Desperate times, so they say. I am forced to turn off images in my webbrowser as I have only 60 megs of download left on my internet account until the 13th of next month, which as you can imagine does not get me very far. At least in linux I don’t have all the windows spyware taking up my bandwidth. Which it did. For the avid readers of my blog, you will remember that I installed a network activity light on the front of my computer so I could see when the network was playing up. In windows, the light would constantly be flashing with activity, and in Linux, it only flashes very briefly when I am accessing the net. If only I could get XFree86 version 4 working, and then I could have dual monitors, and I’d have very little need for windows at all. Hrm…. Bye

Although you’d *think* I would have more time not having school and its associated work, thats not the truth. Actually, it is. And I love it. I haven’t blogged because you haven’t commented, and I’ve been playing around with linux quite a bit recently. I now have Mandrake 8.2 dual booting with my Win98 (no link required). The thing I miss most about Win98 in linux is my dual monitors. But thats why i’m downloading a 25 meg file of the latest version of XFree86 over dialup (not fun). Yes - its true. I can’t hide it - I’m a nerd. So sue me.
I’ll post again at a more respectable hour. Bye

Well, pretty much Year 11 is over for ever for me. In two weeks time I embark on 12 months of schooling which will prove to be my last in high school, and at the end i’ll come out with a piece of paper and a whole lot of useless information. Can’t wait.
Today I went in to find out about marks and grades for the exam session I went though in the previous weeks, and decided which courses to continue next year, and which not to. I was fairly happy with all the grades I managed to find out. As just a hickle-pickle overview of what I got, I got first in drama (which was a true shock to me), and 42 out of 50 for my Ext. English exam (which was fairly good). I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to do 4unit english (the highest level for the HSC possible), my drama teacher saw all my english grades and asked if I was going to do it. I said I’d really like to, and she said that I won’t have any problems in being allowed to do, so hopefully she is right. So my final decision was to keep maths after all, because I figure its something objective that I can really work hard on and hopefully get good marks. I dropped computers, because the content was so impractical that it frustrated me. I am doing 12 units (as long as 4unit english is okay): Economics (2), Business Studies (2), Drama (2), Advanced Maths (2), Advanced English (2), English Extension 1 (1), English Extension 2 (1). I should have a good, fun year next year. There are some advantages with those courses: English extension 2 has no final exam, and the mark is completely taken from the major work. Also, the practical drama exam is quite a bit ahead of the written exams, which allows us time to focus on that almost completely. Strangely enough, I am actually looking foward to year 12.
Anyway, now two weeks of relaxing - although I really need to revise maths to keep it fresh in my head or i’ll have trouble picking back up next year. At least I have Kit’s assistance - he got 73 out of 74 for the exam. Anyway, off to chat then go to bed. Bye

Back from my camp now, and without going into all the gory details, I will say that I really enjoyed it. For our final school camp ever, it was quite a change from the normal style of our camps. We had good, comfortable rooms, complete with a shower, toilet and basin per room which was very convenient. A lovely ground with lots of sporting areas, good food, and even beautiful weather to top it off. We covered the information we had to for the syllabus and there was still some time for ourselves to do whatever we want — which happened to get 11 or so people sent home in the middle of the night. I think its a new record for the school. Anyway, I had a great time, although I wasn’t in the best health for the second day. Well, I had better go and do something - I have school again tommorow. Time to find out my marks for the exams and decide what classes to keep next year. Bye

I thought i’d just squeeze this in before Sunday hits. Where did time go? I was just watching the early kids movie on TV what seemed like minutes ago. “Honey I shrunk the kids” it was. Haven’t seen that.. well.. in a very long time. Personally, I think the series went downhill around “Honey I shrunk ourselves”. Too often is that the way of Hollywood. Sigh. I’m tired and not making much sense.
I won’t be here from Monday through to Wednesday as i’ll be on camp. Pfft. I’d much rather be sleeping in the warmth of my own comfortable bed than being uncomfortable, tired and cranky on camp. And if the weather of our last few camps is anything to go by, i’d rather be in an underground storm shelter. One of our last ones rained to the point where our tent had a great river down the middle. And then we had to prepare to evacuate due to a gale force wind warning. If only. The peer support one at the start of this year was absolutely dreadfully appalling. The venue had to be changed so the year 7s and teachers got cabins, and us yr 11ers got tents. Again. It hardly stopped raining the three days. We were absolutely soaked to the bone, and we had nothing to do. Everyone was sick, and we pleaded with the teachers to take us home. We later found out that there were plans to send us back on day two, but they didn’t. The school brought us a TV and video machine to watch in the semi enclosed dining room, which was actually bearable until the power cut out. That pushed back our dinner, and of course the toilets were flushed with power too, so it was dig a trench time if you needed to go to the toilet. Charming. When the principal turned up at about 5pm on the second day, when we were sick, wet, hungry and just generally in hell, she tried to crack a joke with me. I turned to her and just gave her the biggest, dirtiest evil she’d ever seen. Needless to say, they didn’t ask us for the extra $20 to cover the price difference between venues. But after the terrible track record, I figure I will try to enjoy this camp. Sure, its not a trip to Canberra like the year 9s got. Or a trip to New Zealand like the yr 10s get. We got none of that. Just a tent with a river down the middle. I need sleep… or something. Bye