Why wait until the last minute?

THE Easter weekend is over and with the Royal Wedding about to happen, we have two more Bank Holidays to look forward to in the next week.  For me, I am counting down the days until I finish my second year of University – now just over a fortnight away.

     I thought today – ‘let’s go into University’ and take advantage of almost an empty environment and get some work done.  I have finished the majority of my assignments this year, except a boring and tedious law exam and evaluations on several topics, where I have to critically assess my work this year.  Typical!  I get to Uni, and the institution is shut!  Why?  It isn’t Bank Holiday Tuesday!  Next up, we will be having a holiday for every political party in Britain.  It is ridiculous.

UNECCESSARY: Why put yourself in this situation?

     Okay, I probably should have checked the university website first before I went in and I only live five minutes away, so it wasn’t like a waste of petrol.  However, give me a break!  It is far from good enough and like I said, it’s not a Bank Holiday, so I don’t understand it!  Does it surprise me?  No, not really.  All the same, it is still incredibly frustrating.

     It also got me thinking about deadlines and getting assignments in on time.  Luckily, I am in a position where I’m not running around like a headless chicken.  In fact, I tried that a couple of months ago and let’s say, it put me in a very bad place.  The relaxed approach I took after March does seem to work.  However, it does get me thinking, why do people wait until the last minute to get work done? 

     For some, it is the way they work.  If so, it can’t be faulted and if that’s how it is approached by them, it’s fine.  However, it could be made a bit easier by getting the job done a bit earlier and quicker.  99% of the time, stuff done at the last minute is nowhere near as good as bits and pieces produced or handed in a fortnight earlier.  I was guilty of that myself at times, especially in Secondary School – largely because it didn’t matter so much.  If I leave stuff until the last minute, I feel frustrated in myself and realise – ‘Crud, why did I decide to take that approach.’  For me, it doesn’t work.  It might do for others, but I always struggle to see the advantages of it.

     Now, some people can just be desperately unlucky and everything they seem to touch goes wrong.  Consequently, I feel for these individuals, who work so hard and get little reward for it.  It wins more respect with me if they have worked hard on a project and are putting the finishing touches to a masterpiece of work just before the deadline.  For those who like wake up at 3pm on the afternoon before a deadline is due and have done like 10% of the work, you’d only have yourself to blame, especially if you had started receiving the work months before.  In my case, some of my assignments begun way back in September 2010, so excuses run thinner than ever before.

     Leaving it till the last minute?  For me, not an option – just an annoying distraction.

New Zealand's darkest hour after devastating quake

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ESIDENTS in Christchurch and across New Zealand are attempting to pick up the pieces after Tuesday’s devastating earthquake which has left over 100 people dead.    

The tremor lasted for about 30 seconds and hit Christchurch at its busiest time, the lunch hour where many commuters meet for coffee and a catch-up.  Therefore, this earthquake had the maximum possible devastation attributed.  It measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, far less than the 7.1 aftershock felt in the same city last September.  Then, extensive damage was caused to buildings but no-one was killed and the injuries were relatively minor.  This time, Christchurch wasn’t so lucky. 

AFTERMATH: Many buildings felt the full force of the quake

Some buildings came down straightaway, after fell more gradually.  In suburbs, burst water pipes have led to flooding and landslides.  Hills have been cut in half, some other structures looking totally unrecognisable to what they had earlier in the day.  The city looks like a warzone, echoing what happened to the residents of Kobe, Japan after their devastating quake in January 1995.  As hope fades very quickly for anymore survivors, this is another example of the unexpected force of Mother Nature.

In Christchurch, there weren’t enough ambulances to get all the trapped survivors out of the squashed buildings and with hospitals all full-up, space for the critically injured found hours after the tremor became very limited.  The frequent aftershocks stunned survivors and badly hampered the attempt to rescue those buried underneath tonnes of rubble.  The country’s prime minister John Key has vowed to rebuild the town and after announcing a state of emergency throughout the country, will not bow down to the challenges ahead; “We are a resilient nation, we will not bow down to this challenge.”  The Queen has passed on her thoughts and is said to be ‘utterly shocked by the events in New Zealand.

GRIM: It is a tough job to find survivors for the rescuers

Three days on from the quake and many residents are still trying to deal with the aftermath.  At current, 113 people are officially dead, with two British tourists amongst them.  There are still 200 people unaccounted for.  Half of Christchurch still has no water supplies and around 25% of the devastated city still has no electricity.  Due to the powercuts, many supermarkets remain closed which is making food supplies very limited for some.  Petrol stations have also been badly hit, with some running out of fuel, as desperate survivors top-up.  The estimated damage from the quake is likely to break the billions of dollars category.  Structural damage to a lot of properties means that many hundreds of people remain homeless and are staying in emergency rescue centres. 

With the death toll likely to rise and many more residents still unaccounted for, this is undoubtedly New Zealand’s darkest hour.  Life in Christchurch has changed forever.

 

British nationals concerned about relatives or friends affected by the quake can contact 020 7008 8765.