sweaty days, annoying assignments

This weather is killing me...

 

I know I shouldn't complain about the weather in Australia, with us having around 27 degrees and most of you guys dealing with sweater weather already. However, I really do miss those days where you can just sit on the couch, a blanket wrapped around you and having a nice cup of tea..without sweating your ass off! Don't get me wrong! I do love summer and everything that comes with it, but I find it hard to enjoy the heat without the sun. Since a few days (maybe even weeks) it is incredibly muggy at the Gold Coast, the sun is playing hide and seek with the clouds, unfortunately the extreme heat doesn't vanish once the sun is gone. Out of nowhere it can start raining, which at times is a relief, but makes it really hard to enjoy days off... As the weather is so unpredictable I haven't been to the beach or pool in quite a while (not that I have time to do that anyways). In the evenings or early mornings it is raining cats and dogs, which is not that bad as it cools off a bit and I can actually sleep without tossing and turning all night long.




Seeing that I got much on my plate anyways (uni-wise) you might think that this weather would be convenient for me to not get distracted...well yes and no! Yes because as I said going to the pool or beach has become a rarity. No because it is boiling hot in my room and I am so close to just melting away. I often go to the library only to enjoy the benefits of air conditioning, which also helps my studying, but for some of my assignments I cannot leave my room. The specific assignment we're talking about is my podcast for digital media. My task is to write a script about censorship and make it informative but also intersting for my audience. Sounds fun, and it is! I love the idea of working with new software and learning more practical media stuff. However, in order to create a podcast of good quality, you must find a place where you can record as undisturbed by any kind of noise as possible.
I have tried several places outside because I liked the idea of recording in nature, which is supposed to be calm and relaxing...bollocks! Those insects and other animals living in Australia are anything but quiet! (Sometimes I wake up only because of one tiny bird screaming his head off on my balcony). So I quickly got rid of that idea and tried out the library. Main library is not a possibility, as there are way too many talkative students, who would be better off studying but choose to come to the library to chat with their friends and drink coffee all day long. So I tried out those silent study rooms, which aren't too bad but every now and then there's somebody walking past in their thongs making more noise than a herd of horses... So I decided to barricade myself in my room and record the whole thing there. I did the script writing in the library of course, and thought how hard can it be to spend some hours in a tiny room when you're distracted by work? VERY! Problem is that I have no air conditioning in my room and in order to have the best possible quality I must reduce the noise to a limit, so opening windows or doors is not an option! Better get it over with as quick as possible then... well after already one day of recording in my room I found out that it is not as quiet as one thought it might be. I never realised this before but there is so much noise around you the whole day! I live with 3 other people in a house and I cannot expect them to not talk or move around while I'm doing my thing, but as it never disturbed me so far, I didn't think it would matter that much. I was wrong! Every now and then it's quiet and I get a bit done, but then all of a sudden when you think you're actually getting somewhere, someone is making food and what it seems juggling with those plates, or hoovering the floor...even just sneezing makes you want to throw your laptop at somebody for ruining the record. I know this sounds a bit extreme, but believe me if you're stuck in the same tiny room all day, sweating your butt off to get something done and realise that at the end of the day the recordings are just average and not even close to finished, there is no way you don't turn into a sad little fury.

Conclusion: If there's a heat wave you just shouldn't be forced to study or work at all! No seriously I'll probably stop sitting in my room all day to study because that will make me sad and grumpy and my surrounding will have to suffer for it... So I'll try those silent study rooms at uni again, maybe I can sneak into the law library because somehow I imagine those people not wearing thongs and being quiet around one another. I'll find a solution, perfect recording isn't possible anyways and I shouldn't expect too much because with such a noisy laptop there is no way I'll be satisfied with the result anyways. If anyone with heaps of money reads this, feel free to sponsor me by buying me a mac, I would really appreciate the gesture! ;-) No for real now, I'll do my best as I have done so far and I'll just hope it will result in good marks.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep you posted! xxx