The herd needs to be culled

or: Why some people should not be allowed to breed

Grrrr.... Arrrghhhh!
Last night, at a quarter to eleven, I was watching the end of Fraiser, just before I went to bed, when I heard screaming coming from outside my apartment. Now, there are often teenagers running amok up and down the road outside, screaming and roaring, but if you ignore it long enough it goes away. Not so last night.

I went out onto my balcony to see if I could see any action, but no... The screaming seemed to be coming from one of the townhouses along the block where I live, so I grabbed my keys and wandered out for a look.

Imagine my horror, when I found a seven-year old girl sitting on an outer windowsill, 3 storeys up, wailing for her parents. It turns out that the child was spending the weekend with her father, who had gone to the pub for the last night of legal indoor smoking (thanks for that, Minister Martin - more rantage on that later). She had been left in the care of her "uncle", who one can only guess got bored with the company of a seven-year-old, and left her locked in the house alone so that he too could go to the pub.

I'm not sure what to be angriest about...
The fact that some muppets without enough sense to use a condom would leave a young child alone, or in the "care" of someone who patently doesn't... Some people do not deserve to have children.

Or the fact that out of an apartment/townhouse complex of 400 units, I was the only person to take any heed of the terrified screams of that child. One other couple who happened to be passing on their way home came by to try help out and I think a neighbour from across the road called the police - either way, out of a possible (approximately) 800 people in the immediate vicinity, only four made any sort of effort to help. What is wrong with our society?

Laptop Paradise Found

Following on from my stress-induced paranoia earlier, I am now rejoicing!
(Many people who know me are also concerned about my manic-depressive tendancies)

Anyhoo, I digress... I have wonderful news, people...
My super-duper genius of a husband has managed to recover all of the data from my harddrive.
All is not lost - I might get my first class honours yet.

Laptop Paradise Lost

There are many different types of sadness and upset. I have experienced plenty of them in my years.
I have been so upset that I have cried until my head was sore
I have been so upset that I could feel the moment my heart broke
I have been so upset that I was only able to scream silently

Most people who know me think I tend to over-react to situations. I am the sort of person who normally has a good rant, or yell, or cry and then I'm over whatever incident has upset me.

This is a different kind of upset. I have been upset for two days. I have not had a reaction yet. I am deathly calm. I think this is happening to someone else.

I have been studying for a Masters Degree for two years. My last two exams are in six weeks. My thesis is due for submission in four months. I have been working very hard. My personal life and my health have suffered.

Two days ago, I fried my laptop. Every article I have read, every class note I have taken, every assignment I have submitted was on that laptop. I have lost all the work I've done over the past two years. Gone. All of it. Everything.

I have been telling this story. I have been laughing about it. I think it's hysterically funny. Like I said, I think this is happening to someone else.