Monthly Archives: February 2008

I have come to the realisation that I am in a relationship…. He is bright, always reliable, honest, full of wonderful information , insights galore in fact and completely addictive. Organised, always there when I need him and responsive to the tips of my fingers. Without him I am bereft of communication, locked out of the world!

Honestly what more could I ask for in a companion.

I would of course like to say that he is tall, dark and handsome….and that he has a nose, two eyes and even arms and legs!

But unfortunately not.

As sexy and lovely as my Apple Macbook is – it is really sad just how much time I spend on this little machine.

I definitely should get out more!

Regardless of the reason of which I can’t quite figure – I have been feeling a little reflective of late. I have been wondering about what I want and if I can actually sort that out, how am I going to get it. What is actually important enough to carry forward into the next 12 months?

Now clearly I want a job, in fact it may actually be a need by August. And quite likely a job that is full of excitement and challenge – or at the very least not something I have done before. I definitely do not want to be back treading the lino of the wards. I am imagining at least a place, where my day to day hazards do not include vomit or phlegm. Oh.. and I don’t want to wear a uniform. Absolutely do not ever want to wear a uniform. So I guess that still leaves the door of opportunity wide open on the ’08 job front!

But what else is it that I truly want to achieve this year?
My Mum, this Christmas, sent me a ‘Milk‘ card. They always have some profound statement of inspiration or meaning. It says:

‘Wherever you are it is your friends who make your world”

William James said this and according to Wikipedia wisdom he was a rather eminent psychologist.

I want to ensure that the people who are important to me know that they are, and I want to continue to develop and include people in this network of relationships.

Although I am not so sure that this is a lucrative job related insight it does seem to be pretty important…..

Australia is a large place geographically and there are not many people in it really, although as a population we are most definitely gathered along the coast and it would seem the east coast more than the west coast.

So what absolutely never ceases to amaze me is the ability to be somewhere like Cambridge, I mean pretty much on the other side of the world, and you discover people who connect with you in some fashion.

In the MBA class there is another Melbournite who happens to be friends with LisinLa’s sister. One of the lecturers goes to the same holiday place as me on the Victorian Coast, well when he is not in Cambridge. And there have been other Australian connections – one friend came down as part of a recruitment drive and another who is hosting a GCP for the school.

There is most definitely an ability amongst the overseas Australians to not only find each other but to also find some connection between families, friends or shared events from back home.

I have been sitting here just wondering how it is that I can bang out 500 words on this blog site in less than 30 minutes but faced with the joy of 2000 words on a factory tour or 1500 words on technology in the business world I suffer for hours possibly even days?

It is most curious.

I have just been to formal hall at Peterhouse. Formal Hall is the one that requires the members of that college to wear gowns (similar to Harry Potter and friends) and usually there are a lot of gongs, a touch of latin grace and standing as Fellows of the college arrive and leave. Although strangely tonight we were lacking in pomp? I am not sure why?

Not to worry!

Peterhouse is the oldest college in Cambridge and has the esteemed position of being the smallest of all the colleges making up the university. The hall where we dined was first constructed in the 13th century – it is so old it is hard to actually imagine how many days, weeks and years ago that people first ate there.

And being such an old and esteemed college, it sticks to tried and true British standards; the food was horrible. Well that is a slight exaggeration as the crumble for dessert was rather yummy, despite being drown in Custard, but really everything else was cooked within an inch of its life. It would seem that this is the trade off for dining by candle light in such beautiful surrounds.

Although the true surprise awaited in the College bar after dinner. It seemed we stumbled upon the annual “Miss Peterhouse” evening. Just about everywhere I turned there were men dressed as women, all of them with the most enormous breasts and the worlds shortest skirts. It remains a mystery to me as to why straight men always dress this way as women – is it some insight into how they wished their girlfriends dressed?

hmmm … either way … It would seem that Cambridge remains a city of contrasts!