Grats Eagles

First game of footy I've watched this year. Enjoyable one to.

As I drove in to work after the game groups of people were out lining the streets with their eagles banners. I of course waved and made out I was a die hard fan.

All in all a good feeling around the city, it's contagious.

D3

So the student who claimed he couldn't sit the deferred exam, or the deferred deferred exam and was seeking a deferred deferred deferred mid-semester exam came under scrutiny.

It turned out that he's in the other side of the country as we speak. So what happened was he saw a Doctor, got a medical certificate for a viral infection (Dr speak for a common cold), proceeded to tell us he had the Flu (obviously the student having no idea what the Flu actually is) then jumped on a plane. Yeah real sick.

To make matters worse the medical note from the Dr appears to have been changed. Originally it said he was sick for 5 days, but it's been crossed out and changed to 12 days. Obviously to fit around the interstate trip.

Anyway my offer is simple. He can take a grade based on his final exam and tutorial work only, or he can withdraw from the course at no Academic penalty but he won't get his HECS fees waived (it's too late for that).

No more Mr nice Dom.

Students and Jobs

One thing that really bugs me is students with jobs.

I'll always remember the wisdom of an old professor who explained to me many years ago that if they are full time students then work is not a legitimate excuse. Like any good young academic I took this onboard and it's now an intractable part of my thought process.

The disconnect between my wimpy accomodating actions and my heartless mind only now serves to cause me grief. As I am currently bending over backwards to accommodate the deferred deferred exam I find myself more and more disjointed from my own beliefs.

For now 3 is the most I'm running. Consider them lucky to get that. In 10 more years I'm sure my actions will match my rhetoric.

US Elections 2008

Democratic Nominee's

Clinton 41%
Gore 17%
Mark Warner 16%
Edwards 9%
Kerry 4%

Familiar faces to those of us outside the US. The exception is Mark Warner who I think is the only one of those candidates that might actually beat a Republican.

Warner campaigns in second life. Hehe.
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/08/the_second_life.html Sensible guy!

Expected President

McCain(R) 23%
Clinton (D) 19%
Giuliani (R) 15%
Romney (R) 11%
Gore (D) 10%
Warner (D) 9%
Edwards (D) 6%

I know it's very early, and a longshot, but Giuliani is my prediction.

Now if shorting these futures is possible I might be able to design a profitable strategy. Go short the Republican party (currently selling at under 50%) and go long all the Republican candidates which add up to over 50.

Now you got me thinking...

Spring is in the air

And it's a glorious day on campus today. Sometimes you have to be grateful when you're forced outside by that annual fire drill exercise. Pale skin untouched by the sun's scarring rays returns to life. Fortunately this years planners chose a fine spring day and evacuated us to the safe confines of a nearby grassy knoll.

As I type I'm interrupted by the sight of an apparent 8 year old student walking around outside unsupervised? They do start young these days.

Yes it's true. It's such a nice day I'm trying to liven the blog mood around here. My reader, friend & poster Tzarkoth, who by all accounts is a decent chap carries with him such a dreadfully depressing aura that I felt it was time to change the pace.

My other reader Destreuth sends me mocking emails about my posts. He's yet to expose himself to the searing heat of public scrutiny. Coward you cry. Well no, more likely lazy. So I've turned off registration for posting required. All too much effort for the young man. Now he has no excuse.

US Mid-term Elections Update

Much more trading on the betting floor than there was just 8 days ago (see how much the spread has tightened).

GOP Senate Control
Bid 82.7
Ask 83.0

GOP House Control
Bid 57.2
Ask 57.9

With regards to the spread in the Senate note that the current spread is inside the previous spread, thus all you can conclude is that the amount of trading has increased.

In the house the buy price is now greater than the previous ask price so there is a definite shift towards the market believing in a greater likelihood of the GOP retaining control.

Just two weeks ago the market thought the odds of the Republicans losing the House was around 60%. Now it's down to around 43%, things are trending in the GOP's favour at the moment.

Will it continue? I don't know. But the more Chavez and Ahmadinejad talk the higher the GOP's numbers will go. Karl Rove must must be rubbing his hands with glee when these two stand up at the UN.

Weekend roundup

I went to a wedding yesterday afternoon. It was no typical wedding but I'm not going to go any further than that in describing it - being of a relative of my in-laws and valuing my liberty.

However, one thing I did laugh at was the large number of people missing from the reception during the happy couples grand entrance. Everyone was outside sitting in their cars listening to the last 5 minutes of the Eagles v Crows preliminary finals match. Heh. Good timing.

I've been working on next week's lectures. Frustrated by the fact that I can't find my handwritten notes on these topics that I've made over the last few years. Very annoying.

Once I finish the lectures I need to think about writing my final exam. Unfortunately these have to be sent to the printers months in advance. It's probably the most stressful part of the job (submitting final exams). The worst nightmare is if you stuff up something and have to stand up in front of halls of 700 people reading out corrections in November. No thanks. I prefer to get it right the first time.

Oh and finally congrats to the Opals. Basketball world champions.