Thesis? Finished. Car? Sold. Flight? 114 hours away.

I finished my thesis today, read it over repeatedly until I couldn't stand to look at it anymore. I pretty much did what I set out to do, though I had to use the backup design in the end, as my highly technical approach turned out to be trying too hard. Still, it works, and I recon I'll get a decent degree out of this. Now I just need to get a job...

I also sold the car today (I have a list of all the things to do before I go home, today I got to tick a lot of things off in a triumphant pose). Was worried I'd get to Monday next week and have to basically give it away, but luckily some guy turned up who also had a tight schedule. I lost a bunch of money on the car but I think that's a given for my first; in retrospect he would probably have paid more, but I would probably have accepted less, so I'm fairly happy. Sad to see it go, thanks for the memories, it'll always look like a delorian to me.

I do need to do something with the bike, keyboard and guitar, and since I no longer have a car I can't easily transport them to the cash converters. I think the local salvos will be getting a lot of donations.

Oh and a few weeks ago I found the society I've been looking for for a year and a half. It's the Society for Aeronautical Engineers, which is apparently "just a name" and actually is a society for all engineers to get together and drink. They have a common room with games consoles and old sofas. So I got there in time to meet lots of new friends I'll not have time to make. Bugger.
When I first got to Australia I did stop at one of the AERO barbecues, but one guy convinced me that as a postgrad I wasn't really welcome in the society, so I didn't inquire further. Now I find everyone is appalled by that idea, "who could have confused you like that?" they ask. Ah well, I did have one good night out.

Everything's drawing to a close. I never saw the reef, never drove through the middle, I never visited Darwin or Perth, and amazingly I never went surfing. Obviously I'll need to come back, but maybe just for a few weeks holiday.