Over the last few weeks I've done a bit of walking & it's resulted in a number of photo sets which I haven't found the time to upload.
My problem is a 56k connection & only a smidge of web space (5meg).
It's my own fault for the lack of space because I can't be bothered paying for hosting. As for my connection speed, no one cares about this little corner of the world, so broadband is out of the question.
I did find out that our neighbor managed to convince a carrier to connect his property to ADSL & it worked. However, since we're around 25kms from the exchange, his broadband is actually slower than dial-up! Crazy, but true!
My ISP is preparing to launch "dialup2", which they say is five times faster than normal. They give out some software which slaughters stuff that is downloaded (such as lower resolution images) to create the illusion of speed. Really, it's all piffle, but I do plan to change over when it arrives.
The other part of their new plan will give me an extra 25meg of space to store stuff, so I can then link another whole section to the site (which I've had sitting in waiting for a couple of months) & my cost for access will actually be less than my current plan!
This way I can remain a tight-ass & be a better blogger!!
I was woken just after 5am yesterday to a horrible sound.
At first I just thought it was a child crying, being dragged by their parents to somewhere they just didn't want to go. After a minute or so, I realised that the sound wasn't moving & I had the horrible thought of someone just dumping a baby in the middle of the road.
Through some very blurry eyes I parted the blinds & peered through the dusk to see two cats facing off. I watched on expecting a massive fight to ensue with fur flying, but with only an inch between their noses, they both sat down & continued the lurid noise for another ten minutes or so.
Of course I've since worked out they are both incredibly horny & in random explosions of howling, banging into stuff & scurrying feet, I know they're getting the job done!!
Today was supposed to be a massive boycott of fuel stations around the country in the vain attempt to lower petrol prices. The idea was for the oil companies to suffer & in turn slash prices to compensate & therefore make everyone happy!
Didn't quite work though, did it?
Every petrol pump on my way to work had the normal number of cars, so either the drivers didn't get the email every five minutes like I did, or they failed to watch A Current Affair.
Part of the problem with trying to compete with oil companies, is if no one bought fuel, no one could get anywhere, no work would get done, no one would get paid, no one could afford to eat & then everyone dies!
Bit of a self indulgent post this one. (Hey, aren't they all!?!)
I scan Ebay every so often looking for rareties & generally checking out all the crap which people would have otherwise thrown away had Ebay not existed.
However, a week or so ago I did make a bid & ended up with a cool set of Hard Rock Cafe pins. Pin sets from Hard Rock Cafes are not all that easy to collect bacause each pin is sold from a different cafe. Therefore, visiting each one to collect each pin renders a complete set a very difficult challenge.
In this case, the full set of 8 pins from various Mexican locations make up an Aztec rock theme with various National costumes & hieroglyphs. Very cool!
I don't whether I should try & frame them or not, but my primary concern is keeping my sister from stealing them & hanging them in her kitchen. She has a bit of a obsession with all things Mexican!
Click on the photo to check it out in better detail & the rest of my collection is in the gallery.
Here's a post which should have been made 21 days ago, but I forgot!
This little project began on August 28, 2001, some 670 posts ago.
I never expected my blog to make it to the ripe old age of four! I think it gives it "toddler" status, which seems to be a long time in blogging circles. Next year it'll be old enough to start school!
I heard all the hype, but I didn't succumb to all those who were hooked on Soduku.
That was until, I happened to download a version of the puzzle for my Palm. Now I'm trying to get as many games in before the trial period runs out this week!
However, one thing which is troubling, is the time it kills while you use your logic energies to solve them. I lost an hour laying in bed last night playing, when it only felt like ten minutes!
New shelving was installed over a new part of the bar to give better storage for liquor bottles.
On the day of completion, bar staff stocked bottles from the back to the front of the shelf... or should that be; to the very, very edge of the shelf.
They placed so many bottles that the shelf bowed heavily & it was suggested they remove the bottles & wait someone to install reinforcement.
Upon this recommendation, the bar staff simply carried on what they were doing & joked about how the shelve would probably collapse before midday! At one stage they were almost taking bets!
I estimated about $3,000 worth of stock which would have been lost had a manager not eventually ordered the removal of the bottles.
There's been a fair bit of hype regarding tonight’s Port v. CrowsAFL match at AAMI Stadium.
Most are hoping for a good game, but there is a lot of concern regarding security & the level of police attendance will be unprecedented for this event.
At one point there was even discussion about splitting the seating to separate the two groups of supporters in case of rioting.
Me thinks all tickets should have come with a complementary flare... just to keep up with international sporting standards.
It may just be me, but all those who use livejournal to keep their blogs have lost me. I scan through various blogs, but the first thing which catches my eye & keeps me reading is a funky design & livejournal blogs just don't have any designs! (...scans blogroll just to check...)
This site's nothing special, but I retain the ability to mess up as much html code as I please!
The other issue with livejournal, is I can never understand what the hell the writers are on about. Seems they all know each other & write like they are speaking to one another in the same room. All very confusing!
Gilligan has finally left the island! Bob Denver died at the age of 70 & I never would have guessed his age. Considering I watched Gilligan's Island when I grew up, I didn't realise the show dated back to the 60's until I looked it up a few minutes ago. For a show which only ran for four years, it was certainly addictive & left it's mark!
It's hard to write about New Orleans & jot down rational thoughts. The scale of such an event is massive. It still can't be compared to the Tsunami from December, because unlike hurricane Katrina, the countries affected had no warning. It shows just how vulnerable the world is & how unprepared we all are, even when we know it's coming. It makes me wonder just how much chaos will occur if the San Andreas fault finally lets go!
The officials in Louisiana are now contemplating the demolition of the Superdome which has probably had more cameras covering it over the last week than have ever captured the sporting events inside.
We're also seeing pictures of the water being pumped from the city, which raises it own questions. The water is filthy & disease ridden, so where is it being pumped & is it being filtered? I suggest the estimation of four months before the city can be reoccupied is somewhat unrealistic.
I had a couple of days off a week ago & decided to fill an unconfectioned gumball machine.
I say, "there's no point to a candy dispenser if it ain't dispensing candy!".
My plan was to head to the Charlesworth factory outlet & buy apricot & rasberry chocs (which if you haven't tried, you're missing out!), but the cost would have been twice what I ended up paying for Fruchocs from the Menz factory outlet.
Ladies & Gentlemen, may I present - 2 kilograms of Fruchocs....
Trust me when I tell you, it's a hard thing to walk past & not twist the handle!!
Anyone wanting to catch a glimpse of Mitsubishi's new "380" model should be looking out for it around the Flagstaff Hill area just before 8am each day.
Each & every day this week, I've passed two slightly disguised 380's travelling south along Flagstaff Hill Road & Happy Valley Drive on my way to work.
I'd love to be able to provide some photos, but it's probably a bit dangerous to hang myself out of the car window during peak hour. I would also, most likely be hunted down & killed by the kind folk at Mitsubishi for exposing their secrets.
That & the fact I haven't had my camera in my car!
I first bought a mobile phone back in 1987, just before I went on a bit of a road trip (nearly wrote myself off in the process, but that's another story!).
After about a week, I was getting calls all the time from people wanting a bricklayer also named Pete. I tried unsuccessfully to get the number on my phone changed, but the phone company wouldn't do it without great expense, so I just let all these building companies call me.
The time when I bought the phone was when networks changed from analog to digital, which added an extra digit to phone numbers. This was the key to my bricklaying saga. I hunted down the business name in the phone book & found the Pete in question who had the analog version of my mobile number.
Hence, the people who were no longer able to use that number just made the assumption the number had been updated for digital purposes & only the extra digit needed to be included.
It's a good theory, except they got me!
After about six months, the frequency of calls for Pete the bricklayer subsided & every couple of months, someone would want to know when to make a delivery of bricks or would be looking for directions to a job site.
I eventually adopted a policy of - if I don't know the caller, they get to speak to voice mail. It's a good policy to have, because those who do surveys & want to sell stuff, aren't exactly going to leave a message for you to call them back!
After all these years, I still get the occasional call to go & lay some pavers & assist at building sites. It's one of those scenarios I can't do anything about, except wait for everyone in the building industry to update their address books.
I have made sure though, to only give my first name in my voice mail message. That way, they still think they're leaving a message for Pete. This morning, I had a message from someone wanting to know where to drop a couple of pallets of bricks.
Gee, I hope they made it to the right spot, otherwise the real Pete will be pissed!
