Jamie’s Journal

Last week my Physical Education lecturer, Val, was riding her bike to campus when she skidded on a tram track and slid in front of a car. Her right shoulder was broken and her left thumb ripped from her hand (it has since been successfully reattached). She’s now back on her feet and taking our lectures even though she doesn’t have the use of her arms. The woman’s got strength!

Val gave us a recount of the accident today and I’m quite horrified. After she was knocked to the ground she lay there for quite a while. Nobody made any attempt to help her or call an ambulance. The car driver stayed in his vehicle and nearby pedestrians just watched. Furthermore, other cars started to drive around her… Utterly pathetic! What’s wrong with people?

It was only after Val realized that no assistance was forthcoming that she herself took charge of the situation. Despite the fact her thumb was dangling from her hand, she gave orders for two people to lift her off the road. She then requested another observer call her an ambulance and sent them back to retrieve her bike.

I seriously don’t understand. If I saw a lady hit by a car and knocked to the ground I would immediately call an ambulance and try to help. Are people too eager to get to work that they can’t help someone who has just been seriously injured? What about the car driver? You’d think that after hitting someone the very least you could do would be to get out of your car and check on them! I’m really sickened.

A couple of entries back I mentioned my art teacher showed us some really neat videos. I’ve just found the link to my favourite one. It’s middle aged men dancing on treadmills. Trust me… it’s impressive! Furthermore, the clip hasn’t been cut. However, it did require twenty takes. Click here to view it.

I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have!

It’s my 20th birthday tomorrow. That’s right… there’s still time for you to buy me a present! Actually, even if you miss the actual day it’s never too late! However, what you give me will determine whether you’re invited to my 21st… so make it good! Just kidding! I’m not quite that superficial. However, presents are still welcome.

On Friday night I caught up with Krystal. She was going to take me out to a restaurant for my birthday. Unfortunately, when she picked me up from Eastland the key to her new car broke. To make things worse she hadn’t yet had a spare made. As a result we spent the night drifting between the car park and the food court… at least until all the shops closed and we were forced to wait outside Bi Lo. As you might imagine, we didn’t find that the most exciting destination. We were just about to buy a set of plastic skittles from Bi Lo to serve as entertainment when finally the locksmith arrived. I admit I was actually a little disappointed. I wanted to play skittles. lol

Krystal blames me for the occurrence. I’ve been present every time one of her cars has experienced problems. I was there when we accidentally snapped half of her petrol cap off – the other part jammed in. I was there when her car battery died and I was there on Friday night. She thinks I’m jinxed. Thankfully, each time we’ve had problems we’ve been in a civilized, comfortable environment. Hopefully that trend will continue.

Anyway, talking about this has reminded me of some highly depressing news… the Barbie car is no more! Someone crashed into the back of it during the night while it was parked out on the road. I’m really going to miss the bright pink. It was very Krystal! However, her new car is fantastic! A very good choice. It’s a (Toyota?) Telstar with power everything and a good sound system… but it’s not pink! It’s a sexy black/grey.

While we were at the shopping centre on Friday I caught a glimpse of someone hot who looked a lot like someone I used to be attracted to. A few minutes later we came face to face and I was shocked to find it was actually my crush from a few years back. We smiled and said hey and kept on walking. They had their arm around someone else… Life’s so not fair! “All by myself… Don’t wanna be all by myself!”

Thankfully I had the birthday presents Krystal had bestowed upon me to serve as a distraction. I’m now the owner of two Barbie dolls. Krystal gave me my second one this year. Apparently she’ll give me the Barbie model car for my 21st. What a woman! She also gave me a really funky bag! Krystal has been complaining for years that I always lug a back-pack around with me… even when I don’t have much in it. So now I have a funky black bag for the times when I’m only carrying a bottle of water and my walkman. Thanks Krystal!

In other news I have a school placement coming up in two weeks. I’ll actually be teaching the whole class this time… twice a day. Very exciting! I’ve also just realised my literacy assignment is due a week earlier than I thought. This is a slight problem as I haven’t finished reading the books I’m supposed to be analysing. I guess that means the coming week promises to be a tad stressful…

Hope you’re all well! Thanks for everyone who’s commented / emailed / messaged me advance happy birthday messages! You all rock!

I killed a rabbit yesterday. I was just about home when a cute little grey rabbit dashed out in front of my car. If it were a pet I’d have given it the name ‘Sooty’. I slammed on the brakes. However, this wasn’t enough. Without swerving into oncoming traffic there was no way to avoid hitting the poor thing. I felt a little bump and when I looked in the rear vision mirror there was a wet patch on the road! For all I know there’s a bunny carcass stuck to one of the wheels. I didn’t have the stomach to look when I got home. I further avoided the issue by using the other car today…

On a happier note I made a clay chair today. I’m very proud. I even took photos of it to put in my folio. Art is a great subject and we’ve got a funky teacher. Marnee commenced our lesson today by showing us her favourite clips from You Tube – the movie website. A few people were struggling to see the relevance to our course… However, she confirmed there wasn’t any. Marnee just thought they were clips worth sharing. She knows her art and she makes her classroom fun. Go Marnee!

I’m also feeling very touched. Krystal asked if she could throw me a birthday party. She’s the first friend who’s actually wanted to organise something for me! I feel special. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to work out due to the fact that my friends are scattered and nobody seems to have the same time off during the week. However, it was the thought that counts. You rock Krystal!

The following is for all the people in my course. Nalini is NOT 27! She is NOT married and does NOT have four children. This is a misconception I gained from dodgy sources… *Cough* Matt! *Cough!* She’s actually younger than me… Her official comment on the matter is “Maybe I can make the broad statement that age doesn’t bring wisdom.”

Hope you’re all well!

My blog has been far better received than I ever imagined! In it’s first month of existence, July, it received 2,416 page views from 165 unique visitors. It’s actually a little scary when I think about it. Anyway, cheers to everyone who left a comment. It’s nice to make a website interactive.

I caught up with Heidi last week and she’s made me very jealous. Her faculty has fitted its building with a swipe card security system. I want one! However, it’s probably best that I don’t. If it were ever introduced for the Education buildings I think I’d spend most of my day standing at a door. It’s greatly amusing to swipe a card, listen to a buzz and watch an indicator light flick from red to green!

Becc, one of my old school friends, called me on Friday night. It was great to hear her voice again! We haven’t seen each other in about a year now. She’s coming down to Melbourne this week and we’re going to try to catch up. Whee! We’ve had many adventures including blockading school corridors and staff rooms (sometimes with teachers inside) and demonstrating the full power of K-mart’s variety of stereo systems… Hehehe! K-mart at Eastland used to (they probably altered the setup due to our activities) have a large wall of stereo systems on display. They were all plugged in and fully operational. Our prank was to visit each one in turn, set them to the same radio station, turn them up to full volume and then turn them off. As we did this one at a time we didn’t create too much noise or attract too much attention. Finally, we’d run down the aisle and turn them all on. The sound was amazing! Dozens of speakers pumping out pop tunes at full volume! Even after we’d run to the entry of the store (some thirty metres away) the whole store was still shaking to the beat of the music. I wonder who/what our victim/target will be this time around… Just kidding! We’re mature adults now…

It’s my 20th birthday in 15 days. Geese I’m getting old! I’ve only got a few more days as a teenager! On the note of getting older, Courtney proposed that I move into a city apartment with herself and her sister. No more wasted travelling time! The idea sounds very interesting and I get excited just thinking about it. Unfortunately, I’d have to get more shifts at work or find another job. My present income just wouldn’t suffice. Fortunately, I’ve got plenty of time to think it over. We wouldn’t be moving out until next year… I’ll keep everyone posted.

Take a look at my song lyric challenge if you haven’t already had a chance. There’s still plenty to be found. It’s a few entries back so scroll down…