Who needs an electrician?

So things have been pretty interesting to say the least. Today, I wrote an abstract for the MTN Science Center project, which I have been asked to convert into a paper. If it is accepted, I will have the opportunity to present it at the next ASME meeting in Vancouver in November! I never thought I would be published at 22, but I'm definitely not second guessing it!

I have lost my passport! Can you believe it! So I had to got to home affairs today, and have to go back tomorrow to get it sorted out. I'm putting my faith in the new passport system and praying that I get in under two weeks, or else I might be in real trouble!

Ok, now for a more serious subject. There is something that I've been really proud to have done, but because of all the other crazy stuff going on, I haven't had a chance to blog about it! About three weeks ago, my stove broke! Strange and mysterious crackling noises and smells had been coming from under the hub for about a week, and I was convinced that we were going to have a large fire in the kitchen at some stage or other! Luckily for us, there was no fire, the stove just stopped working altogether.

As much as I love being the handi-woman around the house, I just didn't have the time (and someone had borrowed our screwdriver, not mentioning any names ;) ) I kept promising to get it done, and I think that my flat-mates started losing faith at some point that I was actually capable of fixing the thing...What nonsense! Who do you think rigged it up in the first place? So finally after a week or two, I got around to checking out what the matter was, and I must tell you now, it wasn't a pretty site.

For some reason, one of the neutral cables had melted through, and there was a mess of melted and fused rubber, plastic and metal. So I did what the 4+ years of electrical engineering courses and vac-work (where I connected cables bigger than my thigh) had taught me...I took the screwdriver and started hacking away at the mess until it was clear, I cute off the ends of the cables, connected it again, insulated it, and voila! Done. Easy right? Wonderfully proud of myself at the moment as you may have noticed!

There we are, I saved R500 or more calling out an electrician who would take 30 mins to do what I did in 5, robbing me blind in the process. (like the guy who came to fix my washing machine in December, only to have it break again in Feb, and again in April, each time charging me R600!) I eventually gave away the washing machine and got a new one.

And I'm off to Jo-Burg this weekend for some much-needed R&R with Prince Charming, so don't look for me! ;)