Dave felt all fuzy and warm inside. That was odd, since he was eating ice cream at the time, but it definately felt good.
Sitting in his favorite Chinese restaurant, with his favorite Chinese girl by his side and surrounded by some of his favorite people, how could Dave feel anything else but good.
Very Peachy.
During the meal, a very familar song had broke out on the radio...
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."
The staff had brought forth a delightful bowl of ice cream complete with sparkling candle and his day just got better and better from there on in.
Hours later, sitting quitely in his working place, awaiting a long tedious trip down to Skelm, he was surprised to hear the tune begin again.
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."
"You thought we'd forgotten didn't ya?!," laughed Brian, in his ever playful tone.
"This is just a little something from all of us," smiled Sandra as she presented him with a card and a little kiss on the cheek.
'Is that the card or the kiss that's from everyone...?' Dave thought with a little smile.
"And this is just from me and Brian, since your always in our team," added Ann, with a similar card and kiss.
'Wow, a little kiss from Brian, via Ann, what more could anyone ask for.'
Work was quick and painless, Brian dropping Dave outside his pub before most people had arrived.
"I don't really drink anymore," Dave informed his party people as he sipped away at the first of several 'free' vodka-oranges. It was a good night.
The fun spilled on into the following day, with a trip to MacDonalds, the cinema and another all you can eat Chinese. The icing on the cake came in the form of icing, on a cake, with sparklers and yet another edition of
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."
21 years old. Surely 21 is the PERFECT age. Anything younger being young, anything older being old, but 21 was just right. Added to this everything else was going fantastically well in the life of Dave as well.
A two month holiday in China was fast approaching. Who knew what adventures that may bring?
On his return he would return, with his outstanding wife by his side, to claim the Throne of Statisitics, PhD. Once crowned King, he would have little in the way of worries or concerns and would live happily ever after.
This truely was a golden age.
It's good to be the Dave.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Friday, June 10, 2005
Interview
Dave's heart was pounding. This interview would decide the rest of his life. A PhD in Statistics was up for grabs. A case study for Unilever, the third biggest advertiser in the world. There would be no stopping him after this.
'Just don't mess this up, Dave, stay calm, but not too calm, look interested, excited, no not excited, just keen, not too keen...'
Tick, Tock. It was only 11:30. 3 hrs till the main event.
"Don't worry," smiled Jean, as she picked out some clothes for him,"Just be yourself, it'll be fine."
'Myself. Be myself... oh crap who am I?...'
Tick, Tock. Every second brought it closer. Did he want the clock to speed up or slow down? He wasn't sure, not that it mattered, time passed at it's own pace.
12:00 noon.
Jean forced Dave to sit down and eat something. There was no way her special little monkey would be going out on an empty stomach.
Shoveling the food into his mouth he tried not to think of the task ahead.
1:00pm
'... if I can just get this PhD... no, no I said DON'T think about it, come on Dave, hold it together...'
2:00pm
Giving Jean a small kiss goodbye, he darted from the door and began the last mile. Oh boy, this was it...
2:30pm
"Call him in..." came the muffled voice from behind the door.
The door opened and Dr Cox invited Dave to sit.
'Stay calm, stay cool, don't make any jokes about his name...'
"Right, we just have a few questions, first of all..."
Dave didn't really remember what happened next, he was sitting there, trying his best to answer questions competently, then the questions kinda stopped. At some point they had gone from asking questions, to simply telling him what he would be doing.
"I hope that's all clear?"
"Yes," replied Dave, his head bobbing up and down like a toy dog.
"OK, you'll start on the 1st of September. Have a good holiday."
Dave shook both their hands and left as formally as he could manage.
'I start the 1st of September,' he thought as he strolled home, 'I START THE 1ST OF SEPTEMBER!'
'WHOOOHOOOOOO!!!!'
'Hmmmm...... I wonder if people will start calling me Doc....'
'Just don't mess this up, Dave, stay calm, but not too calm, look interested, excited, no not excited, just keen, not too keen...'
Tick, Tock. It was only 11:30. 3 hrs till the main event.
"Don't worry," smiled Jean, as she picked out some clothes for him,"Just be yourself, it'll be fine."
'Myself. Be myself... oh crap who am I?...'
Tick, Tock. Every second brought it closer. Did he want the clock to speed up or slow down? He wasn't sure, not that it mattered, time passed at it's own pace.
12:00 noon.
Jean forced Dave to sit down and eat something. There was no way her special little monkey would be going out on an empty stomach.
Shoveling the food into his mouth he tried not to think of the task ahead.
1:00pm
'... if I can just get this PhD... no, no I said DON'T think about it, come on Dave, hold it together...'
2:00pm
Giving Jean a small kiss goodbye, he darted from the door and began the last mile. Oh boy, this was it...
2:30pm
"Call him in..." came the muffled voice from behind the door.
The door opened and Dr Cox invited Dave to sit.
'Stay calm, stay cool, don't make any jokes about his name...'
"Right, we just have a few questions, first of all..."
Dave didn't really remember what happened next, he was sitting there, trying his best to answer questions competently, then the questions kinda stopped. At some point they had gone from asking questions, to simply telling him what he would be doing.
"I hope that's all clear?"
"Yes," replied Dave, his head bobbing up and down like a toy dog.
"OK, you'll start on the 1st of September. Have a good holiday."
Dave shook both their hands and left as formally as he could manage.
'I start the 1st of September,' he thought as he strolled home, 'I START THE 1ST OF SEPTEMBER!'
'WHOOOHOOOOOO!!!!'
'Hmmmm...... I wonder if people will start calling me Doc....'
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Zhong Wen
"ni hao, wo jiao dawei," repeated Dave obediently.
This was such a hard book. The hero, Dawei, had just met with the heroine, Xiaoyun, with romance bound to follow. They study together under the watchful gaze of the great Bai Lao Shi. All appears well, but could the introduction of another female, Heilun, supposedly Xiaoyun's friend, be the begining of the end?
OK, so Dawei, Xiaoyun and Heilun were actually all little kids, and the book is a learn yourslf chinese book aimed at three year olds, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was still really difficult. After all, Dave was not used to such complicated subjects. Dave was just your average graduate-with-a-1st-in-mathematics-going-on-to-do-a-statistics-PhD kind of guy. It was just beyond his intellectual level things like, "wo shi Bai lao shi. wo jiao ni men zhong wen. xian zai shang ke." (I am teacher Bai. I teach you chinese. Now the class begins.)
'Urgh, why must languages have to be so messy,' he thought to himself, as he began his next lesson.
"It's wo SHI bai lao SHI, not wo SHI bai lao SHI," announced the ever patient Xiao Lao Jing, Dave's mentor in the challenge ahead, "SHI and SHI, they're different you see."
'Ah, SHI and SHI, yes, of cause, how could I not have seen such an obvious difference. A rookies mistake,' he thought with a blank expression. "Shi?"
"Yes, very good," she said with a beaming smile that just melted his heart all over again.
'OK, that's 50 ish charecters learnt in one little year, very good Dave,' Dave congradualted himself. All his hard work was really paying off and his Zhong Wen was coming along very very well. He had every right to be proud of himself and never missed an opertunity to tell himself so.
'Now only another 5000 ish more and you'll have cracked it.'
This was such a hard book. The hero, Dawei, had just met with the heroine, Xiaoyun, with romance bound to follow. They study together under the watchful gaze of the great Bai Lao Shi. All appears well, but could the introduction of another female, Heilun, supposedly Xiaoyun's friend, be the begining of the end?
OK, so Dawei, Xiaoyun and Heilun were actually all little kids, and the book is a learn yourslf chinese book aimed at three year olds, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was still really difficult. After all, Dave was not used to such complicated subjects. Dave was just your average graduate-with-a-1st-in-mathematics-going-on-to-do-a-statistics-PhD kind of guy. It was just beyond his intellectual level things like, "wo shi Bai lao shi. wo jiao ni men zhong wen. xian zai shang ke." (I am teacher Bai. I teach you chinese. Now the class begins.)
'Urgh, why must languages have to be so messy,' he thought to himself, as he began his next lesson.
"It's wo SHI bai lao SHI, not wo SHI bai lao SHI," announced the ever patient Xiao Lao Jing, Dave's mentor in the challenge ahead, "SHI and SHI, they're different you see."
'Ah, SHI and SHI, yes, of cause, how could I not have seen such an obvious difference. A rookies mistake,' he thought with a blank expression. "Shi?"
"Yes, very good," she said with a beaming smile that just melted his heart all over again.
'OK, that's 50 ish charecters learnt in one little year, very good Dave,' Dave congradualted himself. All his hard work was really paying off and his Zhong Wen was coming along very very well. He had every right to be proud of himself and never missed an opertunity to tell himself so.
'Now only another 5000 ish more and you'll have cracked it.'
Friday, June 03, 2005
Birthday Blues
Dave lay alone in bed. Avoiding such trivial matters as 'What time is it?', 'Why am I still in bed?' and 'Don't I have something more important to be doing?' He let his mind wander to his upcoming birthday. Less than two weeks away, Wednesday 15th June, Dave would become the 21. This was the big one. The major, life changing, spectaular 21st, less than two weeks away.
So why didn't it feel very major? Why didn't it feel important at all?
He thought back over his previous few birthdays. His 20th was fairly uneventful. Having just arrived home from China the day before, he was up early selling the glorious 'Daily Post' on the bike from hell at 7am. Afterwards he spent a quiet evening with family before retiring early to bed with a yawn.
His 19th eluded him for some reason. What on earth did he do? Oh, of cause, his 19th had been Fathers Day, he'd had to share the limelight with his dear old man.
His 17th and 18th were fairly disapointing. On both occasions, having invited a schoolfull of friends, he had been left with a handful of chums, consisting mainly of family. Still, they hadn't been too bad, from what he could remember. Fair to say he had a drink or two those two years.
'What should I do this time on this wonderous, once-in-a-life-time event?' he thought, with a sigh. 'No need to be sarcastic,' he replied.
'Dave, we've spoke about this before, your talking to yourself...' he quickly remindered himself, putting an end to that conversation.
But what would he do? He'd been asked by various people, but not once gave a suitable reply. Surely such an occasion would tradionally involve the consumption of large amounts of alchohol. This was a snag, since Dave had been almost stone cold sober for a year now and in truth did not miss the hazy fog of the druken state, nor the hideous after taste of the hangover. But how could one avoid such a thing, if surrounded by friends eagar to buy the birthday boy a drink? It was actually alot harder than it sounded.
What did he want to do? What would be his ideal birthday? He didn't know, he really didn't know, but he was fairly confident it would involve cake. Yes, an ideal birthday must have cake. Presents would also be nice, esspecially money at this Penny-Saving era of his life. Topped of with the right mixture of close friends and family, with the cherry on top in the form of his beautifully perfect Little Miss Luo. That sounded nice, he thought as a smile began to creep back onto his face. Really nice, as his almost never absent grin returned to it's rightful place.
Suddenly he was struck by a much more important issue he had forgoten.
'I haven't had breakfast yet!'
Rising, he set off to conquer this new challenge.
So why didn't it feel very major? Why didn't it feel important at all?
He thought back over his previous few birthdays. His 20th was fairly uneventful. Having just arrived home from China the day before, he was up early selling the glorious 'Daily Post' on the bike from hell at 7am. Afterwards he spent a quiet evening with family before retiring early to bed with a yawn.
His 19th eluded him for some reason. What on earth did he do? Oh, of cause, his 19th had been Fathers Day, he'd had to share the limelight with his dear old man.
His 17th and 18th were fairly disapointing. On both occasions, having invited a schoolfull of friends, he had been left with a handful of chums, consisting mainly of family. Still, they hadn't been too bad, from what he could remember. Fair to say he had a drink or two those two years.
'What should I do this time on this wonderous, once-in-a-life-time event?' he thought, with a sigh. 'No need to be sarcastic,' he replied.
'Dave, we've spoke about this before, your talking to yourself...' he quickly remindered himself, putting an end to that conversation.
But what would he do? He'd been asked by various people, but not once gave a suitable reply. Surely such an occasion would tradionally involve the consumption of large amounts of alchohol. This was a snag, since Dave had been almost stone cold sober for a year now and in truth did not miss the hazy fog of the druken state, nor the hideous after taste of the hangover. But how could one avoid such a thing, if surrounded by friends eagar to buy the birthday boy a drink? It was actually alot harder than it sounded.
What did he want to do? What would be his ideal birthday? He didn't know, he really didn't know, but he was fairly confident it would involve cake. Yes, an ideal birthday must have cake. Presents would also be nice, esspecially money at this Penny-Saving era of his life. Topped of with the right mixture of close friends and family, with the cherry on top in the form of his beautifully perfect Little Miss Luo. That sounded nice, he thought as a smile began to creep back onto his face. Really nice, as his almost never absent grin returned to it's rightful place.
Suddenly he was struck by a much more important issue he had forgoten.
'I haven't had breakfast yet!'
Rising, he set off to conquer this new challenge.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Work
"Hi, sorry to bother you, I'm just calling from the Echo..." said Dave for the 100th time that day as yet another random face prepared to slam a door in his face, "Do you read the Echo at all?"
The lady stared at him blankly. "Do you know what happened the last time?"
'Oh dear,' Dave thought to himself, 'Here we go again.' He mentally turned off and switched on the autopilot which would nod, try to look polite and occasionally say things like, "That should not of happened", "Terrible" and "We have new people delivering now".
What was so difficult about delivering a paper? It seemed well over 95% of Echo readers used to have it delivered, but after what happened the last time...
The lady was still talking, now her husband had joined in and they had gone to fetch an echo from 17 years ago to prove whatever point they had made. This had gone on too long, Dave had to end it and move on. As politely as he could, he pulled himself away, hurling tonights Echo at them and offers of a free week. Why do so many people seem to think such a simple minded canvesser had any say what so ever as to how the echo runs things. Oh well. Onwards.
Dave gave a loud knock on the next door, waited a moment, and began again as the door creaked open.
"Hi, sorry to bother you, I'm just calling from the Echo. Do you read the Echo at all?"
..."Do you know what happened the last time?"...
The lady stared at him blankly. "Do you know what happened the last time?"
'Oh dear,' Dave thought to himself, 'Here we go again.' He mentally turned off and switched on the autopilot which would nod, try to look polite and occasionally say things like, "That should not of happened", "Terrible" and "We have new people delivering now".
What was so difficult about delivering a paper? It seemed well over 95% of Echo readers used to have it delivered, but after what happened the last time...
The lady was still talking, now her husband had joined in and they had gone to fetch an echo from 17 years ago to prove whatever point they had made. This had gone on too long, Dave had to end it and move on. As politely as he could, he pulled himself away, hurling tonights Echo at them and offers of a free week. Why do so many people seem to think such a simple minded canvesser had any say what so ever as to how the echo runs things. Oh well. Onwards.
Dave gave a loud knock on the next door, waited a moment, and began again as the door creaked open.
"Hi, sorry to bother you, I'm just calling from the Echo. Do you read the Echo at all?"
..."Do you know what happened the last time?"...
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