Xmas of Blue Ray'd Couch Potatoes!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. A day late but happily have survived the whole Xmas thing. Whew! Actually, this time I don't have a very good excuse for being late. In fact, I spent all day yesterday catching up on my DVD rentals (trying to get through the HBO series "True Blood". Hmm.) and being absolutely mesmerized by my brand-spankin' new, ver-ee fancy-pants Blu-Ray discs. So yes, yesterday was a day in front of the TV, something I never do, so it was actually kinda nice. But here we are! Those bloody lorikeets start up at around 4.30am and finish their shift around 7pm..... But I can't blame them, it's been raining pretty much non-stop, so they can vent their little birdy frustrations all they want. Got some jazz tunes streaming from the 'net (I just wish they had a 24/7 jazz radio station on the regular radio here....)..... Got a very nice, cool glass of Rosemount Estate Semillion SavBlanc..... The weather is, well, wet, and warm. SavBlanc weather really. It's like being inside a bowl of soup. Bloody tropics. But yes, I know and am grateful - I could still be in NYC. Hooray!

So work. Yep. I don't have to go back to work until the 4th of January! Coooool. And bonus - my break is paid! I know I mention the fact all the time, but honestly, after last year, it's just nice. And I'm apparently going to be very busy in the coming months, so I need to enjoy the quiet time while I can, blahblahblah. Well, ok. It's what I get out of bed for anyways, might as well spend the day doing more than surfing the 'net and staring into space.....! Otherwise, work is pretty good. But April and my contract end-date will be fast approaching, so we'll see what happens then...... Fingers crossed. My Boss says he's happy because other people who've I've done stuff for are happy. So that has to help. Will keep you posted!

And then there was the weekend. Xmas Saturday. It was very nice. Went to my Adoptive Family's house for Xmas, as I've done these last 4 years. It's always a nice, relaxing, food-filled day. And it's good to catch up with the little bit of news and gossip from my old gig at the Fire Service. He'll be retiring in June tho, so we'll have to start making up some gossip because heaven knows I really don't speak to many people from there very often. Hmm. But yes, the day was quite nice, the food is always fantastic and the seafood is fresh and just so good. Shame I only have a little tummy and can only get so much into it. And, as always, we watched a movie, this year it was the new "Robin Hood". I've seen it 3 times now I think and I still rather like it. I may have to pick it up on fancy-pants Blu-Ray!

And speaking of beaming Blu-Rays, that brings us to yesterday's couch potato binge. So I got this big, modern fancy TV, as you know, and with the deal came a "free" Panasonic Blu-Ray player, and a pretty decent one at that. Well. I finally caved and bought a few BR discs last week (and Santa stuffed a couple under my little tree too) and I watched a couple over the weekend, "Casino Royale" and "Amadeus". All I can say is get thee a Blu-Ray player! It's awesome! Holy cow, this modern technology is fantastic!!!!!!! Thankfully am not a huge video buyer at the best of times because, really, aside from like Magnum PI and James Bond, how many times can you watch the same movie? Why own so many? So thankfully I hadn't invested a ton of cash into DVD's. And I know I won't invest in tons BR's, but boy oh boy, if you have to choose between the two, well, there is no choice! So yes, although am not a huge TV watcher, when I do now, it's gonna be goooood! Hooray for modern technology!

And that's about that really. No chores as I did quite the cleaning blitz on the little place last week. No Adventures because the weather has been crap; tho hanging around here in the dumpy little apt is gonna get pretty old when the cabin fever starts to set in by about tomorrow I imagine......... I need to get myself up to the Botanical Gardens at some point to take some photos. The place ought to be exploding with life after all this rain! Yeah, will think of a couple foul-weather Adventures... Maybe the Gallery of Modern Art..... a movie......? Hmmmm.

So there you are. Hope you're all well up there, whatever side of the weather you're sitting though, be it rain or snow. You know you're more than welcome to come on down and visit us Down Under anytime (except from maybe about now until March, unless you like tropical heat and humidity)!

BYE!
J!
P.S. Holy heck. I just heard an ad on the radio for ideas of what to do for Valentine's Day. Let the Xmas corpse get cold already! Sheesh.

English Visits in the Rain

Hi!

Well. Am a little late. I have a good excuse tho (don’t I always?), I had a friend and her small daughter come to visit/stay with me for a few days, from England. They left yesterday morning at 4am for Sydney, so I cleaned all day. I mean all day. And it rained all day too. It was just a long, busy day. But here I am (writing from work at the moment)! After yesterday’s rain, it’s been amazingly nice and dry all day. Not that I was out in it much, being at work and all. Hrumph. But, (home now) the lorikeets are certainly out there squawking and chattering away like little multi-colored lunatics, arguing who gets to eat which seeds from the palms first. The evening is temp is perfect, there's a very lovely, cool and dry breeze. Got mah very nice glass of cool Semillon-Sav Blanc from Preveli (from the Margaret River region, love the label). The house is clean. Life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Everyone is gearing down for the holiday break. Sounds like it’s been a tough year and everyone needs a good break. Yeah, I can’t talk, I’m just happy to have the work and happy that I got my break before I started! Otherwise, work is good. Have had a few more little things to do, but nothing major – yet. I hear a big proposal/bid is coming early next year. Fingers crossed my contract gets extended past April?! Because the one big thing about hiring me was they thought I’d get Citizenship in 6 months. Well, I’ve always known that wasn’t going to happen, but I had to apply regardless to make them happy. Well, I didn’t get it of course, am not eligible as I need to have Permanent Residency for a few years first, which I never got or needed being a NZ citizen here we don’t need special stuff (I know, it’s way confusing). Sooooooo am just waiting for The Declined Letter from Citizenship so I can give that to HR in the new year. Sigh. I wish I didn’t have to but I don’t have a choice. So we’ll see what happens? As always, will keep you posted!

And then there was the weekend. Started off a bit early on Thursday with the arrival of Caroline and her daughter Savannah, visiting from Bristol, England. Haven’t seen her in yeeeeeeears and this is the first time I’ve met Savannah, her 4 year old daughter. Wow, Savannah’s certainly a handful of stubbornness. But we managed to get out and see a few things and have some nice meals out. It went by soooo fast tho. Was sad we didn’t get to catch up more, but I guess a toddler has that effect on things. They were off first thing Sunday morning (at 4.30am!) to meet up with Savannah’s father and spend a few days in Sydney before heading home. A very short but sweet visit!

And then the other weekend….. Chores. Hadn’t done them in a couple weeks. So rain or no rain, got all the laundry done, floors mopped…. Those chores took forever as we only have one dryer and I had all my sheets and towels, etc. Put it this way – I was still doing laundry at 7pm last night, which is why am checking in today! Gah! But, all I know is the little dumpy apt is clean and happy, and I now know for certain that I would hate to be a hotel maid! Oh, and I managed to pick Kona up from the cattery a day earlier (cos they left so early), because no way was he going to hang around with a rambunctious toddler chasing him. I’d never see him again. He’s happy to be home and probably even happier he has no idea what he missed out on.

And that’s about that. The whole city is quietening down for the holiday break. It makes walking into work nicer – less traffic on the sidewalks getting in mah way! But that also means I’ll have lots of spare – PAID – time on mah hands……… nice change from how things were last year, that’s for sure! I know I need to save every dime from this point forward, and I’m not thinking of doing anything crazy, but I would like to knock a thing or two off my Australian Adventure List, just little local day or two-day tours….. Pretend I’m a tourist for once….! Hmmmm… will have a look around, or stick my head into the Tourist Info Office!

Well, so there you have it. Hope you’re all well up there and surviving the winter. I may whine about this constant rain, but at least it’s not a hot and humid furnace (yet) or snowing! So if you need a break, c’mon down! The weather is fine!

BYE!

J!

Clawing through the Week with Friends!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. A very rainy, yet warm, Sunday evening. But still, the lorikeets are out there shouting it out with the crows, as per usual, with the odd kookaburra throwing in their two cents. Rain or no rain they're out there chattering away. 'Course, they're birds, so for the most part they don't have anywhere else to go when it rains... Not like into garages, under stuff, etc...... Man, it would kind of suck to be a bird when it rains this much, non-stop..... I'd hate to be a bird in Seattle. I wonder how they fly with such wet wings all the time? But I digress in the worst way.......... So yes, Sunday early evening, checking in a little early just for a change... Got a very cool Carlsberg beer, also just for a change, and on the radio, the very strange show tunes show that precedes the way groovy cool jazz show ("Jazz Track", on ABC radio, look it up, it's bitchin'!). Life is good!

So work. Yep. Actually had a little more to do this past week, which was good. Kinda. I don't like editing under the gun. I guess that's what they like to do sometimes, hand you a fairly large document/proposal and give you a mere few hours to edit it. Hmmm. That's ok I guess. Always wish for more time, but in this environment I guess you have to take what you can. Is all interesting tho. Finished a messy formatting job for a big document, gave it to the guy, he was happy. My boss is happy, I'm happy, happys all around! So yes, all seems to be going according to plan! Tho my co-workers are dying for the Xmas break. I can't say anything, I just had my totally awesome vacation so my sanity is pretty intact in that respect. But I understand. I guess that'll be me this time next year... If I can keep the gig that is. I'll be turning in my Citizenship Application this week. Work wrote a letter on my behalf begging Immigration to give me CShip. I don't like my chances but I have no choice except to try. Thing is, the gig is up in April if I don't get CShip..... Sooooo, I dunno what'll happen if I don't. All I can do is apply, keep doing a good job and see what happens when I don't get CShip! Fingers crossed they figure out a Plan B!? Otherwise, all is well. One and a half more weeks to go until we get 11 days off for good ol' Xmas! Hooray for work and hooray for a break!

And then there was the weekend. Well, it kinda started off early Tuesday evening when I met my friend Glen and his new fiancee Alison for dinner at Wagamama (Japanese fast food, is pretty good). They were only in town for 2 days for a conference. Haven't seen Glen in aaaaaages and had never met his gal before, so it was a fantastic but quick evening! Heading up to Cairns to visit them is going to be my next Adventure!

And then there was more early weekend fun Thursday evening when another friend of mine and Glen's from Cairns, Dave, came down to go see U2 with me! It was awesome! And we had such bitchin' seats (not to mention the stadium being walking distance from my house!)! I'd last seen U2 waaaaay back in '87 for their 'Joshua Tree' tour, and that was pretty bitchin' too. But this time they've since perfected the whole stage set theatrics thing. And this set, a 360 degree "Claw", was amazing. It'd be really neat to be a crew member working with it. Man, these sorts of fantastic stage concert sets and roller coasters - I wish I was clever enough to have been an engineer! Aside from the stage set, the show was way awesome. They still got it after all this time. I hate to sound so old, but I swear, bands today could take a page out of their book. Total professionals and just good at what they do. Which is why they're still here and thousands of other bands aren't. And why they can charge such stupid money for tickets and get it. Man. If you're into them, it's well worth it. A very good show!

And now the weekend. Very quiet compared to the mid-week fun. But boy I needed the sleep. Can't party on a school night like I used to! And with the rain, and the fact that it's getting closer to Xmas and people are starting to totally lose their minds, I'm just not in the mood to do anything or go anywhere. And that's fine because I need to save mah money! But I did manage to get two loads of laundry and the ironing done, so I wasn't a complete couch-potato (hooray for the new, not yet dead, tv!)!

So there you have it. A bit of an Adventure was had. Was such a good concert, so happy I went. And happy to have had a quiet weekend, even if that makes me the Queen of Dull. I don't mind, and I know my dull royalty status makes the bank happy! But wooowweeee I wish this rain'd let up. Should be annnny week now. So by the time you book your tickets and come on down, the weather should be much better (if you don't mind the heat)! C'mon down!

BYE!
J!

Adventures with Plasma, Hairspray & Melbourne!

Hi!

Well. Late. Yep. Sorry, last weekend, and the whole week, just got away from me. So busy. But not anymore! Here I am! The little chatty lorikeets have claimed their branch for the evening from which to chirp their last thoughts before bedtime. The sort of strange "Broadway Show-tunes" radio show, the one that's on before the way cool jazz show, has been and gone, and the way cool jazz radio show is nearly finished. Got my cool glass of nice white wine.... The evening, rainy as it's been all day, is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Don't have much to be doing just yet, but I've again been assured things are coming and then I'll apparently wish I had my idle days back again. For now I have a couple things to keep me occupied, and that's enough. Am happy, I like it the more I get settled, meet people and figure stuff out. Hooray for gainful employment!

And then the weekend(s)! Well, the week before last was way totally awesome because I went to Melbourne first thing Wednesday morning! Hooray! Was there from Wed until Sat. So a short but sweet visit. It was awesome to see Jeff and Emily after 5 years. And it was way cool to scope out Melbourne like a normal person, as opposed to my first visit there many years ago (while I was still living in NZ) which was only for 6 hours on a layover from Auckland to Germany. And my tour guides at the time were absolutely useless, to put it politely. So this was pretty much the first time I've really seen Melbourne. It's much cooler and nicer than I remember. I can't rightly say what city it reminded me of.... probably closest would be London, tho with much better weather and on a much smaller scale. But overall it had that gray, Victorian classy hip coolness to it that London has. I must say I quite liked it. And honestly, 3 days isn't enough, but it was a start! We did a lot of wandering for the most part, checking stuff out, sticking our heads into the lane-ways and teeny little malls stuffed with hip and groovy shops.

So that Wednesday we met up, dumped my stuff in the room at the hotel - the Langham (oooooh fancypants), and headed out to get some food at a place on the river called "World". Not bad food, very highly strung waiter, nice view of the river and city. Then, to walk off brunch, we headed over to the Crown Casino - it's MASSIVE. Vegas would be jealous that it doesn't have one just like it (complete with jets of flames (pardon me - "Gas Brigades"/fireballs) shooting from decorative cauldrons at night). So we stopped in there (after walking the length and breadth of it) for a beer while Emily shopped for CD's. Then we headed in to see the new Harry Potter film. If you like HP, I highly recommend it. If you don't like HP, I highly recommend you don't see it. I liked it, and the last installment will be released just before mah birthday next year (hello Gold Class again)! And by that stage it was time for us to check in at the hotel to see if their bags had arrived yet (they had, after 3 days of traveling on their own, no thanks to Alaska Air). So we quickly refreshed ourselves before heading out to get a quick bite to eat at a very totally cool little cafe down one of the little lane-ways, who's name escapes me unfortunately (will do some internet research and come back to you with the name, because if you find yourself in Melbourne and hungry, this is a place to go.... once I remember the name....). So we had a quick bite to eat before heading in to the Princess Theatre to see "Hairspray - The Musical". Now, these theatre tickets were a gift, so, kinda like you shouldn't, as a rule, speak ill of the dead, you shouldn't bag a play/musical when it was a gift, given to you with the very best of intentions. But I have to say, I don't do musicals at the best of times (for an example of a best of time - "Sweeny Todd", and that had Johnny Depp directed by Tim Burton, and I still had loads of trouble with it). And this one, well, it didn't even have Johnny Depp to help redeem it. So we three sat there very politely, very patiently dreaming of the moment the house lights would come up, alerting us to intermission. After 45 minutes I began to fear for the worst and there would be no intermission. Jeff fell asleep. Emily and I shifted nervously in our seats hoping the end would be near. Finally, an hour and a half later, the moment we'd been begging for: "Intermission". I'll tell you what, fire or no fire, no one would've jostled to get out of that theatre quicker than us. No wish to speak ill of a gift, but that show sucked. We all agreed there would be no returning. So, giggling madly with our new-found freedom, we caught a cab and bolted straight back to the hotel where Jeff and I drank beer and Laphroaig and Emily downloaded iTunes. It was an evening saved from certain death.

The next day, Thanksgiving, saw us wandering to the Blue Train Cafe for a very nice breakfast before heading over to the Botanical Gardens. Even with the rain, which stopped just as we entered the Gardens, it was wonderful. It was huge, lush and hilly. We spent a good 4 hours or so wandering around in there taking pictures, trying not to get lost. We stopped for a lovely spot of scones and jam at their Terrace Cafe before continuing on through the rest of the Gardens, ending up at the Shrine of Remembrance (war memorial). Then the rain really started up with gusto just as we crossed the road, forcing us to take cover in the National Gallery of Victoria. Unfortunately they were closing shortly, so we had just enough time to dry out whilst wandering around the book/gift shop. Pretty cool. Like I said, 3 days is not much to scope out such a cool city. Then we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading over to the Marriott where they were putting on a Thanksgiving dinner (tee hee, complete with clam chowder starter... hmmm). Also meeting friends of mine that I'd invited to join us, Talava and her fiance Josh (I used to work with Talava at my last gig at Health. They've just moved down there and love it). The dinner was pretty good considering, and the pumpkin pie even got Emily's nod of approval. Happy Thanksgiving in Australia!

And then Friday was last-minute shopping for gifts for them to take home for friends for Xmas. Boy, we covered most of the inner-city. Whew! And then, gifts successfully acquired, we headed out to St. Kilda via #16 tram, took about 20 minutes, where we had a bit of a wander along the beach, stopping for a bite of pizza and chips (fries) and a glass of wine at a really pretty cool beach-side restaurant (again, name escaped). And then that evening we met Jeff's new boss and his girlfriend for a very lovely Italian dinner right on the river (again, name escapes me, will get back to you). It was a very busy, but very good day.

And then Saturday saw us off to the airport for their flight back to the States at noon and mine back to Brissy at 2pm (delayed 30 mins, to be expected these days). And then that was me and the end of a way totally cool Adventure and reunion! And I have to say, I must be getting old because that night it was all I could do to stay awake until 8pm and Sunday it was all I could do to do a load of washing. And then there was the week, and then it was the weekend and now here I am. Boy time sure flies when you're having fun and recovering afterwards!

So yes, that brings me back to a couple days before heading to Melbourne - that Monday I took delivery of mah brand spankin' new 42 inch, Panasonic Plasma TV and "complimentary" Panasonic blue ray player (valued at around $350)! Hooray! But that evening I'd met my friend Jan for dinner at a lovely little Thai place up the road from me (name escaped), so aside from quickly turning the thing on before heading to bed, I didn't watch much. But, a week later - it died! GASP! I was in the middle of a James Bond movie! Aaaarrrgggghhh! So this past Tues I trotted back to the shop where they took pity on me and my mere week of fancy tv ownership and arranged for a brand spankin' new replacement to be delivered this Saturday. Hooray - again! So far so good! The guy at the shop told me they either drop dead within the first 7 days or after 3 years (good to know, will start saving for the next tv if that's the case).

So Saturday was reserved for one load of laundry and tv shows from the 80's - Magnum PI, A Team, Knight Rider - it was what was on tv while I was tuning it in and adjusting all the contrast and brightness, etc levels..... Boy, I gotta say, after all this time with no tv, and just mah poor little laptop, this tv is totally awesome! And massive! Bloody thing fills the room! But yes, Xmas has come a little bit early..... HOORAY!

And then there was today, Sunday. What typical weekend of mine would be complete without a dose of chores. So now the little apartment is clean, the lorikeets have gone to bed, the TV is settling in.... I must find a couple of Blue Ray discs and see what this thing can really do.... I'm thinking either a James Bond or the first Raiders of the Lost Ark........

So there you have it! Now you can understand a little why I was a bit late checking in. WHEW! An Adventure was happily had! And that's the best excuse! So hope you're all well up there - now when you come down, time allowed, we'll hit Melbourne too! C'mon down!

BYE!
J!

Napping in a Wedge with a Tail...

Hi!

Well. Sunday evening, much like many previous Sunday evenings, the birds are out there chattering away, although they're kind of quiet at the moment when they're usually really gabby.... They've been quite rambunctious most of the day, so perhaps they're talked-out. Either way, it's a lovely, cool, overcast evening, the very strange and nosy owner of our sad little crumbling apartment block is dragging palm fronds around and flinging them over the fence into the neighboring apartment block's yard (and that's just the tip of his strangeness), got mah glass of wine (same as last week, it's taken that long to get through it), and the way groovy jazz tunes have just fired up - ahhhh, lovely Sunday!

So work. Yep. Is going happily well. I've had slightly more to do this week, which is always nice in helping the time pass. But until the new year springs into action, I have a feeling things could stay pretty quiet.... Which is kinda good, I guess, gives me time to study up on all the new acronyms and the slightly confusing, multi-layered business structure. Hmmm.

Oh, and I foolishly forgot to mention last week in summing up the previous week (a.k.a. My First Week at the New Job), that Thursday I got to go to Amberley Air Force Base (or as it's meant to be known: the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley") to go look around the base (well, some parts of it). It's pretty big, kinda run down, old small buildings. You'd think with the gazillions of dollars that these places get off the Government you'd expect the place to look like Star Trek. But no. Guess they spend all the dough on toys. We showed up just as they'd finished their Veteran's Day salute business with fighter planes and rifles. We wandered around A Lot, escorted at every turn, of course. Got to see a new ("green") Wedgetail being converted from just a standard 737 and fitted out with its new spy gear (tho the spy gear was classified from me, being a "Foreign National")......, I even got to stand around and crouch in a brand-new Kiowa helicopter's cockpit after it'd been freshly painted with its designed-to-order camouflage. But boy by the time we got back to the office we were beat. It's a fair way outta town and the drive was kinda long. But it was all really pretty neat. Oh and the whole place (my building that is) is absolutely crawling with Americans. I giggle a little whenever I hear the accent. After what, 9 years living down here it's the first time I've ever shared a building with them. It's kinda weird, but kinda nice. They all seem to be here purely for projects, so they're on contracts for like a year or two. Hmmm. Definitely interesting!!!! So yes, work is good. Hooray!

And then the weekend. Pretty darn quiet. Chores, naps, books, the usual. Although yesterday was nice in that my neighbors downstairs had me over for dinner and good gossip. That was really nice. I'm a big believer in being friendly (to a point) with your neighbors as you never know when you may need them. Well, it helps anyways when you live alone. Otherwise it was a very nice, quiet, very restful (maybe too much so, hope I'm not awake until 2 in the morning) weekend!

So there you go! Hope you're all well up there. I've done the math and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to come up there for another visit for..... well, it won't be next year, I don't think I'll have the vacation time saved up..... Maybe spring that next year......? So that gives you a huuuuge window of visiting opportunity - you know I'll be here! And you know you want to!!!

BYE!
J!