G'day mate! How ya goin!
And whilst the dogs and parents back home are battling the cold, I have a bit of a struggle myself here down under. It's mid-spring and I've encountered an old enemy, the hay-fever! I thought that I was only allergic to swedish plants of various kinds, mainly grass. But it seems I'm allergic to ALL pollens down here. Sneezing and a constantly runny nose and itchy eyes has become an everyday thing. Even though it's extremely annoying. Everyone looks at me when I sneeze and are probably thinking "swine flue". Good news is that I've already had it, was sick for four days, had a temp of about 40 degrees but I made it. Other than that, we went diving today; it was the first dive in the Advanced Openwater Diver Course and it was hell fun eventhough we were in the murky swan river. The visibility was about 3-4 meters, unlike the 50cm we had last time we were there during the open water diver course. I saw a lot of fish, but mostly crabs and anemones. We focused on refreshing the knowledge and underwater compass navigation. My first compass (which is built in to the device which holds your dive computer, and the gage that shows how much air you've got left) didnt work, so I got a new set of regulators and stuff. When in the water it turned out that the "new one" didnt work either. I was swimming around in circles, and various other shapes, as I tried to swim in a square which was todays exercise. Matt our instructor handed me his wrist mounted compass, and I knew how to use it, even though it was the first time I used one, and man, that was extremly accurate. Now I could go in whatever shape I wanted, square, triangle, I always got back to the exact same location without a fuzz. I reckon that's why I've got most of the gear myself. Because when hundreds of people use the same gadgets, gears and whatnot, the things wear out. But I reckon I do need to buy myself a wrist mounted compass, as that would be more accurate, and I'd be able to spend more time on watching stuff underwater, than trying to get my compass to work so I could get to the right location atleast in time..
Other than that, I got a formal paper showing my completed units a few days ago, it was for the past semester, and I've passed everything!! They didn't grade us though, it was either competent or not. Either you pass or you don't. I reckon that's good enough.
I also went down to the bank, Commonwealth as it's called. Inquiring about getting a bigger loan, because I'd REALLY want a sail yacht, however, It turned out that with the money I'm making I wouldnt be able to take a loan for a couple of hundred thousand dollars, so instead I'll go to plan B: Getting a motorbike with license. As you're not really watched while practicing for the license, I reckon I could get away with say 7 lessons, because I am a quick learner, and as soon as I know how to drive the bike, I could get my own. With a decent 250cc bike, gear, lessons and license I'd end up spending around 9 grand. However, that, over 3 years would be $37 dollars per week, with insurance and petrol maybe $100 per week. Completely affordable considering I'd be able to get anywhere and everywhere!! A fun fact is that when you get a MC license in AU you need to stick with a 250cc for a year before you are allowed to drive heavier bikes. However, if you'd get a Harley straight away, and you are such a shitty driver that the cops stop ya, you only get a fine for $600 for driving above your class. Oh, and it's a one-time fee. But I probobly wont do that. Mainly cus the 250cc is cheaper and getting a heavier bike when being a rookie doesn't seem like a good idea. Dad went straight to goldwing and he got a couple of scratches in it. I'll try to avoid the same misstake, and avoiding the urge to go 300km/h is the main reason for going for a Harley type of bike instead of a ninja. :)
...but first I need permanent residency. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to get the loan to afford all this. Permanent residency isn't citizenship but pretty much the same thing. :) I'm becoming an Aussie :D
Reckon that's all for now. Got to go to work!
Peace
J