Start of a new year….

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So here’s my kickstart to blogging in the year 2011. This is going to be a bit of a brain dump – if you like your English proof read and grammatically correct then this probably isn’t the post to read.So what have I been up to? Well…

  1. I worked at Reece for another whole year. Had some fun times and some not so fun times but overall it was a learning experience ;-)
  2. Spent far to long looking at real estate websites and moaning about house prices spiraling out of control (but not buying anything).
  3. Turned the grand old age of 32. That’s only eight years (that’s right eight years!) away from forty.
  4. Camped/traveled/spent time at/to the following places – Marysville, Lake Mountain, Rosebud, Warrnambool, Boonie Doon, Cape Paterson, Woodend and Nagambie.
  5. Enjoyed myself thoroughly at both the Reece and Intunity Christmas parties. The Hofbrauhaus (Reece) involved giant maß glasses of beer (one litre) until the tab ran out which was far to early in the evening. The Intunity tab ran until nights end much to my pain the next day :-( I was lucky enough to be given a new Crumpler bag from the gang at Intunity though which was sweet.
  6. Spent new years down at Cape Paterson just chilling out enjoying the surf and fine weather. Caught up with Mason and Dee after many a long year.

This is a very very brief rundown of the previous year. For more details please click here. Actually, please give me a call or come speak to me instead. It’ll probably work better.I’ve also decided that I’m going to start blogging more geeky stuff. You know – Java, Android, computer games, etc. Anything that interests me or that I’m working on. I’ll endeavour to blog about this kind of stuff shortly (within the next couple of days).Belated happy new years everyone!

2010 Update

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Happy new year everyone! Ok, for those actually reading this and I suspect that is zero people here’s an update of the past few weeks. Of course if you’ve gotten this far you’ve already proven that last statement wrong. Good on you!

1. Christmas Eve – was spent gorging ourselves on prawns and oysters with very expensive mayonnaise (thanks Aileen and Duncan!)

2. Christmas @ Our Place – so this was our very first Christmas spent together in our own house aka unit aka small place. It was a great deal of fun – we woke up and had croissants with champagne and orange juice for breakie and then set our sights on the main meal for the day – a traditional Christmas roast lunch. Turkey, ham and lots and lots of roast vegies were enjoyed by ourselves and Sheila’s parents. We gave ourselves a pat on the back for job well done afterwards ;-)

3. New Years Eve @ Bonnie Doon – of course we travelled there for the serenity (insert appropriate bad joke drum noises here). Twelve of us spent six nights together in a fantastic holiday house on Lake Eildon just relaxing – fishing, eating (not fish), playing games (poker, uno, scrabble, xbox, ps3, wii – you name it we had it), reading and just really letting the peace and quiet chill us out. Except for new years day evening when an absolutely tremendous lightning storm spent the better part of the evening passing through. Never have I seen lightning so close as one bolt landed on a hill no more than two, maybe three hundred meters away. Quite incredible. I tried my best to get some good shots on the camera. It was crazy looking at some of the pictures – one where the entire landscape is lit up like daylight there was so much sheet lightning and around and another where I managed to catch a bolt hitting the ground a couple of kilometres away. I’ll hopefully get these pictures up in the next few days so check out the gallery link on the right. Big thanks to all those that attended for making it such a great time – Marcus and Cherie our Japanese friends, Mei-Ling and Leo, Picky and Nelsie, Genna-Leigh and Tezza and of course Grant and Suz (hehe…you like how I’ve made these two sound like a couple? ;-)

3. Back @ Work – of course all good trips come to an end and this one was no different. So I’ve now been back at work for a week. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was casual clothes week which helped. Plus I’ve started riding to work again and I rode twenty kilometres yesterday (Saturday) just for the hell of it! Figure that maybe if I get my act together I could do the 100km ride in the Around the Bay in a Day (the other options are 50km (too short), 210km (my butt couldn’t survive this) and 250km (argh!)).

So sore!

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I rode to work today. And back. So sore.

But it was worth it! I’ve been thinking about buying a bike to ride to work for sometime now and eventually took the plunge and stole a friends bike. Well, I decided it would be best to borrow a bike first to make sure I really was keen. The ride in to work is 16 km so today added up to a grand total of 32 km! The most I’ve ever ridden in one day for sure. Things went ok in the morning – I had a riding companion in my friend Nelsie who showed me the ropes. And by that I mean she made sure I didn’t get lost. It took over an hour to get to work and although my muscles were feeling OK, my rear end was hurting in places that it really shouldn’t have. The ride home started out just fine. It wasn’t until I got to the last 4-5 kms that I really started feeling it. The last hill was just impossible and I caved in and walked my bike up it.

The next step will be buying a bike. I’m looking at an Avanti Blade 4.0 which is a hybrid bike. I can’t justify purchasing a racer and I definitely want something faster than a mountain bike. A bike store near me, Fitzroy Cycles, has this bike which costs a whooping $1200. Not much if you are serious about riding but a fair whack if it’s your first bike. I can reduce the cost by a $100 if I take off the special pedals that need special shoes (I don’t need no special nuthin’). But then I need to factor in the cost of a trip computer, helmet, some panniers to carry my gear (I realised after riding in today that a backpack isn’t that comfortable) and a few other bits and bobs (like a bell!).

All going to plan I’ll buy this bike on Sunday (I’ve got the pleasure of working this Saturday). So bring on next week and a faster, meaner Grant on bike ;-)

What’s that game with prolate spheroid balls?

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It’s been a big few months since getting back. New job, moving house, setting up our lives again. And a fantastic season by the Geelong Football Club (that’s real footy, not the pansy European one ;-) ) And today is where the whole season will be put on the line – the grand final. After a close shave last week against the pie-eaters we’re now in the big one and up against an interstate rival in Port Adelaide. The anticipation for this game is huge and it’s mixed with a nervous fear that it will all unfold the wrong way. I know the Catters have the skill and passion to beat the Power however a grand final is just any other day. Even if you can beat a team three out of four times, you don’t want this one to be the one out of four! Tonight I’ll either be ecstatic or inconsolable. It has been forty four years since we last one the biggest piece of silverware for our trophy cabinet after all. And a hearty congratulations to Jimmy Bartel, the Brownlow winner for 2007….go the Cats!

For those of you who still have no idea about Aussie rules, then read here. You really can’t help but giggle though when you read that we play this game with a “prolate spheroid ball”. And if you’re looking for a quality tune to keep your spirits high, I’d recommend this.

Our new unit is going well. We’re pretty settled and have spent lots more money on essential items – an Xbox 360, speaker cable and the sorts. Our next big purchase will be a billy. A what you ask? All hail the brilliance of IKEA. The ‘billy‘ is a system of shelves that can be mixed and matched to fit whatever storage or space requirements you have. After this I’ll be focusing on getting the study/guest bedroom up and running. Oh, and obviously we’ve got broadband connected now, henceforth this post. Got a nice package from TPG that gives 40GB of peak downloads and 110GB off peak for $70 a month.

Anyway, I’ve got to go meditate to prepare for the bounce. Only three and a bit hours to go!

Yikes!

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Having realised that I haven’t posted anything for nearly three weeks I thought I should get off my behind and do something. And maybe I could write something interesting as well.  Hmmm….

Well the good news is that we now have somewhere to live! Now obviously we haven’t just been squatting in a gutter for the past couple of months. We’ve been abusing Sheila’s parents hospitality by living ‘back at home’. The time has come though to start spending our own money again and that means paying rent. Damn, maybe we haven’t really thought this thing through ;-) We’re moving into a place in Malvern East which was our preferred suburb so that’s good news. The place is also halfway between two different railway stations on separate train lines, both of which are within walking distance. We will also be close to other friends living in the area so bonus again!

The only downside is that now I really have to get off my behind and organise a rental truck to drive down to Warrnambool (three and a half hours away) to pick up all of my worldly possessions.  It’s a necessary evil and by Sunday evening we should have the bulk of our stuff in the new place. Yippee!

The cheeky little devils!

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Can you believe that someone stole my front number plate the other day? We had gone out for dinner with some friends and taken Sheila’s car, leaving mine at her place. On the way back as we passed my car sitting outside on the kerb I noticed that something was different. The front of my car looked oddly dark, almost as if there wasn’t anything reflecting the light…and then it clicked! After debating whether it could have fallen off I came to the conclusion that this was unlikely, especially as my Dad had attached them and he doesn’t do things by halves. I rang the police to notify them and they suggested that it was probably someone who wanted some plates for a ‘fuel drive off’ – the practice of filling up your car and simply driving off. You almost can’t blame people with fuel costing as much as it does these days! Anyway, I had to drive to the police station that night to pick up the police report so that I would be able to drive my car with only one plate on. Rang VicRoads the next day and ordered a new plate at a cost of $27. I’ll also have to purchase a new number plate protector which retails for around $30 at KMart so it really isn’t such a big deal overall.

Otherwise things are looking rosy. I’ve been paying particular attention to the Australian share market at the moment as it’s been suffering a ‘market correction’ over the past week or two. Might be time to start looking for some bargains ;-)

Can people really be this stupid?

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I was reading an article the other day that was proof that there is another fool born everyday. A South Australian farmer flew to Mali in Africa to meet a bride he met in cyberspace. From all accounts he was lured by the prospect of a huge dowry amongst other things. Upon arrival he was kidnapped, assaulted and then held to ransom. Really no surprise to anyone who spends five minutes investigating the current state of affairs in this country and with a small dose of common sense. I’m sure I can’t be the only one  who finds it absolutely mind boggling insanely mad that people can fall for these ploys so frequently. You don’t have to search far nor wide to find these kinds of stories.  When will people learn?  Considering that their crime is to be stunningly dumb and naive, probably never.

So what else is going on I hear you ask? Nothing too exciting really. I’ve now been back at work for two weeks. Found out that my first pay day will be on the 30th of August – my birthday is the 29th so I will have a lot to look forward to in late August. I’ve also had numerous people comment on the beard that I appear to be sporting in my Facebook profile. No, I no longer have this atrocity. I toyed with the idea for a month or so whilst travelling through the middle east but by the time I got to Barcelona it was decided between the two of us that I should shave it off as soon as possible. Glad to have given it a go though ;-)

Little things…

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are starting to fall into place. Here’s the list of everyday things that we’ve now sorted out (or are in the throes of doing): -

1. I’ve taken up hockey again. Have I lost my magical touch? Never had it so no. Did I hurt after playing for the first time? Yes – it was agony but worth every ache and pain.

2. eTag – now we can speed along on CityLink and pay extortionate amounts of money for the privilege!

3. Bought more shirts and ties – I figure that since I’m now contracting I should try and look decent for my job so no more jeans and t-shirts (as I wore in my last job).

4. Mobile upgrade – since I had my last mobile stolen it was time to upgrade to something bigger and better. This has come in the form of a Nokia 6110 Navigator. Oh what a phone! And I’ve moved off Telstra onto Three who have wicked deals and lots of downloadable content at good speeds. And I can claim my phone bills back through my contract management company – bonus! The satellite navigation is wicked fun to use and certainly beats the hell out of poring over a old and mangy Melways ;-)

Of course we’ve been busy and been doing heaps of other little things but I figure I can only hold your attention for so long. If you want to pretend you care you can read up about the wonderful Geelong Cats, my footy team (the game with the funny shaped ball). This has been the year of the Cats and they have won 13 games straight, a damn good effort by any AFL standard. Cross your fingers that they’ll go one further than previous years and bring home a flag for us long suffering supporters (last time we won the premiership was ’63).

On the work front things are ok. The work isn’t what you would call riveting by any stretch of the imagination but it will be paying the bills and keeping me off the streets for a little while longer (actually Sheila’s parents are doing that- thanks!). There are still plenty of people working at the company who were there when I left in 2004 – some that I’m happy to catch up with, others not so.

More importantly, we’ve been thinking about when we will be having our wedding next year and October is definitely looking the goods. We figure that we will have to decide pretty soon as we need to get a rough idea of who may be able to make it from overseas so that we can look at booking a reception venue (hard to do without an idea of numbers). I also have to spend some money soon and buy my beautiful fiancée a proper rock! The temporary effort that I bought in the US when we travelled through there late last year isn’t really cutting the mustard.

If you’ve got this far, well done. Drop me a line sometime and let me know what your all up to (especially for those who are outside of my little world, being Melbourne).