Crossing the finish line...

That's it.  80 blogs - I DID IT!!!!

It seemed like such an insurmountable task when we were first given that daunting target of 80 blogs to be completed by the end of the scholastic year.  My inital reaction was - is Marian blady crazy?! I mean, come on - when were we supposed to have a life? Oh, how I lamented my fate back then.

But the more I blogged, the more I found myself actually enjoying it. Where else would I have found such a captive audience (tongue-in-cheek) willing to be party to my many rants, tales of wisdom or offerings of wicked humour.  Blogging has provided me with a cathartic platform to lay to rest those ghosts of past that have haunted me for way longer that they should have. 

And here I am, slightly muddied and soiled by the whole experience but all the better for having done it. Mud has a surprisingly refreshing quality to it. A somewhat cooling effect - and after this arduous and taxing marathon , it's exactly what I need.

Open book test...

I thought I'd try my luck with a certain lecturer with the hope that he'd allow us to do an open book test for an upcoming exam.  Well, he kinda blew me out of the water on that one.  But what the hell, it was worth a try.

I rather like the idea of the 'take home' test another lecturer allowed us recently.  Now that was pure genius. For one whose life has become such a train wreck that really worked for me.

So I guess I'd better pull that proverbial finger out of my butt and get on with reading up on those notes if I don't want to fall completely flat on my face on Wednesday evening.

Then it's just that last assignment that's due on Monday...groan!!!!!

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

I'm so tired of people with hidden agendas.  Damn it man, how difficult can it be to be honest and true to those you deem to be friends? Surely the very fabric of what makes a friendship matter are those fundamental ingredients of truth, loyalty and integrity. The school I come from has taught me that these are non-negotiable if the friendship is to be considered meaningful.  That same school has further taught me that to be a true friend one should embody these qualities in every sense when eschewing it to a friendship.

I truly don't believe then that my expectations are out of whack when it comes to being granted the same consideration in return.  Yet for reasons beyond me, I find myself surrounded by so many wolves in sheep clothing lately.  Pretending to be friends and then displaying behaviour that is so contrary to what I regard friendship to be. How tiring this must be. Or is it second nature to those who deceive so adeptly, that very little effort is needed?

In recent times I've had to do quite a bit of  deweeding to rid myself of all the nettle that is choking the rich, fertile soil that is akin to the growth my friendship garden thrives on. Having done it, albeit with all the bruises and stings synonymous with such a painful process, I now look foward to seing the glorious splendour my little patch is sure to produce.

So over my annus horribilis!

This year needs to end.  I'm not wishing time away, but to kiss the buttcrack of what must surely have been my annus horribilis...well, all I can say is the sooner the better. I don't think I've ever been as sorely tested. 

Every bit of crap that could possibly happen to one person, was thrown my way this year. There was the run in with the then-boss early in the year whom I still think of as a total asshole, followed by the retrenchment (reading between the lines I'm sure you can tell that the two are somehow inter-linked), then the endless round of job interviews and subsequent rejections, not to mention the countless injuries on the softball field, and of course notwithstanding the stress and grey hairs that the studies brought - all of which has left me completely drained, exhausted I tell you!

Yep, I'm so done with this year...roll on 2012!!!

Fuck, no!

That about sums up my state of mind in the early hours of this morning.  I was one slide away from completing a presentation that took me all of 3 long hours to put together.  One slide away from doing the happy dance as I was just about ready to send it to my fellow group members who very kindly agreed to do the presentation in my absence. Due to increasingly hectic work commitments (didn't think I'd ever lay claim to that one again), I could not unfortunately make my way to college hence me doing the ground work for the group.

And then the unthinkable happened...the file became corrupted and just disappeared into friggin thin air.  I tried every means possible to retrieve it; but nothing, nada, zilch. If that's what dying feels like, I think I died a slow death.  Time of death: 3.45pm!

I had to start all over again.  I kid you not.  Right back to the very beginning. Points then to me for digging way deep when all I could think of doing was either blowing my brains out or killing that little mini-me HP piece of shit.  Neither seemed like an option when I realised that a presentation still had to happen, regardless - dead or alive - the thing is there're other members in my group who were depending on me, so dig deep I did. 

And here I sit at 3pm and am writing this blog more to keep awake than anything else.  As soon as I stop I run the risk of falling asleep at my desk, something I definitely can't afford.  After all I just started here yesterday.  As far as I know sleeping at your desk is a dismissable offence. I wonder if killing a computer falls into that category too? Grrrrrrr...

Christian the lion welcomes HRH Raisin

The hex has finally been broken! And with that awful spell lifted the way is paved for yours truly, aka Her Royal Highness Raisin, to take her first tentative steps back into the kingdom of asset management. 

Given my royal stature it is no surprise then that none other than the King of the Jungle himself, Christian was there to meet me on arrival yesterday.  And Christian actually remembered me from royal engagements past.  You see that's the thing with royalty, we're a tight little inner circle that pays court to our fellow regal beings.

So here I am trying to find my feet around this all too familiar territory, hoping that something permanent will come of it all. It's what I wanted, right?  After all I've been griping non-stop for the past few months about landing that job that would afford me those customs of old - as they say, be careful what you wish for, it may yet come true.