Wassup???

How sentimental …

• Well, done a little bit of riding - Must say that it has been a lot longer getting back on the bike of late, but I am really a little unsure why. In part it may be because there have really not been people to ride with, whether by choice or circumstance is unclear. Certainly the weather has been a little more haphazard than I remember - but when did that ever matter? Still, may be with Spring coming things will change? Really do need to get off my fat arse and starting doing more exercise - the mid-level spread has become rather noticeable :( but what can you do? Stop worrying about and do something about it, maybe? I wonder if part of it is the pain in the nether region which continues - is it something that will fix itself with more riding, become calloused, or will continue to nag at me as I continue to ride? Maybe I could actually do some investigation, and report back on the results, hey?
• Ate (cooked) some nice meals - Cooked a rather nice little moussaka, using the recipe which was in the UK cookbook. Interestingly, it used a topping of yogurt and eggs, with the parmesan sprinkled on top of that. Made two and gave the smaller one to the neighbours - although, given there is 2 of them, and I kept the bigger one, I do wonder about the logic :p Lesson to (also) be learned is to use as fat-free mince as possible, as I found that it was quite a bit greasy when eating it. Might be why the magpies click and clack so much about it?
• Phone stopped working (which meant that this bill will be another low one) - Went out for lunch one day, turned it on, too cold, so I came back in, turned it off, and it never turned back on again :( Telstra shop in Geelong was vaguely helpful - again, subtle hints did not elicit any anticipatory sales! Seems that photos were stored on Sim card, but telephone numbers NOT there were lost … Also lost all of the previous apps (e.g. BoQ and ColourNote), which also meant that I lost all the progress of Ingress :( Still, has been fun starting again, as it has provided a great guide to the hints and techniques - am already on the cusp for 6th level, and it has been barely more than a week ...
• Had a fellow come by to look at the place - Saw an ad on Gumtree - gay guy, 2 dogs, replied to it, and arranged to meet. Not entirely sure about him, but it fell through anyway, so I guess I gave him reason to decline my good intentions, by being suitably passive-aggressive? Did not get down to the financial questions, as I was more concerned about the person than the money. As you do. Am I being too fussy about living with someone? Maybe I just need to put it out there, into the universe, and see what comes out of it? But have been less than impressed with the options, in general - the 1st girl was good, though.
• Shred a lot of twigs - Got in and pruned the broddelia’s and some of the natives out the front, so pulled the Rok out and had a go reducing the volume of twigs. Noticed that the leg bits that I filled with expandable foam also served to trap the dust, which then clogged the shredder :o so I had to turn it off and then proceed to scoop all the trapped bits out - surprisingly, there was quite a lot up there! I think especially as the broddelias were quite leafy, there was a lot of material which did not shred cleanly. But it certainly was a lesson for future usage - which is a timely reminder that there are still quite a few twigs left from the previous tenant … or, which is still as much a fyi, that the twigs were dry, rather than ‘fresh’, may signify that dust builds up and gets trapped.
• Put some plantings in, of vegies & fruit trees - Put in some bare root plantings of almond, plum, peach, blueberry, goji berry, and a mulberry out on the footpath. Also have put in a whole bunch of seeds, but none have arisen (as yet), so have also put in some seedlings of beetroot, pak choy, lettuce, spring onions, cauliflowers, and eggplants. Have also spread out quite a few flower seeds, especially in the rose garden, to give a little bit of colour and variety for the roses as they develop.
• Was sick - Went to the Myers Street clinic, got a few days off - had Friday off for flex, took until Wednesday to recover (+ had an essay to do, for Torts). Was a ‘severe’ case of man flu :p which I was infected by Chris, of all people … one of the most irritating symptoms was that my eyes were SO scratchy! Indeed, I think Thursday was the 1st day that I had woken up without itchy eyes for the previous week?
• Wrote/submitted three (3) essays in the space of a week - There was Criminal Law, dealing with murder and procedure, then Torts, dealing with ‘invasion of privacy, and finishing with Taxation, dealing with the IT and FBT implications of frequent flyer programs. Needless to say, but I will say it anyway, there was a lot of time spent thinking 'I will get to it’ (but was not) - although, in all fairness, there was quite a bit of preliminary reading(s) - and then I got sick :p ah, the irony, hey? Particularly the Torts essay was fun - was a lot of surrounding reading, along with extrapolation about the future possibilities.
• Got ‘promoted’ to the coach’s team again - But what is even more challenging is that we are now a blended team, with all of us (Sugi, Hong, Beth, Matt, Dana, Ngoc, and I) all part of the same team, so that whenever an opportunity presents itself, they can just pluck one of us from obscurity. Or so the theory goes … And I was SO looking forward to doing my 3 months and then fading back into obscurity :( Interestingly, the last four (4) are all from the ‘Hardship’ team - maybe Ramirez did something right, or maybe that was where the quality was? ;) Much of the work goes on as per, but there have been some other opportunities - at the moment, I am trying to get myself into the role of providing four (4) days (or nights) of training to a new intake of casuals, who will work from 1700-2200 … which will make for an interesting day’s work.
• Watched more episodes of Big Bang theory - Also saw the Director’s cut of Blade Runner
• Been working late(r) and catching another train - For whatever reason, this past fortnight, I have been working until 1745, and toddling off to catch the 1754 train, and it is very busy (+ people are so consistently rude(r), especially as it is more noticeable about the ones who sit in the aisle seats and/or put their things on the seat next to them). Indeed, there have often been people standing for the journey, or at least from Footscray to Lara … which kind of negates the doubling up on seats, so why bother??? Also means that I am catching another train in the morning, and again the people are way past weird - this morning, guy sits next to me, puts the armrest down, then proceeds to lean forwards to read his photocopies … so after a few minutes (a decent interval) I just put the armrest back up :p He looked all affronted, but said nothing, nor did anything subsequently. Did make me wonder, however.
• Oh well, at Lara now, time for many to disembark, and me to stop the music - have been listening to MoS ‘Addicted to Bass’ as the soundtrack - and put this away again ...

Quick blurb

04/08

Well, a bit crook today - tummy exploding out the back end, as it were … but once I managed to drag myself out of the house, the day was surprisingly warmer - I suspect that this house may be a little bit cooler, if only by virtue of wooden floors? Which reminds me, Rachel (Spurgeon), the realtor from Keane, has gone across to LJ Hooker, which (apparently) is really the same company, but trading under a different name … maybe … anyway, she called to say hello, so I must get her over for a pot of (lemongrass) tea soon? She keeps popping up on my FB page for suggestions - how weird is that??? Anyway, have managed to catch up on Tax Law, so it was good for something, all those toilet visits :p There are a lot, a LOT, of complexities to taxation law, and the majority of it seems to be that case law determines the assessability of income, then statute comes to redress discrepancies many years later? Point in case - income is not received unless it is cash, or readily convertible to cash … then statute introduces FBT … alright, pizza time :)

Time away

29/07 :o

Weak(er) way

Got to take some of my ‘enforced’ leave (1 week + 2 weeks pay), so that will keep me ticking over for another year, or so … Did not do an awful lot of anything - relaxation or ‘housework’, but maybe even doing that was enough? Did ‘discover’ the joys of books by McCarry, and so promptly rushed out to get another 4 … there are 2 relating to Paul Christopher and 2 relating to the Hubbards. The latter are still growing on me … but, they are easy to enjoy, settling in, as it were. I took Wednesday off, basically laying in bed for the day, drinking beer and reading a book, which then led to taking Thursday off as well. Did a lot of that - drinking beer - as though it was a comfortable way to stagger through the week? Have moved into the front room, so as to enjoy the fire whilst up late watching Le Tour, and because this was the final week, there were a lot of 1AM finishes … which was kind of okay, as I had the week off. Except that I am so used to getting up early that I would often awaken by 0630, and then not be able to get back to sleep … although, I would often try :p It was a strange race, with many of the big names out early - Contador, Cancellara, Froome, Cavendish - from crashes, etc. Porte started to come really good, climbing up to 2nd behind Nibali, but then once they hit the Alps, he fell right away. Valverde also faded quite a bit in the mountains, although on the 2nd day in the Pyrenees, he led his own recovery in the chase. French riders did very well, showcasing some great talent, but it was the polka jersey rider (Maljk) who was the most cheeky - winking at the camera, grabbing on to a passing motorcycle, etc. Rogers won a stage - his 1st in Le Tour? - and the crowd went wild! It was a very good ride, with him giving some advice to Vockler to work together on the way down. For somebody who has been a time trial world champion, it is perhaps not that exceptional that he has done so well going up (+ over) the mountains? There was a lot of good coverage on SBS, often showing more of the stages than in previous years, and Keenan got to provide more commentary - it is true that he has quite good knowledge, but for me, pleasure also lies in his enthusiasm.

• Interview - First day back and I had an interview for the APS4 Law Interpretation role with ACNC. Lovely, chatty, doubt I will get the nod … but it is for a pool of vacancies, so that may make a difference?
• Pants - Have moved to a more formalised dress standard, with collars and ties. So I went out and bought some pants - the main drawback with all of them is that they are all too short … 1 pair from Harris Scarfe, and 2 pairs from Myers. What I will do is look to see what the cost of dropping the hems would be. Note to self: spend the extra money, get uncured (suit) pants, and then have them cuffed … Still, I do have a pair of the brown stripes which are long enough, but will need to get some more shirts (anyway) to match up with them. been a long time since I spent money on clothes like this, and I am reminded why when I think of all the stresses involved :p Still, what can you do?
• Ingress - Am now up to 6th level, after a few intense days spreading the joy. On the ride out to Drysdale for fish, I found large stretches with nothing in between, and then several areas with quite heavy concentration of portals, e.g. Curlewis Road. The ride out there of 45km round trip took me 4.5 hours (or 270 minutes), with not all of it from the stopping and starting! On the one hand, the section is now sealed from the former dip behind the golf course through to Jetty Road; on the other hand, the unsealed parts were still quite heavy from all of the rain we have had.
• Gardening - Roses/mowing Also got in and mowed the grass - been so much rain of late that I have been putting it off for awhile, then after a few days dry, the mower would not start! In the end I came back the next day, and after rain too, and just gave them the once over, leaving the cuttings on the ground - probably should rake them up, but I figure that I will have another crack with the mower, but leave the catcher on this time? The roses from MistyDown arrived, and they are happily ensconced in the front, so I hope that they are able to settle in comfortably - there will be a tremendous battle between Sweg and Om, with massive canes arching up/through each other. Which I guess means there will be a bit of severe pruning and shredding in subsequent years? I noticed that the soil was quite rich underneath too :) Went to the botanic garden’s sale, but walked away empty handed - bit like going shopping when hungry - but I just could not visualise what was needed for the quiet corners, and what I did see that was nice, I justified as not being able to use :( Oh well, there is always next season ...

Starting from so long ago ...

05/06

Hmm … seems these things are typed around the birthday of the siblings :p

Which is possibly an around about way of saying that it is that time of the year again?

MoF is to be pizzas tonight: suspect that the main idea will be to show what options are available, then set us lose to try at home. The most important thing will be to learn how to make the base, I guess. So I went looking at rolling pins just before, and the lady behind the counter was somewhat odd - not going to buy anything? Ciao baby … As often happens with these things, 

Have the ‘boys’ coming by this Saturday night: am thinking green curry with boiled rice for main, mini pizzas for entree … but dessert? Will put out the rose for entree and the ‘Hill’ pinot gris for the main, I think. No doubt the others will also bring something to drink, but I must be cautious not to imbibe too much. For a change!

Going insane with the HD: the work is largely drudge, with little recognition - had 1 fellow ring up yesterday, and ask me what to do. Did not like what I had to say, so said he would do something else … So why ring? The majority of the time I am sifting FTL objections and/or providing notes to authorise PIT garnishee warnings for Serco. Possibly my fault, but Kala is very hard to get on with, e.g. complains how I am the one to always cause trouble, such as being too slow to input my position number. But the one she gave me does not work … Have exams next week, and the constant complaints about not taking any time grind me down, stop me accessing my study leave provisions. Unlike Jorge!