I've been reading Slashdot for about nine years now. There have always been trolls and cretins as a component of the peanut gallery, but as the userids go higher the clue seems to decrease. I think I'll still read stories but starting 2/20/2006 I'm just not going to comment any more - I might as well try to have a technical discussion with one of the homeless people that haunts the park across from the downtown library as say anything of value here.

Double foo on slashdot! Does this thing work now?

I applied for an English teaching job in Japan, and just found out I didn't get it.

*sigh*

I had all their requirements and everything. I ought to be the interview king by now - I've done over 40 of them - but I suppose not. Maybe if I didn't suck I would have had less interviews, and more jobs.

Has anyone else felt a sense of trepidation upon seing that "This will go down on your permanent record" warning when adding a piece to your journal.

Here's some things for you to do or look at:

Listen to music by People With Chairs Up Their Noses. The world's best band name, and possibly the world's worst band.

Cat Scan. Put a cat on top of a scanner ...

Toxic Custard Guide To Australia. Funny stuff.

YOU are your own prison. My friend said this site reminded him of graffiti on public toilets in mental hospitals. How he came to be such an expert on that subject he did not say.

All for now.

Okay, so no-one's interested, but here goes ...

I am an Australian. I am a student at Monash University, doing my Dip.Ed., which means I will be a qualified high school teacher at the end of the year. Me, and kids. Its a scary thought.

It wasn't always like this. I am a former programmer, driven out of the industry by the IT recession and an unfortunately timed retrenchment. I had only gained one year of experience at the time - not enough for most jobs, but perversely, too much for some graduate positions.

I was unemployed for about 8 months, followed by a period of 10 months working part time, 18 months of limbo in all, before I started the course I am doing now. The part time stuff was originally to tide me over until I got my next full time IT position.

The first P/T job I got in this period was that of a door-to-door canvasser. My purpose was to get peoples phone numbers by getting them to do surveys first. After this salespeople would attempt to sell them security systems. Slightly dodgy but it paid OK so I didn't mind. I got a friend, my brother and my sister jobs there. All of us lost at least two weeks pay when the company went under, after 4 months. Great. It was my brother's first job - he was 17 - and he never got paid a cent.

That job did, however, serve as a springboard for my next one - a sales job with an ADT company - home security systems again. Although it was commission only, the early signs were positive.

It was hard as hell. I wasn't selling and wasn't making money. They closed the office I was working in, forcing me to travel to one much further away. I quit one week later.

Shortly after this I started working in a take away. This probably sounds like the bottom of the barrel, but it wasn't for me. The money was cash in hand, which I sorely needed, and I got paid whether or not we had customers. The work was easy too. I quit recently because it conflicts with my upcoming teaching rounds, but I quit on good terms with my employer; a plus in my opinion.

My chief hobby is wasting time on the Internet. My fave social outing is a coffee shop with friends. I'm a rugby league fan, a supporter of the Newcastle Knights, and a Christian as well.

So there you are.

Hopefully at some time I will become not lazy and will do this properly. Until then here is a link:

Likely to cause back pain
Very funny stuff.