we'd be missing the excitement on TV by being stuck in the exam, and she sarcastically remarked
"Yes because that's what we'd be doing if we weren't in an exam..."
Yes it would be!! That exam was slightly different with a 25 mark crossword for us to complete. Most of us flicked through the multi-choice questions and answers looking for words that would fit in! Before that exam I had been studying all morning in the public library till I could study no more by midday and decided to see how things were going on CNN on the big screen. I was sitting there when this guy came and sat next to me and started to ask me where I was from. He then went on to tell me how he was half Samoan and half Chinese and couldn't get a job and so he'd be voting Labour (don't use this against me people!!).
Anyway I have one last exam this Thursday - Chemistry, which is quite difficult, so I better get started studying!
I got a week off to prepare for exams and so this time I went into uni everyday to study so I wouldn't get distracted. I don't know how much I spent on V energy drinks! It's really hard finding somewhere to study at uni as the General Library and Information Commons are so full! I also tend to get intimidated by others around me studying so intently, so I have been doing most of my study in the public library.
Actually there was one day I was on the bus thinking how great it was that I was absorbing the stuff I was reading! That was until this heavy metal guy sat across the aisle from me. His music was on so loud that he definitely wasn't the only one listening to it, the rest of us with no way to block out his sound were forced to listen to it too! Thank goodness he got off a little while later,
The distractions didn't stop that day though. I was trying to study in the public library and I happened to be close to this conference room where one woman and one man were having some sort of meeting. They didn't however realise that their room wasn't sound-proof and so they were quite loud! The man left the room for a while before returning and I was sorta looking at him. I think he must've got the clue as after that they were a lot quieter!
I've met some new people during the study period too, like this girl I randomly met in the Information Commons who seems to know everyone! I also caught up with her again a few days later in the Architecture Library which was the first time I'd ever been in there! I had no idea where it was either! We kinda whispered to each other for quite a while till we got shushed by someone (I admit it was a bit rude of us, I would hate to be trying to study around us! We really should've left the library!). I'm not too sure if I'll go there again anytime soon! haha
I had about three exams within a week starting last Saturday morning which meant I couldn't teach that morning and couldn't perform at the school's violin concert. That exam was a bit icky with all these questions on plants and sludge which I wasn't too confident on.
I admit I wasn't studying he night before that exam but instead went with my youth group to Laserforce and bowling over in North Shore. Well I needed a break!! It was the first time I had been to Laserforce and it was pretty intense for the 10-15 minutes it lasted (it felt much longer!). Our team won overall in points and I managed to score the most points, but only because I shot these targets that give you bonus points!
Bowling was quite fun too, albeit slightly frustrating! I was playing my D game and did quite badly, while Aonghas was scoring highly! The bowling alley stuffed up a few times though, like when it set the pins and a few at the back fell over. Hamish also bowled so slowly the ball didn't make it to the pins and stopped half way there in the gutter. Someone else from youth group tried bowling another ball to push that ball along, only to get her ball stuck!
We finished the night off though with a surprise car race along the motorways with our youth group leader (which we didn't expect from him, especially since he has a family and everything!). We had a guy and his younger brother in our car while the rest were in the other car. We stuck to the speed limit though...honestly!! I'm not so sure about the others though.. The funniest thing was that the boy in our car made a prayer request that following Sunday morning at children's Sunday School to
'Thank the Lord for Laserforce, bowling and the car chase at 120km per hour'
Hmm hope that's not what he told his parents!
Back to exams! My Pharmacy exam on the following Monday wasn't too bad, only that it was quite long and we only got two hours! My first three exams have all been three hours so that hasn't been too bad.
As I mentioned earlier, my Medsci exam later that week coincided with the American elections which was really disappointing! I was telling one of my pharmacy friends how we'd be missing the excitement on TV by being stuck in the exam, and she sarcastically remarked
"Yes because that's what we'd be doing if we weren't in an exam..."
Yes it would be!! That exam was slightly different with a 25 mark crossword for us to complete. Most of us flicked through the multi-choice questions and answers looking for words that would fit in! Before that exam I had been studying all morning in the public library till I could study no more by midday and decided to see how things were going on CNN on the big screen. I was sitting there when this guy came and sat next to me and started to ask me where I was from. He then went on to tell me how he was half Samoan and half Chinese and couldn't get a job and so he'd be voting Labour (don't use this against me people!!).
Anyway I have one last exam this Thursday - Chemistry, which is quite difficult, so I better get started studying!
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Several Short Stories
Let's get this blog back up to date with a few short stories!
--
We finally bought a cello, abeit a very cheap one off Trade Me! Sure it's made in China and probably basic quality, but hey at least it does the job and it's not like any of us are professional cellists anyway!
It was actually the first time I had been involved in a Trade Me auction and I must say it was quite exciting, if not a little frustrating, especially when you've got someone who's on Auto-Bid! We managed to outbid them in the end and still stay below our limit.
--
I had this Pharmacy Communications Workshop which was on dealing with difficult patients. I was paired with this guy who's a mature student and likes to... how should I put this... thoroughly critique others. So we did some roleplay where I was the pharmacist and he was a patient wanting some sleeping pills. According to my piece of paper I had to explore further into the patient's feelings, but as far as I could tell there was nothing wrong and I proceeded to sell him sleeping pills. It turned out his mum had just died, and I'm supposed to figure that out?! The guy told me I smiled too much, but it's a little hard not to especially when you know it's not real and everyone else is taking it pretty seriously!
The next roleplay was me being the pharmacist (again oh yay...) and my partner being some drug-seeker. When I heard this I started cracking up laughing, which you could say is a little immature but hey. That's when my partner told me I should work with kids at Starship Hospital or something!
--
My pharmacy placement was on the same day my parents and Hamish left for Christchurch. I was placed in this pharmacy out in the wopwops of West Auckland. I came dressed up and everything only to discover it was being run by several middle-aged women. I was the only guy in the pharmacy!
There wasn't much to do in the pharmacy besides completing my workbook, which I did by midday. They gave me a few tasks such as checking off new stock against the invoice, putting them on the shelves, doing medico packs (those little packs that elderlies get which help them figure out which pills to take with each meal), and eventually when there was nothing else to do, a stock-take of how many pills they had in the dispensory. Yes...PILLS!
One of the ladies looked through the pills I had been sorting out for the medico packs when I went over to the other side to check something, and when she found I put in the wrong pill (exactly the same drug, same strength, just different colour pill) she asked me what colour it was, what colour it should be, as if I was thick! I sorta avoided her from then on!
The owner of the pharmacy, a guy who was supposed to be my supervisor, came in later in the day and was there for a few hours. He was pretty cool, oh and also was this other pharmacy technician who talked to me and helped me out throughout the day. The owner got me to do what was probably the most technical thing I did in the dispensory - pour 200mL of paracetamol into two bottles each. I can say I fortunately didn't screw that up!
Eventually the day ended, as all days do, and I got to go home. I'm not so sure if a day at a community pharmacy affected my motivation level in a positive way though. In all honesty, there were only a few patients in the pharmacy at most at one time. After midday there was hardly anyone who came in. All the pharmacist did was check off prescriptions and double-check everything, no making drugs no compounding nothing. They don't do that that often in the dispensory these days anyway.
I was left thinking - I'm spending four years studying to end up doing something like this?!
But I am appreciative of being given the opportunity to spend a day at a community pharmacy and see what pharmacists actually do though.
--
The last few weeks of uni were hectic. We had our second and third lab assessments where we got tested on . I got a PRODUCT FAILED for my second lab assessment despite just passing it percentage-wise, but to be told a product you've dispensed is FAILED doesn't do wonders for your confidence! We had to make a cream for the assessment and I did screw up a calculation afterall..
Fortunately the final assessment which is worth the most didn't go as badly and I managed to get a reasonable mark for that!
I also had a lab test for my MEDSCI pharmacology paper which wasn't too great either but I fortunately managed to pass that. I sometimes feel out of my depth with all this science stuff!
--
OK they weren't exactly several short stories but I think I've got things covered!
--
We finally bought a cello, abeit a very cheap one off Trade Me! Sure it's made in China and probably basic quality, but hey at least it does the job and it's not like any of us are professional cellists anyway!
It was actually the first time I had been involved in a Trade Me auction and I must say it was quite exciting, if not a little frustrating, especially when you've got someone who's on Auto-Bid! We managed to outbid them in the end and still stay below our limit.
--
I had this Pharmacy Communications Workshop which was on dealing with difficult patients. I was paired with this guy who's a mature student and likes to... how should I put this... thoroughly critique others. So we did some roleplay where I was the pharmacist and he was a patient wanting some sleeping pills. According to my piece of paper I had to explore further into the patient's feelings, but as far as I could tell there was nothing wrong and I proceeded to sell him sleeping pills. It turned out his mum had just died, and I'm supposed to figure that out?! The guy told me I smiled too much, but it's a little hard not to especially when you know it's not real and everyone else is taking it pretty seriously!
The next roleplay was me being the pharmacist (again oh yay...) and my partner being some drug-seeker. When I heard this I started cracking up laughing, which you could say is a little immature but hey. That's when my partner told me I should work with kids at Starship Hospital or something!
--
My pharmacy placement was on the same day my parents and Hamish left for Christchurch. I was placed in this pharmacy out in the wopwops of West Auckland. I came dressed up and everything only to discover it was being run by several middle-aged women. I was the only guy in the pharmacy!
There wasn't much to do in the pharmacy besides completing my workbook, which I did by midday. They gave me a few tasks such as checking off new stock against the invoice, putting them on the shelves, doing medico packs (those little packs that elderlies get which help them figure out which pills to take with each meal), and eventually when there was nothing else to do, a stock-take of how many pills they had in the dispensory. Yes...PILLS!
One of the ladies looked through the pills I had been sorting out for the medico packs when I went over to the other side to check something, and when she found I put in the wrong pill (exactly the same drug, same strength, just different colour pill) she asked me what colour it was, what colour it should be, as if I was thick! I sorta avoided her from then on!
The owner of the pharmacy, a guy who was supposed to be my supervisor, came in later in the day and was there for a few hours. He was pretty cool, oh and also was this other pharmacy technician who talked to me and helped me out throughout the day. The owner got me to do what was probably the most technical thing I did in the dispensory - pour 200mL of paracetamol into two bottles each. I can say I fortunately didn't screw that up!
Eventually the day ended, as all days do, and I got to go home. I'm not so sure if a day at a community pharmacy affected my motivation level in a positive way though. In all honesty, there were only a few patients in the pharmacy at most at one time. After midday there was hardly anyone who came in. All the pharmacist did was check off prescriptions and double-check everything, no making drugs no compounding nothing. They don't do that that often in the dispensory these days anyway.
I was left thinking - I'm spending four years studying to end up doing something like this?!
But I am appreciative of being given the opportunity to spend a day at a community pharmacy and see what pharmacists actually do though.
--
The last few weeks of uni were hectic. We had our second and third lab assessments where we got tested on . I got a PRODUCT FAILED for my second lab assessment despite just passing it percentage-wise, but to be told a product you've dispensed is FAILED doesn't do wonders for your confidence! We had to make a cream for the assessment and I did screw up a calculation afterall..
Fortunately the final assessment which is worth the most didn't go as badly and I managed to get a reasonable mark for that!
I also had a lab test for my MEDSCI pharmacology paper which wasn't too great either but I fortunately managed to pass that. I sometimes feel out of my depth with all this science stuff!
--
OK they weren't exactly several short stories but I think I've got things covered!
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Home Alone
Last Wednesday our parents and Hamish flew down to Christchurch to catch up with relatives and attend the funeral of one of our great aunts (I can't exactly remember which one...I think it was Great Aunt Ruby? I've been telling people Rose but found out we have no Great Aunt Rose!).
This meant that Aonghas and I would be home alone for the next five days! I can say now that our house is still in tact and Aonghas and I got along well!
The most pressing issue was what to eat...That Wednesday morning before we got back to Henderson from the airport Aonghas and I had breakfast at McDonald's wihch wasn't too bad, and I had lunch at Wendy's that day. We just had a pizza at night. On Thursday though Aonghas had to go to work so I just ended up having a pie. Friday...now Friday I decided to try something different! I went to the Korean pancake stall that everyone's been raving on about! I have to say it was quite good! It was a little unusual having meat in a pancake but I got over that and enjoyed it! I next went down to this Asian foodcourt which I must say was a little grubby. I bought this bowl of fried rice with crab meat though which came with a bowl of soup, and it certainly was filling! It took me quite a long time to finish the huge bowl of rice! I've been warned by my friend Phoebe though that it's not safe to eat down there so I'm not too sure if I'll be back...since I haven't gotten food poisoning so far I probably will be back!
Aonghas and I binged on Wendys food on Friday night and I ended up going with pizza and popcorn on Saturday night (yes yes I can't cook) when Aonghas went off to someone's birthday party. By now there were dishes piling up and the dining room table was covered in junk. I decided on Sunday afternoon that it was about time someone got this sorted before our parents got back and through a hissy! I spent several hours after church washing dishes, and discovering that the forgotten leftover food we had in some pots had gone mouldy by now, along with all the buns we hadn't touched since our parents had gone!
The mum of this girl Jennifer in my Sunday school class (who also happens to be one of my Sunday school teachers!) was really kind, giving Aonghas and me plenty of cooked rice and vegetables for dinner on the last day we were home alone. That meant we didn't have to cook or buy any food!
OK this post has ended up about food but I guess that was one of the most noticeable differences! Of course we also had to wake up early by ourselves without our parents screaming at us, we had no one to tell us when to go to bed...so much freedom!...And so much money spent!!! But it's pretty good having them back now too though. Things are definitely a lot louder around the house!
This meant that Aonghas and I would be home alone for the next five days! I can say now that our house is still in tact and Aonghas and I got along well!
The most pressing issue was what to eat...That Wednesday morning before we got back to Henderson from the airport Aonghas and I had breakfast at McDonald's wihch wasn't too bad, and I had lunch at Wendy's that day. We just had a pizza at night. On Thursday though Aonghas had to go to work so I just ended up having a pie. Friday...now Friday I decided to try something different! I went to the Korean pancake stall that everyone's been raving on about! I have to say it was quite good! It was a little unusual having meat in a pancake but I got over that and enjoyed it! I next went down to this Asian foodcourt which I must say was a little grubby. I bought this bowl of fried rice with crab meat though which came with a bowl of soup, and it certainly was filling! It took me quite a long time to finish the huge bowl of rice! I've been warned by my friend Phoebe though that it's not safe to eat down there so I'm not too sure if I'll be back...since I haven't gotten food poisoning so far I probably will be back!
Aonghas and I binged on Wendys food on Friday night and I ended up going with pizza and popcorn on Saturday night (yes yes I can't cook) when Aonghas went off to someone's birthday party. By now there were dishes piling up and the dining room table was covered in junk. I decided on Sunday afternoon that it was about time someone got this sorted before our parents got back and through a hissy! I spent several hours after church washing dishes, and discovering that the forgotten leftover food we had in some pots had gone mouldy by now, along with all the buns we hadn't touched since our parents had gone!
The mum of this girl Jennifer in my Sunday school class (who also happens to be one of my Sunday school teachers!) was really kind, giving Aonghas and me plenty of cooked rice and vegetables for dinner on the last day we were home alone. That meant we didn't have to cook or buy any food!
OK this post has ended up about food but I guess that was one of the most noticeable differences! Of course we also had to wake up early by ourselves without our parents screaming at us, we had no one to tell us when to go to bed...so much freedom!...And so much money spent!!! But it's pretty good having them back now too though. Things are definitely a lot louder around the house!
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