My new toy

What more can I say .. bucket loads of heat on tap, all on natural gas! It burns a little sooty (I'm hoping double checking and adjusting regulator pressure may change this), but apart from that, very happy with the results. The wok ring and the ring burner pot stand were painted in VHT Flameproof paint (exhaust paint) in silver and clear coat to stop the cast iron from rusting. The glossy finish is no more on the wok ring, only time will tell if the paint stays on.

Infomercials

After a late nite playing cards, I got home to turn on the TV and see an infomercial on Channel 10. It was for ProActive, the acne solution that has been endorsed by Jessica Simpson and now Delta Goodrem (I doubt either of those have used the product).

It then got me thinking that I don't see many infomercials nowadays, due to me normally being in bed before 10PM to get up before 6AM. Infomercials start on Channel 10 at about 2:30AM. Ones that spring to mind are the Miracle Blade 3 and another kitchen rotisserie infomercial. Both of these used to make me quite hungry when I was semi-nocturnal. The food looked real good, although I doubt it had anything to do with the mentioned products, and made me real hungry in the wee hours of the morning. Ah, those were the days...

I've done things the wrong way round...

So my commute to work is over an hour each way now, therefore, I have a lot of time to think about shit. The drive is pretty boring. As I pass cars, and cars pass me, I think what it would be like to drive them. My car is a pretty boring drive. Yeah, it's pretty good on fuel and is relatively reliable, but it definitely is not a drivers car.

Any Japanese car nut would know what these mean: SR20, RB25, EJ20. These are engines which beg to be revved. I happened to drive cars with those engines at one point in time too. Ahh the memories of a straight 6 engine, on full boost, screaming at 7000rpm, and loving every second of it. The low seating position, which made you feel inside the car, not on the car. The nicely weighted steering, with enough feedback so you knew when the grip was about to let go.

The point of this post? Well, the irony is, I probably drove the best Japanese engines that have existed the least! When I had my Skyline, I was driving to/from the city! A 20/30 minute journey! And whilst I had my Liberty for sometime at my current job, fuel was pushing over $1.50 a litre. Where is it now? I now spend 2 hours behind a 1.8L engine with no guts, and absolutely hates to be revved. B-O-R-I-N-G!

I remember at one point that car was always #1. Lifestyle and house would get 2nd priority, as long as I had a great car to drive. Funny how we look back and wonder how things change.....

Just need to win Lotto...........

2 months in

So I've been living alone for a little over two months now, and I've come to the conclusion:

• As much as I'd like more room, I'm glad I didn't go too big a house... too much cleaning.
• You can try and get ahead financially, but a bill/bills (or rates) will peg you back down.
• If you fail at cooking, you pay for it 3 times over...

Fighting a losing battle....

With CB away on the other side of the world for a month, I've decided to try and tackle the gardens in my lots of spare time on weekends. Boy what a mistake hahaha.

There are two problems with my yards. 1) Ants. 2) Weeds.

Ants are a major pain the ass, especially because they keep excavating sand from between my paving. This will eventually make them uneven, so whenever they dig the sand out, I try to put some Amdro down the hole to bait and poison them. Not sure if it's working, time will tell.

Both my front and back gardens are infested with weeds. Every bare patch of soil (and the grass) is covered in them. I bought a 3L bottle of Roundup and must've used about half the bottle today. I don't even think I hit most of the weeds. Hopefully this time next week, there'll be a lot more brown in the garden...

No promotion

Today, I finally got to speak with my functional manager to discuss how I was progressing. Whilst I met most of the required competencies, there was a group of them which I didn't meet. Unfortunately, I am not able to be promoted until I beef up these skills.

And this is where the problem lies. In order to build skills in this area, I need to spend some time in a different project area, an area which currently has no available positions. Not only this, but my superior (who wants to be promoted to Senior) also requires time in the same area. I highly doubt that we both will get shifted across which means one of us will have to wait if/when a position arises.

It's a bit of a chicken/egg scenario. Can't get promoted cos I'm missing some skills, but I cannot get those skills cos there's no positions. It's bullshit if you ask me... I know I should be grateful to have a job but I was quietly confident of having the required ratings (required ratings are kept secret) and am disappointed that it's probably going to be another 6 to 12 months before I get off pleb status.

Australian Dollar

So the Aussie Dollar is doing quite well at the moment .. 77 US cents .. and at Mustafa, $1.12 SGD.

Just need it to hold strong for the next few months!! CMON!! *gestures like Lleyton Hewitt*