Personal Taxi Driver?

So I met this wonderfully exotic Saudi Arabian cabbie about my age tonight, also new in town....he gave me his direct contact so I could have him as my regular cabbie if I want, which is kinda convenient now that I need to use one quite a bit...(I gave up on the idea of driving and have worked through my paranoia about taking cabs...but only cos I'm not in the big city...)

Too bad the exotic multicultured dude SMOKES...why must people SMOKE!? Grrrrr...

Smokers are non negotiables for me. I don't care how cool the person is, I won't associate with a smoker, not even if you paid me, and not even if I could really use a local friend let alone a friend anywhere in my own decade.

Smokers are more disgusting than the scum you find on keyboards at public libraries...

LOL people are so polite these days that it's so boring and dishonest. Which is why I still air my too honest blatant opinions on here...it's almost cruel to subject people to really boring reading otherwise which being P.C and overly polite often makes for...

But I guess being polite and holding back criticism and too much honesty is how you can win popularity contests...for me though with my aspie tendencies...I only really care when it's regarding business...an aside-my latest revelation- before you couldn't separate ME from WHAT I DID. My profession= my identity. Now that I have no profession...wow it's an interesting time finding an identity(!!!) I guess I like the freedom of it being open... I'm trying to figure out how to mould this formless lump of clay...

No Sympathy for Smokers

My sis's friend wrote to me asking advice on her infertility woes. She's stressed out and she's a smoker....she also has a very young child.

I was not impressed.

Well no wonder you're freaking stressed f*ck even I am freaking stressed just from having this passive nicotine going into my bloodstream 24-7!

Nicotine is a stimulant and a vasoconstrictor Lady. How the heck can you relax or even get any decent sleep with that shit constantly in your system? (I certainly can't!)

Meanwhile, your bub is having to inhale that shit while his body is at it's most critical time in his development! Not to mention you're contributing to debilitating disease and premature death for all those that have to share the air around you...

Perhaps a good start would be speaking to someone from Quitline, and maybe pay your local acupuncturist a visit- I hear ear acupuncture is incredibly effective to deal with the addiction and cravings...and the best part? No needles and I think it's cheaper than patches!

Smokers should live in Smoker Compounds...

I was gonna say a follow on something but I'll exercise some restraint...Negative vibes can only generate more...

The ridiculous shared ventilation with chainsmokers on all sides who mysteriously only ever seem to leave the house for food or more smokos and who don't feel the need to sleep at 330am on a weeknight is still driving me insane. Insane and desperate enough to start considering all manner of only-someone-Desperate-would-do options. Notably moving back to the island permanently and others too embarrassing to openly admit publically...

Toyboy: if I get my filthy rich father to buy me a place by the beach with unlimited fresh air, will you be my "girlfriend"?

Far out, even had to hesitate in answering that one: sheesh, once I start getting that desperate and one-eyed for fresh breathable air, who knows what I'm capable of?!

In any case, I was just wondering...

Why is WEED illegal when cigarettes aren't?

I just don't get it.

With the 5000 or so chemicals and additives and CRAP in processed cigarettes these days and well evidenced addiction and adverse health effects costing society zillions in healthcare costs...it just doesn't make sense!

In any case besides feeling sincere pity for me and my plight, Toyboy and Co think this panda-eyed desperate-driven-to-insane me is an incredibly funny experience to witness.

Mainly because I become brash, assertive, irrational and fearsomely uninhibited...kinda like some people when they get sloshed...well I AM really pissed...Off!!! (And incredibly sleep deprived)

Hopefully will be able to crash quarterly executive committee meeting of the building this week to add my 5c...don't worry I'll aim to take my respectable, reasonable, rational, hopefully articulate and diplomatic but FIRM self along to that...after that will reassess and see the outcome of my blood tests etc.

This constant passive smoking is making me SICK, and health along with a fully functioning body is one thing you just cannot take for granted, cos often once it's lost, you either can't get it back or it requires a God-given miracle and efforts akin to climbing Mt Everest, along with a very fat bank balance and LOTS of time :P

this hellish and insidious nicotine business is making me really 1) stuffed body clock, sleep-deprived and dysfunctional and 2) really, really edgy...I imagine it's like being an addict going cold turkey or something! only a few more days...maybe I can get a job while I'm there and not come back until next semester?? daydreaming as usual...i need to stop procrastinating :P 50% prac exam to prepare which I'll need to pull out of my ass before tuesday...

The Weather

It's a very British/English tradition to talk about the weather.

Lots of people here still do it but I don't. Firstly cos I'm not a big fan of small talk and I'm no good at it, especially when the small talk is that generic and uninteresting...

So here is a first- a comment about the weather ;)

It's been raining cats and dogs and the winds have been nothing short of sweep you off your feet and shear your umbrella off at its threads kind of Gusts.

While most moan and groan, it's been a sanity-restoring welcome change for me^^

This is cos it's bringing a lovely fresh breathable cleanliness to the polluted city air...and to my particularly cigarette smoke infused apartment :(

A friend was over the other night and he gestured to my completely wide open balcony door on a chilly rainy night saying "gee you don't say you REALLY like your fresh air"!

I thought it's a good thing to always Say what you mean ;)

How predictably irrational are you? (and other things)

Occasionally I get sent some gems. I liked this 'scientific questionnaire'.

According to it, apparently I am so rational that I should be an economist? LOL Maybe this is why I've never been one for humanities bar ones -like language- that have logic, pattern and structure?

I wonder...is it considered pathological if one is too rational? Or just plain uncaring? In any case, what is TOO rational?

Whatever the case, I think for my profession-to-be at least, it's a pretty handy trait to have...cos otherwise it is all too easy to get pulled into emotional rollercoasters...I think as long as you can build rapport and have genuine compassion, attention and empathy...detachment (and therefore professionalism) is a good thing! It doesn't help getting too involved which can cloud your objective thought processes...

The good thing is, being an individual encounter, you can still have your favourite patients - the ones you just inexplicably connect with...without seeming horribly unjust and partial like when teaching in a classroom setting.

On another random note, I was really excited to read about the discovery of an indian tribe in the Amazon that had had no human contact with the "civilised"(I use that term cynically) world. In any case, it really blows my mind to think that these ancient tribes still exist in my lifetime...I'm just sad that it is only a matter of time before they cease to exist.

On the smoker woes issue...between it, the inability to sleep and my imminent exams I am going slightly insane(just in case you hadn't noticed), however one small consolation- in talks now with the director of the strata company, seen the plans of the piping etc of the building, had an assessment by a structural? engineering company...it's now just a matter of getting the huge finances and council approval to do a major overhaul of the building...That is the limitation of being human...unfortunately we can't just click our fingers to get something done immediately, but, at least it's PROGRESS.

On a final note, FRESH AIR HERE I COME...Yipppeeee!!!

Retreat-Reprieve-Escape from city is booked fleeing right after exams :-D. Will be the first time on a plane since the accident...hopefully it will be okay. It's been so long I was kinda surprised to see that you can now buy carbon offsets for your portion of the flight! But I'm still not wholely convinced that they are effective in actuality. More in this article.

The Life, Times and Crimes of City Life

3:00am woke up in bed horribly choked in cigarette smoke despite windows and doors all closed. Opened windows- even worse- it smelt like a bushfire. Just 50 minutes prior I found out in retrospect that that huge smashing sound was someone breaking into my neighbour's garage and subsequently nicking his bike.

No wonder the strata people weren't happy when they came into the office this morning....complaints galore. I only ended up here cos of the major rental crisis otherwise I would definitely not have chosen to live smack bang in the city...there are way too many low-lifes around!

And the worst part is there is no reprieve for the lungs cos if you venture out in the wee hours you're seriously asking to be bashed and mugged...

CITY LIFE SUCKS!

Past, Present, Future...

That new agey/yoga concept of "being wholely in your body in the present" is really, really true: it's just that for modern society, we generally suck at it!

Most of us squander our present by spending most of it worrying about the future and/or dwelling on the past...I'm so glad I have none of that left in me: it's awesome to be able to enjoy each day and only see all the numerous possibilities for the future...and as Big Kev says best: "I'm excited"! ;)

p.s
Since my confrontation with smoker I have had THE BEST 24 hours since- I'm breathing, sleeping- arghhhh the joy of simple pleasures!!

In case you're thinking I'm a Nazi imposing on civil liberties, I didn't actually tell him he had to stop doing it- I just told him to turn on his extraction fan when he does and made him aware that everytime he smokes it comes straight into my apartment...so far, so good -no problems...maybe he didn't even dare to smoke? LOL - perhaps when I'm truly distressed or impassioned about a cause...and let fly, maybe I can come across as intimidating...or rather the guy realises...with something that bothers me THAT MUCH and THAT RELENTLESSLY I'm equally not gonna let it drop and so he's just being smart ;) or, a good neighbour :)

Let's hope I haven't spoken too soon...next 3 weeks: CRUNCH TIME I'm gonna need as much unpolluted air and sleep as I can get: Fingers and Toes crossed! XXX

Confrontation: MsCherryLane Discovers Assertiveness

So after yet another consecutive nicotine-fuelled winkless night of sleep leaving me three hours too late to class today, I was NOT A HAPPY CAMPER when I returned to an apartment reeking of stale and choking cigarette smoke on opening my front door.

I was prepared to let it slide (as usual) -that is- until the food I was trying to put in my mouth became engulfed in fresh new all-consuming fumes and I started to feel nauseous...THAT WAS THE FINAL STRAW. Without stopping to think about possible consequences, I went and rapped on neighbour's door...face to face with neighbour...all my frustrations bubbled over- I can't even remember what I said but the guy didn't even have a chance to utter his defense...the confrontation ended with him saying "I'm so sorry..."

Wow. Mscherrylane 1 Smoker O. This assertiveness thing is cool.

Good riddance to repressed asian "don't cause any trouble la-just suck it in" ways.

I'm wondering if it'd be pushing it too far to rock up at his door offering him free ear stud acupuncture "kick your disgusting habit" and save both of us from becoming a sick, sad statistic treatment?

Blood, Guts and Gore: The Truth!

Make me deal with blood, guts, gore or vomit and I'll be the first one to run the opposite way!

On the other hand give me the cold, hard 100% truth - and maybe I'll stare you right back in the eye and say 'Thank You'.

I'm not sure why people are so averse to telling the truth. It's so downright hard to find honest people these days. Everybody is always hiding behind facades, so worried about what other people think of them, or so worried about offending people.

What I really can't stand are "little white lies" and people who are so gutless they can't deal with truth or be their real selves. Or maybe it's just me, maybe I think a lot better of truthful people, but most people would prefer to hear only what they want to hear and be in sheltered ignorance from that which they don't...

Maybe when I was younger, more naive and more sheltered, I was a lot more judgemental but honestly, now I think I've pretty well heard it all...it sure takes a lot to shock me, and I try not to judge...unless of course you're a filthy smoker and then of course you immediately sink to the bottom of the heap - if you do it around me at least!!!

Speaking of smokers, G was at my place again and even SHE didn't sleep a wink...I'm thinking it's all that nicotine that is insidiously invading 24-7 via the pores in the walls, floor and common ducts...at low levels nicotine is a stimulant...although I've always had shite-y sleep, since I've been back in the city with all my stressed out Chinamen chain-smoking neighbours hinging me in from all directions, I think I've barely gotten A WINK...and I'm even running a $500 negative ion air purifier! ARGHHHHHHHHH, it's so...completely aggravating! And just another challenge to this intense study life and maintaining GOOD grades. Obviously another campaign I need energy for...a matter of persistently harrassing the strata enough...*sigh* I really AM tired...if only I could SLEEP!