And rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights...

Ok, so it's not as bad as in the days of Noah. Nevertheless, a wave of storms has seemed to hit many parts of the world, in particular; Europe, North America and Australia.

Ice storms knock over power lines in the US

Monstrous waves in France

Mayhem in the Netherlands

Floods in Australia

Interesting to note that these storms are all occuring almost simultaneously. It's sort of an irony for Australia though. We were facing a record-long drought and people were praying hard for rain. A news report quoted a pastor as quipping that his congregation "prayed too hard" (if that is even possible). The massive rainfall recorded across South Australia alone was reported as being a once in 50 year event. Despite the flooding and some destruction, it's a good thing for the farmers who so desperately needed the water. Hopefully this doesn't end the rain quota for the next few years. We need constant rain as opposed to one-off waterfalls.

Doomsayers shouldn't get too excited yet. After all, once the Great Flood was over, God promised that an event like that would never happen again. So we can cancel off floods as a way the world will end. There's still fire, wind, earth and other elements though!

Back in action...!

Happy New Year to all! Granted it's a little late but better late than never. Late last year, I upgraded my blog to the new one that incorporates your Google account. For some reason, my whole blog got all messed up and I found that I couldn't load it with Internet Explorer. I didn't have the time nor patience to fix it then. Now I do. Hopefully all the problems have been fixed and everyone is able to start reading this blog again. No doubt some may never come back after trying a few times unsuccesfully to access my blog when it was messed up. But oh well...

2006 proved to be a fascinating year for me. Some highlights of the year include (in no particular order):

• Winning the Merdeka Award for being the best Malaysian student in South Australia
• Obtaining employment with Gambier City Pharmacies
• Finding that special someone
• Buying a second-hand burgundy Toyota Corolla
  
• Graduating from UniSA with my Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree
• Being elected as the Pre-registrant representative of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia SA Branch

I blogged about some of these but those that have recently occured probably haven't been mentioned.

As you can guess, I've moved and started work in Mount Gambier. It's located 5 hours from both Adelaide and Melbourne. While technically considered a rural area, it can hardly be called rural when compared to all the other rural areas in Australia. We have most of the facilities you can get in Adelaide including Kmart, Target, Radio Rentals, Wendy's, Reject Shop, Jay-Jay's and Rivers. It's basically a smaller version of Adelaide. Life here is very peaceful but enjoyable. I live in a quiet street about a 15 minute walk from the town centre.

Work has been great. It took me about 2 days to fit in with the workings of my pharmacy. According to my preceptor, I am 2-3 months ahead of any pre-registrant he has ever seen. In addition, he feels I slotted into the workplace with amazing ease. I must say that I do enjoy going to work. I am given a lot of freedom with what I do. Day 2 and I am already counselling patients without supervision. 2nd week and I am able to provide advice on non-prescription medicines even without studying about them! No doubt my decision to accept this job offer was one of the best I have made in my life.

I've slowly been getting things I need to make my house habitable. I live in a 2 bedroom unit. It's pretty big for one person but it gives me more space to move around. I got a tv but since the reception for Channel 10 (the channel I watch the most) was poor, I had to buy a set top box to improve the reception. Not to mention get a few extra digital channels. Worked like a charm. The living room is a little bare but once I get the rest of my stuff from Adelaide in February, things will definitely be more comfortable here.

All in all, it was a great end to 2006 and an even better beginning to 2007. As much as I miss my significant other, I am enjoying my life here and look forward to more interesting times ahead. I can only hope that she enjoys her life where she will be working as well.

Now that I have my broadband connection, I will try to keep this blog updated. Do spread the word around that this is back up and running if you are able to. Hope all of you are enjoying a wonderful start to the new year as well...