Here’s a shot that was taken a few weeks ago (I think) one early(ish) morning whilst heading toward UNSW Library.
I was taking this photo as I liked how the Red Centre Building was reflected in the Robert Wester Building.
I also like how one of the buildings in the distance almost seems to look like it’s not being reflected due to the reflection of another building.
Other than that, I think this is a nice, clear shot with a good amount of geometry.
I hope you enjoy.
Somewhere off in the distance, on the edges of the city in the factory district, behind the thick curtain of smog and cement sits a tree.
At the base of this tree, the air is as pure as the air out in the wilderness far from the city, far from civilisation and far from any form of humanity.
There is no explanation as to why the air is so pure in this spot. The tree is nothing magical or unusual. It would fit in anywhere where other trees would sit.
The air directly above it is some of the most polluted in the city.
It is the air beneath the branches, as well as within the range that the tree covers that is as pure as the freshest of oxygen out beyond the reaches of the concrete jungle that seems so intent on swallowing everything in order to make sure that it conforms to its design rather than spread out band live in harmony with that which it is surrounded by.
People have attempted to remove the tree multiple times, but it seemingly is unmovable.
Never through its own actions mind you. There is usually something or someone that causes it to stop, almost as though there are people with a vested interest in making sure that the tree remains where it sits, regardless of people complaining about it being an eyesore in an area full of factories and warehouses.
The tree is a rather large one. Being large, it prevents a fair bit of the land around it from being developed, for its roots run deep and long and are as thick as cars in places. The tree is old. It has been around for far longer than the city, or people in that area.
Despite being in one of the most polluted locations in the city, it seems far healthier than what could be seen as feasibly possible.
Sometimes people go there to relax under there, as it gives them a chance to escape from that which surrounds them and forget, at least for a little while, that they are in a city that is ever-increasingly thickening with the smell of exhaust.
The tree, not only serving as an eyesore for its vibrant colour, a blockage for more factories and warehouses to be built, and a place where the oxygen is clean, also serves to protect the remaining bit of nature in the area, for underneath its lofty branches, smaller plants grow and some species of insects move about without the threat of danger coming to them.
It stood tall and mighty, yet unassuming and, despite its mysterious nature, was treated by those who appreciated these small anomalous pockets with great respect.
It was seen as an eyesore among a concreted landscape by some.
It would stand tall and mighty, outlasting the city itself.
However, as is the way of things that are yet to pass, the future was not set in stone but in bulldozers and axes.
The time it took to write five-hundred words: 09:39:29
I set out to write a story and I didn’t have anything in mind which is not out of the ordinary.
I’m not too sure as to where this came from, but I’m going to guess that it has to do with my concerns about the possibility of some of the Royal National Park being removed for a motorway.
Written at work.
Here’s a shot that I took when I was last in Annandale.
Isn’t it interesting that power poles bring us all together without us ever having to see each other face-to-face?
I hope you enjoy.
Yesterday I was at the UNSW library in one of the rooms. I was in one of the rooms as I had booked it for my group (well, we all booked it but I booked the first two hours as you can only book a room as an individual and in one hour blocks, with two hours a day being the maximum) so we had a place to study where we could all fit in easily without being stuck on a tiny desk.
When I got there, I saw that there had been rubbish left in the room.
It wasn’t much. There was a core from some fruit wrapped in paper on the ground, as well as an empty plastic bottle of some sub-par type of drink.
It was rather frustrating, to say the least.
There have been far too many times at UNSW where I’ve come across rubbish sitting in the library. A couple of weeks ago I had to get some people to move from an area that I had booked. They didn’t take all of their rubbish.
People at UNSW aren’t too far removed from those outside of the university in their seeming carelessness about the state of cleanliness round them, as it’s usually not that hard to find rubbish lying around somewhere.
It’s also not that hard to find a toilet seat that someone as decided to urinate on, or find toilet paper just sitting on the ground next to the toilet.
It’s almost as though people have no idea as to how to operate cleaning a toilet seat and getting toilet paper into a toilet.
It’s not that hard. It’s not as though you’re trying to score a hole-in-one from a starting [point about three-hundred kilometres away in winds that are blowing against the direction that you’re sending the gold ball.
People seem to think that pissing on a toilet seat is an okay thing to do and it really makes you wonder if these people are shitty people or not. I know that judging someone based on how the treat a toilet might seem far-fetched, but you can’t help but wonder.
I can'[t help but wonder as to why people think it’s okay to leave their rubbish somewhere. Just because you’re a student at a university, doesn’t mean you get to treat the place like crap. It’s disrespectful not only to the location, but to everyone else that needs to use the place.
If you’re one of those that doesn’t like it when people litter in your house or out in the street and then do it yourself, then maybe you should think about how much of an idiot you are being.
I think that people who think it is okay to do this should be completely banned from using toilets at a university, as well as other facilities that it has. No ifs or buts.
I think that this could also be extended to work places. It might be harsh, but there’s plenty that don’t deserve the privilege until they can learn how to use a toilet properly, as well as learn how to not litter.
Facilities are there for everyone and not just yourself.
End rant.
Recently it was brought to my attention that the state government of New South Wales was looking to extend a motorway that would allow for more traffic to run from the south of New South Wales into Sydney and the plan is to either buy a bunch of houses which would be costly and take a little while, or to buy a part of the Royal National Park and build through there, which would cost less and take less time.
The Royal National Park is heritage listed and it is not just because it’s a bit of pretty land with some trees and animals. It is actually quite a significant part of the world and should be left “as is” as much as possible.
I think that this plan should be discouraged as much as possible. I don’t like how confident the representative of the state government seemed about their chances of buying the few hectares of land that they wanted to buy for the construction of the motorway. I have my doubts that they’ll be able to get that pushed through because, being the Royal National Park and being that it is quite important for biodiversity, I don’t think any board would be willing to approve some of its removal for a motorway, regardless of how much pressure the state government tries to apply to be successful. However, I do imagine that it still could happen as there are actions that the New South Wales state government have taken that are considered shocking, thoughtless and bad in the past and been met with those actions being seen to completion.
The Royal National park is important. It is not just a location for tourists.
It may only be a small portion of land. It could be seen as insignificant. However, it could end up having a major impact on the life of the animals that inhabit the area. It could end up detrimentally affecting the vegetation and landscape of the area due to the increased amount of traffic that would then be coming through (or near) the Royal National Park.
It allows many of those that work in the science community to conduct research with ease, therefore increasing the speed in which we can gather information as well as try and understand it as there’s less time spent traveling to a location than if your primary location of research was somewhere far west, which also means that the costs that can be associated with conducting research are also reduced.
I don’t think a small parcel of land will affect research too much, but that is not what I am most concerned about when it comes to this plan.
What I am most concerned about is, if this does get approved, then what is the precedent that this sets for the state government for what it can do when it comes to future projects?
It might be a small bit of land, but it’s always only a small amount.
The time it took to write five-hundred words: 11:23:26
Well, it was slow.
That’s okay.
For the record, I am not against progress and development.
I’m against ideas of this nature.
I think that this is something that should be fought against as though it were the entirety of the Royal National Park was being removed.
That might seem a bit extreme for an option that is only being considered right now, especially for a small part of land, but this is a heritage listed, predominantly natural part of the world.
This is something that the employees of the population of New South Wales should not be considering.
I think that if the populace is interested in protecting what they have, then they need to get that desire across to the New South Wales government as clearly as they can (obviously as peacefully as possible)
There’s a petition available for signing. I don’t think that it is enough, but I think that it is a good start.
Please, if you think that something that is important not just to New South Wales, but to the rest of Australia (and quite possibly the world) should not be removed for construction, then I urge you to sign the petition.
This is one of the photos that I took last week whilst being driven home.
I think that it’s mostly due to processing, but I like how bright the sky appears in comparison to the arch of Anzac Bridge, as well as the road.
I like that the cables don’t appear to be even in their positioning of the photo due to what lane we were in when I took this photo.
I also like the mix of the subtle and bolder colours in this shot.
I think that angularity and shape are quite prominent in this photo, but they don’t dominate the scene as this still feels very much like a scene captured rather than a photo purely about pattern and perception.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
It was still the early hours of the dawn of the morning, when they set out to walk all the way to somewhere, anywhere that was removed from their current environment.
Their mind was bitter.
They needed to walk as far as they could on that day. There was no questioning as to why. It was a strong urge that had been welling up in them for a while.
They had tried to put it off for as long as they could, doing their best to ignore the very compulsion to just walk as far as they could without the consideration for stopping.
The more they ignored it, the more it became impossible to ignore. The very act of motion whilst their anger and frustration had built up to a point where they needed to just move, for the very act of motion seemed to create some sort of moment of clarity, or at least the ability to cope for a little longer whilst they were trying to get through whatever it was that left them with the bitterness and pain that they had to wait out to pass. However, this was something that they did not understand. They did not know the reasons as to why they needed to walk. They didn’t know what it was that drove the need and desire that consumed their willingness and needs to do whatever they wanted. As far as they were aware, it was something that was built into them and it was something that they had to do.
They set out quickly, seeing the light gradually remove the veil of night around them, revealing colour and detail that was not usually noticeable, despite the environment being lit at night. They did not notice this, despite seeing it, for they were somewhere else at that given moment.
Early morning joggers and cyclists were around, trying to get their fix of exercise in order to keep what they had deemed as healthy before heading to their desk jobs for the day.
Some thought that the walker was staring at them. They weren’t. There was not anything in particular that they were staring at, other than the way forward.
They moved with a haste that they normally did not use. There seemed to be a sense of purpose in their speed, but this perception was false, for all that they were doing was walking forward, walking on and continuing to walk as much as they could, for it was all that they could do in that given moment, such was the consumption of compulsion and need in every fibre of their being.
It seemed almost as though they needed to vent, to scream as loudly as they could into the great emptiness of space, but they could not int heir given environment due to how it would be perceived, for people were not understanding and did not want to have to deal with someone trying to get some release without realising that that was indeed what they were doing.
Across bridges they kept on moving, arced and long, giving a sense of space around them, yet at the same time set up to prevent reaching out into that space, almost in a way that was caged off to the world around and only providing a glimpse of what could be had if you had the money to see the view whenever you wanted.
The light of the morning sun began to reach at them, trying to give them a sense of warmth and waking, but the person still needed to walk.
They needed to walk for as long as they could, until they could not walk any more, or at least until the desire had reduced to something in the back of their mind that they could ignore once more.
They needed to scream into the empty space around them in order to vent and release, but they could not as the environment that they were in prevented them from doing so and they themselves did not recognise the need, so they continued to walk, unknowingly for a moment of clarity, for some more
They walked across bridges, down roads, not realising their need to vent and release, to find clarity through the walk, to have the ability to cope for a bit longer so that they could wait out the passing of that which pained them for a while longer.
Sometimes I cannot believe the gall that customers have, as well as their amazingly selfish belief that the world revolves around them and that if they don’t get what they want, then it’s absolutely okay to get angry at staff for providing customer service.
I cannot believe that there are people out there that think that it is okay to get as angry as possible when someone is asking for information in order to give as accurate an answer as possible.
For the record, getting shitty when I’m asking for information in order for me to help you does not help me help you.
Customers seem to feel far too entitled because many of them seem to think they can get whatever they want at a whim. These customers need to pull their heads out of their asses more often.
There is plenty of bad customer service out there. I don’t deny that. I’ve given plenty of bad customer service in my time of being a customer service representative, as well as plenty of excellent customer service. I don’t think that at any point a customer service representative should think that they’re neither better, nor worse than customers and should aim to give good customer service at all times.
I do know that regardless of the customer service given, that does not justify getting threatened or abused, or having customers get angry at you for no reason because they want you to read their minds somehow so you don’t put them out by daring to ask for information.
How dare we do our job the way we need to do it because that is by far the wrong way to go about doing what you’re asking us to do.
Customers don’t deserve nearly as much as they get. You want good customer service? Stop being an asshole.
It’s really not that hard.
I like my job. I like my job quite a fair bit. However, it makes me miss working in finance, which is something that I never thought I’d think as working in finance was pretty horrible a fair amount of the time.
People get really aggressive and personal about alcohol, either passive or direct, in a way that I never witnessed in finance. Quite frankly it’s fucked up.
In finance people would never get this angry with such frequency. They wouldn’t be nearly anywhere near as abusive or threatening.
In alcohol, people seem to think that they’re above you because you’re providing them a service. Seem to think. If it’s not the case, then there’s some other reason as to why they think it’s okay to treat customer service representatives like crap.
I understand that people might like to have a drink and when something goes wrong with a delivery that sucks. Sometimes you need to vent. It really is understandable.
Customer service representatives are not punching bags. If you think that the best way to deal with something related to alcohol is to get really aggressive toward someone who is trying to help you, regardless of if it’s a general inquiry or an investigation, you might have problems with aggression, or you may have a problem with alcohol.
Here’s another shot of cranes.
Like this photo, these cranes were witnessed in Darling Harbour.
Well, kind of. They were pretty close. I’m pretty sure that this is a part of Darling Harbour.
I like how much in the foreground the cranes appear in this shot, as well as the detail of their structure.
I like their angularity, as well as how they look tall and imposing.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
Straight after getting into work but before starting my shift, I decided to have some chili paste because apparently I’ve decided to jump into some ideas that should have more thought given to them.
This paste is described as being extremely hot, for some reason. I’m not too sure why. Maybe it’s because a slither of it can still do some serious heat in your mouth and cause you to warm up to uncomfortable levels.
Maybe that that is the reason, but I can’t be too sure.
So anyway, I had some of this chili paste and the burning started quite quickly. It wasn’t overly unpleasant, but it wasn’t something that I should have gone for this morning.
I realise that now. It wasn’t the best idea that I’ve had this week.
It wasn’t the worst idea either, but that’s beside the point.
All I know is that I had it, it wasn’t a great idea but it wasn’t so hot that I was rendered unable top do my job, which is a good thing as if I was in a position where I couldn’t work due to how hot this chili paste was, then I’d not be getting paid, nor would I be assisting customers, the thing that I’m paid to do with the time that I give in this place of working whilst at work doing my job and verily so.
It took a long time for the heat to stop. It was mostly on my lips. It was over thirty minutes before everything completely stopped. I still feel a bit uncomfortable and I’m a bit concerned about having more, but I do know that I will have more at some stage as I really like having chili, as well as spicy foods in general.
I’m not sure as to what it is that I find appealing about either chili or spicy food. Maybe I’m a glutton for pain. I really have no idea.
Maybe I find that they really bring out some amazing flavours at times and really make you appreciate just how diverse food can be.
Maybe there’s no reason and I just so happen to like spicy food. That is the most likely case, I think. I say I think because, unlike my decision to have some really hot chili paste before starting my day of work at my job in an office where I do my job and verily so, I am trying to think about what it is that draws me to having chili and spicy food and I’m not sure as to why, so I think that maybe it is just because I happen to like them rather than any particular reason.
With that being said, perhaps it is a combination of many reasons rolled into one that draws me to this wonderful thing that adds flavour (and sometimes pain) to food.
Perhaps I should have more of this extremely hot chili right now to enjoy the heat.
Or maybe I shouldn’t.
The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:37:62
Fast, but not that interesting.
I should have written something more interesting.
I wrote this in the morning and only now am I putting it up here.
Could have been better.
Written at work.
Stupidity Hole 