Bikes Etc

My tram down Swanston Street was re-routed this morning. I was a bit cranky, especially since I'd managed to make the early train. It ended up taking me an hour to get to work, on a good day it takes less than 40 minutes.

Anyway, I got into work and discovered the reason that trams weren't running down Swanston Street was because a female cyclist had been killed under a bus. I am dating a female cyclist who routinely rides up Swanston Street! So I called her desk phone, which she answered straight away, and was surprised and delighted to hear from me - as I was delighted to hear her voice.

I still don't know who the cyclist was, but I do know a whole lot of them, so I'm worried. Not least because I regularly ride up that road. Last week I had to contend with at least four horse-and-carriage sets, and worried a little what would happen if a big horse got angry with a little cyclist... When we were both stopped at some lights, one of the horses was striking sparks off the asphalt whilst vigorously stomping the ground.

So, last I heard, the woman in question was 33 and lived in Parkville. The Age had a rather distressing picture of a bike on its side and a sheet covering a body - half way under a bus.

After work, I caught the tail end of a bit of a bike rally on the spot. Most cyclists seem to know each other, so a bunch gathered at the spot. In fact Deb was there, a few moments before I arrived. It was interesting to see. By the time I arrived there were maybe fifty bikes left, and they'd split into two groups - the lycra types on one side, the hippy feral types (my crowd) on the other!

It's a hard street to ride sometimes. Between the buses and the trams, there's often a very narrow gap, which it's terrifying to ride through - two 40 ton vehicles on each side!

Why I Have Been A Bad Correspondant

Hey all, I've been a terrible blogger, facebooker, even Twittererererer of late.

The main reason: I had to do my first assignment for my first MBA subject. The last time I handed in, let alone attempted, an assignment, was in 1997, roughly.

I was a terrible student when I was at Uni. My transcript is a tale of woe, lots of fails and DNS's (did not sit). So I was determined to be a little better at it this time around.

Of course, in 1997, indeed in the period 1992-1998, I was a full time student. Today I'm a full time worker, trying to study during my commute and on my already tightly packed weekends. Trying to study the very dry "Financial Management 101", which has an accounting text book as its text.

A few weeks ago - maybe three - I actually sat down and read the assignment. Discovering at that point that it covered the topics 1 through 5, and that I was only up to topic three. And topics four and five were supposed to take something like five weeks in total. So I had to learn a whole pile of stuff before I could even start doing the assignment. So I basically had to give up on just about everything else I was doing in my spare time - aside from seeing Deb, going to the gym and organising a Toastmasters club speech contest. Hmmm. You see my problem!

And somehow, I did it. In fact, in the end, it was a lot easier than I expected. I'd always thought this business stuff was hard and complicated etc. It's not. In fact, it's easier than programming, which I do for a living. Once you know the what the words mean, the difference between debt and equity funding, what counts as an asset and what doesn't, and how to read a balance sheet, suddenly it all falls into place. You can read the financial pages of the paper and not think they're speaking an alien language. Ah, I see, they've revalued an intangible asset, which has effected their EBIT. For a few weeks there I was talking this nonsense to Deb, who, being a girly swat, actually was interested.

And the current melt down on wall street will tell you what geniuses these business people are.

So, I did the first part of the assignment as an excel spread sheet, only took me a few hours. I did the second half as an essay of sorts, using words like "leverage" etc. It actually came out pretty well, and I handed it in a day early, on Tuesday evening! It remains to be seen of course how well I will do on it.

Now I have six weeks before the exam in early November. Six weeks and five topics to cover. Fark.

And for your amusement, here's a picture of the professor in charge of the subject:



What a looker, hey?

Other Things I Have Done

Monday evening I came third in a Toastmasters impromptu speaking contest at my club. Third out of six contestants. I was actually pretty pleased with that - I've never placed anywhere in a toastmasters contest before!