People still buy music at HMV?

Finished the course this morning, got back after lunch.

I’m listening to the new White Stripes now. New Coldplay‘s next.

I just finished watching Dead Again (imdb | rotten tomatoes). I have no idea how it got on my Zip list. It was pretty bad, certainly not worthy of Kenneth Branagh or Emma Thompson. Or Wayne Knight, for that matter.

The exam this morning was ok. Harder than the sample exam I did, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. I’d guess that I scored somewhere around between 60 and 70, which would make me perfectly happy. I just do not want to take that course again.

A handful of us stuck around for lunch (I actually skipped lunch and scarfed my first dessert of the week), but after saying some goodbyes I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I climbed into the cab, queued the Arcade Fire album and closed my eyes.

Being outside for the first time in days I’ve noticed that it’s hotter than the hubs of hell out there. I subway’d up to All The Best for some goodies and ended up impulse buying some Greg’s roasted marshmallow ice cream. The cashier asked me if I wanted a spoon just in case it melted before I got home; I told her that if it came to that I’d drink the tub dry.

Anyway, I now have the place to myself as the wife & mother-in-law have left for a girls night. A nice man brought me pizza. I’m relaxing, catching up on news & playing with the cats. I look forward to reading the paper tomorrow morning and going for a meaningless stroll (unless it’s the seventh layer of hell out there again) just for the hell of it.

Sadly, this weekend is about all the spare time I can muster. Since my Europe trip is in two weeks I have to get the first assignment done early, which means starting Monday.

Can’t blog. Sleeping.

Arrived early to get a seat in the back. It’s go time!!

Finally, I’m done studying. I wasn’t going to learn anything else new, so I finished reviewing and hopefully it’ll stick ’til tomorrow. Twelve hours from now I’ll be done or just finishing up (hopefully) and getting ready to head home.

I’m sorry for blabbing on and on about nothing but this for a week, but it’s hard to convey how isolated we are. The sheer volume of work occupies practically every minute from the time we arrive, and what precious few spare moments we find are spent eating, having a drink or snatching a bit of exercise. Except for shortcuts through the courtyard I haven’t been outside since Sunday morning. None of us have time to read a paper, so we have no idea what’s happening outside except what the staff or our prof tells us, or what we can catch in fifteen minutes on Newsworld.

An environment like this breeds friendships, and I’m sure will breed animosity before we’re through. Beyond the knowledge and the eventual after-the-name letters, it’s a pretty interesting social experiment. Or would be, if I weren’t guinea pig #6…

So, while I’m far from confident about tomorrow, I just went through the practice exam and did pretty well, whereas when I tried to do it last week and it kicked my ass. So now the plan is to go through my class notes while I keep one eye on game 1 of the NBA finals (go Spurs), and maybe even head to the bar for a drink around 10:00.

Honestly, I’m just shooting for a 61 on this puppy; anything more than that is gravy. 61% would give me 70% for the course, and I have to tell you…I have no problem with a 70% in accounting. I can pad my marks with the two IT courses later…

This morning, around 4:30 AM, I was awoken by a strange and sudden sound outside my room, not unlike dozens of tiny fingers scratching at my window. I sprung from the bed, poised & ninja-like, ready to kick some elfy ass. Then I realized it was just the sprinklers on a timer, and felt very very stupid. Couldn’t get back to sleep though, which made for a long morning.

Classroom portion is finished. All that’s left is to study and write the exam tomorrow morning. I’ll keep an eye on the gym this evening to see if I can sneak in a few hoops, but other than that the plan is to reinforce today’s material and just review the rest. I don’t think I’m gonna learn anything new at this point. Brain full already. Ug.

The Kings Of Leon, who’re passing through Toronto soon, are yet another band I’d like to se live, but won’t because they’re playing at The Kool Haus. The $24.50+ ticket price isn’t exactly winning me over either.

However, I’m considering getting tickets for the Sleater-Kinney concert at the Phoenix after all. Better band, less $$ and not at the Shit Haus.

Fantastic. Just in time for me to finish my course and escape the training compound (as I now call it), the forecast calls for five days of rain.