I’ve had an interesting couple of days. Thursday afternoon (the day of my last post), I went for a walk. I’ve decided I want to get my weight back into double figures if possible, so as to ease pressure on my back, and for general health.

I’m currently at somewhere between 100 and 120 kilos, and the reason I say this is, because of our crappy scales. I weighed myself the other day in the morning and weighed in at 105, which I was surprised by, but even more surprised when in the evening, I tipped the scales at 115. Surely I hadn’t eaten that much. And then, this morning, I came in at 110, so you can probably have as much chance of accuracy as the scales.

So to facilitate my weight loss, I’ve been doing walking. Twice this week (one of them was Thursday) I’ve gone for an hour long walk. On this particular occasion, my pants didn’t have a proper wallet pocket, so I just tucked one flap into my pants waistband and began the walk. Got home, and went to the foo with some mates, and to my horror saw that I had no cards in my wallte - my keycard, mbf card and medicare card were gone. I assumed they’d fallen out on my walk.

I cancelled them for my own peace of mind. So, I jumped on my bike (first time in months) and re-traced my route. I can tell ya, I was pretty suitably stuffed after the walk, so getting on the bike and doing it again wasn’t a pleasure cruise, I can assure you. Towards the end of my route, at a hill where I’d jogged down, I found my keycard resting calmly on a pile of dirt on the side of the path - the others were not to be seen. I got home and put a stop on the stop I’d placed on the keycard, so I don’t have to ask mum and dad for money if I need it.

Friday, Mum and I went over to Deano’s, where I was doing some work, and got a call from Dad. He’d gotten a call from his cousin’s ex-wife who worked at the local cop shop after someone had turned in my two lost cards. What’re the odds? Doesn’t help much, because they’re both cancelled and will take a couple of weeks to get new ones. Bother.

And Saturday (which is technically still today), Karen was over doing some vacuuming when a storm hit. Lightning went boom and the power went off just like that. We had a brown-out where your lights only half turn on, which is really bad news for pumps and compressors, because they burn out, so all fridges and the pool pump were turned off. Also, many of the power-points and the garage doors still worked. Weird.

Anyway, the power remained out for nigh-on 8 hours. After 4 of these hours, I decided I was going to go to Dean’s, where he had lost power for a few hours, but had gotten it back - half his luck.

We bummed around a bit, before I went home to a dark house. I was pretty pissed off. Anyway, I grabbed some candles and read some magazines in the dim light when suddenly I heard the beep of my air conditioner. Hurray! Midnight had passed, and we had power back again. At which point, I fired up the puter and here I am.

Now I’m starting to get tired, so I shall leave you with a happy thought - power reconnected. How I missed it while it was gone.

Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. Seems like only yesterday I was writing about my li’l old mousey. It seems to have made a miraculous recovery and has been performing like a champion ever since… Interesting… it’ll probably start being a piece of crap after I click for this entry to be published.

Anyway, I haven’t been up to much since last Wednesday. I hung out with Sam and Rowena on Sunday and had Indian at a restaurant, followed by home-style cold-rock. That was a fun night.

It wasn’t long before I was back at Sam’s place for a poker night, though with a different bunch - not the usual suspects - of Sam’s mates. It was only a low key affair, which started outside, but the wind picked up and the rain came, so we moved it inside.

I came 3rd out of 5, which has been my best result so far, compared to my previous 2 games coming dead last. Took a while too, about 3 hours of game, which was a pretty hard slog.

Today I sold raffle tickets for Rotary with Dad at the Hypermarket. It’s not too bad a gig there really. We’re parked outside a Sanity music store, which is JUST loud enough to drown out the shopping centre Christmas carols. I got a bottle of hot Pasito and burried it in the freezer cabinets before I wandered around the shops. After about 40 minutes in the freezer bits though, surrounded by other frozen goods, it still wasn’t cold. It wasn’t all bad - took the nasty warm edge off, so that was alright.

I seem to have a knack of killing fish. As the neighbours down the street went away last Wednesday, I’m keeping an eye on their fish and I seem to be doing a pretty piss-poor job. When it gets hot I turn the air con on so the fishies don’t over-heat, and I must’ve overestimated fish tolerance. One died on Monday, another died on Tuesday, and then today, I found another lying silent. I just hope no more will die on me, cos I’ll be at a loss for an explanation. The water gets pretty warm without the air con, so I’ve left it on.

Wednesday (the day just gone) was Berny’s birthday, and we had a pretty big family gathering at their place. Grandpa even came down from Bribie to stay the night. Karen made a lovely dinner as always, and the water in the pool was awesome temperature. Very very nice indeed. Was good to catch up with all the family again - we’re a pretty big bunch when all in one place.

Anyway, tomorrow I might be doing some more stuff at Deano’s. Oh yeah - our washing machine packed it in and so on Sunday I had to go to Dean’s to do some washing. Kinda funny and sad at the same time.

That’s all for now, catchya.

Now, I don’t editorialize in this blog, as I’m sure you well know, but I will say this: ozjet is the best idea I have ever heard. I encourage everyone to do all their flying between Sydney and Melbourne with OzJet.

Not a bad weekend just gone - Blacky and Lates and co went on a Gold Coast nightclubbing bus extravaganza, and I went to Glara’s for dinner with them and Linda. We ate Indian food, and watched MTV’s European awards show, whichever that was. I brought light beer to celebrate a bueono evening.

Saturday was quiet - Karen came around to learn some of the job she’ll hopefully soon be doing for me, although she did have to ignore the hungover people in all corners of the apartment. The day wore on, and eventually I went to M&D’s for a visit, to see what was up over northside. Answer: not much.

Sunday, we had SLC at Fasta Pasta, which was better than last time, and then Lates and I had BR Blasts from Baskin Robins on the way home. He and Brenden came over for dinner Sunday night, and we watched “Lord of War”, which was pretty average.

Today, organized some things, including dropping in a hard drive for my uncle that is very, very sick to a data recovery lab. I hope they can get his data off it.

I need a new mouse. It’s slowly been dawning on me, that I indeed need a new mouse. “Why’s this post difficult for me to make?”, you might ask (or maybe you don’t), but aside from the fact that my mouse batteries die extraodrinarily quickly, leaving me with a useless mouse (as it has done now), I really like my mouse.

“What’s so special about your mouse?”, you’re probably all thinking with contempt in your thought. You may not be aware, but I purchased my mouse a couple of years back from a BMW dealership. It’s a cordless mouse in the shape of the new mini, and I am very fond of the new mini. It makes sense that I’m fond of my mouse.

So perhaps it’s time to retire my faithful, albeit battery-ravenous, Mini-shaped delight of a mouse, for something new.

I’ve made a pact that if I get another cordless mouse, it’ll have one of those built in lithium batteries and a docking station that will recharge it overnight. We shall see.

For now, I’ll discuss the poker night last night. Berny hosted, and we had 6 all up. The kids were all asleep by the time we got there, and we played outside in the cool breeze. Was a nice night.

There was some discussion about the following two Wednesday’s games. Next week is Berny’s birthday, so Dean, Berny and myself will probably not be playing, and the following week, Dean and Co are going on holiday, so, perhaps a bye is in order. Then again, we don’t have to play poker, I’m up for some other games too.

About a month ago, mum had surgery on her hand, and was unable to drive for about two weeks while it healed. Being unable to drive yourself anywhere gives most people cabin fever, so every so often, I’d offer to take mum places and stuff. She needed to get to the optometrist to have her new glasses fitted/adjusted. While we were wandering around, mum was without glasses.

It was kinda funny, because she couldn’t see very much at all without her glasses, and was looking through some shirts. Meanwhile, I was looking at the toys :teehee: and she was none-the-wiser. And she’d finished and found something she was after, she couldn’t find me, so just stood there waiting for me. This is very different to the mum I (and many other people) know (with vision) - you’d have to go looking for her on the other side of the shop as she mooched around seeing things of interest.

But now I come to the crux of my story. I entered a draw for a portrait while walking around. I got a call today to say my name had been picked out of the draw for a 13′x10′ portrait session, valued at $80, for a mere $10. I kinda chortled, because there’s always a catch with this kind of offer, so I told em I’d talk to the family and book a date later.

Bryce comes home soon, so I figure we get a family portrait done in traditional formal attire. That’d be a nice new piccy to have around the joint. I wonder what else we’ll get stung with.

In other news, I’ve been asked to “fish-sit” for a guy who lives a few houses down the road. They’re going away for a little while, and with the weather lately, if the house gets too hot, the fish can over-heat and die, so I’m in charge of regulating the house temp, and occasionally treating the fishies to some “shrimp pellets”.

Also, Berny’s hosting the poker night for this week, and thus far have 4 confirmed, with a possible 8. Leave a comment if you can come and want the address, and we’ll try to book you in :tongue:
Don’t forget to bring money. I think we’ll go with prize places ass opposed to winner takes all this time.

Hello, everyone, hello, hello …

Who can believe that it’s December already? With the heat yesterday, I sure can. Only 2 weeks until holidays, how great is that? Very great, thanks for asking.

I’ve had some fun recently - last night Lates, Blacky and I went to see Domino at the movies. Not great, and some parts I really hated, but some parts were funny, so I guess it was a bit of a mixed bag. We had fabulous Ginka chicken curry beforehand, so that set us all up for a gassy evening. :teehee: Blacky went to bed, and Leyton and I stayed up until all hours, discussing such lofty topics as international business. When the munchies hit, junk food was enjoyed by all.

The SLC (or as many who could make it) got together for breakfast at Harvey’s New Farm on Sunday. I was a little disappointed, considering the high regard in which I hold that establishment.

Saturday had a serious bludge day, which culminated in watching “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo” which was absolute crap. I’d already enjoyed a few drinks when Leyton arrived with Bundy Dry and Lime, which are my favourite, so I proceeded to get quite a bit more tipsy than intended.

Friday, had a few peeps over for a risotto I made, and a screening of The Island, which wasn’t too bad.
Thursday, dinner at Rob and Nadia’s, which was (as always) excellent. I even got into the christmas spirit, helping Nadia decorate her tree.
Wednesday, was Woo’s poker night, which will probably turn into a weekly event. I won the massive $70 prize pool, which definately didn’t suck.
Tuesday, family night.
Monday, schnitzel night at the pub next door.

And that pretty much summarizes the last week. Sorry I didn’t update earlier, and in more detail on any of these events.

Well, since the last time I made a decent update, a fair bit’s happened.

We had a hair-cutting bonanza at Berny and Karen’s - major props to Berny - some during the week. Ben and Renae had their hair trimmed, and then Dad, Dean and I got haircuts. Dad got a normal hair-cut, while Dean and I got the special treatment :tongue:

Karen had suggested during the week that I get a flat-top, and so I said “If Berny’s willing to give me a flat-top, I’ll get it done. So I did. Accordingly, I now look somewhat millitary, so Dean has started calling me Sarge - which explains the title of this post if you remember that game Commandos.

Dean got a really nice haircut too, but I’ll just post a picture, as it will speak a thosand words on my behalf.

Wednesday night I hosted a poker night here. 7 players made for an interesting game - Dean, Robin, Steve, Blacy, Berny, Sam and myself. I went out first in a nail-bighter of a hand against Dean. From there it could more easily become one-sided. Dean won the whole thing eventually, with Steve coming a close second. Props again to Berny for the use of his poker table and chips.

I hereby propose a weekly poker night. With the demographic of players on Wednesday, I propose a “rotating” host type arrangement. One week at a North side locale, the next at a South side residence, and we’ve got at least 4 hosts, so, let’s take a vote via comments.

We got a call on Thursday morning informing us that Grandpa wasn’t feeling 100%, so mum and dad high-tailed it to go and see him. Mum decided to stay up with him for a few days, and dad and I are going up today.

Jake and his dad came down from Rocky on Friday, bringing with them his Japanese friend Ai - pronounced how we say “eye” or “I” - while his sister Eva flew down from Townsville. Jake and Ai (it’s funny to say that aloud, and those jokes never got old I tell ya) were catching a flight to Japan on Saturday, and so stayed here overnight.

That night was also the Cebs breakup for the year. Was a good night, but I think I’m ready for a break and having my Friday nights to do other things. Jake stayed up all night, and I nearly did too. I had a 20 minute nap at about 5:30 I think. We had a lovely “family” breakfast, and I made whopping big pancakes (bigger than the plate) using the sandwich press. The sandwich press also allows for some decorative, or even abstract pancakes, cos you don’t have to flip them! They’re also much much quicker to cook.

So that leaves me with yesterday and today. Yesterday, after seeing Jake and co off, it was a battle to stay awake. I kept falling asleep at random times during the day. I couldn’t decide whether to go to the valley to see “That 1 Guy” play at the Troubadour, but I did in the end, and it was 100% worth it. He plays a monstrosity of an instrument that he invented, which he calls his “Magic Pipe”. It’s 7′ tall galvanised steel pipe, with strings, samplers, buttons, switches, kick pedals, and major effects, as well as a smoke machine. It’s really an amazing spectacle, and he plays some driving industrial technoish experimental music. I really love it, but I’m sure that many others would think it’s music for the drug-addled.

Now I’m just waiting for dad to come home for us to go to see grandpa and mum. As promised, here’s the pics:

Ten HUT

Dean’s Do

Massive Pancake

That’s all. Dunno what it is…

Not a difficult puzzle, but one to get your brain jumpstarted this Tuesday morning. Enjoy!

Rhoda, Harriet, Meg and Jenny work as a seamstress, singer, stockbroker and sales exec - but not neccessarily in that order. Harriet drives to work saily with the sales executive and the singer. The brooding seamstress travels alone. Rhoda regularly beats the sales exec at darts. Meg plays basketball with the seamstress and the sales exec. Who sings?

Anyone who checked out the picture blog yesterday in any kind of detail will notice that Bek wore the same shirt two Sundays in a row. There’s no need to point it out - everyone now knows that’s her “Sunday Shirt”. :tongue:

Ah, but seriously. There’s been things going, my brothers, things have been going down. Take last night for example: I fixed Linda’s computer. Man, she sucks at computers. I did a bunch of things, but it was probably the rebooting the modem that clinched it. Oh, and setting the computer to have a different IP to the modem probably helped.

Today, that’s usually a Lara day here, but unfortunately, she’s dying of the common cold at the moment. Poor Lara, major shoutouts to her. And, my bro Woo, who also has a cold or something. I visited Monday and afterwards drove Woo to the chemist. In hindsight, the being cooped up in a car cabin with a sick person drove me a little mental, and I stopped on the way home and bought orange juice, which I drank like a sailor with scurvy to rid myself of the germs. Also, I drove with the windows down, to blow the germs out of the car. I think I’m safe.

Berny’s heading around today for lunch I think, so that should be cool.

It’s almost December, so that’s pretty nuts. Godez and I are planning an American trip next year in earnest, the fact that there’s an Optometrist Expo in NYC will surely help convince him to spend big big big on it. I’m sick of stupid economy, and I doubt I will fly economy for business purposes ever again. If it’s important enough for me to do, it’s important enough to pay for business class. That’s my new policy. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Peace out.