Things I Hate #1: Public Transport

I catch a plethora of trams, trains and buses nearly every day. And I hate it. (Peak hour traffic is worse however, and parking is a bitch where I am. Anyway.) Every month I shell out two paychecks on a ticket and get the following:

-Late trains and buses. The flyer at my local station says Metro's reliability last month was 80.2%. We don't have any posting targets here at Suburban Termini, but our punctuality is 100%.

-Packed trains. These make me want to stab someone- it would probably give me more space too.

-Strange people on the trains and trams. I have had my arm sniffed, been cursed at for being the antichrist, witnessed a domestic (same couple, twice on the same day on two different trains), been stared at, been hit, involuntarily brought in to someone's conversation and had someone try to steal my phone. All I want to do is have some space, listen to my iPod and read. Is that so much to ask?

-Elderly people who get irate at you for offering a seat. Happened to a good friend of mine. And then us 'young people' get bitched at for not offering our seats without being asked.

-Unclean trains. Too often I have been on a train where someone has dumped their rubbish, scratched the windows, vandalised the seats or even vomited.

Yarra Trams has been pretty good. But we're paying for a train and bus system that is overpriced and substandard. Metro, bus companies, time to clean up your act. Do what we're paying you to do.

Things I've Learnt at Uni

I've recently finished my first semester of university and it has been an entirely new experience for me. Here is what I've learnt:

-No-one (except your group members) cares if you do the work
-There is a 24 hour access building with couches and showers
-Nearly everything on campus is overpriced
-If you don't talk, people won't try to talk to you
-Get enough sleep, or fall asleep in lectures
-Going to lectures drunk is amusing but unproductive
-Avoid being at uni all day
-9am starts are brutal
-The Marxists will not leave you alone
-Clubs and societies aren't as fun as they sound, except for the drinking ones
-If you fail a subject, it just holds up your degree
-Textbooks are mostly useless and overpriced
-Unless you are phenomenal in your field, you are just one person in 40,000
-Arts students overdress, Science students underdress
-Residential students are another species, though friendly
-Tuesday night is the new uni night
-Rain is not conducive to a campus without covered walkways
-There is so much help out there if you know where to look

and lastly:

-Most people are there because they are intelligent. Use this to your advantage.

Back from my sabbatical

My apologies for being away for so long. Life gets in the way sometimes.

Today is a historical day: Australia now has its first female prime minister.

An Open Letter to Julia Gillard
Dear Julia,
Hi. Congratulations.
You've stolen my dream of being the first female prime minister. Thanks a lot. All the same, congrats.

Don't fuck this up.

You were not elected to this job, you got it by default.
Sure, you're deserving of it.
And yes, you have our support.

But fuck this up and you will not.

What do I mean by this?
-do something about global warming, even a small strategy would be nice;
-give the hospitals more money;
-in short, fix things instead of breaking them.

You are capable of this. So do it.

Love,
Vittoria Vetra

I'm off to work on my new dream- first (female) president of Australia.