tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59918752011-04-22T09:34:04.886+10:00This blog is written mainly for my friends and family, and is meant as a way for them to keep up with what is happening on my travels. The blog will be used as an ongoing letter to friends and family. Old entries are in the archives below.Davidnoreply@blogger.comBlogger791100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1078310534591998892004-03-03T20:42:00.000+10:002004-03-06T10:31:29.780+10:00

I have decided to no longer use Blogger as to host my blog. I will run the whole show from my own website: Click here to view the website, and then go to 'New & Journal' to view the blog. I haven't had any problems using Blogger, and recommend it, but I like the idea of my whole site hosted in one place. Also, I can now keep the formatting of my whole site consistent.

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1077429358064902062004-02-22T15:55:00.000+10:002004-02-22T16:05:56.216+10:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve written an entry to this blog. The main reason I haven’t been making my usual entries is that I have been spending a lot of my time on the weekends preparing my job application and learning the Acts and Awards that I need to know for work. I am enjoying working at the new job, and I’m doing my best to get the position permanently. I’m taking a break from

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1076149886619091542004-02-07T20:31:00.000+10:002004-02-07T20:39:26.186+10:00

David: Here are the entries for the last week: Saturday: We went to Dom and Dee's engagement party tonight (click here for a photo). We thought that we wouldn't know anybody except Dom and Dee, and Cathy had a terrible sore throat so she didn't feel like talking much. We ended up having a good time though. Some other people Cathy knew from uni (and who I've met a couple of times before) turned

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1075500330938075062004-01-31T08:05:00.000+10:002004-01-31T08:07:44.873+10:00

David:Sunday: I had an absolutely terrible night's sleep last night. I was planning to go to bed about 9:00pm, and then get up at 6:00am to work on my job application. Cathy was working on her assignment here, in the spare room, and I was watching a DVD when a huge storm hit and cut all the electricity. We lit up some candles, and Cathy wanted to play a board game. I wasn't feeling up to it, as

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1074902827778135462004-01-24T10:07:00.000+10:002004-01-24T12:22:26.233+10:00

David:Sunday: Not long before Cathy and I got together (almost two years ago) I took her to a friend's birthday party down the coast. I have known this friend of mine, Des, since my late teens. Cathy only got to meet Des, and his partner Vic, that one time, and then they headed off overseas. They came back a few months ago, but we hadn't got around to catching up until today. We got up early and

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1074306334282173812004-01-17T12:25:00.000+10:002004-01-17T12:27:28.996+10:00

David: Well this is my first weekly (rather than daily) entry, so I have created a new system. I'll write entries as per the days of the week. Tuesday: This was my first day back at trampolining after the Christmas break. It is funny how you can improve sometimes after you've taken a short break. I was planning on taking my time before getting back to the more complicated (for me!) skills. After

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1073905147935534002004-01-12T20:59:00.000+10:002004-01-12T21:06:36.046+10:00

David: I have been trying to keep this blog up every day, but it has been a struggle with my new job. I'm usually doing overtime most days, and then by the time I get the bus home and then go to the gym there's not much time to write before I go to bed. I also need to spend some time with my lovely girlfriend. It is not so much the daily entries that take time; it is the entries for my trip

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1073817992915836342004-01-11T20:46:00.000+10:002004-01-11T20:46:53.200+10:00

David: Today is the first time in almost two years that we have been together that Cathy and I have spent most of a weekend just relaxing and watching movies. I did have a bit of work for my old job at uni, but aside from that we watched 'The Good Girl', 'Garage Days', 'Full Frontal' (all pretty ordinary movies), 'Shrek' (a classic), and 'The Four Feathers' (very enjoyable). We were going to go

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1073730485439670812004-01-10T20:28:00.000+10:002004-01-10T20:28:24.600+10:00

David: Yesterday was an interesting day at work. I was sitting in my supervisor's office with a woman from another department when my supervisor bent over the arm rest on his chair to pick up a piece of paper. The arm rest pressed into his ribs, and when he sat up he said that something in his chest had popped, somewhat surprised but not in much pain. Over the next 20 minutes or so, he began to

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1073557539285281962004-01-08T20:25:00.000+10:002004-01-08T20:25:59.033+10:00

David: What a dreadfully hot day it was today! On the news they said that it was the hottest day of the year. Once again, it wasn't too bad for me, considering that I was in an airconditioned office, but Cathy spent the day here today doing uni work (or trying). It was 38 degrees here in the house when I got home at about 5:15pm; no wonder Cathy didn't get much uni work doing today. The sweat was

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1073473724079261662004-01-07T21:08:00.000+10:002004-01-07T21:09:03.810+10:00

David: While I was at work today, Cathy and Marie had the difficult task of going to the beach. Marie's car broke down on the way home though, and they had to wait on the side of the highway for an hour waiting for the RACQ. It must have been a hot wait, as the temperature was around 35 degrees Celsius! Marie's husband drove to meet them, and they sat in his airconditioned car for some of the

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1073384286418066012004-01-06T20:18:00.000+10:002004-01-06T20:19:11.593+10:00

David: I missed the daily entry yesterday again, but for good reason. We went to see 'Lord of the Rings: Return of the King' at the Gold Class cinema last night. For those who don't know, Gold Class cinemas are the VIP cinemas where only about 30 people watch the movie at one time. The seats are like first-class airline seats, with a table between two seats (obviously designed for couples) with a

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1073212586049784362004-01-04T20:36:00.000+10:002004-01-04T20:36:44.560+10:00

David: I got home from work on Friday, looking forward to a relaxing weekend, only to find that paper I discussed earlier had been sent back to me to finish off. We had planned to have a relaxing weekend, with a trip to a friend's place on Saturday night. I ended up going to bed early Friday night, and then got up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to work on the paper. I finished and proof read

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1072952721620619182004-01-01T20:25:00.000+10:002004-01-01T20:25:39.493+10:00

David: We went to Southbank for New Years last night, meeting Maree, Steven, Cheree, Andrew, Marissa, and a few others (17 of us in all) at a restaurant called 'Taste of India' (click here for the photos). We only really sat around talking most of the night, but it was good to catch up. On the other hand, the food was pretty ordinary. Someone there told us that the food is never particularly

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1072763990413474372003-12-30T15:59:00.000+10:002003-12-30T16:00:07.240+10:00

David: Cathy went to 'Splash' today with Marie. 'Splash' is a waterpark on the north side of Brisbane. Last time we went there, we followed Marie and Steven. We were almost there when Marie's car broke down in the middle lane of a busy road. Cathy and I stopped somewhere in the middle of the traffic that had been blocked by Marie's car, and I walked up and helped Steven push her car off the road.

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1072609631148497022003-12-28T21:07:00.000+10:002003-12-28T21:25:04.716+10:00

David: For once, today was a quiet one, just a trip to the gym, and a quick visit to Cathy's sister and her boyfriend. Like I've said before, I don't usually write in this blog about things outside my sphere of experience, but I feel like commenting on the media's reporting of the tragedy occurring in Iran. On Wednesday, October 29, 2003, CNN reported the New York death toll from the September 11

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1072488933639126202003-12-27T11:35:00.000+10:002003-12-27T13:21:54.786+10:00

David: With the Christmas period being so busy, I haven't had time to make an entry for four days. We have been very busy catching up with people and trying to make the most of the Christmas experience.We had a going-away dinner for Eileen at our place on Tuesday night. We made the bread and desert, and Eileen cooked up a pasta dish for the main course. It was sad at the end of the night because

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1072092074403251762003-12-22T21:21:00.000+10:002003-12-22T21:21:54.480+10:00

David: I had a good day at working at my new job. I didn't get to do much for my first day, but I learned quite a bit about the culture and the way things are done. I'd write more, but it is getting late and I don't want to be tired for work tomorrow.Here's the next UK journal entry: Monday 07/06/93 Achmelvich 8:42 pm.We are at a campsite on the other side of Scotland now, almost right on the

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071976377189368152003-12-21T13:12:00.000+10:002003-12-21T13:17:32.206+10:00

David: I forgot to mention my marathon shopping session yesterday. I decided to go to a local shopping centre yesterday to do some Christmas shopping and to buy some new clothes for work. I got there about 8:45am, and easily found a parking spot. It seemed like no time at all before Cathy rang me and told me that she was finished with the volunteer work she was doing. That was at about 2:00pm.

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071905038899159922003-12-20T17:23:00.000+10:002003-12-20T17:31:01.336+10:00

David: We got home too late last night for me to make an entry in the blog. We took Eileen (our friend from trampolining) out to our favourite Thai restaurant. Afterwards, we drove to Kangaroo Point, walked down to the base of the cliffs, and strolled from there to Southbank (Click here for all the photos). The walk took us past the man-made beach, and then to the fountains at the north end, and

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071742052596716842003-12-18T20:07:00.000+10:002003-12-18T20:07:47.070+10:00

David: Cathy is getting better from her fall at trampolining the other night. She is recovering very quickly, but we thought that descretion was the better part of valour and decided not to go to gymnastics tonight. She says that she is never going to do 'that stupid skill' again.We got a call from Eileen this afternoon. She is back from up north. She was working up there, helping with the

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071664616377035592003-12-17T22:36:00.000+10:002003-12-17T22:37:10.340+10:00

David: We had the gynastics/trampolining Christmas party tonight. It was a good night, with pizza and secret Santa. We spent much of the night talking travel with some of the others.Speaking of travel, here's the next UK journal entry:Thursday 03/06/93 Belsay Hall (Foggy) 9:02 am.We are sitting here waiting for Belsay Hall to open as most of these places don't open till 10:00 am. This hall or

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071573389898331432003-12-16T21:16:00.000+10:002003-12-16T21:16:43.790+10:00

David: I went for a job today, and got it! The position is with a government department. It is full-time, but only temporary for six weeks. They lost the person who was previously in the position, and needed someone to fill in until a person is recruited permanently for the position. They won't be advertising the position again until the end of January 2004. The idea is that I will work in the

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071487620491507682003-12-15T21:27:00.000+10:002003-12-15T21:28:36.606+10:00

David: The weekend must have tired me out. I feel wrecked. I've written about being tired a lot in the last couple of entries. It must be the budgies getting me up so early. I know that when I started this blog I said that I was going to stick to topics from within the sphere of my experience, but I feel like contemplating Saddam. Have you seen his face as the army doctor prods and pokes him?

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071402545588886282003-12-14T21:49:00.000+10:002003-12-14T21:51:13.976+10:00

David: We had an excellent day, but we are both absolutely wrecked! We spent the morning riding waves down the Gold Coast, and then met up with Chris and Marie at the Australia Fair shopping centre for lunch. Chris is my former martial arts instructor. He and Marie have only recently got together (after a long friendship), and it is great to see them both so happy. After Chris and Marie headed

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071347876218022792003-12-14T06:37:00.000+10:002003-12-14T06:38:09.066+10:00

David: We got back too late last night for me to make my usual entry. We went to see the movie 'Mystic River' last night. We both thought that it was excellent, especially the performances of Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. It seems that the host of my main website is being a bit unreliable at the moment. If it is playing up the you can get directly to this blog by using this URL: http://

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071234764018864482003-12-12T23:12:00.000+10:002003-12-12T23:17:02.776+10:00

David: We had a nice dinner in the city with Marie, Steven, Anna and Russ. While we were there, one of the Citycat ferries had stopped and was shining a spotlight into the mangroves on the bank of the Brisbane River. A police boat came along not long afterwards. We could also see some torches through the trees. We didn't end up finding out what was going on. We got a Christmas card from Monique

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071143646725666342003-12-11T21:54:00.000+10:002003-12-11T21:54:18.713+10:00

David: Between the birds getting me up at just before 5:00am this morning, work, and gymnastics, I'm absolutely stuffed. I think that I will just post the UK journal entry tonight:Thursday 27/05/93 Essex, near London. 8:20 pm.Our tent we bought in the US for $15.00 is a real lemon. We spent two nights in it. The first night it didn't rain, the second it did, and even though we put our ponchos

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1071043905220903552003-12-10T18:11:00.000+10:002003-12-29T14:03:03.010+10:00

David: I went to the uni administration today to get a letter to say that I'd finished my degree. Without this, I wouldn't have any proof that I'd finished until after graduation next year. The letter cost me $10, and I found out that they also charge $10 for a transcript of my result. Would you believe that they never supply you with a transcript unless you pay for it! After years of study and

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070972730129560072003-12-09T22:25:00.000+10:002003-12-09T22:25:42.103+10:00

David: Our birds have become alarm clocks; well Chloe has really. Jamie isn't as noisy. Each morning they hear the birds in the forest and join their tweeting. This usually starts at about 5:30am. There's not much chance of me sleeping in after they start. We went to trapolining tonight, and a learned some new skills. I did my first backflip on the tramp, and a backdrop to front somersault. I

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070885327658982222003-12-08T22:08:00.000+10:002003-12-08T22:12:57.890+10:00

David: I have been trying to get a break into HR for some time now, but without much luck. Even though I've been getting some interesting and high-responsibility tasks with the work I'm doing at uni, this doesn't seem to be helping me to get a job in the 'outside world'. It's very frustrating. It seems that good performance at uni, and at work related to uni, has little impact on recruiters for

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070792529249576582003-12-07T20:22:00.000+10:002003-12-08T18:47:03.300+10:00

David: Our new budgie, Jamie, is too smart for his own good. This is his second day here, and he has already become used to not having to be in the cage. He and Chloe were left out while I went to work this morning. When I came back, I did a few practice runs of putting them into the cage and then taking them out again, letting him learn from Chloe's example. Then I thought that I'd better leave

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070675215304782412003-12-06T11:46:00.000+10:002003-12-06T19:36:54.143+10:00

David: Chloe (our budgie) has been so noisy lately. She has been tweeting for a boyfriend, and has been really annoying Cathy when she has been here studying. We finally gave in and bought her a boyfriend. When we brought him home from the petshop, we let him out in the spare room. He flew on to the stick that Chloe rarely uses, and she raced straight over to see him. She was being such a flirt,

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070627606542693232003-12-05T22:33:00.000+10:002003-12-05T22:33:37.286+10:00

David: I'm too worn out to write much tonight. Besides, not a real lot happened today as I worked fairly long hours. I'll hand you straight over to the USA journal:Thursday 20/05/93 On a bus from Utica , New York State. 12:15 pm.On the bus ride from Buffalo yesterday we went on a bus that was full of Quakers. They all wear the same clothes, the men with their round hats and the woman in bonnets.

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070540892351418732003-12-04T22:28:00.000+10:002003-12-14T21:43:16.936+10:00

Cathy: I went out to dinner tonight at my favourite Thai restaurant with friends from uni. It was a little celebration after finishing our third year of psychology. Click here to see the photo of us (Wendy, Jenny, Di, Ray, Me, Dee, and Sue).

Cathynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070534303121987932003-12-04T20:38:00.000+10:002003-12-04T20:38:33.510+10:00

David: There was a loud gunshot that went off last night at about 11:30pm. There was only one, and it was slightly muffled, as if it was fired indoors. There was a dog barking afterwards, but the neigbourhood went quite quickly. I suppose that we will never know what happened. Cathy came to visit me at work today, and we caught a bus into the city to have lunch with Celeste. I've known Celeste

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070448083620545892003-12-03T20:41:00.000+10:002003-12-03T20:41:33.726+10:00

David: The street is really coming alive with Christmas lights. I don't remember there being so many houses decorated last year, or maybe I didn't take enough notice last time. Apparently new neighbours are moving in, a couple. Cathy saw them today. She was here studying, and nearly ran over the guy when she left to pick me up from uni. My ankle is still a bit sore, so I didn't walk home today.

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070359793381875282003-12-02T20:09:00.000+10:002003-12-03T18:49:35.810+10:00

David: Somehow I managed to hurt my ankle, so I missed out on going to trampolining. Cathy went though. I suppose that it is only fair. I went without her last week, while she was preparing for a job interview. I must have hurt my ankle at the gym last night, but I didn't feel anything until I got up this morning. We had taped the last episode of 'All Saints' some time back. We finally got around

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070273193915458482003-12-01T20:06:00.000+10:002003-12-01T20:09:07.620+10:00

David: I received my marks for this semester tonight. These are the final marks of my degree. I couldn't be more happy with the marks, and I reached a goal I set for myself with this degree: to have a GPA closer to a seven than a six. Well that is the end of another era I guess. My undergraduate period is now finished. Going back now to a different era, here is the next USA trip entry:Saturday 15

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070191319648666792003-11-30T21:21:00.000+10:002003-11-30T21:22:09.263+10:00

Cathy and I went to see the new Meg Ryan movie tonight: In the Cut. It was a dark, depressing, and graphic movie. Both the gore and the sex scenes were more explicit than I would have imagined seeing in a Meg Ryan film. It was interesting, but I wouldn't call it a must-see.Here's daily the USA journal entry:Friday 14/05/93 Nashville 2:51 amAs we were about to board the bus at Memphis we could see

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1070095246868145822003-11-29T18:40:00.000+10:002003-11-30T21:25:16.556+10:00

I almost stepped on three snakes today; in fact, I think that I did step on one. Being the first day in weeks that we have both had off together, we decided to go for a walk up Mount Cordeaux (1144m) at Cunningham's Gap. Cunningham's Gap is a pass through the Great Dividing Range, about 100km west of Brisbane. I've been there many times before, so we took off down a track without really looking

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069938624111632252003-11-27T23:10:00.000+10:002003-11-27T23:10:33.106+10:00

I got my final assignment back for my degree today. I couldn't be happier about the mark. It really feel like I have some closure now. Cathy has a job interview tomorrow, and is busily doing the final preparations as I'm writing this. Because she was so busy preparing, she didn't get to go to gymnastics tonight. I went, though, and picked up Eileen and her friend on the way. I'm feeling

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069850738668970032003-11-26T22:45:00.000+10:002003-11-27T22:42:02.316+10:00

David: Cathy and I went with some friends to a pre-release screening of 'Love Actually' tonight. Rita somehow managed to get a heap of free tickets, so there were about ten of us who got to see the movie early. The normal release date is 26 December I think. The movie was great; I think that it will be the feel-good movie of the year. It was also very funny, and somewhat thought provoking. At

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069759821836466022003-11-25T21:30:00.000+10:002003-11-25T21:36:11.000+10:00

David: Eileen, Cathy and I went down the Gold Coast today. We had an excellent time, and I really enjoyed having a full day without needing to think about work. We started by going bodyboarding at Burleigh Heads. Eileen had never been bodyboarding before, and did very well for her first time. What's more, she had never been to the Gold Coast before; so after our surf, we showed her around. We

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069674047088636322003-11-24T21:40:00.000+10:002003-11-25T21:36:47.436+10:00

David: I got a message through the website from an old friend today, Rick, letting me know that he wouldn't mind having his photo placed on my Friends page. Rick and I used to live together a few (well more than a few) years ago. I set a page up for him and his wife Linda (click here to see it).Here's the next episode of the USA trip:Saturday 08/05/93 6:09 pmWe tried climbing Mount Ptarmigan

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069589508556237002003-11-23T22:11:00.000+10:002003-11-25T21:37:14.373+10:00

David: Cathy has decided that she might start making some entries into this blog (hence the change of the blog's name), so I'll start posting using blue font and placing my name in front of my entries. Also, I've been told that it is a bit confusing that there are two entry dates when I post the journal entries from my trip, so I will use block indents for all my trip journal entries. Speaking of

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069502815702242242003-11-22T22:06:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:28:54.680+10:00

As I mentioned in the last entry, Rob, Cathy and I went to the School of Psychology's end-of-year dinner last night. It was held a one of the local golf clubs, and about 60 people went. Unfortunately, many of the people that Cathy and I studied with were not there, like Karen and the Mels. Jan, Dragica, Nicole, Helen, Rhonda, Mos, Matt, and some of the staff were there though. Apparently what

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069453403374649562003-11-22T08:23:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:32:27.676+10:00

We went to the psychology end-of-year dinner last night with Rob (the guy who got Cathy and I together). I will write more about it tonight, as we have to go out now to get Cathy's father a birthday present.Cathy just found out that she got 95.8% for her Counselling assignment.Here's the next USA journal entry:Wednesday 05/05/93 3:24 pmWe are sitting in a McDonalds near the Greyhound bus depot at

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069331317330344832003-11-20T22:28:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:33:51.083+10:00

Sara and I sent one of the projects we have been working on to the industry partner today. We got feedback from the uni's Research Office this morning, and fortunately we didn't need to make many changes. Cathy also had a productive day: she finished her final exam for the semester, which is also the final exam for the psychology part of her degree. She feels confident about the exam. She is

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069240938773018302003-11-19T21:22:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:34:56.410+10:00

Another long day today (left home at 7:30am and got home about 8:00pm), but it was broken up by an interesting meeting in the city. We are working with a large company to design a long-term research project. Today was the first time that I got to meet the industry partners, and I enjoyed the whole experience.Cathy is still studying. She is starting to worry about her exam tomorrow. I don't blame

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069155950421676952003-11-18T21:45:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:36:15.970+10:00

I've finished marking exam papers! My eyes are actually burning from trying to interpret the scrawl that some people's handwriting turns into when they are under pressure. Here's the next USA journal entry:Friday 30/04/93 Los Angeles California 9:20 amWe are on a coach from LA to Flagstaff. Last night we took a coach from San Francisco to LA, arriving at 6:30 am; an eight hour trip.We have just

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1069069071759826092003-11-17T21:37:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:36:50.673+10:00

What a long day! I left to catch the bus for work at 7:15 this morning (I haven't been driving my car lately; it is easier to catch the bus). I worked on a grant project from 8am until 10:30am, and then marked exam papers until 4:30pm. After that, I went back to working on the grant stuff until 6pm. Once I'd finished work, I walked to the gym (about half an hours walk), trained until 7:30pm, and

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068980195131667422003-11-16T20:56:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:37:20.970+10:00

Cathy and I just got back from having some delicious Nados chicken, followed by chocolate ice cream. After watching 'Willy Wonka' on TV last night, we just had to have something with chocolate in it! Speaking of 'Wonka', check out this site ... http://www.wonka.comI checked out a friend's blog today. She works on a computer just behind me. I've decided to make a section on the right of this blog

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068898347495271772003-11-15T22:12:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:38:17.016+10:00

I only realised today how long it has been since I've had a day off work. I've been spending almost as much time at the office as I have been spending at home. I'm planning to take next weekend completely off. The worst thing is that I hadn't really noticed! I'll have to watch that doesn't become a habit.I've been gradually re-vamping my website as a bit of relaxation before I go to bed at night.

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068841097591910752003-11-15T06:18:00.000+10:002003-11-15T06:18:23.170+10:00

I've just posted some additional photos of a trip I did to Cairns a few years ago. There are some underwater pictures of scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, some great snaps of the Daintree National Park, and a couple of actions shots of white water rafting the Tully River. Click here to have a look.

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068809515326881722003-11-14T21:31:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:39:21.190+10:00

The second-year assignments we were marking were handed back today. Overall, the marks were very low, and I think that it is partly the system's fault. Yeah, sure, some of the students obviously put very little effort into the assignments. Others, though, had tried but still didn't grasp the main idea of what needed to be done. The assignment required them to examine the results of tests done in

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068727110262457172003-11-13T22:38:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:40:02.000+10:00

I finished marking the assignments for the second-year course I was tutoring this semester. I was facilitating workshops for both first- and second-year students at the uni, in management concepts and organisational processes respectively. This was my first semester of tutoring uni students, and I really enjoyed it. I have previously done private tuition, mostly for statistics, but it is a

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068635627528487752003-11-12T21:13:00.000+10:002003-11-12T21:28:16.210+10:00

I decided to find another animated gif tiger (I love tigers) to use on this site to highlight the start of each new trip journal, so this little fella will do that job:Also, this exclamation mark will identify interesting or important entries:Cathy saw me looking for tigers, and said that I needed to find an animated elephant. She loves elephants. She has so many elephant statues! Here's her

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068625575280770052003-11-12T18:26:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:41:15.983+10:00

Our neighbour did pass away. He had a heart attack about two weeks ago while walking in the forest near our home. His daughter just told us about it. It must have been such a frightening experience for him to be alone in the forest and have had that happen. His daughter also told us about the reaction of the landlord after hearing about his death. Our neighbour had been living in the unit for

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068551463601262992003-11-11T21:51:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:41:48.920+10:00

I managed to hurt a muscle in my leg at trampolining tonight, so I am sitting here with my butt on an icepack! Zoe came along with us, and seemed to have a great time. Here's the next entry in the journal from my first trip overseas:Sunday 25/04/93 4:20 pm New Zealand timeHere we are at 37,000 feet on our way to Auckland. We have had lunch and are now waiting for the short movie to come on: 'The

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068453173948378222003-11-10T18:32:00.000+10:002003-11-23T15:00:36.873+10:00

I promised some background information before I started the journal from my first trip. When I started reading the old journal, I realised that I had already provided the a background. I found it interesting to re-read this entry. I can see the similarities in my writing style between then and now, but it is a little embarrassing to read the very formal style I used!Here is the first entry from

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068378679191892712003-11-09T21:51:00.000+10:002003-11-09T21:52:21.230+10:00

Okay, so I've finished posting in my journal from the Sydney trip. The next trip journal I will post will be from my first trip. I started this trip when I was 24 years old, and I spent seven months travelling through the USA, UK, Europe, Turkey, Egypt, Southern Africa, Singapore and Malaysia. Before I start on the journal for this trip, I will provide a bit of back ground information. I'm tired,

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068290938212869382003-11-08T21:28:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:43:38.106+10:00

Cathy and I went out for Thai food tonight, dining in at our favourite restaurant. Before we left, though, I decided to do a bit of wildlife photography.I could hear the fruit bats out in the palm tree in front of our unit, and decided to play paparazzi. I snuck up on them as a plane flew overhead, hiding any noise I might have made. They were completely unaware when I took this candid shot:

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068205122301756942003-11-07T21:38:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:44:35.823+10:00

We think that one of our neighbours might have died. We live in a block of four units, and we haven't seen the fellow to the east of us for a week or so. It is not be typical of him to go away without saying something, and his car had been missing all that time. It looked like his daughters, and perhaps their boyfriends, were going through his place today when I got home. They had a garbage bin

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068120875855162312003-11-06T22:14:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:45:23.870+10:00

The one night a week of trampolining has quickly escalated into one night night of trampolining and one of gymnastics. It was my first attempt at gymnastics tonight (except for school sports over 20 years ago!). I was pretty happy with myself, as I managed to do my first proper cartwheel! I spent ages doing forward somersaults from the mini-tramp, and my legs are killing me. It is amazing that

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1068033621524059602003-11-05T22:00:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:46:05.823+10:00

I'm am completely exhausted. Work, training and trampolining have worn me out this week. I think that it is time for an early night, but I'll post the next entry from my trip to Sydney journal first and also a few more photos from last night that Eileen sent.Here are some more photos from last night's trampolining:Trampolining 3The Sydney trip:Friday, 29/12/2000, 6:54 pm, at a lovely campsite

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067948196701237812003-11-04T22:16:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:46:52.933+10:00

We just got back from trampolining. The cameras were going crazy this time. Eileen (a girl from Germany that Cathy and I met at trampolining) had her camera there too, so we hope to get copies of her photos at some stage. Here are the photos we took tonight:Trampolining 2I mentioned our walk through the forest in my entry yesterday. Here are pictures I took before that guy decided to start acting

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067856001423355072003-11-03T20:40:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:47:31.696+10:00

We went for a walk through the forest near our place this afternoon, as we often do. Cathy was walking behind me reading her textbook (I know that it sounds strange, but that is the way that we both study; neither of us likes to just sit and read [and no, we don't walk into things; you get used to it]). I was walking about 50 metres ahead of her with the digital camera, trying to find a goanna to

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067777122214039222003-11-02T22:45:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:48:43.336+10:00

I added some new bits and pieces to this page today, including: a web-poll about blogging, cartoons, a new guestbook and guest map (check it out; it is very impressive), a new feedback form and tell a friend function, and a more advanced counter system. All of this came to me free of charge from Bravenet.com. I have been stuffing around with websites for years, and Bravenet has impressed

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067686877014508932003-11-01T21:41:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:49:18.866+10:00

I'm wrecked! After a bit of a sleep-in this morning, I trundled off to the gym for a while, and then Cathy and I went body boarding. The surf was only fair, and I only got one decent ride, but it was fun. Neither of us had been boarding in for a few weeks; my technique wasn't too great.Here is the next edition of the Sydney trip:Monday, 25/12/2000, 1:58 pm (daylight saving time (I finally changed

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067646946981597142003-11-01T10:35:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:49:57.446+10:00

I've spent the morning answering emails, social ones for once. It seems that I spend so much time writing work emails that I don't have enough opportunity to write to friends. That is something I'll have to try to change.I was writing about the blog to my friend Chris, from Toowoomba, and it reminded me about something I wanted to write on this blog. Like I mentioned previously, I plan to type

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067606845749662422003-10-31T23:27:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:50:41.413+10:00

Cathy and I finally got enough spare time between her uni work and my work work to go see a movie. We saw that new flick with George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones, 'Intolerable Cruelty'. I thought that there were a few clever and funny parts to the movie, but Cathy didn't like it very much. It definitely wouldn't say that it is a must see movie. Here's the next day of the Sydney trip (I've

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067516281549354092003-10-30T22:18:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:51:28.383+10:00

Greetings,The last post mentioned an accident that I was involved in when I was in Scandinavia. Someone sent me an email asking me more about it. The Scandinavia incident was an unfortunate car crash that I was first on the scene to. Myself and another guy had to do CPR on the driver for about an hour, but he died anyway. It was a pretty nasty accident, and for a long time afterwards I dreaded

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067431651502277892003-10-29T22:47:00.000+10:002003-11-23T14:52:10.536+10:00

Karen, one of the people I sent a website update to the other day, is thinking about cycling from Brisbane to Sydney next year. She read about my Sydney trip on this site, and asked me for some advice. After telling her that I have a full journal of the trip (I always keep journals when I travel), she asked me if it was up on the site. It isn't, but I thought that I would post a day at a time

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067338970520252452003-10-28T21:02:00.000+10:002003-10-28T22:04:31.820+10:00

When you first walk outside and look up to the sky at the start of the day and you see this - maybe it is time to go back to bed. Cathy took me for my first experience of trampolining tonight. At first I was a little wobbly, but I gained confidence quicker than I thought I would. At one stage, I was doing a couple of summersaults off the long trampoline. I completely stuffed up one and

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067170374428337532003-10-26T22:12:00.000+10:002003-11-01T21:18:44.836+10:00

Hi again,There have been a lot of things happening over the last few months, but I hadn't had the chance to put the photos up on the web until now. Below is a list of some of the more important events (click on any to see the photos):Ronan's Birthday: Mel (a friend from uni) and her husband Rod had a first birthday for their little boy Ronan.Dinner with Amanda's Family: Cathy and I had dinner

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067162044709383142003-10-26T19:54:00.000+10:002003-10-27T07:59:50.510+10:00

Hi, I handed in the final assignment for my degree today. The assignment (6000 words) was a report on a reasonably large study I conducted on workplace bullying over the year. I did a presentation on the study last week, which went well. It is good to be finished, and now it is time to start looking for some full-time work. I have been working for the university as a research assistant now

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067148848217372272003-10-26T16:14:00.000+10:002003-11-01T21:17:45.556+10:00

Hi all,As life has become even more hectic, the maintenance of the webpage (http://www.davidmanning.info) has once again fallen behind. I have been looking for an alternative, and blogging might be the way to go. Also, blogging will allow me to write updates when travelling, as I won't need any special software installed on the computer, and therefore, will be able to do it from internet cafes.

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5991875.post-1067250816444412972003-09-27T23:39:00.000+10:002003-10-27T21:06:11.266+10:00

These are the previous pages from my Sites Updates page before I started using the blog: July 2003: Casino weekend away for Cathy's birthday July 2003: Cathy and I went horse riding with Celeste July 2003: Mel's wedding July 2003: University friends catch up dinner July 2003: Dinner at Mount Cootha with Marie and Steven, and Anna and Russ July 2003: Cathy and I went to Brett and Andrea's

Davidnoreply@blogger.com0