I have a theory (one of many) that the amount of daylight during peak hour effects the severity of the traffic or the perception and tolerance for traffic by drivers. I don’t know about anyone else, but since the return from daylight savings time to normal time the traffic on the drive home has felt worse, and driving to my Spanish class tonight I found myself getting more frustrated than usual at the busyness of President Ave. I think the amount of daylight changes the way we drive. When it is dark it is harder to judge distances and to see the road ahead of you. As a result people leave larger gaps, drive more slowly or are more likely to delay an action because it is harder to tell if it safe or not. All of these factors, I believe, lead to slower moving traffic - which, when coupled with the volume of traffic during peak hour, increase the severity of the traffic. I also think that driving home from work in the dark changes how drivers respond to peak hour traffic. When the sun is up and you’re on the way home, I reckon you feel like you’ve got a whole evening ahead of you to unwind, relax or work on a hobby. But when the sun is down and its dark, it feels like there’s much less time. Driving home in daylight increases our tolerance to sitting in slow traffic, whereas feeling like we’ll soon need to be in bed increases the feeling of urgency, making us more frustrated with traffic. I suspect that both factors are at work, making the negative experience much greater. However I suspect our attitude adjusts slightly as we get used to the hours of sunrise and sunset. Maybe in the future I should base the hours I start and finish work on when the sun sets, so that I’m always driving home an hour before hand, avoiding the problems darkness brings. That or I could just work from home, or in a country town with no traffic.

New South Wales, Australia is on the cusp of one its defining moments for the next 4 years. That’s right, its election time. A chance to express my democratic freedom and elect a representative from amongst my peers to represent my interests a make decisions on my behalf. But every time the writ is issued and the rolls are closed I start to ponder who should I vote for. Oh, and not just who, but in what order (ah, the beauty of the preferential system)....

The last 14 days have been quite tumultuous1. Here is a snapshot of some highlights: Saturday Night: I decided to be more disciplined, and as apart of that I’ve been waking between 6:30 and 7:00am on weekdays to get stuff done Tuesday: I attended a funeral for a friend from the Uniting Church who passed away Wednesday: My sister had her daughter - which means I became an uncle Wednesday Evening: Had one of the most heated and challenging bible studies of the whole year Thursday: Left work early to inspect an okay property we had complete certainty we would get - and didn’t take it Saturday: Spent 3 hours in a travel agent and booked my flights to South America Sunday: Went to a lunch to support some of our church’s missionaries....

I was driving to work today and I was again impressed with the quality of work being done by the RTA. One of the programmable overhead signs read as follows: ACCIDENT AHEAD, LANE CLOSED PREPARE TO MERGE >>>>>>>>LEFT>>>>>>>> Obviously they were thinking of the other left.

After a year living with Jarad and James in probably one of the best units of any of my friends (except maybe James and Sophie’s), we’ve been served with an eviction notice. That’s right, its over. We have 60 days left. Fortunately the eviction isn’t because we poured fanta all over the carpet or decided to draw all over the walls with texta. We are being given the notice because our lease is expiring in a week and a bit, and the owner’s daughter is apparently coming back from overseas and is going to move in. So now the hard work of inspections and moving and house warming parties begins. Jarad has seen a nice place already, and we went for a nice walk tonight to have a look at it and some of the real estate agents. It was good to get out and reminisce about good times and the work that now has to be done. I doubt we’ll find a place as good as this one. Maybe if it has a gas stove, dish washer, 2 toilets and builtins in every room it’ll come close.

and in just under 4 months my cholesterol has lowered to an acceptably healthy level. I can now enjoy a cheese and Thai again. The doctor seemed impressed that I had dropped 1.8mmol/L (from 6.6 to 4.8) in that period of time. I don’t know if that’s good or not, but I don’t think I’ll be dying of a heart attack anytime soon (hopefully there are no sudden ironic twists now I’ve written that)....

Apparently from the centre of Copenhagen. Questionable in terms of whether or not it actually took place, but very cool nevertheless.

I just got some spam that is in Russian, doesn’t include any links and, according to my translation widget, is advertising English lessons. Awesome. (read more for email body) ...

Since I am now past the 3 month mark since the start of my cholesterol induced diet I decided I’d visit the doctor and get my blood tested again. When he does these tests he always checks everything so he got me to stand on the scales to take my weight. I got a big surprise (so to speak). My weight was 78kg, with my shoes still on, a fat wallet still in my pocket and the scales reporting just above zero with nothing on them. I thought I was still around 82kg (having lost about 4 or 5 before that) and 3 months ago I was 84kg. I think what makes it a bigger deal is that I hadn’t done much exercise through January, and I haven’t been as strict on what I was eating. I don’t think I’ve been below 80 since the start of university. My reckoning is that by the end of this year, with all the travelling and what not going on, I’ll be in the low 70’s. Sweet.