11 pm – Tuesday 2nd May 2006

Arethusa.

Well, another semester finished at last. This morning I awoke at 6:45 am, which gave me just over an hour to wake up and get to my biochemistry exam. I didn't need to take this exam, as I'd already scored an A from the rest of my grades. If I had told most people I was taking the exam anyway, I would have gotten some odd looks. Still, odd looks I am mostly inured to. So, I arrived at the exam hall at 8 am mostly awake, and although I didn't do perfectly, I still think I made a good showing of it.

Afterwards, I took my grant proposal down the street and sent it through Fedex to Arizona for the people at that end to sign. I sent the other proposal out on Monday. So I now have a break from proposal writing for a while, but if I have any ideas, I should get them down on paper while I am in the swing of writing. This evening I came home and watched a DVD from the library with David Attenborough, which was cool, and dilated for the first time in months. Later on I talked to Judy, she will be here midday Friday to see some friends graduate.

Yesterday evening, Faith had a ceramics show at her little house. Kadie and I drove down there, and we met Katie P and Eadie who were happy to see us. Kadie and I couldn't stay for very long as we both had finals to study for. Kadie's finals have been going well, and she will be finished tomorrow evening.

Spring is here, and the nights are warming up. I got my leather jacket back today after having it re-blacked, so it looks very nice. I will need it for a Canberra winter when I fly home.

Now, back to the reason why I took the extra exam. I think it's important to test oneself is the crux of my argument. I couldn't fail either the exam or the course, and so my safety net was rather good. Perhaps this Summer I'll test myself physically. There is a very gruelling race called the Ridge Run in Montana, and I am hoping I will actually be in town when it is on. I think I can do it, but don't expect me to compete against the grizzled mountain maniacs who live for it.

In two weeks, I'll be home in Australia, and it will be 2 years and 3 months since I was home last. When I was saving for Thailand, and then paying it back, I was just scraping by, and yet despite it all I now have some money in the bank. The last repayment on my bank loan will be in June, and I'll then be expecting a fairly hefty increase in my pay soon afterwards. This will mean a lot more travelling back to Australia. My parents are getting older, and I miss them a lot.

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