There are certain rules governing acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in and around public swimming pools.
I would think that one of those would be to not let your children poop in the pool.
And, ok, assume that it was an unavoidable accident, I would think that the decent thing to do is to tell the other users of the pool (or at least the people in charge of the pool) so they can do something about it (e.g. jump out of the pool and take a shower!).
My students in Townsville found out the hard way that not everyone is considerate when it comes to poo(l) etiquette.
A kid did a shit in the motel swimming pool when my students were cooling off after fieldwork one day (lucikly I decided to take a nap instead). The parents of the kid discretely retrieved the offending floaters and then left without telling anyone. My students only found out when they saw said floaters in the bin.
Oh well, at least the parents had the decency to scoop out the poop.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Taxi drivers
Maybe I am simply getting too old but the idea of catching the skybus to and from the airport has become less and less appealing.
Nowadays, I tend to catch a taxi, especially if it's a work trip. And for the most part, I've had very few dramas. That was until my most recent taxi trip back from the airport.
It was my own stupidity really. I caught the taxi to the airport when I went to Brisbane last week and the same driver that took me to the airport also offered to pick me up and bring me home upon my return.
Big mistake.
First...a bit of context. The taxi rank outside the arrivals terminal is very convenient and passengers barely have to wait a few minutes because there is almost always a steady stream of taxis coming through. So...pre-booking a taxi is totally unnecessary.
Given that I had pre-booked my taxi, I had to walk to a different part of the airport. And, of course, my taxi driver was nowhere to be seen. He sent another colleague to collect me and I never saw the taxi. Tens of text messages and phone calls later, he offered to come and pick me up himself. I waited and waited (Nathan called me an idiot). Eventually, I gave up and walked back to the regular taxi rank. And 'yes', just as I was about to hop into a regular taxi, the original guy calls and says he has arrived. Too late. I was gone.
Nowadays, I tend to catch a taxi, especially if it's a work trip. And for the most part, I've had very few dramas. That was until my most recent taxi trip back from the airport.
It was my own stupidity really. I caught the taxi to the airport when I went to Brisbane last week and the same driver that took me to the airport also offered to pick me up and bring me home upon my return.
Big mistake.
First...a bit of context. The taxi rank outside the arrivals terminal is very convenient and passengers barely have to wait a few minutes because there is almost always a steady stream of taxis coming through. So...pre-booking a taxi is totally unnecessary.
Given that I had pre-booked my taxi, I had to walk to a different part of the airport. And, of course, my taxi driver was nowhere to be seen. He sent another colleague to collect me and I never saw the taxi. Tens of text messages and phone calls later, he offered to come and pick me up himself. I waited and waited (Nathan called me an idiot). Eventually, I gave up and walked back to the regular taxi rank. And 'yes', just as I was about to hop into a regular taxi, the original guy calls and says he has arrived. Too late. I was gone.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Queensland
I was in Queensland last week. Actually, I went up to Queensland twice.
The first trip was to visit colleagues at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. I've not been to UQ before and I was pleasantly surprised. The jacarandas were in bloom and there was wildlife roaming all over campus. It has to be one of the nicest Australian universities I have ever visited. I decided to stay at South Bank, which allowed me to drop into the Queensland Art Gallery before going out to the airport to catch my flight back to Melbourne.
My second trip was decided at the last minute (hence the lunacy of flying back up to Queensland a few days after returning to Melbourne). The second time around I was off to Townsville to help my students collect fish for research. By the time I had arrived, the students had already managed a sizeable haul so it wasn't too much effort to collect the remaining fish (4000 in total) during my visit. I got back to Melbourne early this morning. The students are driving the fish back.
The first trip was to visit colleagues at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. I've not been to UQ before and I was pleasantly surprised. The jacarandas were in bloom and there was wildlife roaming all over campus. It has to be one of the nicest Australian universities I have ever visited. I decided to stay at South Bank, which allowed me to drop into the Queensland Art Gallery before going out to the airport to catch my flight back to Melbourne.
My second trip was decided at the last minute (hence the lunacy of flying back up to Queensland a few days after returning to Melbourne). The second time around I was off to Townsville to help my students collect fish for research. By the time I had arrived, the students had already managed a sizeable haul so it wasn't too much effort to collect the remaining fish (4000 in total) during my visit. I got back to Melbourne early this morning. The students are driving the fish back.
Friday, November 4, 2016
Fantastic Friday
I took the day off. I have too much annual leave and am trying to draw it down by Christmas.
I started the day by taking Truffles to the vet for her annual check up.
Our regular vet has left. We really liked the guy, least of all because the first time he ever met Truffles, he was trying so hard to engage with the dog that he was practically licking her face (we figure this guy must really likes animals and should be good at his job).
The vet used to own the practice but he sold his business a couple of years ago to a chain and was unhappy with the way the business was being run. Anyhow, he has now been replaced by a new guy, a South African.
I asked the new vet if he could teach me how to express Truffles' anal glands. He went into a lengthy explanation as to why it is best to have the glands squeezed by a professional. He was pretty convincing so I have decided to leave the task to him.
After I dropped Truffles back in the apartment, I made my way to the Museum to drop off some fish that I had promised the curator (yes, this is how a scientist spends his day off; reinforcing geeky science stereotypes).
Continuing on the fishy theme, I decided to treat myself at my favourite Japanese restaurant and ended up gorging on sashimi.
I was thinking of going to Fed Square afterwards but I heard there has been a gas leak and the whole precinct had to be evacuated so I came home instead.
I think I'm just going to relax for the rest of the day (I'll just ignore the big pile of exam papers sitting on my kitchen table).
I started the day by taking Truffles to the vet for her annual check up.
Our regular vet has left. We really liked the guy, least of all because the first time he ever met Truffles, he was trying so hard to engage with the dog that he was practically licking her face (we figure this guy must really likes animals and should be good at his job).
The vet used to own the practice but he sold his business a couple of years ago to a chain and was unhappy with the way the business was being run. Anyhow, he has now been replaced by a new guy, a South African.
I asked the new vet if he could teach me how to express Truffles' anal glands. He went into a lengthy explanation as to why it is best to have the glands squeezed by a professional. He was pretty convincing so I have decided to leave the task to him.
After I dropped Truffles back in the apartment, I made my way to the Museum to drop off some fish that I had promised the curator (yes, this is how a scientist spends his day off; reinforcing geeky science stereotypes).
Continuing on the fishy theme, I decided to treat myself at my favourite Japanese restaurant and ended up gorging on sashimi.
I was thinking of going to Fed Square afterwards but I heard there has been a gas leak and the whole precinct had to be evacuated so I came home instead.
I think I'm just going to relax for the rest of the day (I'll just ignore the big pile of exam papers sitting on my kitchen table).
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Mosquito attack
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Melbourne Cup
The Australian Research Council (ARC) is scheduled to announce funding outcomes today for research projects commencing in 2017. While most Australian's will be keeping their eyes on the races this afternoon, most academics (myself included) will be keeping their eyes on the ARC website. And a bit like the races, no matter how much you try to maximise the odds, it's all a bit of a lottery.
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