It’s official: Text messaging is no longer the hip way to communicate

I was watching the news. As I like to keep up with current events.

It was the time of the Australia V. Italy match, and our leader, John Howard, was overseas selling some sort of Australian good to others for nothing.

Anyway, there he was, in his tracksuit looking splendid. And it’s always nice to see the Aussie tracksuit, as the only other place it gets seen is at the TAB or at Highpoint Shopping Centre.

They were both there, him and his missus. I don’t have a lot of time for Mrs Howard. Everything I have heard about her reflects this point further. She goes to Canberra, but rarely stays in the lodge, she goes back the North Shore house the government gives them. She is no patron of any charity or other benevolent society, and I think someone in her position should be at least doing something.

There she was in all her tracksuited glory texting on her mobile phone. She was even doing it with her index finger. Christ, spare me. If the Prime Minister’s wife can’t afford to use a phone then fuck off.

I would be doubtful if she has paid for anything over the last 10 or so, why the fuck does she need to text someone? And she was overseas as well. No doubt enjoying a trip on my tax, and I ask you, why is she needed to go overseas when she isn’t promoting some benefit to Australia. It smells to me like she was on a junket.

Mrs Howard is not some pimply teenage girl who needs to send text messages to her girlfriends on any issue that floats into her head every three seconds. She is almost as old as my Mother, and if Mum doesn’t do it then no one should.

I could get quite mean and nasty here, but I won’t. I'm sure she is a good mother and great support for John on those overseas trips.

It is also Friday and I am in a good mood. So I’ll spare my tirade against Mrs Howard for another day. All I say is that if the PMs wife does it (on a rather antiquate phone too, it looked like) then texting is now official not the hip way to communicate it once was.

Take note pimply teenages! You could end up like Mrs Howard.

I am not up to much this weekend, normal sort of time. I will be at the Club for a short period of time tonight and maybe even back there for s time tomorrow night to help out behind the bar.

That is about it. I am off next week driving around Victoria for work, so I should be able to post some interesting photos of stuff going on while we are away.

Bet you can’t wait for that.

Items of little or no interest

I have been out again. Today was only to Grovedale and then over to Coburg. But out nonetheless.

I had a bit of a situation here last night. As is my want, I was working back. Suddenly the call of nature occurred.

Off to the gents I trot. The cleaner is there. He is an affable man. Not really talkative, but that's how it goes. I think he starts quite early as he is often cleaning the toilets when I leave at 5:30 - 6. And I have seen his cleaning trolley packed with assorted toilet goodies here outside the gents (and ladies) as early as 5:15.

He also has a rather curious bald spot, not dissimilar to that favoured by Friar Tuck. And he always seems to be in the same blue polo top. Perhaps I will take the hat around and see if the other members of this floor can scrape together enough to purchase him a new one.

Anyway. I was in two minds. Toilet or wait until he is finished. However, the dilemma was compounded by the fact that I needed to use the cubicle, and he had just cleaned that. And he was still hanging around in the main part of the toilet, where the urinals and cubicles are situated.

I decided to wait him out back in my office.

I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited some more.

When I finally returned, yes, he had gone. And I was welcomed with the fresh scent of bleach, which to me, reminds me of my youthful school days, when cleaning the toilet block was done with a hose and seemingly buckets of bleach, by unknown people early in the morning, or at least before we started at school. Or should I say, at least until I started at school and needed to use the toilet.

This cleaning at school rendered the toilet unusable if you needed to go to the cubicle because of excess collections of water in great deep puddles on the concrete floor at the base of each cistern. If your pants were to drop into the water, you would get teased incessantly until it dried. And since most of my high school years consisted of sitting in class, your pants would never dry. But at least you knew the school toilets were clean, at least for a little while.

Little known fact about me: In all my years at a particular Grammar School in Caulfield, I never once used the cubicle. For me it was those toilet tasks only which required standing for my years at high school: 1983 to 1988.

I used to work with a guy at Council (who I am sure does not read this blog) who used to send me an email telling me that he was the first to use the toilet in the morning. He used to tell me with great pleasure that the water was blue, and smelt like lemon. That was until he had finished his morning ablutions.

Ahh.... good times.

Friday!

Today is Friday. It is the last day of my working week.

During my journey around Victoria as indicated below, I did 1600 kilomtres. That's plenty.

I got sent one of those question thingies from my partner, I usually delete them, but as I am about disclosure, here are the results. If you get to the last question, you are doing all right, and you are all right by me.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:30, she woke up, so I got up and watched Australia do over Croatia.

2. Diamonds or Pearls? Not really fussed

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Can’t honestly remember. I get a lot of stuff on DVD and watch it at home.

4. What did you have for breakfast? Porridge and avocado on a bagel – extravagant!

5. What is your middle name? I have two as I am an aristocrat – William Gordon

6. What is your favourite TV program? This Old House – men, working with tools, can’t be beaten.

7. What is your favourite cuisine? I’ll eat anything I can instantly recognise as food – Korean would be up there

8. What foods do you dislike? As in no. 7, I’ll eat anything I can instantly recognise as food

9. Your favourite potato chip? Those hand made ones – Kettle. Although I am yet to meet a potato chip that displeases me

10. What is your favourite CD? I am still diggin’ the Best of Mental as Anything

11. What kind of car do you drive? Company Ford Futura – there is a phot on this blog

12. Favourite sandwich? Ham, lettuce, beetroot and some red onion

13. What characteristics do you despise? Rudeness

14. What are your favourite clothes? Comfortable

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go? Anywhere but work. Europe and Korea were cool

16. What colour is your bathroom? Stark white (especially when the light goes on at 5:30 AM)

17. Where would you want to retire? With my partner

18. Favourite brand of clothing? See 14

19. Favourite time of day? The few times I get to see my partner, and leaving work time

20. Where were you born? In a hospital in Northern Melbourne

21. Favourite sport to watch? Australian Rules

22. Coke or Pepsi? Neil Young said it best in ‘This note’s for you’.

23. Are you a morning or night owl? Morning

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with anyone? Not really at this stage.

25. What did you want to be when you were little? Grown up

26. What was your best childhood memory? Being carefree

27. What different jobs have you had in your life? Many

28. Nicknames? Legend, Ace, Action Man.

29. Piercing? No thanks

30. Eye Colour? Brown

31. Ever been to Africa? No

32. Ever been toilet papering? I think I have. University was a little hazy. I have been cow tipping

33. Been in a car accident? Yep, only one to walk away

34. Favourite day of the week? Friday

35. Favourite Restaurant? Anywhere that serves things I can instantly recognise as food

36. Favourite Movie of all TIME? Hard to say…

37. If you were a Dollar What would you spend yourself on? A ticket towards somewhere that isn’t work related

38. Inny or Outy? What?

39. Hard or Soft Mattress? I’ll sleep just about anywheres

40. Favourite ice-cream? Vanilla. That was all that was left after my siblings got through with the Neapolitan ice cream when I was a kiddie

41. Favourite fast food restaurant? Not fussed, it’s all good

42. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Once – hung over

43. Which stores would you choose to max out your credit card? I can do it anywhere, I am a man of the people

44. Bedtime? 9:30 and 10pm I like to read

45. Last person you went to dinner with? Tootsie in Sydney

46. What are you listening to right now? Some Beach Boys

47. What is your favourite colour? I find very few displeasing

48. How many tattoos do you have? One

That's it. Too much info there for anyone. Have a good weekend.

Almost done

Today I started in Swan Hill and here I am in lovely Benalla. On the way today I went to: Swan Hill, Shepparton, Numurkah, Cobram and Yarrawonga. It was a fairly long day.

I took the wrong turn off at Kerang and ended up near Serpentine, so it was a hasty left and then through Mitiamo towards Echuca then on to Shepparton.

The public toilets in Mitiamo are the same toilets and change block used for the swimming pool. I had a peek through the gate and it was obvious that there is no polar bear club in Mitiamo, as there was about five foot of water in the deep end and about 30 centimetres in the kiddie pool.

I needed to go to a toilet, but I couldn’t find one in Yarrawonga, and I wanted to get out of there and back here, as I didn’t have a room. So I had to drive nearly 100 kilometres needing to go to the toilet. I even thought about pulling over and having one on the side of the road, but I got freaked out about Ivan Milat. They were talking about him on the John Laws show, so I thought it was best to wait until I got here. It was a long wait, but worth it.

Tomorrow should be a good one. It’s to see someone here, then off to Mansfield and then back to Melbourne Town. I am looking forward to seeing my partner again. It is not much fun up here by yourself. Although I did have a nice meal in the Benalla Bowls Club for $15.50. Fuck, some of the locals were getting into it. Bit sad, but each to their own.

My odometer now reads 1302 since I started yesterday morning, did nearly 460 kilometres today, not as big as yesterday, but enough for me.

Just about to have a beer, and Joe Strummer is on the iPod, so it’s a good night. The photos below are of the road between Mitiamo and Echuca and then there is the set up I take with me now when I travel around. It is my iPod and my Christmas present from my partner of a iPAL from Tivoli Hi-Fi.

The Tivoli radio is compact enough that I can put it in my bag and travel with it. Most of these motels have shit radios (and when I've been o/s no radio - it comes the radio comes through the TV), and I’d rather listen to music than watch the TV, so I put it in my bag and I have some sort of music to listen to. I would recommend the radio to anyone, as it runs on a rechargeable battery and also on normal power. I use it all the time.
More later, most likely tomorrow night, if I feel up to it.

Big Day

Melbourne, Horsham, Mildura, Swan Hill. A long way. Actually I did 844 kilometres today, so I have done a few clicks. Tomorrow I head off towards Shepparton and other places.

Not much else to say, but I have put some photos below.

The first is looking up the road to some wheat silos just down from the thumping little hamlet of Beulah. Not much there. The train doesn’t even stop there, it’s wheat only at Beulah. Taken with the N70, so it's not a good shot. The others are taken with the G6.

The second and third are two shots of the surrounding area just short of Tempy on the way to Mildura. That’s wall to wall fuck all you see out there. Nothing around there. If the wheat hadn’t started to come up, it would be like Mars, as the soil is quite red up there.

The forth photo is in NSW travelling between Mildura and Robinvale. Again, not much to see there.

That’s it for now. I'm just kicking back listening to some tunes on the iPod (The Avalanches at the moment) after the watching the Bill. Good bye Gabriel Kent. Time for a beer and a sleep.

Big Week

I have a big week coming up. I have to go to the following places: Horsham, Mildura, Swan Hill, Shepparton, Numurkah, Yarrawonga, Cobram, Benalla and Mansfield.

This fun starts tomorrow at around 6 AM. I will get to Horsham tomorrow morning and hopefully spend the night in Swan Hill after going to Mildura. Then it will be off to Shepp, and probably staying in Benalla on Wednesday night and back to Melbourne on Thursday after going to Mansfield.

I reckon I will do between 1,500 and 2,000 kilometres in the next three days. Not too bad, not as bad as the time when I did nearly 1,000 kms in a day. It is a bit of a way, and the drama is that there are not that many to see in betwen, but I will get it done, and see a few others in the mean time.

Now that I have the wireless internet connection, I will be able to update on the road from my shitty motel room. I will add updates as I go along. Maybe even a few photos of things I find interesting along the way.

Make sure you check out the new link on the left which I have just added. It is a journal of a US Medic serving in Iraq. I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with what he is doing over there, everyone has a job to do, but the blog opens your eyes to waht else is going on in the world that is a little different to our day to day lives. I think he is a brave boy to be over there. Have a read and let me know what you think. You can do so by clicking the 'comments' link at the end of this posting.

Cheers!

Weekend away

We went away to Sydney for the weekend. It was the Queen’s Birthday long weekend here in Victoria. And most states of Australia, except for Western Australia, but they have failed to matter since the thirties when they tried to move back to being a British colony, instead of part of the Australian Commonwealth.

The reason for this jaunt was that St Kilda was playing the Sydney Swans and a friend and I thought it would be good fun. And a trip away, is a trip away.

Anyway another friend and her husband and their parents came along also. The more the merrier.

We stayed at the Sheraton on the Park. It was very swish. Fancy indeed. This was our room. The trip reports on Trip Advisor are a bit up and down. We found it be OK. The air conditioning was up full blast hot when we came in, they knew we were from Melbourne, but that was just silly. The only drama we had was when my partner ordered pancakes for breakfast and instead of that was given the full breakfast. Not being a complainer (they don’t know her), she soldiered on and ate what she could of the breakfast. It was a bit stuffy though and you couldn’t open the windows. We did order a maxi cab for the trip to the airport on Sunday, which never turned up. Not their fault I suppose.

I heard a person at the reception complaining about something in their room when we were checking out. People have high expectations I think. I stay in motels in rural and regional Victoria as part of my work. These places are basic to say the least. I try to get a Best Western if available, and these are suffice for me. The Sheraton is just an upgraded version of these. You get the same basic thing, but they are only flasher. I try not to expect too much, so I don’t end up disappointed. Try staying in the Dimboola Motel or the Mallacoota Hotel on a winter’s night for a comparison. Whingers.

The flight from Melbourne to Sydney was rather uneventful, but full. We got into the Qantas club, kicked back and flew in. We trained it to the hotel and went for a walk around Sydney in the afternoon, as it was nearly 5 when we got in. We did go to this great hobby shop. That is one cool place. I would be doubtful if there were more dorks in one area anywhere else in Sydney. I was proud to be part of that throng!

On the Friday night the seven of us went for a feed at Star City’s Astral Restaurant for a feed. I am not one for hyperbole, but this is a great place and well worth your custom. The views are excellent, the service not too intrusive and the food magnificent. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a meal in Sydney more. And if I may, made all the better by the company. It was late when we left the great restaurant, so it was off to bed for me.

On the Saturday morning we trekked over to Darling Harbour for breakfast. Serviceable. My partner and I then went on a trek around Sydney. I enjoyed it. Until the death march across the bridge (more photos at my Flickr site). See left. She, with her female charms made me walk across the Harbour Bridge. No biggie there. But she dropped it that she wanted to walk back the other way. Nope. She said she wanted to see the view from the other side, I retorted thus: “you should have turned around then”. We got the train back the other way.

Then there was more walking. I honestly can’t remember where we went, but I do remember a beer in a hotel. Actually there was more than one. There were lots and Sydney serves schooners, not pots, and they are refreshing! A ferry ride was reversed to get back to Circular Quay. I prefer the Frankston dialect of saying Quay as kway. Charming.

It was back the hotel for a quick sleep then off to the footy. St Kilda won Sydney didn’t. Although we were lucky to win. There was a young street tough (at least 12) who kept giving my mate a greasy each time he walked past, which was every 10 minutes (not really, but it seemed like that). I am sure he was secretly attracted to this friend and had to go to the toilet for other reasons. Boys know why.

The football was good. It was wet and there was a shit fight trying to get a cab. But Action Man came to the rescue and got a maxi cab for the seven of us. It only took like an hour to get from the SCG to the Sheraton. Not suitable Sydney.

Anyway, we had a few drinks that night and went to bed. Sunday was the last day and we went out for a coffee and a walk around. My partner ordered pancakes, but ended up with a full breakfast. What’s up with that? That wouldn’t happen at the Dimboola Motel.

So we had some scones at the QV building and got cabs to the airport. The flight out was rough. I thought I was going to have a little vomit at one stage. But I sat there and read my book, stoically.

That was about it. A lovely trip, made all the better by the enjoyable company. If St Kilda is going to thump Sydney again next year, we might have to go up there again. I could get used to staying in the Sheraton. So much nicer than the Dimboola Hotel, and the freaky owner wasn’t always hanging around.

Birthday Boy

It was my birthday on Saturday. I am now 36. I am also more mature than I was last year when I was only 35.

The weekend was lovely. My partner’s sister came up and had her daughter with her. She is a great little kiddie. She cracked the shits on Friday night, I wasn’t here. I was at the Auburn Bowls Club.

I shouted the bar. It cost me $18. I was popular there for a short period of time.

Anyway, on Saturday we went to George’s in Camberwell for breakfast. I had something called “Eggs Atlantic”. It was eggs with hollandaise sauce and smoked salmon. Let’s just say that I won’t be having that again.

My partner had booked a mystery weekend at the Grand Hyatt. I wanted the same room that Gary Ablett was in with that young chick who dies. But it wasn’t to be.

The room was nice, comfy and had everything we needed. For dinner, I was taken to Limeleaves in Little Burke Street. That too was nice. I had some cocktails, beer and wine. Probably a bit too much going by how bad I felt on Sunday.

Sunday was time for Yum Cha with the family here in Melbourne. My sister came up with her partner and young Rex. We got him some clothes from Pumpkin Patch in Camberwell as they are going to their pad on Flinders Island. It was all warm clothes for the young fella.

Mother and father were there. Dad uses a knife and fork to cut up his yum cha. My brother came as well, and his new lady friend was also there. I got some presents, which is always nice, but not the point.

I felt shit all day. Mainly due as a result of too much indulgence. Once we dropped mother and father off, we came home. I think we were home by 12:30, and we were both asleep by 1:30. Woke at 4:30, sat on the couch and did nothing for the rest of the day.

Nice weekend that. We are off to Sydney for the St Kilda match on Friday, so I have another short week. Magic.

I will post some more photos onto the Flickr site soon, so stay tuned. My photos of my trip to Korea will be up there next. I am also going to take the G6 to Sydney with me, so I might even get a few photos onto the Flickr site of my adventures in Sydney.

Keep on truckin'.