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Catch-Up

Its been a while since I last updated, there are a few reasons.........

The first is that I've been online less and less.

The second is that its been a fairly shite few months with little blog-worthy excitement to note

The third is that priorities have been elsewhere

In a series of kicks received lately the first was the loss of my licence. This (while entirely my fault) was a real pain in the proverbial. I had received a few speeding fines on my motorcycle and amassed 12 demerit points inside 3 years meaning I could either lose my license for 3 months or last a year with no demerit points and keep my license. Given all my indiscretions were on 2 wheels I was confident that I could last out 12 months restricting my motorcycle use and opting for the car more. I last 10 months and unfortunately as turned out ended up being done......in my car.......on the way to get my vasectomy. I was speeding, I was nervous, I explained to the cop where I was going but they didn't seem to phased so I copped a fine and about 2 months later had the pleasure of handing in my license. Its been ok, better than I thought I'm lucky that where we live is a short walk from a bus stop. Had I been living on our land I'd be screwed (it is 8km from the nearest bus stop). I don't mind catching a bus then a train into work, or a train home however the bus home is a little testing, there isn't a lot of leg room for people over 6'6 nor are some of the passengers the most civil. My commute has gone from 75-90 minutes to usually just over 2 hours, this sucks, it means I get home later, have to get up earlier and arrive home more tired than I normally would be.

The licence situ has also led me to deciding to sell my Ducati, while I find the hypermotard the most fun bike I've ever ridden I do need to settle down a little, I had decided to get a more cruiser oriented bike when I turned 40 but now i'm content to sell the hyper then get a harley of some form as more of a project, While I love riding bikes I also love wrenching on bikes just as much so a project will keep me occupied for a while.

On the home front this pregnancy has hit MB for 6. Her energy levels and health were very low for the early months of the pregnancy and as the months went by she didn't seem to improve, actually I started to see her go backwards, no energy, very snappy at first I think we both put it down to pregnancy hormones but certain key indicators raised alarms we suspected that she was suffering antenatal depression. She is now taking medication and speaking with a PANDA specialised psych and has been improving with every week. I've been trying my best to make sure that the house is in order with washing and folding and cleaning kept on top of. I don't want to go into any more detail and probably won't mention it any further but I thought it worthwhile to mention it as it doesn't receive the same recognition as postnatal depression. I do hope after bubs has arrived and we start regaining some normality around the house MB can too.

I've been without full use of my left hand for almost 2 months now. I was breaking up pine kindling for the fire a while back and went to snap a piece by hand, the wood didn't snap but it hurt my hand, I stopped breaking wood thought nothing of it. A day later my had started to get more sore the more I used it another day later I couldn't move my thumb and by the next day I couldn't even do up the buttons on my shirt. I knew something wasn't good so a trip to the ER and although nothing was broken I still required plaster to treat a torn thumb ligament. I was stuck in plaster for a few weeks then saw a surgeon who decided that it was only a partial tear of the thumb UCL and didn't require surgery, but would need to be braced for 4-6 weeks. I have my 4 week review next Friday so here is hoping its all good, its (my thumb) still numb in places and gives me a twinge if I overdo it but all in all has improved especially this last week.

On the NEVUS front....... (sorry I don't post about it enough I realise quite a bit of my traffic hits orginate from google searches regarding NEVUS). We had a bit of a scare last week, Mr C developed a strange lump on his ear, it was probably about 10mm X 3mm X 5mm and sort of resembled a blood blister but was blue in colour. It seemed to come from nowhere, neither MB nor myself had spotted it the previous day. C didn't recall hurting his ear or catching it in the garden or any other activity It really scared me, I spent hours googling images of melanoma finding things that looked identical or totally different and everything in between. MB snapped a few shots and emaild them to C's dermatologist who was very quick to call back and explained that the likelyhood of it being melanoma was very low given the speed in which it developed. Five days later and its now reduced in size and appears to be healing up. We are still taking regular photos and will continue to monitor it but it was certainly an unwanted extra stress. C is still on wait at teh RCH for his next nip/tuck job for his eyebrow, this has perhaps been the longest we have waited for any of his surgeries, which is fine but I can't help but worry it will happen right about the time bubs #7 arrives (just because we don't do anything by halves).

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Mr B, Mr T, Miss L & Mr C are all attending school next year. We have enroled them in a nice country school just down the road from where the new house will be. It's small, about 70 students in total. We met the principle about a month ago. Mr C has already done one prep orientation day as have the other children in their prospective classes. B will be going into grade 6, T will be going into Grade 4 and Miss L Grade 2. As with most small country schools all classes are composite and we really got a sense of closeness and community from the place, the boys know some other students through their basketball and the plan is for all the children to attend when C has his prep orientation days. I won't go into the events and thinking behind this move just yet, i'll save that for another day.

That is about all I have, til next time......

Photo Fun (minus Photos)

As my last post mention 3 of our billy lids were roped into a bit of a photo shoot for a safety campaign for boating safety and life jackets leading up to fathers day. Here is a basica run down of the day.....

The day actually started the night before, I'd been asked to bring some PJ's for the children to wear for some of the photos and although all of them have numerous sets of winter PJ's the tops are rarely in the same place as the bottom. I made sure I had all their PJ's and clothes out and ready for them to put on the next morning, I also included two extra sets of pants & a spare pair of chucks for miss P who still has the occasional accident. I also loaded up my laptop with a dozen or so movies and a few seasons of horrible histories (great show check it out) and some snacks for during the day. After dinner I also took the opportunity to give them all a decent bath have some fun washing hair and getting knots out. (T hates having his hair combed).

I was up at 6 and had the three super models up soon after that and quickly organised their breakfasts and jumped in the shower. We were all dressed and out the door by about 7:30

As we were getting the train into work then driving out to the location in a company car I knew I had to bring miss P's booster seat. In hindsight I should have just driven to work or directly to the shoot but taking a train trip was interesting. I've never actually taken any of my children on public transport, we drive everywhere, its easier. I was thankful that we hop on at the end (or the beginning depending how you look at it) of the line so we were able to get a 4 pod spot to sit and squeeze in my bag and the car seat.

The Ride in was hilarious, C & P were asking so many questions about what was happening what the train was doing, whats that display etc etc. There was more than a few smiles for fellow commuters and all in all they were pretty good. I've had the pleasure of being on a crowded morning peak train with someone trying to control their wayward todler and in comparison mine were angels.

We arrived in the office about 9:30, I quickly got the children settled into a nearby desk to mine, put out some pens and pencils and paper and played catch up on my mornings emails. Some coworkers quickly made themselves available giving the children extra crafty stuff and coloured paper. We had to kill about 90 minutes so Miss P & Mr C made quick work of our office fruit platters before Pauline (The comms person running the photo shoot) arrived.

Not only had she brought in a multitude of toys and activities for the kids to entertain themselves with she also bought PJ's for them to wear for the shoot.

They played some golf and some chess for a while before Pauline suggested I take them out for some lunch so they were fed and ready for us to depart.

By around 12 the children were all fed and we were ready to leave. The shoot was in Macleod which is about 40 minute drive from the CBD and as I knew were we were going drove while Pauline entertained the children. I should add that Pauline is an actor outside of work and also does voice overs. Needless to say she entertained the children with a myriad of voices whilst explaining what they would need to do for the photos. She also had them practice their "Christmas smiles" and had each of them make up alter egos. T chose a skateboarding crime fighter while C went for secret agent and miss P opted for a fairy.

We arrived at the location and gave the 3 stars a run around at a nearby playground to run off some energy, we then progressed to the first of two locations. Numerous shots were taken of the 3 children with their "Fake Mum" & "Fake Dad" on a couch at a country club where there was ample space and lighting. They were all sitting down looking on as "fake Dad" opened a wrapped life jacket. I helped with the lighting and laughed my ass off at the facial expression they were pulling not to mention the trouble C was causing by giving thumbs up everytime a shot was taken. I also got the chance to have a few shots taken with just the 3 children and I so I look forward to see how they turn out.

With sufficient shots in tow we then progressed to site 2, a townhouse where the cast changed wardrobe to PJ's and had a mixture of shots some just dad, some with 2 children with fake mum & dad, some with 2 children and a puppy some with all three children.

C was a little intimidated by the dog which was just a playful pup but big enough to jump on him and lick his face so he stayed fairly close to me when not in shots.

Buy about 3pm it was all over, the cast changed back into their casual gear and we headed for the station to hop a train home.

We arrived at the end of our train line, loaded up the car and headed home, within minutes miss P was asleep (she actually fell asleep halfway through eating an ice cream cone). C followed within about 10 minutes and within about the same time T was also off in the land of nod. They slept the whole way home but soon woke with excitement as they told the other children what had transpired throughout the day.

I cant wait to see the shots, there was a big mixture and I'm told some will go on posters at outdoor shops, some may end up in magazines or papers and I should be able to get copies of them all. I had an absolute ball watching from the sidelines, it was tiring and I certainly slept well that night.

I didn't get to snap too many shots unfortunately, so you will just have to wait and see (like me) what ends up being used.

Until Next time.......

Whats in a haircut?

Today I decided to take a sneaky break and get a hairy, I was well overdue. My last one was about 3-4 months back I went to our local hairdresser it cost me 12 smackers.

When I used to work on St Kilda road I had a great hairdresser that charged $28. That included wash, dry, choice of beer or wine and aftershave. When we moved to brissy I was forced to find an alternative to get a mop chop and opted for the first decent looking place I saw. They had awards all over the shop and insisted I strip down shirtless and don' a bathrobe where I then ate lemon sorbet before getting one of the worst hairys I've ever had. The price tag of $55 seemed very steep but I just wanted my shirt back so I paid it, walked to the nearest shaver shop, bought some clippers and did a zero all over. That was an expensive hair day.

For the next few years I shaved my own head, sometimes with the clippers sometimes with a razor. It always guaranteed me a seat on the train.

Today I walked into the nearest decent looking hairdressers near work and before beginning was offered a beverage and explained that a cut & blow dry was $62 dollars. I should add that this salon had awards that looked like oscars on their front desk, this should have been a warning to me but alas I needed the chop.

After the initial shock I decided to see what $62 dollars bought be in the hairdressers world.

• I had my choice of beverage (non-alcoholic as it was before lunch)
• I was presented with a gown that didn't really fit over my jacket
• I had my hair washed and a scalp massage while sitting in a massage chair (very comfy)
• In the chair beside me was a model getting hair extensions for a photo shoot, she had 2 different hairdressers and they talked way to much about fashion
• On the big screen there was continuous catwalk footage of some fashion show comprising mostly male models (though some were wearing dresses)
• After very meticulously measuring out the dimensions of my head she bcane to do her thing using scissors and only used a trimmer to do around my ears
• She wasn't overly chatty, I don't think this was a personality thing I believe she was very much in total concentration of cutting my locks.

After most of the cutting was done I moved back to the basin for another wash and longer and more vigorous scalp massage. I was then returned to my chair where I received a blow dry and had some product applied that smelt nice.

I then had my shoulders dusted and paid for the 30 minutes of hair cutting elitism I had now come to know.

So....

Was it a good haircut?
Who knows............the difference between a good one and a bad one is usually a few weeks, but I will say I'm not going home and shaving it off with my clippers.

Did I fell I got value for money?
While it was nice getting massage and pampered I couldn't help feel like a bull in a china shop so I wasn't really truly relaxed so I'm going to say no $62 for 30 minutes of upper class hair cutting.

Would I go there again?
Probably not, I prefer my local hairy that's open Saturdays & charges 12 bucks

The most rewarding part was when I walked out the door, and took my new, improved, buffed, polished, professionally styled locks and put on my motorcycle helmet.

Yowser

According to my post log I haven't made one in over a month, so without getting into the inner details here is a recap of the past month at the house of Fun.

• I finished up at my old job, I was given a $150 JB voucher. I will not miss that place, just the awesome peeps I worked with.
• Miss H turned 1, we took her to Healesville sanctuary and then had a gathering of about 50 people, I cooked a spit roast. It rained so most of the children were confined to quarters.
• The Garage flooded, and wet all the carpet downstairs, it smelt like wet dog for the best part of 2 weeks.
• I caught the train into the city. My first time in 8 years
• I started my new job (more on that later)
• Giftmas came with new bikes, transformers, dolls, vintage lego yada yada
• New years came, I actually almost didn't make midnight, I was dozing off in bed as I heard one of the local parties count down. I must be getting old
  
• Mamma Bears Brother, his wife and 3 children moved down the beach so we took in some coastal R&R
• We drove to Adelaide for the Nevus conference (More on that later)
• We drove back from Adelaide
  
• The garage and downstairs flooded again (yay) Not as bad as the first time but still a weeks worth of carpet dryers.

Thats about all I can think of in terms of highlights, so here are some happy snaps in no particular order.


Flood #1
Day at the sanctuary
Miss H on her first birthday
With some ugly mug...
Yay for keeping up with 6 children
Sheesh a smile??
Mr C with one of the other attendees at the Nevus conference, was great to get a point of view of an adult who has grown up with CGMN, he was truly one of the nicest guys i've ever met and and we cant wait to catch up again.
Sunrise somewhere between Melbs and Radelaide
Me at about 3:55am
A perspective shot to see how white my legs are
Fun at the beach
Until next time I promise updates will start coming in more frequently now.

More Horror

Fancy Dress

I’ve never been to a fancy dress party before, I’ve dressed up once or twice, once for easter (came across more like Donnie darko) and once back when I was at school.

When the end of year work party lined up nicely with my resignation and combined with the fact that it was dubbed as fancy dress where you have to come as your favourite movie character I couldn’t pass up one of the all time greats........................ Jason Voohees

I love movies, there were soooo many to choose from. I couldn't possibly pick my favourite movie character. I wanted something simple to make and easily worn on a warm Melbourne night and something creepy as hell.

Some other possibilities that didn’t make the cut were:
Michael Meyers
Grim Reaper
Chewbacca

A trip to the magic shop in the city made my mind up for me comparing the $100 michael Meyers mask to the $20 Vorhees hockey mask. The Meyers mask looked awesome but was too expensive and I wouldn’t be able to drink with it on.

So I ended up going for a Jason Voorhees hockey mask, a meat cleaver (I realise a machete would have been more suited) and some artificial blood

The plan is to rough up an old work shirt, add some tears and scuffs then dirty it up with black and brown paint. Then cut up a tshirt for underneath, add some bullet holes and stab wounds and splatter it all with fake blood and a dirty/scuffed pair of pants.

Stay tuned............

Said at least once a day in our house.............

"Please try and keep the vegemite out of the margarine"

Forty Before Forty

So the beautiful wife dobbed me in for a bit of a list, not a bucket list just somethings i'd like to do before i'm forty. So in no particular order here they are.


40. Learn the piano. (Oh man I can see how corny this list is going to get) I have always wanted to play an instrument (I don’t count the recorder) and I think the piano is probably my favourite sound and hell it might help me with my touch typing. Hoping I can squeeze this in with one of the children learning.

39. Read one book per year. Sad I know, unfortunately my reading is mostly motorcycle & home building magazines with the odd technical book thrown in. I am already 3 books behind (Richard Hammond’s auto biography, Sydney Poitiers auto biography & the Ducati story) from consecutive birthdays so I better get started.

38. Buy a welder. As A child I grew up watching my father making all sorts of things from trailers to sidecars in our garage, I have always loved working with metal and would like to buy a MIG and possibly do a short course or two and make useful things for the new house like a fancy front gate.

37. Grow A Full Beard. I'm facial hair inept, I have tried growing a beard several times but I just cant seem to shake the 3-4 week mark, the itchyness drives me nuts.

36. Buy a kayak. I grew up canoeing up and down the ovens river and have always wanted a kayak. I hope as the children get older and their swimming is up to scratch it could become something we all enjoy

35. Organise my tools. Moving house and not having decent storage is partially to blame but it’s still a worthy “to-do”. I have all my tools spread across 3 large chests so I’d love to be able to organise them in one easy to access spot.

34. Speak Publicly. I’ve done numerous presentations in front of CEO’s and entire departments at work but with the exception of a wedding speech I’ve never spoken publically outside of work. I would love to do like a guest speaker talk, not sure what on though. Maybe first time dads.

33. Go back to school. I’ll never go back to the field I originally studied in but I would like to do some further studies, maybe business or accounting. Or maybe even something that sets me up for a career change when the house is completed and I want to be closer to home.

32. Go camping at least once a year. To date its been once with Mamma Bare EVER. I miss around the camp fire under stars with no sign of civilisation, I used to camp and hike and have all sorts of fun in scouts and would also camp for 6 weeks at a time with my family every Christmas - maybe when the children express interest in it (I know mamma bare probably wont).

31. Buy motorcycles for my children. It pains me that B is 10 and hasn’t ridden. By age 10 I was on my second bike and had been riding for 6 years. Granted this has been hindered by not having anywhere to ride; this will change when we build our house.

30. Shirk Technology. Not fully, just a little bit each day. As much as I’d love to go feral I still gotta pay the bills. Obviously in today’s world it’s near impossible not to be connected but I can see myself in the new house in a room only lit by open fire with a glass or red chatting with friends and family. No technology in sight.

29. Save & Restore something. It may be an old car at the wreckers or a piece of furniture left out for hard rubbish collection. I’d like to take something that someone has or is about to throw away and make it useful and appreciated again.

28. Repay my wonderful In-Laws. They own a butcher shop and in 10 years of marriage we have never had to pay them for our meat. Its such a saving and I really appreciate it. I have taken off a week in December this year to help out at their shop. It’s the busiest time of the year in the week leading up to Christmas and they don’t know that i've booked holidays to help out. I may not be able to do it every year but its something.

27. Do a track day down at Philip Island. Hearing my Ducati at max RPM without fear of a speeding ticket, need I say any more?

26. Lose some more weight and get fitter. I’m sticking 6 months on this one. I hate how unfit I am at the moment and need to do something about it.

25. Take up a new sport. Following on from #26 I’d really like to get more flexible, I have been over 6’7 tall since I was about 16 and cannot remember being able to touch my toes since primary school. Something like Brazilian Ju Jitsu would be awesome but who knows, I’ll re-address this when I’m closer to my goal weight.

24. Catch up with my school mates more. I see my three oldest school friends on average once a year. It would be great to make it a little more regular. They are several years behind on the whole “married with kids” thing so its honestly my fault I don’t see them as often as I’d like.

23. Practice patience every day. I work in a stressful job but always keep my cool. I deal well with the chaos of 6 children but often feel its at the side effect of having less patience for them. I hope to be able to take a deep breath and not lose my cool (even if it’s the 15th time I’ve been told a fact about Lego, or Star Wars or Harry Potter)

22. International Travel. Ok just an NZ ski trip for starters, we want to do a trip with the whole family in a few years. Other international destinations can wait.

21. Go to Tasmania Twice - First with the family (driving), then again with mates (riding).

I’m impressed that I am half way already. I was stuck at 37 for like 2 hours

20. Get Some Pets. Firstly a dog, I always had a dog growing up, it hasn’t been feasible for us to date as we were always either fixing up the house or moving. Hopefully soon though, I don’t want an average dog, it has to be me-sized so it will be a great dane. I’d also like chickens. But definitely not cats, I’m allergic.

19. Renew Our Wedding Vows. I wonder if she wants to do it at the same kind of place I do though? On a beach with our children present. (Hint - Cape tribulation)

18. Swim in the Crystal Cascades with my wonderful wife. These are a series of rock pools that a river flows through in far north Queensland at the base of the Kuranda ranges. We both swam there at different times in our high school years but I’ve always wanted to go back there together. Possibly at night, and hopefully naked. ;)

17. Nude up (Building on from #18). Maybe not pose for an art class or streak at the tennis but do something in the nude. I don’t know why, I cant see Spencer Tunic coming back to Melbourne anytime soon so I’m open to suggestions. I once skinny dipped in the main beach at Noosa under full moon light. The water was so clear and it was awesome, it could have been romantic but I was with the 3 mates mentioned in #24 (read male) so although strictly non-sexual it was still invigorating. Maybe a nude beach perhaps….

16. Complete My five bike dream garage:
Primary Bike – Aka my Ducati Hypermotard
Sport Bike - Paul Smart LE My Favourite bike ever
Trail Bike – Something like a husky 610
Cruiser – Some sort of Harley tourer
Chopper – Oh where do I start, I hope to integrate this with #38 & #29

15. Complete a straw bale house building course & build our dream house. I’m keen to do as much as possible with our dream house and really get a sense of building it with my own two hands. While I’ll probably leave the frame, roof & electrical to the professionals I want to do the straw bale walls, carve out niches, integrate reclaimed timber myself. In 20 years time I want to see my finger prints in the render and remember the work and perspiration and the jopurney our family took to get there.

14. Attend both Moto GP & World Superbike Races at Phillip Island – Not necessarily in the same year, I was suposed to do one this year but time ran away from me, I’d love to do the Ducati experience where ui get to sit in a special marquee and go through the pits.

13. Tattoos Tattoos Tattoos – As mentioned by Mamma bare we have talked about getting matching tattoos for years. I currently have an arm band and the children’s names up my inner forearms but I’d like some more. I’d love a full sleeve but it might not be feasible in my white collar workplace. All my current tatts are black so I’d like some colour too.

12. Build my own spit roaster. Again tied in with #38 this would allow me to do more catering gigs and not borrow the father in laws. And have one at home for use whenever I see fit.

11. Volunteer for a charity. Corny I know but seeing Mamma Bare rally for birth choices inspired me. I am not really passionate on any political issues so the next best thing is helping a charity I’m interested in. Not sure which, maybe I need to also put “Get interested in a charity”

Wow top ten already, I did from 20 to here in like 5 minutes

10. Take better care of myself. I plan on being here for my great grand children, while I have never smoked and I drink probably once in 6 months unhealthy snacks and coke are my enemies. I do not like my current size and realise staying at this weight will shorten my life.

9. Build a gaming PC. I know at #9 this seems sad but this is in no particular order so I have put it here. I used to play Call Of Duty and thoroughly enjoyed it but blew the video card in my laptop twice so I have stopped for about a year now. With so many cool games out I really need a decent PC with at least a 30’ hd screen. I plan on involving my oldest son B in the build as he is very tech-savvy and would benefit from it immensely.

8. Get a helmet cam. 6 children doesn’t allow for all that much seat time on the bike so I’d like to get a Go Pro and start recording some of my misadventures. I enjoy editing videos, adding music and the like so it would tie in nicely with #9.

Ok I’ll admit I got stuck here and almost emailed the list home to continue filling it

7. Stay overnight in the city in a nice hotel with room service. Believe it or not we have never done it, We have stayed in motels and hotels around the place but never gone into the city child free and stayed in posh hotel. If there is a pool and health spa this is also an added bonus

6. Get Mamma Bare Drunk. In 16 years together I have seen her tipsy once and drunk once, both were at least 15 years ago. It’s a small hurdle that she doesn’t drink, but I’m sure I can over come this with the right choice of alco pop.

5. Try new foods. I tried pickled chickens foot last Friday, it was positively disgusting, it tasted like cleaning products. I washed it down with durian ice-cream which was as expected (I had Durian 15 years ago and hated it) also equally disgusting, but at least I tried them. There will be more of these tales to come

4. Get back into swimming. I used to swim at district level, I mainly stopped to focus on basketball, which was inevitably ended by breaking both my arms so I have always missed it. I get a fix each Saturday at the pool with the children but I’d really like to train and be at a point where I could compete again in events like the Lorne pier to pub or something similar, hold off on the English channel just yet.

3. Learn to play poker. I don’t know why, it could be fun, I may even hate it. At the moment my card repertoire is pretty much Uno & skip bo so a traditional card game would be a welcome addition

2. Introduce as many of my childhood interest to my children. We already do this with movies but there is so much more out there, I hope living in the country serves as a doorway for them to enjoy their childhoods as I did.

1. Spoil my wife more. She is without a doubt the most selfless person I know and is so easily pleased. She always puts other before herself. If putting up with my motorcycle habit isn’t enough there is the countless bike gear I have occupying the entire spare wardrobe not to mention the fast cars (2), 4x4’s (2) that I have had over the years and the added costs of building & maintaining them. She has put up with my expensive clothes (its not buy choice though - you try finding nice shirts with French cuffs for a 1 meter long arm under $180) yet is content buying a $20 pair of trousers from an op shop or waiting a “few more months” for that digital SLR she has wanted for years.

The Simple Things

Who would have thought such trivial things would bring such delight.

The Old

The New

My old work keyboard has served me well, going on 5 years actually. In that time its seen anywhere from 20 to 100 emails a day, has helped me execute millions of database queries, run countless command line scripts not to mention pump out hours of Im chat with colleagues and draft up functions specs, training material and much much more.

One of the curses of knowing your way around a computer is that people usually ask you for help or to fix their IT problems. In the office this can work in ones favour.

There is currently a hardware rollout of new desktops & laptops for all staff. A select few of the new laptops come with this very slick multimedia keyboards. I had previously upgraded my hardware before the rollout so knew I wasn’t getting anything.

I was asked as a favour to look at some database connectivity issues with one of the new build laptops (which I fixed) and in return (I’m all about earning and owning favours in the work place) scored myself a nice new keyboard. I have like 3 spare already but this keyboard is heaps good in comparison and slick to type on. It may seem insignificant but for someone who spends hours on end in front of the nerd screen something that is a pleasure to use and enables better productivity is welcomed.

I also reached a point in my life at aged 31 where I realised I needed slippers. "Old Friend Loafers" to be exact. Unfortunately I had to get them from a little shop called Rosenbergs that specialises in large shoes so they cost me about $70 but its a price i'm prepared to pay for warm feet.

Until next time......

For MB

I saw this and thought of you.

Embracing The Fail

Over the years i've taken to many thing like a duck to water, abseiling, canoeing, water skiing, hunting, video games ete etc.

But

But there are some medial everyday tasks that I just suck at. I'm not fussed by this, as a matter of fact I have embraced it. Here are a few:

Cooking Pasta
I cant tell when pasta is done, It tastes the same to me whether it is just wet or has been in the pot for 10 minutes.

Ripping Perforated Paper
You know those magazines that have like a special lift out section, I can never rip them off in one piece, there is always a little hanger that gets left behind or more rips off than I intend to. A subset of this is opening the washing powder box, but nobody can rip those in one piece.

Hand Writing
I used embarrassing photos of third grade teacher to black mail her into giving me my pen license. My handwriting will never be the standard that my 9 year old currently is at.

Cracking Eggs
Nope cant do it without breaking the yoke, ok I'll admit I'm currently sitting around 70/30 failure rate. But Mamma bare makes the best fried eggs so the worse I am the more I enjoy hers.

Remembering Names/Numbers
I'm brilliant with faces, I never forget a face, but names and numbers I suck. You better hope if you meet me you have a less common name. I have had brain farts remembering my pin on my EFT card when shopping many times. Dates are another shocker, most of my children need 2-3 birthdays notched up before I remember the date. The Exception to this would be music, I'm pretty good at "who sung what".

Touch typing
12 years working in IT you'd think I could. I type several thousand words a day but I don't touch type, I'm what I call a hybrid touch type, I'll use 2-3 fingers on the keys and my thumb on the space but I have to look where I'm typing. But it doesn't stop me from typing quickly though, I look scan between the keys & the screen so spelling typos are usually fixed on the fly.

Wolf Whistling
Mamma Bare rocks at this, but alas I can barely whistle a tune let alone break windows. Mr B can whistle better than I can.

Hammer In Nails
I have soft computer hands, and very long fingers, these aren't the most ideal recipe for laying flooring. When i re-did our kitchen and dining are at the old house I must have hit my finger/s 100 times throughout the days required to lay sheeting. If I need to do lots of nailing on the new house I will start with a nail gun.

Until Next Time, I'm off to practice my paper ripping.