checking off todos

i almost stumbled over pg's mom's dog on my way out of bed this morning. i didn't take too long to get going; the heat outside was unbearable.

i sat with the department secretary on a couple of items: it turns out there's nothing i can do about my courses next year until the end of october, we had a long discussion about student exchange and i grabbed my seminar paper on my way out. it turns out that the comments on the paper don't match the comments the lecturer sent me by email...

i went through to the faculty's computer department to present myself as the webmaster - it was a bit awkward, but it didn't take too long to find the girl who could help me. turns out she's seeing gco! strangely small world. she's very pleasant, and between the two of us we devised a good plan for sorting out all our present woes. also, i was provided a rather useful bit of gossip :)

i stopped by the library to borrow a thesis written by someone i know, then went to wait for a bus. it turned out that the buses that have replaced the ones i used to take were replaced by egged (and i'm not comfortable with egged lines now that i use studan), so i took one with a driver who initially told me he wasn't going my way, then reversed himself.

it turned out to be the right bus, just the wrong leg of the journey. at the reading station, i found another line that could take me even closer to my destination, and inadvertently discovered the real replacements for another useful line that has been modified beyond recognition - score!

when i got off the bus near the nokia stadium, i knew i had to eat something pre-training, so i stopped at the first place that looked alright: sirim. when they eventually deigned to talk to me, and after being asked explained what was available, and then after that explained how the lunch special works (seriously, i didn't see a menu anywhere), then at my request explained the stuff that they'd forgotten about, then provided me with the soup that i wasn't sure i really wanted, then the food, i found a seat and made myself a soda out of their crappy, unidentifiable syrup before sitting down to read off the kindle and be not-entirely disappointed with the meal.

the experience was up to shit, though. as a south african, my entrance into that place was a cultural error.

i bought laces for my blades, tried on a pair of powerslide skate & walks - the size 44 was a little too tight, but otherwise i was impressed enough to consider buying them anyway. then i thought better of it... now i have no idea how i'm going to get hold of a pair because the shop's not interested in ordering any more :(

while there, mmf called me to fish: apparently, the new boss of the old company is nosing around, asking grootbek (who still works there) questions about me. i've never even met the guy!

i stopped at home for a quick rest and to prep for taekwondo. training was tough. really tough: two thirds of the way through - rather conveniently, in terms of my evening plans - my whole system slowed down and i began to overheat. the last exercise we did was particularly trying, and i gave up when i realized that i was pretty much crossing the line.

i'm guessing it was the lack of oxygen and the heat, because i felt much better when i entered the mall's air-conditioned environment. even if my limbs were still barely functional :P

after a shower and a quick meal, i left for the "little prince". the coffee shop / bar is awesome! urchin joined me, we took our drinks and a couple of chairs outside and listened to the poetry recitals. some excellent, most horrible. hami rodner was great. we weren't on our best behaviour, giggling and such, but we were listening: there were two tables near us who spent most of the evening doing a fine job of drowning out what we were supposed to be appreciating :S

we were a lot more effective catching important people for the month's event than i'd anticipated, and i was quite excited when i called wordsworth to tell him the good news ^_^

i returned home for an evening on the roof with pg, araq, sour worms, fluxx and great music. i've just spent the past hour Doing Stuff, and i'm going to try to get something productive done before bed.