The Fillet Skillet: Stories About Me That Don't Fit Anywhere Else

Car Number Two

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:34:22 GMT

In my previous post I told you I would keep you updated and I didn't. You know why? It's not because I was too busy or anything. It was because I failed at finding a car that day and I didn't want to tell you until I actually had come back with results. Anyway, today I successfully bought a car, so here I am. Yay me!

Introducing Dihatsu Pyzar. This car is a 1999 5-door wagon coloured silver for that extra sheeny-shinyness. I'll have a photo of it soon, so you can see what the car looks like.

BUT I HAVE THIS PROBLEM... all the people in my family (apart from Mum and Dad, I don't know why) name their cars. My uncle's car is Spook, my cousin's car was Lucy, my sister's car was Tiefie (sp?). But the question remains...

What to call the Pyzar?

Esme was an awesome name for my old Festiva, because it was an old lady's name for an old lady's car (it used to be my grandmother's). But Esme is also a fairly common name, so people were familiar with it and got used to it quickly. My cousins are the ones who usually bestow the cars with names, but they are living in England now. I guess a picture would help with the naming so maybe I'll ask you again then.

But for now, I'll bid you farewell. I have other news, but it belongs in a separate post.

I BOUGHT A CAR! FINALLY I BOUGHT A CAR!

Car

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:42:36 GMT

I am buying a car today. No matter what. I'm sick of looking. I'll keep you posted.

Also my laptop is broken and must be fixed. Stat! Depending on the price of the car that I'll be buying, I may - MAY - be getting a new one sooner rather than later. It may or may not be a Mac.

I just want iMovie.

Robo

Crab Update

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:46:45 GMT

There was another hermit crab downstairs the day before yesterday.

I think I am getting overrun by them.

Help me!

I Live In A Random Zoo

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:37:13 GMT

I'm used to wildlife invading my personal space. In Darwin it's a bit of a given because the Cane Toad hasn't gotten this far yet to kill all the animals (although next year...)

I often get crawlies wandering around our living space. I don't like the cockroaches, but I guess you could say I'm used to them and they're an easy thing to kill. Still, I had the randomest thing ever happen to me a few nights ago. Ever. In my entire life.

It was something like one in the morning. I had stayed up late to watch a movie and I had just had a shower. I opened the door to the laundry which you need to walk through to get to the downstairs living room. Everything was normal. I slid open the door to the living room and flicked on the light.

I saw a hermit crab. A hermit crab of all things (!) crawling across the tiles towards my friend's room. I was dumbfounded. How on Earth did a hermit crab make it all the way from the beach, across the entire city and into our house? But that's not the random bit.

As the crab was crawling across the floor it passed a pile of books that were sitting there. I was still shocked at the presence of the crab and was following it with my eyes. A green tree from then jumped out of the pile of books and tried to eat the crab. The crab was almost as big as the frog and it was in an old spiky shell. The crab nipped the frog on the face with a pincer and promptly curled up into its shell.

I was astounded that this took place at the very moment I was making my way to bed. I stood there wondering at the frog and the crab for a good five minutes. During this time the crab obviously thought it was safe to uncurl. The frog tried to eat it again, got another nip on the face and the crab curled up into its shell. At this time I intervened and saved the little crab by scooting it out the back door. It crawled into the garden.

Then I spent an hour chasing the frog around the room while I tried to put it out the front door and into the garden. This was made all the more difficult because I have an aversion to picking up frogs with my hands. I don't know why, I think it's just that I'm not used to them enough. I like them normally.

All I can say is that it was the strangest combination of animals I have ever seen battling it out in the most unexpected place ever.

Shhh! Keep it Quiet

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:45:07 GMT

I know it's dumb saying on the internet to keep something quiet but what I really mean is that I'm going to tell you all a secrety secret and you're all not allowed to tell YouTube until after I tell YouTube. Okay?

I hope we have a deal, because I can't see you nod or shake your head yet. With all the amazing technology my new media lecturer goes on about (which isn't quite so amazing to me as it appears to be to her) we have not yet succeeded in being able to accurately convey emotions over the internet without resorting to a mish-mash of punctuation }:oD

So the secret goes that I woke up early this morning and snuck out of the house and got myself a haircut. Ok, so that's not quite true, I slept in until everyone else in the house was gone and then snuck out of the house and got myself a haircut. I did not discuss this with anybody in the house so when I come home from work this afternoon they're all going to be "OMIGUDNESS! YOUR HAIR IS SHORTER THAN IT USED TO BE!" and I'm going to be all "yes, yes it is" and then Jeshua is going to see it and he's going to tell me I look a bit gay.

I got myself one of those faux-hawks guys. I don't know if I did the right thing or not. Do you think I'm masculine enough to pull it off?

I'm still at the stage where I walk past mirrors and get a little shock. Is that supposed to happen?

A video is coming soon about it. I shot it this morning and it'll probably go up on either Friday or Monday.

Why Do The Doughnuts Haunt Me?

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:39:13 GMT

I'm sitting here at work listening yet again to Beulah Lowe and I'm dreaming about those doughnuts I ate yesterday. I tell you what, there is nothing better than a good, fresh cinnamon doughnut.

Americans will probably not get what I mean by this, because according to my brother-in-law they only have glazed doughnuts over there. These are not glazed like those Krispy Kreme things. These are doughnuts that are deep-fried and coated with cinnamon sugar. There is nothing quite like them.

I ate them yesterday - bought them from Doughnut King. The guy gave me three not-fresh ones at first, so I went back and asked for fresh ones. Good thing too, because doughnuts are only good when they're straight out of the deep fryer. Once they sit for a minute or two; that's the end. They're no good anymore.

Also, Josh has just compared me to Zaphod Beeblebrox by putting this quote underneath his link to my blog in his blogroll:

He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which. - DOUGLAS ADAMS

I say congratulations to Josh for accurately capturing - without even meeting me - how I feel like I go through life. Just one thing though, is the naive incompetence that obvious? I thought I was doing a stellar job at covering that one up.

In other news the air-conditioner in my office is making a funny noise. It only just started making it now, after I came back from making myself a cup of tea. It's all da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I'm a little bit upset by this, considering I normally find the air-conditioner makes a nice, soothing noise.

I actually like to have the air-conditioner going as I go to sleep at home, just for the noise it makes. I don't even have it set to make it cold - just to "don't let it get hot" which is about a 5.5 out of 10 on the dial. But the air-con-police-Nazis are after me, in the form of an 11-year-old red-haired girl.

Also, remember when I told you about my car and how dirty it was? Well one night I purposely parked it in the outside carpark at the shopping centre where I work just in case it rained. Well it did rain. It bucketed down and I thought good. Now I will have a clean car for free and for no effort!

But it was not to be. After the rain washed away all the dirt I discovered that my car's roof is actually a thriving ecosystem of mould. Yes, mould. It is said that a rolling stone gathers no moss, but apparently the same is not true for cars. It's nowhere near as bad as it used to be, seeing as the dirtiness is now only comprised of dark spots, but the clean racing stripe is still visible and Jesh has kindly written "JAMES" on the roof in swirly letters.

Also, I am now the proud member of a mixed netball team. Due to a very long and complicated series of events the team has two names. The first is Henry, which is what we will be called on the scoreboards and by our fans. They will sit and watch us play and they will yell GO HENRY even though nobody on the team is called Henry. It will be glorious.

On the official mixed-netball rankings in Darwin we will be called The Reds. Our uniform is green.

GO HENRY!

The Fantastical Blog About Me. That is to Say, About People Who I Know.

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:45:05 GMT

I'm sitting here, with my headphones on in the library. The Pharmacy-Asians are sitting at the same table as me and I am pretending to listen to stuff with my headphones. Really I'm just listening to them talking to one another about pharmacy.

I feel I've learned something today.

The trickyest part about this whole operation is the pretending that I'm laughing at something in my computer rather than me laughing at their jokes. Otherwise they will know I'm eavesdropping and they'll shun me or something.

Why did I emphasise their Asian-ness? Well because it segways nicely into another story I want to tell you. Also, it seems that the only people who do pharmacy at this university are Asian (or, 'Oriental' to all you British-types who call Indians Asians and Asians Orientals).

Last week in class I sat near all the Asians and we were put in a discussion group together. So it was me, a skinny white boy, with these three body-building, would-be-a-football-jock-if-this-was-an-American-highschool-drama Asian guys. I sat there feeling really white. I don't know why, maybe I actually do obsess about race too much.

So other news about me? Nothing much.

People keep asking me "What's up?" and I have this overpowering urge to look at the ceiling. It's stupid, I know, because I'm familiar with the phrase. I think it might have something more to do with that I'm embarrassed I have no news to tell them that isn't "Oh you know, just work and uni, same old thing".

I hate saying that.

My car, Esme, is really dirty. It's so dirty Jeshua took one of those windscreen cleaner things from the servo and cleaned a racing stripe onto the roof with it. Now I feel like I have to clean my car, but if I hold out for one more month it'll be the wet season and it'll rain and clean the car for me!

Something tells me I'm not a responsible car owner. Does that mean I should never have children?

Can you imagine that?!? Hey! Don't worry Jr! I can't be bothered giving you a bath! Just go and stand outside and hope it rains. Yeah. That'll do the trick.

Speaking of Jr's my sister just had another boy (now there's three of them! I think she's breeding a cricket team) and his name is Danial - the same as his dad. Aww cute. My parents are going over to the States in a week or two to go and see the lil' fella. But considering my Mum is actually my most loyal reader (hi Mum) you already knew that, didn't you, Mum?

So as you can see there is no news about me. All this news has been about other people. Even the bit of news about my car was really about my car! Oh, except for the Asians. But even then it was more about how they were cool and I was not cool.

It's the blog isn't it. Bloody hell. Blogs do nothing for one's coolness.

An Update on Esme

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:16:25 GMT

Ok, now there is no need to panic: Esme is no longer for sale.

My flip-flopping on this one is probably confusing for you; why would I want to drive around a potentially unsafe car? Well we have come to the conclusion that the reason for all this stalling on Esme's part is that it was sitting undriven for two months after it was stolen that time (which, if I wanted to be pedantic, would make it AAMI's fault). So the theory goes that once I put it in for a regular service, it will be fine for another year at least, and by that time I will have well and truly gotten Esme serviced (!) again, thus delaying the problem once more, until again, it is serviced. And then I will sell it once I finish uni or something.

And that's all the news I really have to tell you at the mo'. I'm glad you are enjoying my YouTube Tubes, I'm in the process of editing more.

Back to work! Back to work!

Oh, before I go: anyone want to know what the slang is up here? I don't use a lot of it in my blog because most of it can't be accurately written in text-form because they are noises or apparently nonsensical phrases. I'm scripting a Tube for that you know. You might see it in a month or so. And now that I've committed myself to this project you have to keep me honest and on track.

Fillet

P.S. I've just found a way to make links the more traditional blue! This way there's less of a chance that you'll miss them and I don't have to be so condescending when I put them in-text if I really really want you to know that there's a link there by spelling it out. Like it? Hate it? Give us a shout.

Esme's Futute

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 03:12:18 GMT

Well I'm getting Esme serviced (does that sound wrong to anyone else?) and then putting it on the market.

I'm sad about this, I don't really want a new car because I know that the car I really want is exactly like Esme but without the rare stalling. I was investigating trading it in at the Ford dealership, so that the next person who buys it will be able to claim it under warranty if it happens again. But the people at Ford are all snakes it seems, and they were not giving me enough for my car. There was a car I was interested in, which was worth much less than mine (by a thousand dollars or so) so in order for Ford to turn a profit, it should have just been a clean trade - which would have been fair. But no, they were all going on about me getting finance so I could buy this other car. They wouldn't tell me how much my car was worth to them until I told them how much extra money I wanted to spend. My tactful answer was that I was a uni student and so it would be as little as possible. They were not impressed and told me there was nothing they could do while I was still testing the waters and that I should come back "when I'm serious about purchasing."

So does it mean that I have to sell privately? I don't really want to do that because that means I'm potentially ripping off someone else who buys the car (certainly anyone who reads this wouldn't want to buy it). I don't know what to do. Servicing the car usually makes it better until the next regular service, so I've got some time, but I'd rather just get this whole mess sorted out.

Needless to say, I'm going to try and avoid buying another Ford. They are now third on my blacklist of companies who have frustrated me. The list goes:

1. AAMI
2. Dell
3. Ford

When it comes to renewing my insurance I shan't be using AAMI, when it comes to computers I'll be avoiding Dell, when it comes to cars I'll be more careful about picking a Ford. I know that picking Ford is generally a risky thing anyway, but now it's more serious.

Esme - What to do?

Thu, 31 May 2007 07:49:25 GMT

FYI: The following words were actually written yesterday, when I was still in the throes of adrenaline and shock. I was still in the 'angry stage' that I talked about in the blog before last, so that's why I sound pretty angry.

Well it appears that Esme's "minor car troubles" are a bit more significant than I first thought, seeing as it stopped suddenly in the middle of the highway today. I was doing a U-turn in a proper, designated area, and I had given myself plenty of room, but when your car just stops in front of traffic going 70-80kph (it was on a slower bit of highway, thank God) the room you left gets eaten up pretty quickly. So I sat there as cars braked and swerved around me. When I took it into Ford yesterday they couldn't find the problem, and charged me money for telling me so.

Thanks Ford.

It appears that I'm always in a quarrel with some giant company or other. I'd rather not be, I'd really like them to just help me out with the problems I'm having. I rang immediately after it happened and got the same lady I brought the car into yesterday. I said sweetly to her that I'd nearly been crashed into because of the problem with my car and that it was a very dangerous situation and that I am very shaken. The lady must have been trained not to be helpful.

Esme has had this problem since it was new, so we've never been charged for having this problem temporarily fixed nine times before. But this time Ford isn't coming to the party, and has told me they will charge every time I take it in. I've already lost $50, which may not seem like a lot of money, but I am a uni and I'd rather not spend it on things that I shouldn't have to pay for.

Normally I think I would be too timid to take this much further. But nearly getting crashed into on the highway has a way of putting one in a bad mood, so I will play their games no longer.

Legal question: If I had been hit today, whose fault would it have been for insurance purposes? Was it mine, for being at right-angles to the oncoming traffic? Would it have been the other driver's for not braking and swerving soon enough? Or was it Ford's, for not finding and fixing the problem yesterday, or all the other times before? Or perhaps they should have given me a courtesy car while they tried to find the problem so that I wouldn't have to drive an unsafe car?

I don't know, for I am not a lawyer. Is it wise to put this online? I don't know, I'm not a lawyer.

My Day So Far

Tue, 29 May 2007 03:39:47 GMT

My first words upon waking up this morning at 6:45am were, "What?!? They're all multilingual!" I was having a dream, you see, where I had to sort people into groups based on a common attribute, and this time around it was how many languages they spoke. If I got a thing wrong, a bird would tweet at me, and I would have to start again. My alarm, by the way, is a bird tweeting.

I scurried around and got ready for work. I had woken up early because Esme has been having some minor troubles, so I booked it into the dealership. I was supposed to be at Ford at 8:00, but instead I got lost and got there at 8:20. I had missed my courtesy lift to work. I felt a little bit of despair as I rang work and nobody was there yet so they couldn't pick me up. By chance I caught a Ford girl walking around and asked her "The courtesy lift has left hasn't it?" - more a statement than a question. She smiled at me and said she had just finished it but there was another at 8:30. I said a little thankyou prayer.

I got to work early and made myself some tea. Then I answered some phones and taught a colleague that I don't see very often to use Firefox, because she was used to Internet Explorer and ARDS has changed browsers. Then I surfed the net a bit, checking my emails, then I did some work. Then I checked my emails again. I also checked my MySpace at work (naughty!) and pondered at how mature some of my friends look, and how not-mature (but not immature!) I feel. Then I half-heartedly did some more work, but kept the Engaget website open while I listened to some language lessons and marked where they began and ended.

Then a guy from my group at uni texted me with a new email address so I could send him the assignments he is compiling into a group report. His old one didn't work properly. So I sent them off nice and well. No mailer daemons are lurking at my inbox, so I think they must have reached him.

Before long Beulah Lowe was chipmunking at me again as I digitised her old 70s pronunciation reel-to-reel tapes at double speed. The others in the office weren't so crash hot on this after I'd been doing it for a bit, so they shut me in my office to try and block out some of the noise. I shall treat them to another rendition before long.

Now she has stopped chipmunking and it is lunchtime. I only had a little lunch today and I made myself another cuppa. And I am writing this now.

Just at this minute, I have caught myself thinking about that book, A Clockwork Orange and how Alex says 'on my oddy knocky' instead of 'on my own.'

After work I plan to go to the uni, send my bit of the assignment to my group member and maybe get some YouTube action. But I will hurry home because it's 'family night' tonight and I am supposed to (and want to!) be there. If all goes to plan we will eat hotdogs. Then I will no doubt stay up too late and have to wake up at a time I don't feel like waking up at the next morning.

Such is life.

Australian National Treasures

Sun, 27 May 2007 06:54:40 GMT

I went to the museum today after church - there's this traveling display on that shows a whole load of significant Australian artifact, and I thought it was pretty interesting so I went along.

Among the exhibits where these beauties:

Ned Kelly's Helmet

Ned Kelly is Australia's greatest hero... or is that anti-hero? Anyway, I was reading some little sign or other about something else and looked up - to find myself face-to-face with the Ned Kelly helmet. It was smaller that I thought it would be - I think they oversize it in the movies. It was so fascinating, though, to look at this thing in the glass case, almost like an Australian Mona Lisa. The huge iron bolts holding it together are huge, and the steel plate is dented twice where the police shot at him. I was amazed, this was definitely the highlight.

Original Manuscript of Waltzing Matilda and The Man From Snowy River

Banjo Patterson has left such a legacy for Australian poetry. It was pretty interesting reading the first version of Waltzing Matilda, because the words were a bit different to how it was finally published. I'm surprised they still have these books.

Captain James Cook's Journals from the Endeavour

I was a little bit nervous having all this valuable paper sitting in the same building. What if there was a fire? The page was open to the day he sailed into Sydney Cove for the first time and I couldn't read it because his handwriting was all-too fancy.

Yellow-and-Black Convict Uniform from Tasmania

This thing dated back to when they first started putting convicts there, and is the last one in existence. My great-great arsonist ancestor probably wore one of these. It was made from thick fabric to combat the Tasmanian cold and actually had arrows on it as well (meaning that it was government property).

Piece of the Eureka Stockade Flag

It was just a small bit, the rest of the flag is in a museum in Victoria where it actually happened. Actually I'm not 100% about the history of the Stockade, but it was to do with miners who revolted against unfair license fees and lack of voting rights. Now the design for this flag is used by Australians who think we should become a republic (they're who you call a republican in Australia). I'm not sure what being a republic has to do with the Eureka Stockade but that's how it goes.

The First Order Book for the Hills Hoist Clothesline

I don't know if you know these, but they are the clothesline that you turn a crank on the post to make the line spin. I'll find a picture of one later. They were invented in Australia.

The Components from the First Cochlear Implant

Now used by the hard-of-hearing worldwide (well... I think they're now obsolete, but this was the fist hearing-aid better than an ear-trumpet) they were invented in Australia, by an Australian.

The Bat Donald Bradman Used to score 334 Runs at Leeds in 1930

I don't actually care for cricket, it's a terribly boring English game. But I know who Don Bradman is, and the number of teenage cricket-fans almost licking the glass means that I couldn't not mention this. They also had his blazer, all green and gold.

Limited Edition Solid Gold Pin of The Dream's Fatso, the Fat-Arsed Wombat from he Sydney 2000 Olympic Games

I think it's so excellent that Fatso, the Fat-arsed Wombat got a mention in the hall of national treasures. It was just a little pin of him, next to a picture of Roy and HG getting really mad at something. Oh, it was next to one of the Olympic torches used in Sydney too - the one that Cathy Freeman used I presume. But that is beside the point.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you can look up all these names and things in Wikipedia and I'm sure you'll find excellent articles on them all. But for now, I feel like going home and being less patriotic.

Eyelashes

Tue, 15 May 2007 07:14:34 GMT

Recognising the need for me to update, I'm about to tell you about the never ending battle I have with my eyelashes.

My eyelashes are longer than most guy's eyelashes. I don't know why this is - I was just over-endowed with eyelashes when I was born. Most girls boil with an envy so furious it could make them explode when they really examine my eyelashes. I just have long lashes. For a guy that is.

But I don't appreciate my long lashes. I hate them. They are like a curse to me. When I wake up they are all stuck together and I need to unstick them almost one by one because if I just rub my eyes to unstick them, they get all pointed in different directions and can even stick right into my eye while they are still growing out of my eyelid.

In fact, these eyelashes of mine do this to me several times a week on their own, or perhaps this happens when I rub my eyes during the day. I used to try and coax them back to their original position - which is technically possible - but I've found that it's just easier to pull them right out. This hurts a lot but relieves me of the annoyance of my pointing-in-different-directions eyelashes.

Sometimes I use tweezers to pull out my lashes but often I'll just tug at them during the day as they annoy me. I'm not sure if people notice me doing this but I'll do it several times a day. They eyelashes in the corners of my eyes are particularly annoying because they stick together one between the other like a zipper, which means I can't properly open my eye. This is made even worse by the fact that I get sleep in the lash-zipper in the mornings, which sticks it together really well.

I don't know if these are regular lash-problems or not, or if I experience them more than other people. Maybe I'm just much more irritated by my eyelashes than most people and everyone goes through these lash-annoyances the same amount.

But I'm really bothered by my eyelashes, so I pull them out as often as possible.

Fillet

Latest Update

Tue, 01 May 2007 05:00:49 GMT

I found out just last night that my Mum is an avid reader of my blog. She says it's the only way she can get up-to-date information about me. But then she quickly added that most of the stuff on my blog didn't tell her much. I suppose that this blog's original reason for existence has been left a bit by the wayside - I haven't been updating about the goings-on in my life so much as some of my readers might like.

Well in this case no news is good news. I'd rather not bore you with "I picked up a work colleague this morning and we went to work together" sort of stuff. Rather, I'd like to tell you about the more interesting, silly or funny things that happen to me around and about Darwin. And ever since talking to the guy from Dell on the phone about my computer and how it doesn't work properly, not much has happened to me (apart from the computer being fixed to the point that I can use it for work but it still won't work 100%)

I'm still plugging away here at ARDS and Dymocks is going really well. I'm happily going to my two churches (a Uniting Church and an Apostolic Church) but wish I could be a bit more involved in the youth groups there. I'm also working on getting a volunteer position at a local radio station here in Darwin so I can get some experience in that field of media.

Uni is going alright but on all of my assessment I've left the actual doing of the essays far too late and I've had to rush. Next semester I'm planning on cutting back my work hours during the week so I can have an extra study day so this won't be so much of a problem.

Besides that there is not too much else going on. Oh, I'm due for a haircut. Does that count?

Fillet

Telstra

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:00:32 GMT

Telstra just rang me up a few hours ago (Telstra is Australia's major telecommunications network) on my mobile wanting me to change plans to their new, next generation network. I must admit, their network sounds pretty sweet, but I am happy with my mobile right now, and I do not want to have to change at this point in time.

Still, I listened to this call all the way through and had a jolly old conversation with the lady on the other end because it was fairly bleeding obvious that she was an Australian, with a very broad Australian accent that I could understand clearly. She and I just chatted away about mobile telephony for a good five minutes before I told her that I was not interested. After I said that, she didn't try to pressure me into the deal and she didn't repeat the whole deal back to me several times just to keep me on the line. Instead she just said, "Ok dear, just thought I'd ask. Bye" and she and I hung up feeling all that much better about ourselves.

I know the Indians are just trying to make a living, and it's not their fault they have an accent that I can't understand clearly over the phone, but I think that it's best to just get regular, Australian people to inform other regular, Australian people about deals and things.

Fillet

iPod Thieves

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 05:22:54 GMT

Mum: "Don't leave your iPod in the car when we're in the carpark, Rohan, thieves might steal it"

Me: "Don't worry Mum, I usually hide it so no one can see it from outside the car"

Mum: "Yes, I suppose it won't get stolen now that Choice magazine has declared the iPod the worst product to be released in 2006"

Me: "Mum, I don't think thieves read Choice magazine."

When is Esme Not Esme?

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 02:43:04 GMT

When she gets back from Darwin Crash Repairs and she's...

A monster! (In a good way!)

Seriously, I picked up my car yesterday morning and drove it out of the workshop and it was running like a brand new car. Now you can cut to me driving Esme around making noises of unbridled excitement (both of us).

Me: "Oh Esme you beast!"
Esme: "Vroom!"
Me: "It's running so smoothly!"
Esme: "MmmmmmVROOM"
Me: "Feel that acceleration! Oh yes!"

No, I do not have a sexual relationship with my car

I'm enjoying tearing up the streets of Darwin in my newly-repaired speed maiden. I think they replaced some important bits under the bonnet (the hood) just because of the way the car is running. Besides that, there are still a couple of stains on the seat upholstery from where water got in when the police left it out in the rain with a broken window, and the little plastic cover that went over the where-you-put-the-key-in has disappeared, so now there is just a rough metal circle there instead of a smooth plastic one. Also, the number plate on the front is scratched a bit, but is still readable so I don't have to replace it.

I would like to thank my brother very, very, very much for the use of his car while this whole insurance mess has been sorted out. If I didn't have that car, I would have been royally screwed for the past two months. I'm really annoyed that it has taken this long - so annoyed in fact, I will brave the wrath of AAMI's lawyers and tell you what happened to me.

If you are 18/19 and male, do not get insurance from AAMI insurance. They do not trust you. Instead, they trusted my mother, who I had to call in to help me handle the claim. My mother had nothing to do with what happened - she wasn't even in the same state where the theft occurred - but because she is a mature female, I think they trusted her word more than mine. Everything she was saying was hearsay anyway, I had to tell her what to say to them because when I was on the phone to them, the conversation would go like this:

AAMI: "How did they get in the house?"
Me: "They walked through the sliding door, it was unlocked"
AAMI: "Unlocked?!? Oh. Oh. Yes well."
Me: "It was unlocked because my friend was still awake and upstairs"
AAMI: "But on a different level"
Me: (annoyed) "Yes!"
AAMI: "Mmmm. And does your friend have access to your room?"
Me: "What? Why?"
AAMI: "You said the keys were stolen from your room. Does the family you stay with have access to your room?"
Me: "Well of course, there is no lock on the door. I'm boarding in their house!"
AAMI: (not satisfied) "Yes well. I see. We'll ring you in a couple of days to tell you what we've done with your claim."

It's difficult to tell in text, but this phone conversation was very unpleasant. The lady who I talked to had a very poor phone manner, one that bordered on sounding threatening. It was clear from her tone of voice she didn't believe what I said to her, or at least believed it but took it in the worst possible light. I was very unhappy with the service I got from AAMI insurance. They wasted time, they withheld information from me and they never told me the whole story. Instead, I had to ring them and hound them for information (my mother did too, she got more info than I did). It was all a pretty unpleasant experience. Needless to say, once I return to Queensland I will not be renewing my policy with them. I just pray that I don't have to deal with them again while I'm in Darwin.

So how about that for ending this entry on a sour note? In the end it's all worked out well though, I have a car that now runs better than it did before and I didn't loose anything but $300 in excess. And now I appreciate Esme a whole lot more. And I am very glad.

Fillet

P.S. AAMI? It's not defamation or slander if it's true.

Battle of the Tongues

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:47:06 GMT

So if work wants you to learn one language, but you want to learn another, what do you do? I know what I would do: make a comic of them fighting and learn neither. I'm sure that'll get my assignment in on time!

No, I'm sure I'll learn one or the other. But I honestly don't have any motivation to learn Yolngu even though I work with people who speak it. And I'm working on radio programs all day of people speaking it. So what am I going to do? I already started learning Esperanto but now I'm not learning anything! Grr. One language isn't enough for me but Yolngu is too difficult for me right now. Esperanto was getting me places with just 10 minutes study a night out of this book. I don't think I have time to learn a natural language!

Fillet

Bits and Bobs

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 03:54:14 GMT

The last lot of diary entries have not been typed up as yet so I'll try and get them up for tomorrow.

Just a bit of news to keep you guys all informed-like, I'm working at ARDS on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings (it all worked out you guys) and I also scored a job at... wait for it... Dymocks!

For you guys who don't know what Dymocks is, it's a book store, which is why I'm so excited. I once applied at a bookstore on the Gold Coast but didn't get the job. I work at Dymocks on Fridays, Saturdays and some Sundays. Both jobs are great! Also, I start Uni this Thursday arvo. I'll have my laptop with me then, so I'll wireless all my photos to this blog during the lecture. I'll also try to do an entry about them so they make sense. So yeah, that's Thursday - or Wednesday for the Americans and other people in the Western Hemisphere.

Also today I got a call from my insurence guy, my car has been approved for getting fixed. It's going to cost more than what I was insured for though (AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!) so I'll have to pay more than $300 to see Esme up and running again. Apparently with theft I'm only covered for $3000 worth of damage.

Must get back to work now!

Fillet

A Very Special New Years Blog

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 14:27:55 GMT

Happy new years!

I can't type!

Exclaimation mark!

To all those in the Western Hemisphere, 2007 is pretty awesome. It has more fireworks and robots and terrorism. And it has less poverty - at least, apparently.

Also, toast is prepared in an appararatus the size of a washing machine and it is done in batches of twenty. It is pretty cool, toast on demand. Yeah.

Also, shot glasses glow in the dark and pizza comes in boxes. I mean... what? I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. Sorry guys but there is no pizza here. I mean what? I meant pictures. They both start with P so sue me. Sorry. There is actually lots of pizza in 2007. Also there is a lot of Singstar. But not Gutair Hero. Sorry Josh.

Yay 2007!

Fireworks!

Exclaimation mark!

Water! Actually I need some water. Yay water!

*water*

Channel Ten sucks at giving new year's broadcasts. Threre are too many adds. The ABC should rule the world of New Years. It really should you know.

So yeah. New Years. It's pretty cool. And Poker is illegal. Sorry you guys.

Fillet

Update on the 29th of December

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 03:27:07 GMT

When I left the house I realised I was supposed to have put my car in for a service but I had forgotten. I went back home and rang them, they said I couldn't come in that day anymore and rescheduled me. I got to the movies, late late late, but still had to wait for Ellen to get there (even though I was about an hour and a half late). Also we had to wait for Jacinta to get there. We are always so late.

Late late late.

So then we went to see "Night at the Museum" which is an ok movie. Go and see it if you have a spare $11.

After the movies we went to go and have fish and chips. But first we went to Jacinta's to get her camera. When we were there we had the following conversation with her dad:

Dad: "Where are you guys off to tonight?"

Me: "We're going to have fish and chips on the Tweed!"

Dad: "... really?"

Me: "yep!" ^_^

Dad: "Oh... (breaks into a smile) that's wonderful!"

Jacinta: "Bye Dad!"

Dad: "Bye! Have fun!"

I think he's used to seeing people go out to the clubs on Friday nights.

Then we went to the Tweed to go and have fish and chips. We got lost and ended up at Point Danger where we took a whole lot of pictures with the camera and freaked out reality by skipping timezones several times by dancing across the border. I swear I could see out into forever.

The border is here - Point Danger

I DID NOT TAKE THIS PHOTO! I GOT IT FROM THE INTERNET!

Eventually we found the fish and chips place but we nearly missed out because of the time difference (it was only 7:30 but it was 8:30 in NSW). But we had our fish and chips. And our Cokes made love.

When that shut we went back to Queensland to go to a bottle shop so we could buy or drinks for New Year's. Then we had ice cream at Cold Rock and a bird pooed on me. Then we went for a walk and played on some excercise equipment and then went home.

Photographic proof will come soooooooon!

Fillet

Update on Last Night's Post

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 03:49:39 GMT

The present, as it turned out, was a piñata for New Years.

And what did we do? We did what any self-respecting 18-19 year olds would do, we stayed up till three in the morning drinking tea and complaining about stuff. It was a pretty awesome night, considering that we had nothing planned. Then they left, I had a shower and I went to bed.

I woke up this morning at 11:45am and stayed in my pyjamas until 1:48pm. I did some washing (darks) and my breakfast consisted of burnt popcorn at 12:30 in the afternoon. I am now making myself a pizza, which is ready right this second. It will be meaty and cheesy. It will be lovely.

I am now going to the shops with my friends that I hung out with last night. I need to be there in half an hour, but that isn't going to happen.

Fillet

Ni! Estas! Viaj amikoj!

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 13:12:02 GMT

<Translation> We! Are! Your friends! </Translation>

What am I doing tonight? What am I doing tonight? What am I doing tonight?

Well before just a couple of minutes (and a frantic little clean) ago, I was doing nothing. Actually I was looking up 'Panentheism' on Wikipedia if you must know. But other than that, I had no inspiration to write anything here at all. I was just going to post up a comic and say that I owed you another two written entries. I may still do that, assuming I run out of time and I don't write this properly.

What was it that made me able to write this? Ah ha! You are asking the right questions! Actually, my phone rang. It was such a lovely thing - my phone threatening me to pick it up or else. I have such a lovely little phone. It's name is Gollum.

Why?

Because it sounds like Gollum. Duh. And it's small and blue, like Gollum. But that's besides the point of this story. Stop distracting me. Ugh.

Well yes, my phone rang and my friend Hendi was on the other end. He finished work and he and another friend want to come over tonight! So I did the little clean that tries to fool the visitors into thinking I didn't do a clean because it still looks a little bit 'lived in' without looking 'Baghdad.' I must admit, it's a little bit strange for friends to just suddenly want to come to my house at 10:30 at night, but I can live with that. This is the sort of thing we do. And at least they rang first

So now they are busy getting lost on the roads of my suburb, because I live in an area about 10 minutes drive from town (here that is considered to be the sticks). Sure, the other friend, Jacinta, has been here before - but she can't remember how to get here anymore. They told me that they would ring if they got lost (which, without doubt, they will) but so far Gollum is sitting right in front of me and he isn't demanding that I pick him up. So that can only mean they they either know where they're going from my convoluted directions over the phone, or they think they know where they're going, but they don't actually know where they're going. Somehow, the second story sounds more likely.

So yay! Friends coming over! I don't know what we'll do but I think that's besides the point. Untill they call or arrive I'll just keep typing here about the title and then I'll put up another comic for you, considering this entry is as boring as tofu.

Ok, so onto the title, what language is that? And why am I saying "We! Are! Your friends!"? I bet you already know the answer to the first question, it's Esperanto! Wooo! I'm actually kind of learning this language. It's a nice language, I'm further than I thought I would be already (but admitedly, that isn't very far).

Esperanto Flag

I'm saying 'We! Are! Your friends!' because on Triple J, the government-run national youth media network, there was this European dance song, and that was what the girl kept chanting:

"We! Are! Your friends!

You'll! Never be alone again!

Oh come on! Oh come on! Oh come on! Oh come oonnnnn oonnnnn! I said:

We! etc etc"

And I really liked the song but I never found out who it was by. It was called (unsurprisingly) "We are your friends". If you've bothered to read this far and you know what I'm talking about, please let me know ^_^

News flash! My friends have just rung! They are turning into a road where they need to turn into! They are going to call me back when they get to the two roundabouts!

And they just called me! And now they're here! And now they're walking in the door! Yay! Hello Jacinta and Hendi!

Sorry guys, I have to go, they have a present for me.

Fillet

Living On One's Own

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:40:31 GMT

So what do you do when your parents go to Melbourne, leaving you to look after the dog and the garden? And what do you do when they've taken the camera, so you can't put pictures of how clean the house is because there's only one person living here?

Ok ok, I didn't really want to take pictures of the clean house. What I really wanted to take pictures of is this uber-cool cut I have on my arm. And NO it wasn't self-inflicted. You guys are the worst ever.

My dog did it to me when he jumped out of my arms when I was holding him. It was only a graze caused by his dew-claw but when it was fresh it looked so awesome because it was all red and inflamed and stuff. I didn't even get angry at the dog.

Now it's settled down into a dull red-brown line that runs down my right arm. The skin is still pretty tender where the scratch is but I'm half-hoping that it'll scar so I can tell everyone that I got it fighting dragons or something. You know, something cool like that. In fact, even if it didn't scar, I think I'd get it tattooed on my arm just because it looks so jaw-droppingly awesome. Or maybe I'd get it branded with a really-really hot wire!

If you're wondering why I'm so obsessed with this graze on my arm right now I can't properly show you because of lack of said camera. I took two photos of it on my phone but it didn't really do it justice. The reason why I love it so much is becasue it kind of twirls from the top of my forearm, underneath and then back to the top again once it gets to my wrist.

No Uma!! Noo!!!

I got it in a knife-fight with Uma Thurman.

There was a horrific car-crash in which I saved three babies and a blind woman.

I had to reach in to a tank full of ravenous piranas to retrive my great-grandmother's diamond wedding ring.

It was inflicted by a laser directed at me from an ex-KGB satellite.

Gangsters.

My dog scratched me when he jumped out of my arms unexpectedly...

It doesn't quite have the same ring to it does it.

So now I have to go out and do some grocery shopping so I can feed myself. I feel so out of my depth

Oh yeah, and I have to water the garden and take the dog for a walk.

Fillet

Weird Weather

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:06:20 GMT

The weather is doing strange things this Christmas. Very very strange things. While Christmas is usually the hottest week of the year, I'm sitting here with rather cold toes. And yesterday? I was wearing a jacket! This is very strange weather for Christmas in Australia. Normally I'd be sitting here wishing I could wear nothing at all!

Ahem.

Never mind that. And for Christmas I do not want exclusive membership to a nudist colony. Instead, I have a list of CDs. Not that I expect Christmas presents from the people who read my blog. Good grief! I was talking in general terms. But Christmas this year seems like it's going to be a fairly subdued affair, we used up all our Christmas spirit on Christmas in November. Speaking of which, I got the picture that I promised you! See if you can tell which ones I'm related to by blood and which ones are 'only' by marriage. (Hint: there are only five that I am not blood-related to there not including Clifford the dog or Edward, my cousin's teddy bear).

Sorry for the muddy quality. It just worked out this way.

So yes, back to the weather, I'm hoping that it's not going to rain on Christmas (I know there's a drought but... ugh! It's Christmas ok? Don't judge me). I have grandiose plans for lounging around a pool in 27 degree C heat, drinking cold Champagne and eating cold watermelon and putting the watermelon in the Champagne and then going swimming and stuff. But I can't do it if it's raining! So I don't want it to rain on Christmas day! It can, however, rain all it likes on Christmas Eve, or on Christmas Eve Eve. But not on Christmas day. No.

In other news I have some pretty awesome comics for you to digest in the coming days. I'm quite proud of them actually ^_^

Oh yes, and I'm cold. At least my feet are. And my fingers. I can't type properly.

Fillet

Oh My, Ancestors

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:03:36 GMT

I was telling you yesterday about how my Dad found out what my ancestor did. Um ah, he was a wicked man. He's not my ancestor through my father's side of the family (apparently they were thoroughly respectable Scots who came to Australia to find a better life). Oh no, this ancestor is from my mother's side.

But my Dad has a whole file on this guy because he is so interesting. His name was Thomas Rees, born on the 23rd of October 1804. What did Thomas do to get sent to Van Diemen's Land? Well, he was an arsonist. Not such a great arsonist, all of his fires were set in the wrong places and so didn't acually burn any buildings down. He was also a burglar, he stole silver spoons from a house he was trying to raze. The funny thing about this, though, is that he wasn't convicted on any of these charges because there wasn't enough permissable evidence presented to the court. He actually got off scott-free on these charges.

So why did he get transported to Australia? While the town he lived in was in a state of panic over the fires, he sent lettters to the investigators threatening their doom and destruction. They were really, really bad letters. Read the whole story HERE. And because everyone knew he was guilty of the other two charges he was sentenced to transportation for life.

It's kind of weird reading that article, the arson case was such a big story in England it was in the equivalent of all he Women's magazines.

Oh yes, and the article also reveals what all Americans dread to hear. The thing they are all ignorant of. Before the War of Independence, America was Britain's largest penal colony. I'm sorry Yanks, but it's true. We get told about it as a part of our history classes because it was one of the main things that made them settle Sydney before the French. Somewhere else to dump their social ditritus... like my ancestor.

Oh yes, and yesterday when I said he was having illigitimate children I was apparently wrong. Sorry about that.

Picture's coming - it's on the other computer.

And now the picture's here! Yay for matches!

Fillet

Phantom Cow

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 02:30:49 GMT

There is a cow that I can hear in the distance every night from my room. The funny thing about this cow is that I have been hearing it for at least two years now but I have never seen it with my own eyes. In this way it's a bit of a freaky cow. I am actually writing this last night and I can hear the cow mooing like it has mad cow disease.

This is why I'm writing this now. Norally the cow is quite subdued, giving me a few peaceful lowes as I go to sleep. But tonight it's going all moo moo moo like somebody broke its heart.

Perhaps somebody tipped it over.

Perhaps it's a phantom cow.

No I am quite serious. This is not normal behavoiur coming from my cow. But there's nothing I can do about it. If I rang the RSPCA (an animal care group that you ring) it would be very awkward:

Fillet: "Hi. I'm calling about the mistreatment of an animal"

Person: "In the middle of the night?"

Fillet: "Well yes, it's making funny noises you see"

Person: "Funny noises you say?"

Fillet: "Yes. Funny noises"

Person: "Well what kind of animal is it?"

Fillet: "A cow"

Person: "Okay and where is this cow?"

Fillet: "I don't know"

Person: "You don't know?"

Fillet: "Yes"

Person: "How can you not know?"

Fillet: "Wel I've never seen it before"

Person: "Then how do you know it's being mistreated?"

Fillet: "Oh it lowes me to sleep every night from the distance"

Person: "Have you considered that cow might just be sick and isn't being mistreated?"

Fillet: "Well it sounds pretty upset about it. I know this cow. I've been listening to it for two years"

Person: "But you've never seen it"

Fillet: "No"

Person: "Well thanks for your call"

Fillet: "But you don't know where I..."

Person: "I know"

(Hangs up the phone)

Can you see my predicament? I feel sorry for Phantom Cow. And if it were to stop its lowing I would be very sad.

Get better soon Phantom Cow xoxoxoxo

Fillet

Nanna Nap IrOnY mArK

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 10:29:21 GMT

Lately, ever since the holidays have been on, I've been taking nanna naps almost every day. If you don't know what a nanna nap is, HERE is the urban dictionary entry for it. And HERE is its supposedly 'more fun' alternative for when you're going out somewhere, the disco nap (but to be honest I've never heared of a disco nap before).

I told my Mum that I had a nanna nap in the car once. She obviously wasn't familiar with the term.

Me: "No I'm fine, I had a nanna nap in the car"

Mum: "A what?"

Me: "A nanna nap"

Mum: "A nonna what?"

Me: "A NANNA nap!"

Mum: "What's a nanna nap?"

Me: "Well I just had one just then! In the car!"

Mum: "Well I AM a nanna and I've never heared of it in my life"

Me: "You have a nanna nap every Sunday afternoon"

Mum: "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Rohan"

The conversation just went on and on like that. I still don't think she knows what a nanna nap is. But yes, I've been taking one almost every day now for the past week or so. I think it's the best thing I've ever done in my life. Except for starting this blog of course

What?

What the hell was that? That little backwards question mark. Good grief! It's the irony mark! No way

I think that I definately need an irony mark. It's a pretty awesome punctuation mark. The other way to do it is the sarcasm mark. Like this: "Your hair looks great today_¡" I think we need a sarcasm mark for when we talk on MSN. It's a bit difficult to tell who's being sarcastic or not. I think, though, that in every other form of communication a sarcasm/irony mark would be completely superfluous. You ought to be able to form the scentence in all other situations so the reader knows you're being sarcastic/ironic.

I would like to implement the sarcasm mark in my blog, mostly because people get confused here too, "So... why were you pleased that your Mum woke you up if you'd only had four hours sleep?" because it's less like a question mark and it's less imposing to new readers. But I'll probably use the irony mark instead, mostly because with the sarcasm mark you have to copy/paste the little bugger out of the article that I showed you (it's a cut-down version of an inverted exclaimation mark). With the irony mark I can keep the image in the album. Unless someone would like to make an image of the sarcasm mark for me...

But where was I? Oh yes, nanna naps. They are pretty awesome guys, you should all try it out. You might have known about my 4pm to 6pm 'down time' when I'm really sleepy but then after that I pick up again and can buzz until 1am. Well yeah, now you have. Now, with the intervention of the nanna nap, I can sleep for half an hour and buzz from 4:30 on until the wee hours of the morning. I tell you what, nannas have been keeping this secret pretty well.

I had originally saved this as a draft thinking I was going to say some other stuff on the topic of nanna naps but I have subsequently forgotten what that stuff was. If I remember in the future I'll be sure to tell you and add it here. But other than that I'm off to watch Kath and Kim so tata!

Fillet

Apartments are Fun Fun Fun

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 09:10:46 GMT

Hey guys, I have this story to tell you all about some stuff I did at my sister's apartment while we were holidaying there. I know it's kind of dumb to tell other people about things that you did that you thought were clever but right now I have nothing better to write so you're all just going to have to stand there and chuckle uncomfortably. Bananas.

The thing I love about going to those holiday apartments is that nobody actually knows who you are. I love it because it means that I can be as strange as I want and nobody knows that's not actually what I'm like. For example, in the guestbook for my sister's room I wrote:

Marjorie Logan - My stay in your room was just lovely. I have one question though, where do you get all your little soaps from? I only ask so I can imagine being in a place like this every day. Thankyou.

I dated this as a week before we arrived so it would look like one of the people that stayed there before us. What was really funny about this, though, was that my cousin (the really smart lawyer one) opened the guestbook and said "Oh look! This is so adorable! A little old lady thought this room was so nice she wanted to know where the soaps came from!"

The resulting humiliation on her part made it all the sweeter.

Also, you know those pathetic strips of paper they put across the closed toilet seats that say "Hygenically cleaned & sealed for your protection"? I think they are so pathetic. I mean, I want to know that the toilet has been cleaned and everything but you would think that that was just a part of the room service. That is to say, I don't think I need to be specifically told that a maid or cleaner or whoever has gone in to clean the toilet becasue I think it's just something that's to be expected.

So to demonstrate my ire for these little strips of paper (they probably use the same one for each clean!) I took a pen to it so now it said:

"Hygenically cleaned & sealed for your protection - You may now drink freely"

The moral of the story is that you should not let me loose in a holiday apartment with a pen. I will be drawing snide little remarks over anything that won't mean we get charged extra cleaning fees.

I meant to get pictures of these two things but forgot so no pictures on this entry.

Fillet

Some Sad News

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 14:51:34 GMT

My Mum and Dad just got home just then and told me that Gran has just died. Her sister, my Great Aunt is understandably very upset and I am sad. I must admit, though, I'm very thankful that I got to see her today (technically yesterday) before she died - even if that in itself was sad.

It's very strange because she was looking healthier today than she had in the past few weeks. But then again I don't know all the details.

But I have to go to bed now, being one in the morning and everying. I'll post a fuller reflection in this space soon.

Fillet

FULLER REFLECTION (28/11/06)

Thanks for the comments guys, it's really weird how the internet allows people who don't know each other to exchange encouragements.

The fact of the matter is, though, that I've been getting used to the idea of Gran passing on for a few years now. She had heart problems about six years ago and since then she's been swinging between health and sickness. This time around we all assumed that she wasn't going to recover because she just wasn't herself in the last few days and she had too much fluid on her lungs. In that way it wasn't a surprise but in another way it was. We didn't expect her to pass on until a few days after she actually did because (like I said in a previous post) it seemed she had temporarily stabalised.

My position in the family age-wise dictated that I knew neither of my grandfathers and only saw one grandmother (Granny) in the early stages of my life. As such, my other grandmother (Gran) was the one I saw the most times. The first time she had a heart-turn about six years ago I was distraught at the thought she would die, even though she lived in Sydney and I lived in Darwin. After that we moved to the Gold Coast, one of the reasons being it was closer to where Gran was just in case she had another health-scare. A few years later a doctor of hers decided that she shouldn't be traveling as much as she was (to go and see the family) so we decided that she should move to the Gold Coast too. She was here for about a year before she passed on.

In the weeks before she died we could see she wasn't herself - a sign that indicated to us that she wasn't well, and that when she did get sick meant that she wouldn't get better. So I suppose in a way I'm happy for her, because she was aware that she was muddling things up in her head. I'm glad she didn't suffer in hospital for long too. It's hard for me to put this across withought sounding heartless but I'm not actually distraught about this becasue I knew it was coming and right now it was the best thing for her. I love my Gran but I also love her enough to let her go and not be sick anymore.

So now there is a cremation service sometime during this week and on Sunday I'm flying down to Sydney for her memorial service there. I won't be staying longer than the day though.

So yes, thankyou for all your support and prayers and everying. I would suggest, though, that you pray for my Mum, that the funeral arrangements work out smoothly becasue right now she's pretty stressed out.

Fillet

Two Days That Were Pretty Sucky

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 07:25:31 GMT

Namely today and yesterday. Yesterday I was in a bad mood and today I'm really tired for some reason. I may be getting the cold that my whole entire family has. I hope not, that means that the symptoms will rear their ugly, ugly head on Christmas in November. Not fun guys. Not fun.

So why was I in a bad mood yesterday? Well, I was rostered on to work for three and a half hours (not much I know but that's ok I guess). This wouldn't be too bad (apart from that I don't get a tea break) but that was the day my family went to Brisbane to see some good friends of mine and I couldn't go. All for the sake of three and a half hours of work .

I thought about calling in "sick" or just calling up and saying that something had come up and that I couldn't (read: didn't want to) come into work. But then I thought about all the times that other people have done that, forcing my supervisors to call me up and disrupt my day by calling me into work. I get so mad when that happens and I thought it would be pretty sucky of me to get mad at them and then just do it myself. So I went but I didn't exactly have a good attitude about the whole thing and I wasn't feeling all that charitable to my customers either.

I made the best of it though, I got all my Christmas in November shopping nice and done while everyone was away (but I'm not telling what I bought becaue then the people who's presents that I bought will know that I bought their presents). Now all I have to do is worry about Christmas on Christmas and the presents that I have to buy for then. But I don't even know what's happening for that so I'm not going to stress about that just yet.

So yeah, and today I got my car, Esme serviced and I went to see my Gran in hospital. She's in a pretty bad way really (it was a fairly rapid decline in health) and is being treated for heart failure and fluid on her lungs.

Esme sometimes flashes her 'headlights'. Esme has a nice, full boot(y).

What other semi-dirty things can you come up with about my car?

So after doing that today (plus going with my brother to the shops, not finding the present for his secret santa but buying some beer instead) I am zonkered. And I have to go to youth group tonight.

Haha, 'have to'.

Let's just say I'm not in the mood for going out again tonight, whatever the reason.

Fillet

P.S. I found this liberated onion just then when I was looking for something in the cupboard. I think this onion is an example to us all.

Break free little onion! Free from your oniony bondages!

Swabbing The Decks

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 01:33:05 GMT

Yesterday was a special day. I was cleaning all yesterday.

Ok ok, I lie. I cleaned for half the day. My room. It was more like a purge than a clean. I purged my room. It's now clean.

So for the rest of the day I celebrated the fact that everyone that lives near me and goes to Griffith is now done with uni. It was just hanging around at the shops for half a day but it was fun.

But this is all besides the point. The actual point of all this avid cleaning is that my sister and her husband are coming from America this Sunday and the house needs to be clean for them (so that we look like clean people to them). You could say I'm pretty excited. I think I've told my friends about three times.

So while I was cleaning my room I came across some items and decided to put them on my head. I think you will be rather impressed with me.

This is what I would look like if I was born with a Griffith University bag on my head.

This is what I would look like if I was a criminal.

This is what I would look like if I were a pirate.

I'm rather proud of the last one. I would be Captain Fillet (pronounced Fill-ey) master of the Seven Seas! I would answer to no man but my parrot and drink only alcoholic beverages! Yarr arr arr! I needed to photoshop it to properly convey the idea though. I don't think I'm pirate-y enough in real life.

Also, I found this old school tie that I had to wear in winter time all the way back in years eight to ten. In years eleven and twelve I had to wear a red one.

Hmm. I think I need to go to work pretty soon. Those groceries won't pack themselves!

But here is another comic that I made for you guys.

Oh yes, and it's Remembrance Day today so stop and remember the soldiers who have died in the wars of your country. (Do other countries do Rememberance Day? I don't think they do... except I think Canada may do it. I don't know. It doesn't matter, do it anyway.)

Fillet

The Fillet Skillet: Stories About Me That Don't Fit Anywhere Else

Car Number Two

Car

Crab Update

I Live In A Random Zoo

Shhh! Keep it Quiet

Why Do The Doughnuts Haunt Me?

The Fantastical Blog About Me. That is to Say, About People Who I Know.

An Update on Esme

Esme's Futute

Esme - What to do?

My Day So Far

Australian National Treasures

Eyelashes

Latest Update

Telstra

iPod Thieves

When is Esme Not Esme?

Battle of the Tongues

Bits and Bobs

A Very Special New Years Blog

Update on the 29th of December

Update on Last Night's Post

Ni! Estas! Viaj amikoj!

Living On One's Own

Weird Weather

Oh My, Ancestors

Phantom Cow

Nanna Nap *IrOnY mArK*

Apartments are Fun Fun Fun

Some Sad News

Two Days That Were Pretty Sucky

Swabbing The Decks

Nanna Nap IrOnY mArK