Gussy!!

Random Post of the Day

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:49:08 GMT

Shelton and Jasper playing tug-of-war with a rubber chicken.

Only problem is that Jasper doesn't play fair - he'll suddenly let go, latch onto one of Shelton's ears who drops the rubber chicken in surprise. Jasper lets go of Shelton's ear, grabs the chicken, and scampers off.

Cheeky little brat :-)

ATTN Quitters do NOT call the QUIT Hotline!

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:20:41 GMT

As I metioned in a previous post, recently I took the plunge and quit smoking after 7 years of the habit.

It's one of those things that I had thought of doing on and off for many years, but like most smokers never really got serious about it because... well.... I enjoyed smoking! I felt better after having one and the reasons go on and on. Adam had been nagging me for years and years about giving up, naturally I never did. Seeing a government anti-smoking ad on TV usually made me go straight outside and light up. You know those ads, the ones with some crusty old bogan blaming smoking for her mouth cancer instead of her 40 years of poor dental hygiene and eating roadkill. Or the ones where the crying child actor is asking the concerned doctor actor why he can't fix the actor attempting to play "daddy" who trying to rasp out "I love you son" with a tube up his nose. Yes, I may be insensitive to what those actors are trying to portray, but I absolutely detest the way those ads are mode. In particular, I absolutely detest the NSW Government's "QUIT" campaign.

I actually called the 13 QUIT number one day last year, curious to know if there was an easy way to fix the smoking cravings whilst finding a better way to deal with anxiety other than smoking. The woman on the phone took my name, number, details, as I would expect, then proceeded to ask me had I seen the ads on TV or in the newspaper. (Yes, you nitwit, do you think I accidentally dialed you instead of calling the pizza place?) and asked if I wanted to quit. (again, WTF?). She then started on a dialogue most likely printed on her screen about how smoking is bad for your health, blah blah blah and did I know all this? I started getting a bit angry here - What kind of idiot living in this day and age is NOT aware of the health dangers associated with smoking? Treating me like an imbecile is very unlikely to get me to listen. So she said she would send me a "Quit Pack", which I assumed would be a nice little set if tricks to stop smoking, maybe a stick or two of nicotine gum, and some case studies of people who had succeeded.

What did I get 6-8 weeks later? Half a kilogram of glossy pamphlets that spewed the same propaganda that the government ads did. At this point, I was fed up with the whole deal, and my (very strong) feeling of spite caused me to immediately reach for my pack of cigarettes, light a smoke with my zippo, and use the zippo (and fluid) to set their pamphlets alight. Curiously enough, the highly-plasticised glossy pages burned with an intense green flame. I'm sure the fumes coming from the flame was even worse for me than the cigarettes, but at that point I really didn't care.

Oh, and did I get a "follow-up call" to see how I was going? Nope. Didn't hear a thing. Another shining example of an effective NSW Government program.

So, back to the present, the only way I knew it was time to quit was by moving into this house - I had always wanted a complete "revamp" of my life, start in a new direction as a new person. And quitting smoking had to be a part of it. The hardest part was making a promise to myself and actually keeping it - I mean, how many "last cigarettes" can one have? What really did help was a $20 book I bought, written by a fairly well-known quit-smoking advocate, Allen Carr. I was too cheapskate to go to his course, but I thought if I could read through this book and get a few thoughts into my head about an effective method, it would be a start. And really, that's all it needed - to put things in a different frame of mind. The book is not perfect, no methods are. However, by sitting down and reading that book, it cemented in my own head that I was going to give it a proper go this time, and I needed to remember that all in all it was something quite simple - a drug addiction, and that as long as the drug is in the system, it will continue to want more and more. And no drug addiction is ever a good thing. To starve it would be hard (and it was), but now I rarely think about it, which I think is the biggest blessing of it all.

So I'm not going to say to all the smokers out there you can do it and wave the pom-poms, frankly if a smoker wants to smoke, they will, and it's really none of my business. It really irked me when ex-smokers got on their pedestal and told me how "disgusting a habit" it was, and that "pffft, if I can do it anyone can" so it's "just a matter of willpower".. What I would like to say though is that I am very proud that I was able to do it - usually I'm terrible with self-control and I'm incredibly impulsive - so it's not as though it's a matter of willpower. What I am hoping is that I can now have the confidence to change other parts of my life that need a little touch-up - one thing at a time!

OMGWTF

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:21:08 GMT

I thought nothing could shock me anymore when it came to free-to-air TV.

First, we had Dancing with the Stars

Then, we had The ~~fattest~~ Biggest Loser

Now imagine this: Combine the two! Fat people losing weight in a dancing competition.

Introducing: Dance Your ~~Ass~~ Arse Off

Think it's a joke? Nope. Coming soon to Channel 9!

If I won the lottery

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:37:44 GMT

As many will know, the last OzLotto lottery didn't go off, and the jackpot is now $90 million. The OzLotto lottery is incredibly hard to attain, you need to get 7 numbers correct (out of 45) instead of the usual 5 - chances to win are slim!

Naturally, I like to enter it because if I win, the chances of me having to share it are minimal - imagine $90 mil coming into your bank account! Whilst I was in NZ, they let go their biggest ever jackpot ($35 million) to a woman in Hamilton. Naturally, Hamilton being a small and decidedly poor town, keeping that a secret wasn't going to be easy, and whilst working on a TV headend (for that is my job) I saw a lot of news yet-to-be-broadcast news clips as journalists desperately tried to hunt down the winner and "out" her. All the interviews said this woman was a "completely unremarkable" and "normal" person, who worked as a dish cleaner at a local restaurant.

I wondered what would happen if I won something that big, especially something like $90 million. We've all sat around and wondered, haven't we, about what we would do if we won the lottery. Would we give it away to charity? Would we buy a new house / car / boat ? Would we invest it? Sure, this is something you would consider if you won $1 million or so, but $90 million?

So I had a thought. What would I do? Would I want to remain anonymous? What would I do with such a stupid amount of money? Simple. I'd start a political party, and use the proceeds to fund it and gain publicity. My lotto win would not be anonymous - I would want people to know that I had won it and what I was going to use it for - instant cheap publicity!

For a long time I've dreamed about starting a political party - you know, the one that everyone is screaming out for but nobody is satisfying. It apears that the only time someone starts a political party is to satisfy some extreme view ala Greens, One Nation, Christian Democrats, Family First - nobody seems to want to start a party that is moderate in nature that satisfies what most of the nation wants! The Liberals and Labor do not come c;lose. So many people of my (our) generation are screaming out for a party that promotes conservative economic practice and progressive social policy. Where is it? Some time ago I was contacted by the "Liberty and Democracy Party" that purported to support all of this and more, yet on further analysis appeared to be promoting policies that were a copy of the American system - and look how well that's turning out! I put them in the "extremist" bin with all the rest. The Democrats tried, but really their economic policy was not strong. They were middle of the road on EVERYTHING.

Could I do it? I don't know. The only way to get elected in this country is to know the system, convince the right people and have the media onside. And have a lot of money so you access said system. Definitely not a one-man job - and how do you attract the right people into your party that won't end up hijacking it for their own political purposes? NSW Liberals is a prime example of that in action. You must be sure that those people coming into your party have similar goals and ambitions to you and aren't trying to twist and warp your policies.

Above all, it would have to be a party capable of winning actual *power* in this country, and put an end to bipartisanship. I think this may actually be possible if decent party members were found that would be willing to be electoral candidates. And all this would be attracted if I actually had the money to start it all up. Politics aint' cheap!

So yes, maybe I'm dreaming - I've thought before of "infiltrating" the existing parties, hoping for change, but we all know that this isn't going to work - ~~revolution~~ political overhaul is the only way to really make a directional change in this country. Those in the current system are corrupted well before they reach the top.

Speaking of the top, WTF is this with Malcolm Turnbull and this OzCar affair? What the hell was he thinking? Firstly, a very cheap shot to take if he was using that to upset Kommandant Rudd, and with so much risk to his own political career? I actually had hope for the federal Libs when Malcolm won the leadership - the wets were finally taking back control and steering the party back on course, and then this. Whether this email was "faked" or not (I personally believe it wasn't faked, AFP can be persuaded to determine whatever they like and the original evidence will never be released for public scrutiny), it was a hell of a risk to put his career on. I thought this guy wanted to be PM? Misleading parliament? Hell, Johnny H mislead the whole COUNTRY, was caught, and he still got voted back in! What was the point of attacking Rudd over a free ute?

.

Edging towards Normality

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:05:16 GMT

One of the keys to a successful blog is update frequency. Clearly I fail. Oh well, I don't care :-)

I've just come off two weeks of annual leave, spent at our house, so you'd think there'd be no excuse for not having the time to sit down and have a yarn? Well, the first week was flat out - Adam and I got a lot done on the house, Adam was in charge of the painting and has repainted every room, removing the horrible baby-poo green "suede" colour and putting in our own style. My job was the lighting - I ripped out all the hideous single compact fluro bayonet fittings and put in nice 240V halogens in every room. Those who know me will know well that I am no eco-warrior! The combination of a decent paint scheme and better lighting instantly made the house seem twice as big.

To give you an idea of how much work has gone on in the last couple of weeks, I'll give you an idea of what we've done:

New Appliances / Furniture:

Microwave - Smeg Convection microwave (those who don't know what a convection microwave is, you are missing out!)

Washing Machine - Bosch Front-loader - I've never had a front-loader before, and I have to admit the first time I plugged it we couldn't find the shipping bolts, so we assumed it didn't have any. Needless to say, it tried to shake the house down and when it went into its spin cycle tried to walk out the door - I literally had to chase after it before it pulled its hoses out! (Think: Simpsons washing machine vs. dryer racing)

Television - Sony Bravia. Finally, goodbye to the old Trinitron CRT! I mean, how can a television broadcast engineer NOT have a decent box? This one is a 40" HD (of course) LCD model. It sits mounted to the feature wall, no cables visible - just hanging there like a picture frame

[GEEK] nSetting the TV up was of course the part I've been looking forward to the most - for it involves converting my old server PC "XANDIR" (until recently the host for this very blog and other websites) into a fully-featured media centre. For the geeks out there I'll go into the features briefly (I intend to give it its own post!) - it runs on Windows 7 Media Centre, looks fantastic (Micro$oft got something right! Apple doesn't even come close to this one) - has dual digi TV tuners for pause / record / EPG functionality (essentially a TIVO with 2TB (current) storage), native capability to play almost every video file I have, DVD playback, aaaaand... Blu-Ray!! Plus, if that wasn't enough, FM radio stations, internet radio stations, MP3 collections, visualisations plus a few other features I haven't fiddled with yet. Naturally, it all sits in another room, hidden in a cupboard and is controlled by a single remote control :-) [/GEEK].

Dining Table - We scouted all over Sydney for this one, and after going over many choices, settled on a solid black glass table (extendable from 1.8 to 2.8 metres!), that looks incredible under halogen lights.

Dining Chairs - White sude high-backed chairs, we couldn't find *exactly* what we wanted, so we had them custom-made (after screwing the price down to almost half!)

Couch Set - This one too needed a lot of searching and testing - after all, couches are an essential part of the home! What we settled on was absolutely divine - a chocolate brown 3-seater where each end is its own recliner and the middle back-cushion folds down to become a central table! Needless to say, watching a movie on the media centre whilst reclined on the lounge with a wine beside you - it doesn't get much better I have to say!

That's just the purchases! Needless to say, the cost is astronomical :-) As for the rest of the work, we've:

Ripped out most of the overgrown and unloved back garden

Re-wired the TV antenna and removed the water-sodden and corroded passive splitter and installed an active splitter on new RG6 cable (I can now pick up Wollongong!)

Built a roof on the back timber deck - This was a big job and we had help from our friends to install it. Until this was up, the ~~monsters~~ dogs spent the nights in the kitchen, and you need not imagine what one hyperactive adult labrador and one hyperactive labrador puppy undergoing toilet training would be like cooped up inside! I must have used an entire bottle of bleach re-sanctifying that kitchen...

Painting / lights

as mentioned before - This really took up most of the time</li>

Should I have mentioned actually moving our furntire and things from the 5 places that they have been in storage for the past 4 months?

Then, in true ironic fashion, the week of holidays I had by myself (Adam had a few week's holiday too), I got sick with man flu and just sat on the couch feeling sorry for myself (then again, it is a REALLY nice couch!).

I was starting to feel better last weekend (yesterday and Saturday), but Adam and I decided we had far more to catch up on than our social lives. That took most of the weekend - I should probably omit the rest of the details :-)

No rest for the wicked, huh?

The new blonde

Fri, 29 May 2009 05:55:22 GMT

TGIF.
I doubt there's anyone here reading that would disagree with me.

I was thinking of launching into a new political diatribe this afternoon, but hey, it's Friday and I CBF. So Instead I'm going to give you puppy pics and tell you about the new young blonde that's living with us.

Adam and I have always said that as soon as we stopped renting and got a house of our own, we would get a friend for Shelton. We had decided long ago (it's always nice to dream about the future isn't it? Scary when it's actually here!) that we would get a golden labrador as a mate for Shelton. After all, I think a labrador is probably the only breed that can keep up with him!

So just 2 weeks after we moved into the house and started renovating, Jasper arrived. Adam had thought of the name "Jasper" quite some time ago, even before the "movie" Gays Gone Wild was released. (If you haven't seen that character Jasper, I will post pics :-)

Of course, a new puppy is a mixture of unbounding cuteness and major frustration! The first night the little fella was not happy at all, and proceeded to give both Adam and I a major headache as we attempted to practice the "tough love" approach. We gave in. The puppy spent the night sleeping on a mat beside our bed. Thankfully the second night wasn't so bad, Jasper had made better friends with Shelton, and was content to sleep with the big black monster without making too much of a sound. We have yet to build a roof on our back deck so the little "darlings" sleep on the newspaper-covered kitchen floor.

Of course, little labrador puppies have some upsides - anywhere we go with him, (mostly) girls flock to him with clucky "ohhhs" and "aaahhhhs". Adam and I still want to take Jasper for a ~~walk~~ parade down King St. in Newtown and see what other kinds of attention we can get.

So I hope you can live with me posting lots of puppy pictures over the next few months :-)

Resuming Transmission

Thu, 28 May 2009 06:18:33 GMT

Welcome back racefans!

Did you miss me?

Well, for better or worse, I’m back and nothing will be the same again. My last post in February seems like a century ago, and so much has happened between now and then. I’ll outline them briefly:

Moved out of house in Ryde, hope the new tenants enjoy the rats!

Moved to basement under brother’s house for 4 months.

Moved out of basement and to house in Ermington. A house that we bought. (Well, the bank bought, but hey it’s all paper money anyway, right?)

Quit smoking

Have a new puppy

Spent another small fortune in renovations and new furniture

How’s that for a start? Looks like there will be quite a few posts over the next few days with more details. Meanwhile, I’ve moved my site (volacious.net.au) across to a server in the US, and updated and redesigned it. A bit sparse yet, only just fixed the framework and the livejournal sync scripts :-)

Please do say hello if you’re still reading, would love to hear from y’all ! I still follow everyone on LiveJournal and my google reader list, even if I haven’t commented I’ve always been there :-)Once things start to settle down and I get an internet connection put on at the house, I will be back in force.

Toodles for now, stay tuned!

Gus

Station Close

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:53:15 GMT

Apologies to my few listeners for this break in broadcasting, but this blog will be closing down for an indefinite period.

I've been posting less and less lately as I've been struggling the past few months and I've been told by others that I'm becoming more and more withdrawn and insular, which can't be a good thing. This last month has been absolute hell, with work issues, relationship issues and self-confidence issues, all heightened by this bloody heat wave that just won't go away. So after 5 years of blogging, I'm backing away from the keyboard to re-evaluate and recover. Plus, my poor computer just isn't coping in the heat and I'm coming very close to melting the circuitry ;-)

This may or may not be a permanent sign-off, so if it is I thank all my readers for sticking with me, it's been a fun trip! And in case I decide to resurrect this blog, I hope to see you all back!

So thankyou all, and keep well.

Gus

Brain Bender

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:37:19 GMT

Some of you may have seen this before, some haven't. In any case, see if you can work this out:

Three switches are on a wall, and each switch controls one of three light bulbs in a closed windowless room. You can only enter the room once. How can you determine which switch controls which bulb?

Monday Morning Funny

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:27:54 GMT

This is a classic, sent to me by Dad. Enjoy!

Involuntary Muscular Contractions

A professor at the University of Sydney was giving a lecture on 'Involuntary Muscular Contractions' to his first year medical students. Realizing this was not the most riveting subject, the professor decided to lighten the mood slightly.

He pointed to a young woman in the front row and said:

'Do you know what your ass hole is doing while you're having an orgasm?'

She replied…

'Probably drinking beer with his mates.'

It took 45 minutes to restore order in the classroom...

The New Year is Upon Us

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:59:44 GMT

Hello again everyone!

I don't think many people read this anymore, I've been so long without posting, the server has been down to prevent it cooking in this wretched heat, and I've been really slack in commenting on other's posts. So if you're still here, thanks :-)

So this is my first post for 2009! Hope everyone's Christmas and holiday period was all you wanted it to be, 'cos now it's back to the grindstone, and we have a stinkin' hot summer to sweat away the weeks :-)

The pic taken here is from our latest little sojourn, down to Bawley Point for Adam's birthday (yesterday). We've been on a strict budget owing to a) me spending way too much on gliding b)Bloody Christmas™! and c) saving for a house, so we wanted to have a little getaway without too much cost.

So we found these quaint little cabins on a lake near Bawley Point, and it was just divine. Very secluded, a little 2-level self-contained cottage with hardwood furniture and fittings, looking down to a lake beyond a lawn that seemed always full of kangaroos, wallabies, and tiny lil' birds. On Monday we went next door to the winery, sampled a few nice vinos, then jumped in a pair of complimentary kayaks and paddled up the inlet to the beach. Not to make the day too difficult, we then drove down to Bateman's Bay and enjoyed a wonderful dinner in a classy restaurant on the Clyde River. OK, at that point the budget got blown out a little, but jeez it was good food!

In the past few weeks we've discovered some lovely drives, and the Subaru has seen some very interesting sights. I have to recommend:

Bucketty to Wiseman's Ferry via St Alban's, 40km of beautiful unsealed mountain road.

The Sea Cliff Bridge off Lawrence Hargrave Dr (between Stanwell Tops and Wollongong)

Nowra to Bowral via Kangaroo Valley (a must is to have a coffee at the cafe at the top of Mt. Cambewarra)

Absolutely gorgeous drives!

Meanwhile, this heat means I'm now more determined than ever to get out of renting properties and into one of my own. Adam and I had a look at a house over the road which was for lease, $500 / week, brand new kitchen, and NO DISHWASHER! I mean, WTF? So many houses for rent at the moment do not have dishwashers! For Pete's sake, to landlords really believe that this is still the 1950's and there is a live-in housewife available to do the dishes every night? So that was a dealbreaker for me. As I sit here sweating away in our current non-airconditioned house, procrastinating doing the dishes, I think that whilst I will be eternally poor with a mortgage, at least if I wanted a dishwasher, I'd just put one in. And a killer air con! And naturally fully wired with gigabit ethernet and digital audio runs for the media centre. This little cherub is over slumming it!

Hope everyone is well, lots of hugs!

Gussy

Year of unrest

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 08:13:21 GMT

It's a Saturday arvo, I've quite a few scotches under my belt and ive only been to one of many social occaisions lined up for this weekend. Good times:-)

Certain things have been happening at work as of late, and one way or another next year is going to prove quite interesting and there will be a lot of change.

I can feel it too... Next year is going to be a big one! Adam agrees and feels the same. Maybe it's the stars, or something else. One way or another, life will change dramatically.

Now this just makes me furious

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:37:59 GMT

*** BEGIN POLITICAL RANT ***

This one has really got me inflamed. The NSW State Government has GOT to go. A decade of pure incompetence, and just when one premier gets replaced by another we think isn't so bad, he turns out to be even worse.

So the latest is that CityRail fares are increasing AGAIN, an average of 7.5%. This is AFTER many previous price increases, AFTER a horrendously failed attempt to "simplify" fares by introducing an e-ticketing system, and AFTER investigations of rampant corruption and wastage of money by RailCorp. And ~~Premier~~ Spin-Doctor Nathan Rees has the hide to mention that it was a "good win" for the commuters.

All of these price increases have been approved by iPART, a supposed independent body. Considering the corruption rampant elsewhere in the NSW Government, I have a lot of trouble trying to believe that. Looking at the report (published here), the reason that they have approved the expenditure is that they predict a blowout in costs due to the ageing of the rail fleet, and be able to make a profit of 7%.

CityRail costs $2.7 billion a year to run, $2 billion of that is funded by the State Government. WHAT A JOKE! I've known quite a few "insiders" at RailCorp, the level of incompetence and bloating inside the organisation is beyond funny. I've heard of one department being cut from 250 jobs down to 20, and the workers that remained had less to do. I've also heard (unconfirmed) that there are no less than 70 "senior managers" reporting directly to the CEO. Snouts in the trough, anyone?

What would be ultimate is to fire the lot of them, and rehire only those essentially needed. But wait, the government can't do that. Political suicide. So, instead, privatise it. Let the market make it efficient, and if many heads roll, well that's what needs to happen. Blame the evil corporations. The rest of Sydney will be dancing. Let's hope that if the Liberals get in, that will be the first thing they do.

Speaking of the Liberals, thank f**ing God I have not heard so much of a few disgrunted peeps out of them lately. The worst thing they did in the last election was carry on with that pathetic campaign they did, and let their Kool-Aid drinking Religious Right out of their cages. They had the election handed to them on a silver platter, and they lost it.

If there's any state Libs listening, here tip for the upcoming election... DON'T SAY ANYTHING. Just sit there smugly and say "I told you so", and nothing else! You'll win by a landslide.

*** END POLITICAL RANT ***

.

Time for home

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:18:19 GMT

Hi All !

Well, the competition is over. The last two days have been extremely wet and unflyable, preceded by two excellent soaring days. Thursday was a very strong day, 7-10kt thermals, minimal wind, with a 200km speed task that unfortunately is not so good for my lil' ol' bird. She is good on weak days but cannot keep up with the modern aircraft on strong days. However, I drove her as hard as she would go, getting a personal best and leaving me 4th overall at the end of the competition. Needless to say I'm stoked, I managed to achieve my three goals that I set out to achieve, namely:

a) Don't break the aeroplane
b) Make it back to the airfield at the end of each day
c) Have fun

Tonight is final night, there will be some serious drinking involved. This will be my last Junior Nationals, as I now become too old to compete! So tonight will definitely be my swan song, I've been informed that I am not to leave under my own power. It's also fancy dress, I'm sure there will be some very interesting photos come tomorrow....

Hope everyone else is well!

Gussy

On holidays and exhausted

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:04:45 GMT

Good evening all!

Sorry for the sparse updates, I'm down in Benalla at the moment, and the entire town has been without internets for the past few days.

So for those who don't know why on earth I'm in a central Victorian country town, I'm here competing in the Australian Junior Nationals Gliding Championships with the sailplane I bought not long ago. She may be the oldest ship in the fleet, but the last two days I've flown her as best I could, getting me 7th place today and an astonishing 2nd place yesterday, leaving me at 5th after 2 days. I tell ya what though, I'm very very tired about now! I landed today after a gruelling three hour task, and said to myself "damn I'm fangin' for a beer, root and a smoke about now" (I really do start talking like a bogan when I'm gliding a lot). Within ten minutes I had two of those three covered. As for the other, I think it's gunna be a long week!!

Victory!

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:02:03 GMT

I passed the CCNA!

HELL YEAH!!!!

Just In - Matty Takes Performer of the Year

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:48:59 GMT

Just in - Matthew Mitcham Takes out Performer of the Year, and with it a $50k sponsorship from Colonial First State.

Good on you Matty!

Big Step

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:48:01 GMT

It's interesting what the media will and won't report.

Drew just rang me to tell me that the Senate passed the "Same Sex Amendment Bill", affecting over 100 different areas of Commonwealth legislation. A quick check through the usual rags showed that at least the ABC reported it.

Hooray, it's a big step in the right direction! If I'm not careful, Adam's threats of marriage might just become a reality...

Make it stop

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:34:50 GMT

Sorry folks. This old coot is just too tired to be giving you regular content. So much has been happening, I just want the next few weeks to be over so I can return to normal! I had a huge week last week fixing nasty problems in Auckland, then off to Bathurst for the weekend to do some preparation for my upcoming gliding competition, now on Thursday I'm off to Wellington for two days before studying my arse off all weekend so I can sit my CCNA exam on Monday.

The stress is getting to me, I think in times like this I feel I've bitten off more than I can chew. Tensions have risen with the boy when all I want is a big hug and warm breath on the back of my neck.

As always, one step after another and soon all will be right....

Back over the Ditch

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:55:45 GMT

So I'm back at the airport. Waiting for my flight across the ~~dutch~~ ditch to Auckland. At least my FF miles are clocking up :-)

Normally I don't mind the travel, but it's such a busy time of year at the moment, not just for work, and all I want is a bit of normality so I don't lose what sanity I've managed to grasp onto.

On the upside, duty free have a special on Johnny Black, in a really nice travel bag. And we all know how much I like my Johnny...

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

The world has changed

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:55:29 GMT

Wow. It's been a slow day today, couldn't help but follow CNN's coverage of the US elections.

Am quite pleased... looks like the Democrats have taken the Presidency, Senate, and the lower House. Now they might actually get some work done!

It gives me some solace that the American people have realised what a mess their country is turning into, and whilst I don't exactly trust the smooth-talking Obama, the thought of President ~~Palin~~ McCain is very scary! So, like in our own country here, I welcome the lesser of two evils, President-elect Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, the other poll that has huge ramifications is "Proposition 8", the ban on gay marriage in California. Exit polls show the "No's" as winning, however with 10% of the vote counted, the "yes" campaign is definitely ahead. Whilst they are only one state, it sets a strong precedent for the rest of their country, and, dare I say it, Australia, whose government still seems to think that Americans have "our kind of morals".

Let's cross our fingers :-)

Farm Dog

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 06:24:48 GMT

It had been a shit of a week, and after such weeks I try to escape the city and go aviating. This time I even gained an extra to come on the journey after he wrote off his car on Friday (yes, definately a big week!)

So we packed up the car with boy and dog and headed west. Stayed at the farm with Mum, and gave Shelton a huge run around the farm... He still thinks he's fast enough to catch kangaroos!

I spent some time in Bathurst, where I got to fly my glider for the first time since I bought her. Such a beautiful little machine to fly... I took her out to Orange and then tried to see how fast she could dashing back to Bathurst. When I landed, there was Adam trying to hold back a frantic Shelton who very happy that Daddy was back after being abducted by that big white flying beast.

It made me smile... This was our little family... Adam, Gus, Shelton, and ... the glider :-)

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

On Goals and Journeys

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:56:04 GMT

So, I'm sitting in the Qantas Club at Auckland Airport, waiting to board, and having a muse.
I decided to catch up on my LiveJournalling / blogreading, and came across a post from a darling girl I know who is very spiritual, very strongly a Christian, and having dilemmas. If she reads this, she will know it's her I'm talking about.

It is probably something I cannot fathom. I was reading her post, sensing her struggling with her anguish about possibly being "unworthy" of God's grace. Knowing that the Almighty knows her feelings, and might think she is unworthy because not all her thoughts are pure. The fear of failing God.

It's something similar to another boy I know too well, brought up a Catholic. Whilst different ethos, the guilt is always there. The guilt of failing, of somehow not being able to control impure thoughts or deeds.

It's not just Christianity, this applies to nearly all kinds of organised religion where expectations are put in place. The same kind of expectations that parents have for their children, particularly those where the best isn't good enough.

So how to we justify ourselves when we fall short of these expectations? There is not a mortal alive that does not fail to live up to their own expectations. It's the bar we set for ourselves, the bar that always moves a little bit higher as you reach out for it.

I'm not saying I have the answer. I'm one of those who chronically sets my own bar up in the clouds, and then go through agony when I keep failing. What I am learning, or trying to learn, is it is not so much reaching the goal, but what you can gain out of the journey. And whether you can use what you learn to better plan how you live your life.

Of course, achieving goals is important for our psyche in order to give us confidence to move on, but these really need to be clearly defined and quantifiable and in our grasp, or they will change and be unattainable. Goals such as "achieve enlightment" or "become a better person" are dangerous if you think about the destination and not the journey.

Anyway, my flight is being called, so I'll get my head out of the clouds so you can all scratch your head and wonder what great drug I've been taking :-) Have a great weekend, all !

Wet and windy in Auckland

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:31:28 GMT

See the size of this coffee? It's huge! And exactly what I need this morning. I'm exhausted!

Well, it seems like I'll be coming home early now, this Saturday instead of three weeks time! The job I cameover here to do had ... Issues. To put it lightly. Oh well, happens sometimes. All part of the experience:-)

Hope everyone is well!

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Gussy!!

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