Model Cars

I bought a model Nissan GT-R in hk at the start of the year,
but havent got around to building it until after the
exams had finished.

After several days of concentration, patience and occasional frustration, here it is!
The finished product is hardly perfect, with smears of paint and cement everywhere, but the whole process gave me a consistent message: If it isn't that bad, don't try and fix it; you may end up making it worse than it was before.

It's my fourth model car, after a Porsche Carrera GT, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, and a Ferrari Enzo. Its interesting how even though the failings of each car reminded me not to rush, I still tried to get through as much as I could in one go; I'd often start working on something even though the paint or cement had not dried.

Overall though, I'm pretty happy with this result, which I think is the most polished yet: it lacks the glaring blunders of the previous 3.

Hope you like it!

Any comments are welcome :)

aftermath

Well, the exams are finally over for those of us who did uni maths. Hopefully all the intense cramming (50 pages) has paid off, although judging from the fact a lot of us got different answers I can't get too confident.

Its only been a few days since exams have finished, but I'm starting to get bored already. Too much time at home not doing too much. In the past, gaming seemed like the awesomest thing to do, but now the prospect of playing doesn't seem to have the insatiable appeal it used to back in those heady days of year 9 and 10.

It's strange how my mood seems to swing significantly. Yesterday, for example, I was sorting out all my year 12 handouts and practice exams on the table to the positive beats on '101.9 the Fox' feeling motivated and purposeful, and today I'm moping about the same house not knowing what to do, just refreshing the facebook page (live feed and news feed) hoping for something interesting to pop up.

I'm hoping that getting a part time job will help with this...stagnation? and give me a bit more of a purpose in my day to day routine. I think its just that I'm not yet used to this freedom so instead of feeling free I feel unsupported, like a young bird free to fly for the first time but unsure quite how to do it properly.

Please feel free to post a comment or write something in the chat box!

UMEP

It is now about 34 hours away from the first uni maths exam, and I've got no clue how I'm going to go.

With all of my other exams I've felt fairly confident about my knowledge of the course and that nothing much can throw me too off guard; its like the cliche about having a solid foundation, a deep knowledge of what is happening.

With uni maths, that foundation is more like the thin ice that forms across the lake- a strangely worded problem, or a slight mental blank, and I have as much of a chance of working out the problem as most of you who haven't done the subject.

Its funny how I always thought it was slightly disappointing how I didn't really have a clean 'cut' which signified the end of my VCE exams, because this subject isn't really a proper VCAA subject. I always thought that after chemistry it would be a kinda-not-really end to VCE while after uni maths its another sort-of-in-a-way ending too, so there wouldn't be a clear point where I can celebrate the end of my secondary schooling.

The disappointment stemmed from my belief that I could bludge my way through the subject and scrape through with some last minute cramming.


How wrong I was.


I've heard that the brain is one of the highest energy users out of all the organs in the body. Whether or not this is true, I wish there was a way I could measure my brain activity over the last week or so, or calculate how much content i've tried to force into it. I've been relearning the course, one intense, painful 'problem sheet' at a time.

I think I express myself pretty reservedly when I work; its usually only in the desperation of sporting arenas that I physically release my emotions. At most, I would clench my fists in quiet celebration at the end of a particularly hard english or chem exam, or possibly even after solving an annoying problem.

With umep, I can do full half minute celebrations after completing a single problem without getting it wrong, and slump my head into my hands when it is incorrect. That is how draining it can be.

It's funny because I always thought that a week and a bit would have been plenty of time, but the reality is I've been working far harder than I did for the vce exams and have desperately needed every minute of the break. People who did uni bio or accounting crammed their study in the day before the exam due to timetabling, and if it was anything like this, they must been absolutely BEAST.

To any fellow uni maths students reading this, hang in there. It's only a few more days left, and judging from just about everyone else, the light at the end of this long, dark, slippery and frustrating tunnel is very bright indeed.

Good Luck,
Loz

flat

3 exams down, 4 to go, although two of them are just for uni maths.

Been feeling kinda flat recently. Motivation's been low; I can slog through practice exams but can't really be bothered doing other things. It's not what I imagined life after english to be like.

I think too much time is the problem. I'm alone most of the day with the whole house to myself and cant really force myself to do work because its so relaxed. I think about the time I realised I forgot to do chem homework 45 minutes beforehand, a worksheet which other people said took ages, and I finished it with 5 minutes to spare. Maybe I work best under pressure, but it would be nice to be able to work well without it.

Hopefully I'll find a part time job to fill the gaping expanses of time after chemistry.

If I can't do that I'll probably end up some fat lazy slob who can't be bothered doing anything.


On a more positive note, I went out to msac to watch the firsts badminton team play on saturday. My brother was playing at around the same time so I decided to see how the team was going.

They were pretty good; the year 7 and 8 newcomers have good technique and strength, and their attitude is quite good too. Going back to msac, I realise I don't really seem to belong there anymore. It's like a primary school once you left it. It made me realise just how fast time flies, and how you must appreciate and take the opportunities given.

I don't really feel like doing anything else now, but then again I've got nothing more of value to say in this post.

-end-

Discrimination

A few 'features' from channel 7's today tonight show have been about people complaining about discrimination in our world.

One of the feature programs was about a coles biscuit called 'creole cream'. According to some academic Sam Watson, it's racist to 'people of mixed European and African or Afro-Caribbean heritage'. The man from the program (not sure if it was this guy) then proceeded to say products like 'redskins' and 'eskimo pies' are also racist and should be pulled off the shelves.

As I am of no European, African or Afro-Carribean descent, I realise that the term could be more offensive than I think it might be, but judging from the public reaction, 'people with a Creole background are generally happy to be associated with it these days regardless of the history', and a man interviewed said they didn't care about either despite being of such descent.

The man's claims, particularly about redskins left my brother and I stunned. I thought that if such a thing could be racist, will it be too far a step to label black pepper and white flour as discrimination as well?

It seems people who bothered commenting thought that the man had too much time on his hands and had nothing better to do. Personally, I think that if you try too hard to make things right, you might end up seeing problems where there are none.


The second 'story' was about fat people, and their struggle to find 'designer' clothing which fit them. Their main argument was something along the lines of :
'I work hard to earn my money, so I should be able to spend it on what I want to'

Yes, I think you should be able to spend it on what you want, but you can only spend it on SOMETHING WHICH EXISTS. If Louis Vuitton, or Gucci or whatever designer companies there are do not make a product which fits you, tough luck. They have their specific target demograhics, and obviously that cannot be everyone.

The people's claims that they are 'discriminating just to protect their "image"' is both ridiculous and true at the same time. Yes, they are trying to protect their image. Despite my limited knowledge of commerce and the business world, I'm pretty sure that's what every company tries to do. They spend millions of dollars trying to build up their 'brand' so that it means something, and those people who buy it are also buying that brand meaning.

In the most technical sense of the term, it is 'discriminating'. It is 'making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit' (dictionary.com). But the question is, is it discrimination in the public, socially accepted sense? Are these companies simply picking on these people just because they feel like it?

I doubt that. More likely it was a rational decision which weighed up the benefits of broadening their market and introducing a whole new class of buyers to the brand against the drawbacks of diluting the brand's exclusivity and image, possibly leading to a disgruntlement and exodus of its core supporters. The world of business is cold, with decisions influenced more by profit margins than petty dislikes.

An example of this widening of the market was shown by Porsche a few years ago when it created the Porsche Cayenne, a large, luxury SUV. Where Porsches are generally light, low, agile, rear-engined 2(+2) seaters, the Cayenne was a 2 tonne +, was tall, ponderous, front engined 5 seater with space enough for 7 seats.

The controversy it caused was enormous. Critics said it was the most unPorschelike porsche they had ever seen, while die hard 'purists' believed it was damaging the brand. The result? The Cayenne is now one of the most popular porsches being bought. It had the brand name, and performance (to a point), while also having space, comfort and practicality.

The point is, these companies are not stupid. If, and only if, they believe the product will be a commercial success, they will make it. If they don't think so, then stop complaining like a 5 year old kid because they're not going to do what you want.

If the fashion brands are discriminating because they don't offer their clothes in greater sizes, then ferrari discriminates against the poor, women's clothing stores discriminate against men and you discriminate when you choose to buy one brand over another. Sounds ridiculous?

It is.