Category: Diary

It’s Saturday – but that’s not a great thing. Last night my beloved Tiger’s were massacred by the damn Magpies at the MCG. That’s 8 losses in a row and this one really hurt. Our first quarter was fantastic – we played all over them. Then came the rest of the match. You can’t win when you’re outscored 13-3 goals over three quarters. This from a team that was one game out the finals last year. It seems only a miracle will save us from sparing Carlton their first wooden spoon. Six more depressing games to go.

This morning Rae and I went hunting for a model. Eventually found a hobby shop out in the sticks and now I’ve got a little project that will keep me happy for a month or so. Starting off easy with a basic model, then back into the more complex type of choppers. It’ll be good for me to practice my patience as long term projects have never been my strong point.

Also tackled JB HiFi to spend my birthday voucher. Walked out with the Special Edition DVD of ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid‘ (takes care of what we’ll be doing tonight) and a fantastic import – The The’s ‘45 RPM‘. I’ve got it playing now and had forgotten how much I love his music.

So now it’s raining outside, Rae and Phee are out, music is blaring and if I didn’t have to go and do some house work I’d be very content.

Something odd is happening. I’m at work and strangely I am happy to be here. I want to do more. I have great new ideas.

Oh my god! I’m motivated!

Could it have something to do with the very generous pay rise this? Surely not….

My Palm (the 505) is telling me it’s time to drain the toothbrush battery, change the battery in the clock radio, flip the bed and get my car serviced.

I think I will call it ‘Mini Rae’.

Oh boy, I’m gonna be in trouble for that one.

Tonight was the first night I’ve been responsible for Phee – from pick up to bed. Rae’s back working one evening shift a fortnight so I picked up Phee from Zita’s and we hit the road.

Shopping, didn’t lose here there.
Home, reader read.
I bring in washing, she sweeps up the leaves.
Dinner provided (KFC – her choice. Honestly)
Two episodes of the Simpsons with associated hugs on the couch.
Successful shower.
PJ’s provided (Forgot the singlet, but there were two pairs of undies to make up for this.)
In bed without one tear/yelling match.

All in all, I give myself a pass.
Continue reading “Dad Test”

My office mate spends most of his day watching ‘Woofa’. Who is Woofa? That’s the pet name he’s given to the Microsoft help assistant. Most people know it as that annoying paper clip but Robin has the dog. It’s got me thinking – add up all the minutes from all the people around the world who sit there talking to their assistant – surely Microsoft must be the single greatest cause of lost productivity in the office. Hmmmm, maybe I should ask Woofa…

Every now and then I get these over whelming obsessions. Some last a day (“I have to get at tea pot. I want to drink proper tea.”), some mid term (“I’m going to get fit this summer”) and some never seem to fade (my computer obsession started in 1984 with an Acorn Electron and is still going strong 18 years later).

This one has been building for a few days now, and it’s one I’ve had before. I’m not sure if it’s recurring or chronic but it’s definitely back. It’s to build another model helicopter. All I have to do is find a Toyworld and make sure my Visa is clear.

Thinking about it, I guess I’ve had this a while. My dream job has always been to build architectural models; instead I make websites.

Spell the department ‘payrole’ every time during an hour and a half presentation.

Think this is one contract he won’t be getting.

I’ve finally got around to getting my photo log going. For now there’s only two, and they are old pictures I grabbed off my hard drive, so just pretend they are of something interesting. Hopefully many amazing things will start popping up in front of me. Hopefully if they do I will have my camera with me.

We went grocery shopping at Coles yesterday. I actually love shopping because it gives me a chance to play with my Palm. I use a great piece of software (SplashShopper) for my shopping list (okay, if this makes me sound like an uber-geek, so be it) and it has the option to sort your list by aisle number.

Being the organised super nerd I am I think this would be a great idea so I asked if they had a map of the store. Now a little history here – Coles is part of Coles Myer, one of Australia’s top business. I remember reading somewhere that 20 cents of every retail dollar spent in Aus is spent at a Coles Myer store. In short, they’re huge.

The lovely check out chick calls up the manager who eventually turns up with a folded map on an A4 sheet. He hands it over to me with the immortal words : “I’ll need this back when you are finished.”

Yeah, right.

Rae bought a scrabble set today. I use to play this game with my nana as a youngster and the memories of these hours spent sitting at her dining room table shuffling through tiles and pitting my young mind against her much older and wiser brain are some of my fondest.

Playing the quick game Rae and I did made me realise how limited my vocabulary is – even though I read a lot when it comes to looking at that rack all I can see is ‘it’, ‘me’, ‘yes’. Mind you I did get to play my Q on a triple word score so I had to smile at that. I have a feeling that there will be many more games after the 309 – 179 win I had today, so I’m going to have to brush up on my two letter words.