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My Journal - Alex


AlexTheGrape

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Hello there, my NZ mate!

I'm interested if you're still eating toast with beans? :D

Jokes aside, are you a waiter in a restaurant? Because if so, I suggest to try practicing giving suggestions to people. I mean, it's quite persuasive, but sometimes people are more likely to give you a tip when you're able to repeat their order.

I'm interesting how well will you persevere. Just tell me when you'll crush all studying! :)

Greetings, Mad Pharmacist

Hi there my Polish friend!

Yes I am, I had some this morning :D I am eating porridge or toast most mornings now :)

Yes I'm a waiter in a Japanese restaurant. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll keep it in mind. I'll see if I can remember their orders without seeing what I've written down. However the restaurant keeps all the tips so I honestly don't have much of an incentive for tips :/

I think I persevered pretty well over the past couple of weeks to study hard, however I'm not doing very well today. Great to see you're still here on the forum! :)

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Today has been a mixed one. I got up late due to getting home late, did moderately well studying and paying attention to lectures during the day, and gymed with a buddy in the afternoon. However things took a turn when my buddy and I talked for a while about my old favourite video game he's been playing with my local friends.

I was very interested in how the gaming was going, and I currently am feeling the worst cravings for video games in a long time, to the point that I'd likely play the game if I had access to it. I entertained the idea of playing the game only around 3 hours a week and only with friends, and in the afternoon I somehow ditched my homework to read strategy and game-mechanics wiki's on the game for some 2 hours. I'm not feeling good about where this is heading due to the potential for great time consumption, but am also honestly excited to see what it'll be like re-introducing this to my life after living without them for over a year. I am also questioning if I ever was addicted to video games in the first place, because I was able to restrict my gaming time to zero during the school term whilst I was at high school (it was only during holidays that I would game for vast amounts of time).

I am also considering that because I don't have a clear direction for the next year or few years, that I don't see such a great need to preserve my time as badly as I did last year.

I will just have to see how this goes, for now I'll reread my previous posts in my journal to reinforce why I initially quit gaming.

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    I am also considering that because I don't have a clear direction for the next year or few years, that I don't see such a great need to preserve my time as badly as I did last year.

Bingo. You hit the nail on the head right there.

Video games are so easy to get into partly because you don't need to think about goals or aspirations - they are handed to you on a silver platter, and you just have to chase them down. If you're not striving for something in real life, it's no surprise that video games suddenly become an attractive option. Especially since you're spending so much time working and studying - it's so easy to justify "I work so hard for so long every day, why shouldn't I enjoy myself a bit?" And honestly, that's not a wrong point of view. It just depends on what you choose to do to enjoy yourself..

Do you really, truly, desperately need the money from your job? Because based on what you've told me about how much time you spend on schoolwork every day, I would really recommend you quit your job and repurpose that time for something else. Obviously I don't know what you truly want out of life or what's really important to you, but I suggest you figure out a direction to go in with that in mind.

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The restaurant keeps all the tips? Are you serious?

I hope they are paying you a better-than-average wage then. I'm pretty sure it's illegal for restaurants to do that, at least in NA.

The tipping process is different here than to North America. GST and payment for services (e.g. for the waiters at a restaurant) are all included in the shown price. Hence there is no requirement to tip, tipping being optional and only on occasions do people tip in restaurants, and do so because they want to show gratitude for exceptional service. I get paid minimum wage ($15.75 New Zealand Dollars) per hour, compared to the minimum wage in the US of $7.25 USD per hour. Because of this, I'm not complaining, I probably earn much more in comparison.

Edited by AlexTheGrape
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Today has been an okay one, however I've been mostly feeling sad/down today. I think I probably need some more social time and more sleep to perk myself up. I'm still struggling with finding a new direction, but I think I'll simply need to take the time to think it through in the weekend. I've purchased food every day this week, which is really against my saving mentality when it comes to money. I forgot to add that I made dinner yesterday, so I'm still improving my skills there. I worked at the restaurant in the evening, and got time to spend at home with my dad and brother afterwards.

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The restaurant keeps all the tips? Are you serious?

I hope they are paying you a better-than-average wage then. I'm pretty sure it's illegal for restaurants to do that, at least in NA.

The tipping process is different here than to North America. GST and payment for services (e.g. for the waiters at a restaurant) are all included in the shown price. Hence there is no requirement to tip, tipping being optional and only on occasions do people tip in restaurants, and do so because they want to show gratitude for exceptional service. I get paid minimum wage ($15.75 New Zealand Dollars) per hour, compared to the minimum wage in the US of $7.25 USD per hour. Because of this, I'm not complaining, I probably earn much more in comparison.

You make about $10.89 USD per hour (today's rate). I'm sorry to say but I think some waiters in the US make more after tips, depending on the restaurant. In some very high end restaurants the tips go to over $100.00.

Either way, I think it's bogus that the restaurant keeps the tips. The tip is for YOUR service.. not THEIRS. Why are they taking money that you've earned for making the customer happy?

Either way, I think the whole tipping thing in general is just nonsense. From my point of view, I only see it as an excuse for restaurants to not pay their workers a proper wage and save on taxes, because from what I've read, tips generally don't show up on tax forms (not sure if it this is legal). Even then, there are still some restaurants in North America that keep at least some of the tips anyways.. it's such a stupid and corrupt system, honestly.

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It's not been good that I haven't posted recently. My week has been okay so far, but I've found it quite difficult to put the time in to study. It is partially because of commitments to clubs and my enterprise group, but largely due to just not feeling great and not putting in the necessary effort. I've been reassured that continuing with zero games is the best way to go by friends and family, however I still need to reduce the influence of my gamer friends by hanging out with them less. I have figured that being part of a robotics club or being involved with that area of my life has contributed to feeling a little directionless, so my biggest challenge for the next week is to get involved with a robotics project that will keep me engaged and wanting to do my best with my studies.

I've been making bigger steps towards independence recently, as I now make 100% of my lunch 100% of the time with ingredients I've purchased solely for myself. It has made my lunches go further (I pack way more in) and more to my preference (well balanced, with my favourite foods).

After my call today with my accountability partner, I've identified what I need to work on the most, and I now have challenges for the week.

Edited by AlexTheGrape
Added in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs.
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Today has been an amazing day. I made the most of it by going to university to study (despite it being a Sunday) and packed myself a lunch so awesome that I even had a partial dinner left at 6pm. I am happy with the amount of work I've done today, however there's always room for improvement! I did well by running up/down seven floors of stairs during study breaks, so that I was energised for my next study period. I think I could have been more productive by fleshing out what I want to accomplish by the end of the study period, just as I start it/beforehand. This will give me a goal to work towards and I'll be much more on-task that way. 

Social goal:

I'm reintroducing the social goal as it has had great benefits to my life in the past, and I need to be constantly challenging myself to keep up my social skills.

Tomorrow I'm going to be a leader in group conversation, which is usually something I'm not confident with doing.

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Today has been an amazing day. I made the most of it by going to university to study (despite it being a Sunday) and packed myself a lunch so awesome that I even had a partial dinner left at 6pm. I am happy with the amount of work I've done today, however there's always room for improvement! I did well by running up/down seven floors of stairs during study breaks, so that I was energised for my next study period. I think I could have been more productive by fleshing out what I want to accomplish by the end of the study period, just as I start it/beforehand. This will give me a goal to work towards and I'll be much more on-task that way. 

Social goal:

I'm reintroducing the social goal as it has had great benefits to my life in the past, and I need to be constantly challenging myself to keep up my social skills.

Tomorrow I'm going to be a leader in group conversation, which is usually something I'm not confident with doing.

Good luck with the group conversation!

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Today has been an amazing day. I made the most of it by going to university to study (despite it being a Sunday) and packed myself a lunch so awesome that I even had a partial dinner left at 6pm. I am happy with the amount of work I've done today, however there's always room for improvement! I did well by running up/down seven floors of stairs during study breaks, so that I was energised for my next study period. I think I could have been more productive by fleshing out what I want to accomplish by the end of the study period, just as I start it/beforehand. This will give me a goal to work towards and I'll be much more on-task that way. 

Social goal:

I'm reintroducing the social goal as it has had great benefits to my life in the past, and I need to be constantly challenging myself to keep up my social skills.

Tomorrow I'm going to be a leader in group conversation, which is usually something I'm not confident with doing.

Good luck with the group conversation!

Thanks! Yeah it seems pretty trivial, but it went well.

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This week has been an extremely busy one. On Monday and Tuesday I was staying late at university to complete a group business project, which we submitted last night at 10:30pm! This evening I went to an audition to be part of the 'engineering revue' which is a yearly stage performance by the engineering department. I got back home late again, and I'm finding it difficult to make the most of time spent travelling. I'm thinking I should start reading my kindle on the bus again, as it'd be an ideal time to read self-development if I'd otherwise just browse the internet or gaze out the window.

The other day for my social challenge I made sure to be a conversational leader when talking to my friends. It worked pretty well, but there's plenty of practice to do as I'm currently not able to sustain it for a long time. My challenge for tomorrow will be to speak to one stranger whilst waiting at a bus stop (or on the bus) for as long as possible.

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For yesterday: the rest of the week has still been very busy, with report deadlines coming closer. I've been studying most of the weekend to a satisfactory level (however not ideal), and I know that I need to keep more active for maximum study performance. I'm still happy with what I've done though. I didn't manage to do any studying on Friday as usual, but I think I need to properly dedicate it to time off if I'm planning to do full-on studying every weekend, otherwise I get no free time!

For today: Today has been a relatively good day overall; I packed a good lunch, worked hard throughout the day, got the help I needed in maths, and worked long hours. However I didn't go to bed on time and I attempted to sleep in this morning. It ended up in me simply wasting time as I didn't get back to sleep. As a result I didn't go to the gym, which is a pretty poor start to the day and to the week.

This week I'm focusing on doing the best I can in my studies, with my second priority being to push myself out of my comfort zone wherever possible. That means getting back into cold showers! :D

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This week has been super busy so far, but not in a good way. I've spent heaps of time every night writing a research report and working on a group assignment, however it has been at the expense of sleep. Furthermore I've been using my usual gym time to work on these things, which isn't good for my health. I think it is a symptom of having too many extra-curricular activities on my plate, as I'm constantly needing to compromise things in my life. I'll get back into gyming tomorrow, but getting enough sleep will be a hurdle I'll be struggling with for the next week.

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This week has been super busy so far, but not in a good way. I've spent heaps of time every night writing a research report and working on a group assignment, however it has been at the expense of sleep. Furthermore I've been using my usual gym time to work on these things, which isn't good for my health. I think it is a symptom of having too many extra-curricular activities on my plate, as I'm constantly needing to compromise things in my life. I'll get back into gyming tomorrow, but getting enough sleep will be a hurdle I'll be struggling with for the next week.

There are people that will tell you this is simply the price to pay for success. It's up to you to decide if what you're doing is important enough to make it worth those sacrifices.

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Quick post today. Today has been a stressful day of submitting a group project, now I've got another group project (yay?) to handle. I've realised that I need to make more time in my day to study, and I'm simply haven't been finding that time in the past couple of weeks. I went gyming today and went all-out, I felt great afterwards. I'll need to reintroduce regular exercise breaks to maximise my productivity, as I know there's room for improvement.

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This week has been super busy so far, but not in a good way. I've spent heaps of time every night writing a research report and working on a group assignment, however it has been at the expense of sleep. Furthermore I've been using my usual gym time to work on these things, which isn't good for my health. I think it is a symptom of having too many extra-curricular activities on my plate, as I'm constantly needing to compromise things in my life. I'll get back into gyming tomorrow, but getting enough sleep will be a hurdle I'll be struggling with for the next week.

There are people that will tell you this is simply the price to pay for success. It's up to you to decide if what you're doing is important enough to make it worth those sacrifices.

Thanks Jay, I'll need to look into that. I think I'll do my best for the next week and see if it becomes a pattern, but in the meantime I may need to cut off fencing and my new commitment to an engineering performance.

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Hey, Alex!

Looks like you have a lot of work to do with group projects!

Remember when we talk about you having a holiday and me having exams? I was a bit jealous for that, frankly.

Now the roles are switched, however. You have work to do, and I have 6 weeks left until finishing exams.

:D

Anyways, it's good to see you're doing well. How are you doing with the whole TrumpZone project by the way? :)

Greetings, Mad Pharmacist

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Hey, Alex!

Looks like you have a lot of work to do with group projects!

Remember when we talk about you having a holiday and me having exams? I was a bit jealous for that, frankly.

Now the roles are switched, however. You have work to do, and I have 6 weeks left until finishing exams.

:D

Anyways, it's good to see you're doing well. How are you doing with the whole TrumpZone project by the way? :)

Greetings, Mad Pharmacist

Haha yes it is indeed swapped.

Best of luck for your exams! Hopefully you've been finding enough time for your studies too.

I stopped doing the TrumpZone project a few months ago, as I've been working in an enterprise group which I go through the motions of starting up a social enterprise with. I'm gaining the experience for doing what would be needed for my project, so I can get back to it later if I find the time. At the moment, it looks like I'm not going to have the time though, as I'm struggling to do all the coursework necessary.

Thanks for dropping by! :)

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You're welcome Alex! Can't wait to see your next entry!

Btw. I started interesting journey right now - 39 days until finishing the last exam. So, each day I have an opportunity to go into different coffee shop or place to study. We'll see how many of them I'll discover in my city! :)

Greetings, Mad Pharmacist

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The past week has whizzed by and I can't believe it is almost June. I have been working hard during the week, but my work ethic took a dip during the weekend. All I have to learn is that I need a plan to make the most of study time during the weekends, and to cut out all distractions even if it means leaving the house. This week will be another busy week, but I think I'll be more prepared as I am currently removing the non-essentials from my life to focus on my coursework. Let's see how this goes!

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The past week has whizzed by and I can't believe it is almost June. I have been working hard during the week, but my work ethic took a dip during the weekend. All I have to learn is that I need a plan to make the most of study time during the weekends, and to cut out all distractions even if it means leaving the house. This week will be another busy week, but I think I'll be more prepared as I am currently removing the non-essentials from my life to focus on my coursework. Let's see how this goes!

Good luck man I think you're on the right track just keep it going!

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This week has been another super busy one, but probably one of the busiest! Cutting out the non-essentials has been working well for me, however I have still been locked into many commitments this week in my workplace and for my business group. I studied hard for a maths test on Thursday, and I'm confident that I did really well during that test. On Saturday I went to the Kickstart Final, which is the pitching competition that my business enterprise group and I have been building up towards. Our hard work has paid off, because we came first place and won $500 to put towards our business! I'm not sure if we'll still go ahead with making the business or if we'll just take it as a great learning experience, but I'm very happy with the result and the skills I've learned along the way. Studying in the weekend was not up to par, so it seems I'll need to revert back to going to the university to study, as I'm always tempted to spend much more time than I should on breaks whilst at home.

Here's a photo of my kickstart team! Also here's one with the judges.

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18922806_1578782368820609_6805151773905131072_o.jpg

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Today has been a relatively good one. I got up at the usual time, went to the gym in the morning, and went to my lectures. My studying wasn't too productive today, but I made burritos for the family this evening. There was still heaps left over, so it was a good use of time and I finally used up the last of my personal groceries that were going to go off soon. Tomorrow I'm going to run to the gym to slash my travel time, and stay at uni until about 7pm to get the maximum amount of studying done. I have finished my non-fiction book I've been reading, so I'll be getting back into self-development books. Tomorrow I'll make sure to make the most of my time, lets see how this goes!

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