Lectures, Tutes, and Pracs!

The semester is officially started! I started with analytical and metal ion chemistry (thrilling) at 8am. There are 3 professors lecturing and they all seem good. The class is relatively small (somewhere is the 60’s) which is good because the professors were reassuring that they are available to help anytime. After that I technically had nothing for the rest of the day but, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I had to go to try to get my lab switched to anything but Friday! Before that though I went to the library to try to print some lectures and papers I needed to read and sign. Both of the libraries I was in were packed. So I knew I had to pay something like 10 cents per sheet, but printing is so much more complicated than that. First you need exact change to get a printing card. So I got a 5 dollar bill put into 1 dollar coins by a machine which took me forever to find. Then I bought the card and went to a computer, which were 99% occupied, and opened up the 32 pages of one of the chem. professors lectures. I pressed print and then went and stood in line at the printer where you have to finds your document, click on it, confirm that what you’ve selected is indeed what you want, swipe your card, select a few more options, and then it FINALLY prints your document. Meanwhile, you have to leave your computer unsupervised across the library. It’s a terrible system. There were many other glitches in this process that I will not get into because it is boring, but I will say that my card did not work the first 2 times I did this whole list of things and I had to have the I.T. guy at the info desk fix it. Overall, just printing 1 of the 2143480 things I needed printed took an hour and a half and 2 different libraries. The first thing I did when I got home is search for used printers for sale. I was not successful, but later I looked on ebay and bid on one for 31 dollars with shipping and it included the cartridges. Who knows how good it will be, but I really just need one, especially since I found out today that I don’t really need to buy the 2 over 100 dollar each textbooks for chem. because the notes posted online are so extensive…but overall it will be around 200 pages or more to print.

Anyway, on a more important note, I arrived at the lab a half hour early which didn’t really do me any good but oh well. I just sat in lab and listened to the briefing and all of the info about how the lab works and at the end of it all the coordinator of the course asked if anyone wasn’t in the class and I explained my story to him after everyone left. He said that he thought a spot just opened in Monday lab so I quickly logged on and found that it was true! I signed onto Monday lab right away. So I’m IN!!!! I’m much happier with my schedule now! The only day that’s really busy is Wednesday when I have classes from 9-12 and 1-5, but it’s mostly anthropology and psychology…does that even count as class?

After lab I went to the bookshop to get a lab coat and goggles which I completely forgot I would have to get. The line went around the whole store! I came home and felt exhausted and hungry so I got a snack and then got ready for the cycling class I had planned on going to at 5:30. UQ Sport is running a program this week where all the classes are free so I’m definitely taking advantage of that! The class was an “extreme” cycling class so it ended up being mostly people who are there several times a week! For some reason no one from my hall wanted to do the extreme cycling class with me…I have no idea why haha. It was very challenging and I know I will hurt tomorrow but I had fun and want to keep doing that class. After this week I’ll buy my gym membership—I might as well wait until after the free week because you buy membership in 3-month slots. I went to dinner with some others from my hall who had also just finished their respective gym classes. Now I’m home and showered and most people from my hall just left to go to the stoplight party. Everyone was mad at me for not going because I had said earlier that I might, but I knew the whole time I wasn’t. Guess I’m just not up for the Monday night partying these days! Ok I’m exhausted I’m going to go organize and then get to bed. Pilates at 7am maybe? Probably not since I don’t have class until 1…