This is a triumph...

On Saturday, my sister gave birth to a healthy little baby girl *awwww*.

Not only is she now a mother, but I am now officially an uncle (which is quite a scary thought - the uncle bit I mean :P)!

Christmas and new Year's Eve was boring - except for the post-boxing day friends gathering, which we went and saw AVP:R (which was supprisingly better than the first AVP), had an EXTREMELY late dinner and then went home (only to to play Portal :P )

I have booked my Sydney flights and accommodation and all I need to do now is find some more tourist stuff and then actually go there (PS: Don't expect any blog posts while I'm there!).

Current Mood: Neutral

Sydney

A spontaneous decision on my part, has created an opportunity for me to go to Sydney to see a band performance, bum around checking out the sites and generally spending money with another friend of mine...

I have not been outside of Western Australia (as far as I know) and I'm both excited and stressing about it both at the same time!

As far as work goes... we are supposed to be winding down but the amount of work that has to be done is quite the opposite :P
I got my small pieces of memorabilia (rock samples) from the two most historical underground mines in the history of Mt. Magnet :)

My sister is nearly due to have her baby too. She is hoping that it will be born a few days after New Years Day, but when it will actually be born is any one's guess...

Oh yeah, Merry Christmas to the few people that read this blog :)


Current Mood: Cheerful

Preperation for C-Day™

Maybe it's the fact that I am not religious or the fact that I treat this day like any other day of the year (1/365 standard earth days), but in preparation for C-Day™, I'm somehow getting depressed rather than excited for some reason...

Today I decided to kill some boredom with washing/cleaning a couple of the vehicles here at work, which I managed to do surprisingly quick too. Now I'm a bit bored again until I have to do the server maintenance in about ½ hour...

I keep putting it off, but I really should enrol for UNI next year, but I'm feeling a bit apathetic at the moment so I will do it some time in January.

Instead of writing anything else I'm going to just put another webcomic on here to take up the rest of this post :P


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Refunds R US

Well the good news is I got my Alienware (failed purchase) refund!!!

Thanks to the nice people at my bank and even though I was expecting it, they did not charge me for it! Now all I need is the (OEM) Microsoft­® Windows™ Vista™ refund for my m1730 and everything will be perfect :)

The last few days have been pretty uneventful, except for the fact that I went and visited a friend last night, and saw the latest Heroes and borked my KDE install (I have to learn to stop mucking around with use flags) :P

Next week when I fly back up north to my workplace, there will be a party on "fly-in" night, but I am wondering whether I will go or not as I don't see any benefit in doing do, especially considering the fact that the majority of the people there will be drink and I cannot (one of the unfortunate side-effects of being an ERT member).

I think I'm becoming antisocial... meh :P


Current mood: Content

Work Sux

I have come to the conclusion: There is no such thing as a "dream job".

I believe, that those that do something that they really (think) they enjoy doing, it will turn out that sooner or later, they will not enjoy their job. Well maybe not everyone, but this at least applies to me...

No matter how hard I try to make people happy with the work I do for them, there will always be people that don't understand and/or appreciate what I do and treat me like scum but, and when they really need something done urgently that they know they can't do, they are ultra nice and appreciative (hrm, this reminds me of the old saying: "You don't always appreciate what you have until it's gone").

I am so frustrated with work colleges portraying this sort of attitude, which I must say has made me want to quit numerous times (but I can't now. Not with the retention bonus I will receive once I leave here, which will help pay for my last year of UNI).

Rant: Complete!

Damn I look forward to my RDO period... :S



Current Mood: Aggravated

Votorious Decision

This Saturday will mark the first time I have ever had to vote, which I'm not looking forward to as I am not informed enough to make a worthwhile decision on who I think should run this (somewhat awesome) country of ours...

Maybe I'll just vote for the Mario Party instead :P

I also received my ERT Kit bag for my 6 month ERT anniversary which contains the following loot:

• 1x Knife (equipped with rescue components)
  
• 2x Embossed* Hat (different types)
  
• 1x Embossed* Jacket (with removable inner liner)
  
• 1x Travel Mug*
  
• 1x Drink Bottle*
  
• 1x Embossed* Polo Shirt
  
• 1x Embossed* V.Large travel bag (which all of the above came in)
  
  * Company Logo

Pretty awesome considering it's free, except for the travel mug which is already broken :(

Anyway my attitude and events in my life seem alot happier and generally good... for now...



Current Mood: Content

Grumble Cakes*

Last RDO was quite annoying as I spent most of it worrying and generally feeling p---ed off, due to the laptop saga (part 3 coming soon! :P - I think I am going to prevail and will get my money back for it... eventually) which made me miss my holiday trip.

/sigh

Instead I fixed my depression with the regular dose of heavy drinking (which I must admit I am very good at now).

Now it's time to get a bit happier and generally enjoy life again...



Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net



Current Mood: Cheerful

Ineresting Times

I have decided to buy a Dell M1730 Notebook instead of the Alienware Aurora m9700 as I can get more memory, more storage, faster CPU, Longer warranty, and less waiting time all for cheaper than the Alienware equivalent xD

I'm starting to wonder why I started a Job that is mainly administrative as it's starting to get to me... *mumble* paperwork *mumble*...

On a better note; I fly out today and on the weekend I will be going to stay at our holiday shack at Wedge Island next weekend so I can relax and get some (much needed) sun =)

Don't expect any posts any time soon as I have found yet another busy period of my life... Boredom non-existent :P


Current Mood: Drained

Bad Hair Week

Have I had a bad hair week or what!

I failed to get a haircut for the last 3 times I have been in Perth and now the hair is a really scruffy looking, however, since I'm single I can continue to shave it back to a number 2 with no arguments from anyone (except myself...)

It's also flyout day today, meaning I get to go home this afternoon! yay!

I have another doctors appointment tomorrow about my leg, and hopefully it's the last!


Current Mood: Content

DST

Ok, this isn't really a Diary post, but I have to rant a bout it.

Daylight Savings Time. What a piece of crap. I mean some people think it great but here is a couple of reasons why I think otherwise.

• Having to manually adjust your time machines (watches) etc. while being forced to use it. Worse yet when you have no idea that it's on and forget to change some of them (<sarcasm>or when mobile phone carriers decide to do the roll-over whenever they please, like 3 days later. Thanks Telstra! </sarcasm>)


• For those that get up very early in the mornings for work: Going to bed while it's still (or nearly) daylight, making it that much hotter when you go to bed. This means that you need to go to bed with your air conditioning on making it even more troublesome (dry air, too cold giving you a cold etc.).

As far as I see it, DST was only created as an easy way for time-differentiated businesses to operate with each other, but why force it on the general public? there are some people that don't want it! Why don't those that need or want to get up earlier, do so without the need for it to have to be done for them?

So to get more daylight for only ¼ of the year we offset time... This does seem rather pointless.

The more I think about it the more it seems like business-driven laziness...

Mugged

Well after yesterdays fun, but physically taxing (due to my unfit state) ERT session I have decided to start going to the gym and working out a bit (or at least eat less/better and start exercising more).

Problem is I need time for playing Video Games (which I barely have time for these days anyway) and doing personal stuff in my spare time so I'm not sure how this is going to work, but I need to make it happen...

My sister is due to have her first child soon (December-ish) and that means that I will officially become an uncle! The fact that she is having a baby is still wierding me out, as she has always been against having a child and such. At least until now :P

Oh yeah Red FM were in town today (doing there Goldfields tour thing) and I got a Hays travel mug and a couple of stickers... yay :P


Current Mood: Content.

Rumors and Facebook etc

Well according to a rumour at work, I am going out with one of the girls here - so says a workmate - and it's the first time that I have had a rumour started about myself.

That being said some others want to set me up with a GF but I have told them that they will fail if they do so, not because they are no good at it but because I suck at human interaction, which reckon would make a relationship with anyone fail (perhaps i'm just being too negative or something)...

Now to the Facebook part of the blog. NO. Facebook sucks and is a piece of s@%# (just kidding) but according to this article it seems that it's a pretty big security risk, making me stick with my crappy old (outdated) blog which no one reads (oh wait! people from work are now reading it d'oh!).

Stay tuned for more: "Tales of Interest!" --Futurama.



Current Mood: Neutral

Bored once more

I am so bored while waiting for the day to end so that I can fly out, but now I find out that my flight has been delayed, I am even more bored. Mabee if I blog that might help.

I found some rocks in one of the soon-to-be-decommissioned underground mines and I am going through the process of having to get them signed off so that I can keep them (it's an annoying, but necessary process).

Not only, but also, I have been collecting minesite memorabilia (including the previously mentioned rocks) for my own keepsake as the entire minesite will be closing down soon.

Oh yeah I bought some cool apparel and stuff from the Gentoo shop as my own way of donating to such an awesome cause (like Radio Wazee as well)

During my time up north I decided that I will go back to UNI (full-time) to finish my degree as there will be less distractions and work issues prohibiting me from not studying as is the case right now.

Nope boredom still exists. Oh well at least I'm now less bored :P



Current Mood: Bored

I'm not even supposed to be here today!

Well here I am. At work and still injured :(

It looks like work is going to assist with additional medical opinions (including paying for it as well)

Damn thing is still sore (including the lower-half of the leg) and I'm now wondering if there is other damage to it like slight fracture or something...

On another note, I went out to one of our remote offices (also and tried to get the voice component of the VSAT system to work more reliably, but that still didn't happen. At least it was a nice 100+Km drive that I almost managed to sleep the entire journey...


Now I have to try and find a way to get around site...

Well I better get back to work then.


Current Mood: Tired & Depressed

My Left Leg

So would you like to know why I'm at home NOT visiting friends?

Well, for one, I partially dislocated my knee/lower left leg!

So I was at work and doing yet another ERT (emergency response team) course - this time it was rope rescue - when I was made to be the "medic", which meant that I had to rescue a dummy by putting it into a stretcher and we both get hauled up the side of the pit by the rest of the team. Once I started to strap the dummy into the evac stretcher, I lost my footing, and twisted my ankle followed by falling on my own leg whereby dislocating it.

The strange thing about it is that it didn't really hurt that much until after it "popped" back in place.

So now I'm sitting at home blogging, playing WoW and generally doing SFA.


Current Mood: Frustrated

Redundant!

I just (officially) found out today that I will be out of a job by December/January :(

The Executives have decided to close the mining operations at about Christmas time which there will no doubt be big party Christmas/shutdown party.

What's interesting to note is that Exploration will continue and the Mill will stay where it is for now (or until exploration can find more ore) :P

I will be sad to leave this Job because of the awesome ongoing experiences and people that I've met but, hopefully I can find a new IT related job within the mining industry by then.

At least I will have plenty of time to do it with a retention bonus and almost a years worth of holiday pay, so not to worry (financially that is)!


Current Mood: Sad

Birthdays

Well, it's that time of year again where a small clump of friends seem to be having birthdays at about the same time :( Not that this is much of an issue, but I will most likely miss most of them due to me work roster (which has now decreased by one day :)

Work is very busy - too busy - with a list of things that seem never-ending and approaching infinity but I decided long ago to stop trying so hard and just "do what I can" (It's less stressful that way :P)

Speaking of birthdays, my sister is pregnant (has been for a few months now) and getting bigger! No idea yet on any names for the baby, but since it's not mine I don't worry about it. I guess I am curious what sex it is though.

On another totally unrelated note, this mornings weather was very strange. It started out as a normal cloud-free morning and not long after the sun came up, it got all mystified (hehe) all of a sudden, it was not only quite eery but strange at the same time.


Ok, enough blogging. I'm hungry and it's time to eat...

Current Mood: Frustrated

Boredom

It's yet another boring weekend at work, so I decided to blog again :)

Still haven't started going to the Gym yet, but I will probably go tonight, since I wanted to watch Futurama last night *grin*

It's actually raining up north here which is bit of a surprise since it's about mid-winter and it's barely even rained here so far...

I've decided to stop procrastinating about it and clean most of the computers on site here be going around, disconnecting them and blasting them with a bit of air from a portable compressor and also doing some administrative work that is hard to get done during the week.

I never thought I would say this, but I am starting to miss being in Perth more and more (but I think it has something to do with not having to work when offsite on RDO)

Well I had better get some work done... or at least make it look like I'm working :P


Current Mood: Bored (and kind of lonely...)

Level ?? Humanoid

I think that title best describes me at the moment what with all the WoW I have been playing while on break recently.

I signed up today for a membership for the SPQ gym up north (where I work duh!) but I am too tired to do anything tonight as I only got 3-4 hours sleep last night right after I got about 6 the previous (<sarcasm>I'm a sucker for sleep deprivation</sarcasm>)

So while I'm on a weird, sleep, induced and crazy tangent I thought I'd try and post something. Anything.

I also found out how to do a salary sacrifice and am thinking of buying this. Very NIICCCE!

Went to a wedding on Saturday and as usual I was in my unsociable, gregarious mood so that was a really crap night for me, but the night before I did get to go to the Hog's Breath Cafe with a bunch of friends which was a good night.

Anyways I'm tired and cold and there are wolves after me... (simpsons quote :P)


Current Mood: Indescribable

And... I'm back!

Long time no blog. I have been to tired/busy/lazy to blog lately, so I haven't. Until now.

I tried to upload some BG4 pictures but I discovered there's a maximum of like 7 photos that you can upload with blogger and I coun't get the justification/alignment right. Sorry people but I will have to show them to RL people "on-demand".

Work is not so busy. I'm not so emotional and I seem to somehow be getting bored easier these days...
I am also drinking more (except when I'm onsite - due to ERT).

Ok, time to stop babbling and try to recap on the last week or so...

Had the performance review (just before my boss left the company), but no word on a pay rise of any kind...

Last RDO was a big drunken blur as I just stayed home and drank (I was too poor to do anything else really), however I did manage to get a new Logitech G7 Laser mouse... niiice!

Well that's it! I'm all bloged out :P


Current Mood: Apathetic

Fitness

This morning I plotted out (and walked) a rather nice 4.6Km walk through as many scenic parts of Kingsley as I could and, while walking it I passed two Mormon's that tried (and failed) to stop me to talk to me about their religion. I just told them I wasn't interested and kept walking, however if they had stopped me I probably would have given them a lecture about my perception on religion, which is that I don't believe in any of them (no offence intended).

I think my fitness level is improving as I am not as tired and don't sweat nearly as much as I used to and I am down to 80Kg now :)

My step dad gets back today (I think) and that means that I will have to tidy up a bit (not that I made much mess anyhow).

As usual, some of the systems at work have decided to fail, and I am the only one that seems to know about it. I hate having to VPN into the work network to fix things on my (limited) break and while there's a 64K/s shaping on my broadband link...

I might go visit my favourite (only) sister this afternoon. She always seems to be in a cheerful mood somehow, but I still haven't figured out how she does it.

Current Mood: Discontent

Lacking Motivation

We passed the BG4 Course!

I'm back at home and kinda bored. I should be studying but don't want to.
Next week at work is going to be really interesting as I have to catch up on tasks and events that I missed while in my ERT training as well as revising for exams (in the evenings) and helping look after another site while a work colleague goes on holidays for a month starting yesterday...

The weather is surprisingly nice in Perth for this time of year and as usual, I am spending it inside :P

My step dad is away for the long weekend leaving me all by myself. Now if only I was still in my teens I would a party happening by now.

I will be posting some pictures of the BG4 stuff as soon as they are available.

Current Mood: Bored

HTFU

Time to Harden the F%^# up!

Seriously though, the ERT (Emergency Response Team) that I have recently joined has me on a BG4 course which entails lugging a huge 15Kg SCBA on our back (not to mention all the other gear like self-rescuer cap-lamp etc). Oh did I mention that there was a fully loaded stretcher that we had to drag around too? well there is!

It's a really tough course that I have just managed to pass the third day, however tomorrow is what's known as the "Ball Breaker" which is the most physically demanding day of the lot!

Besides the ERT stuff I heard that someone here at work really needed to speak to (about non-work related stuff) after about 9pm which was well after I had fallen asleep. I have suspicions, but no idea why...

Anyway, I'm off to do some BG4 study and relax for the big day tomorrow.

Current mood: Drained

Finances and Study

I am currently at work studying and blogging because it's yet another weekend with no one else in the office, and I just had a revelation about how I could possibly re-do my finances so that I can afford to buy a new car . This is because of the fact that my bank offers a new account with high interest, and free fixed withdrawals, however I would need to initially deposit quite a bit to make it worthwhile.

This swing (shift) I have only been able to work a whole 3 days (normally I work 9) but due to the fact that I am now a member of mines rescue, I have 6 days training this shift :/

I also took some well deserved time out last night from my regular study nights (in my dormitory) to watch a movie and drink beer (while watching Beerfest :P) which is actually a lot funnier than I thought it would be considering the title.

Time to get back to work at studying for upcoming exams! :P

Current mood: Bored/Lonely

Random Post #1

Well, yet another fantastic and well needed/deserved RDO has passed and I am sitting here again blogging and eating breakfast which includes thinking of something to write :P

I seemed to have lost weight from the last work roster shift, although I also seem to have somehow put on about 2Kg this RDO?

Oh and I also managed to pass the CSG3201 Multi-choice test yesterday by getting 24/30 (not to mention completing it in about 10 mins) so now I know that I don't have to worry so much about the exam for this unit.

It's yet another flyout morning but this time it's like 6°C (I'd hate to think how cold it currently is in camp).

Current mood: Cheerful

Study Sux

I seem to have been getting really distracted from studying and loosing sight of my future goals (Get degree. Get high paying job etc.).

I have had very little motivation to study lately and I am back on the turps (not actually turpentine but alcohol in general). I am at risk of failing units and it's making me quite depressed.

It almost feels like an early mid-life crisis :P

Since I am earning decent money now, I have been thinking about investment options (not necessarily with the company I work for) but I don't know where to start...

Current mood: Depressed.

Rejected

As I was waiting for something else to complete while giving my friend some technical assistance, I decided to check my email. I discovered that the girl I liked sent an email stating that she wasn't interested (after reading my letter). This is a rough snippet of what it said (based on what I remember after deleting it):

"I thought the letter was sweet but I am not interested in that way. I'm sorry I gave that impression but I would like to forget that it happened."

I am so tired of having to work so hard to meet a nice girl, only to be slapped in the face with rejection.
Since I failed I think it's time to shut down the emotions once again...

Current mood: Unknown


"I usually try to keep my sadness pent up inside where it can fester quietly as a mental illness" -- Turanga Leela (Futurama, episode 4ACV02 - Leela's Homeworld)

mini post

2 people I know recently had their birthdays on the 15^th and 16^th (gratz).

I gave the letter to her, so now I don't have to think about it so much and can get on with important things in my life like the IT meeting at work today.

At least I have my new monitor

Current mood: Somewhat happy (content)

Hard Work

It's hard work trying to win the girl of you dreams.

Last night was yet another sleepless night which I gave up on the sleeping part by about 0400h and walked to work early (0530h). It was cold.

I decided to use this early time at work to pour my feelings into a note/letter that I am still wondering when/if I will give it to her.

It seems like she has clued into the fact that I like her... but she is not saying anything about it. Is this good or bad?

I can't wait much longer to see if she comes around because this waiting is really doing my head in!

Current mood: Depressed

Back on the Caffeine

Well it looks like I'm back on the caffeine again (I didn't realise that green tee had caffeine in it!), but now I want to get hold of some Tamaryokucha!

Even though work is still busy (even for a weekend) I'm at least making some time to blog while listening to music at FULL volume while singing and generally trying to keep myself in a good mood, and so far it seems to be working...

There's a BBQ tonight at SPQ so I will probably be slightly intoxicated and/or hungover.

Current mood: Good (somewhat happy :P)

私は愛にあるか。

Morning Blog

It's 4am and I am eating my breakfast and typing up yet another blog.

This break was very much needed as I feel really refreshed and less stressed, but my friends are a little annoyed at me for not turning up on sunday due to my intoxication.

After a lengthy discussion with a close friend of mine about the girl I really, really, really (really x ~200) like, I have determined that there may be another Girl (possibly) interested in me... which may complicate matters for me.

Anyway, it's fly-in day today meaning that I go back to work again. so I have to go shower and stuff and get ready for my taxi.

Current mood: Slightly confused

RDO Goodness

This break has been one of the best!

Thursday night I picked up Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, then mostly played it that night and the following morning, while at the same time misplacing my 2Gb umass (USB Flash Disk).

Friday and Saturday was kinda boring but productive as I managed to spend lots of money on clothes (Friday) and also clean my room (Saturday), however my Stepdad and I picked up SG-1 again (since I repaired my XBOX).

Sunday was a really nice day as there was a BBQ and lots of people came and ate food and drunk alcohol (including myself - alcohol mainly).

Monday was also a superior day as I not only did very little, but I got my TV + Wii sent up north, and ended the afternoon at the Greenwood Hotel (Pub) with a Pint of Feral White, an awesome Steak sandwich and a few rounds of pool with some friends. Found the 2Gb umass! *phew*

Today I am off to UNI to see if I can pass the mid-term theory and practical tests for CSG3201 (Remote Access Networks)...

I also seem to have lost a few Kg but it's hard to tell how much as I didn't weigh myself prior to dieting... Next fortnight, 75Kg! (Hopefully)

Current mood: Content

Sleepless Nights

As per the title of this post. I can't sleep.
Recap on yesterdays events:
Got up early and played some Pokémon for a few hours (damn that game's addictive!), waited for a courier to pickup the GPS unit from work so that it could get sent for repairs/firmware upgrade. Then I went to the shops. I almost bought a new phone and spent well over $400 in clothes (retail therapy of sorts) and on the way back from the shops I decided to go visit my (favorite) sister.

Now I'm here blogging at 6am because I can't get her out of my head (because she's now in my dreams!!)

This weekend I am going to make my move (and prepare for rejection)...

Current mood: Tired

Bad mood, good mood

Yesterday I was so irritable, so very, very irritable. And upset. Apart from the lack of sleep causing me to make numerous (small) mistakes at work, I realised that I made a finanial screw-up. Not that it fixes anything, but at least I have Pokémon to cheer me up somewhat.

current mood: Sad

Good News Everyone!

Actually It's not really good news. I just like that Futurama quote :P
Yesterday I was in the BEST (good) mood - mainly because I had the entire office to myself and listened to all sorts of music at high volume :)

Things are looking up for me both at work and at home.
Did something last week that I'm sort of regretting (no I'm not going to talk about it!) but hopefully that should blow over soon enough.

Still chasing that certain person... problem is I don't know what she likes or dislikes or even if she is interested...

/sigh

Current mood: Neutral

"All I know is that my gut says maybe." --Neutral President [Futurama: Brannigan Begin Again (2ACV02)]

First Post

Well, this is my first crack at doing a random diary-like blog, so here goes...

Works seems to be going well, busy actually. almost no time to study.
Got a 4,000 word Assignment due, that I've barely had time to work on but on the bright side (i think) I have a 3-month (probation) performance review witch might mean I get paid more :)

First time for boredom in a long while, but there is a certain someone (yes I'm talking about a girl) that has me... thinking yes that's it thinking. Having enough rejections in the past, I'm not really sure what to do about this one. Probably nothing...

I guess my mood at the moment is: Confused