The Story Bridge.

I had an hour to kill this afternoon. So I read a book in the park above the cliffs at New Farm. I didn't see any of the junkies who are supposedly polluting the park with their sharps. I did have an old lady come and sit next to me and talk to me. She wasn't crazy. She was nice. I could see the bridge climbers and I watched the sun go down.

Bend Down

I've had a few spewers in the past couple of days. 3 actually. All at work. The first one, a little girl, ate too much food and then started to regurgitate it back up. This didn't deter her though, and she picked up another piece of fruit that she hadn't previously eaten, and ate that.

The next was a boy of about 4. This boy is a renowned spewer and spews regularly. He likes to work himself up into such a state that he spews. He used to do it in the mornings when he was dropped off. Now he likes to do it around 1 o'clock. I'm not sure why, as he really enjoys himself before and after spewing, it's just that there will be a 10 minute period where he will become upset. And then he spews. And then he's okay. It's kind of weird. But people are weird.

The third spewer was another boy of about 4. This boy was genuinely unwell. He looked very pale, and didn't eat any of his lunch. He went to the toilet before lying down. He said that he'd done "a bad one." Upon further inspection is was "bad", but not too "bad." After going to the toilet he regained some colour, he didn't have a temperature and he had a drink of water. He went and laid down on his bed. 5 minutes later he spewed up. It had a fairly strong smell. Like parmesan cheese. It was okay though, everybody gets sick from time to time.

So I cleaned up 3 different lots of spew in 2 days. David tells me that my sister was spewing this morning. She had to come home from work because she was too hung over. She found out yesterday that she will be working full time for Queensland Health. Perhaps this drove her to drink? Maybe she was celebrating! Anyways, I think that she'll do a great job there. And I'm glad I didn't need to clean up her spew.

I broke a glass this morning. It wasn't my glass, and it was quite a nice one. It was a long stemmed goblet type thing. There used to be a set of 4, now there is only one. So I went and bought some replacements. They are not the same glasses, but they are nice. I went to David Jones to pick them up. They were having a sale, 30% off. Which was great. Unfortunately I walked past the menswear section on the way out. They were having a 30% off sale as well. So I bought some shirts. And a cardigan.

With the cardigan I was actually quite torn. It's a nice dark navy blue number. There was one that was exactly the same, but in black. There really wasn't too much difference at all. Except the blue one was 30 bucks more expensive than the black one. I didn't know this when I tried them on, and I preferred the blue one. But then I found out about the price difference. And it made me think. Was the blue one really worth $30 more than the black. They were almost identical! And they had started off at the same price. I went and picked up the black one and asked the sales assistant about it. She scanned them both for me to confirm the price. They were indeed different prices. I went to buy the black one. Then I thought about it. 30 bucks is 30 bucks. But there must have been a reason why I chose the blue one when I thought that they were the same price. So I went with the blue one.

As soon as I walked out of the department store I suffered some buyer's remorse.

I've been listening to some Avenged Sevenfold recently. The song The Beast and The Harlot is great. The film clip is worth checking out too!

That's Alright

I'll level with you. Today was a pretty ordinary day at work. It was long too. Or at least it felt really long.

The day was made up of some stretches of extreme boredom, some meetings that I wasn't really into, some crappy sandwiches, a couple of kids whose attitudes I need to adjust and finally a little bit of drama to top it all off.

When I first woke up, things were looking good. I took Ria into work and then headed back home to have some baked beans on toast and read the paper. This was great, and it's a nice way to start the day.

Things went wrong when I had a shower. Not actually in the shower. Just afterwards. When I put on my shorts for the day. You see I made the mistake of not checking my pockets before I left for work. This meant that I was missing my wallet and my phone. While this isn't a huge deal, it was annoying and it didn't help set the tone for a good day.

So I'm down a phone, and I'm down a wallet. I get to work and am unable to do any work for the first hour. This isn't a major problem, and it happens from time to time. And when I say that I'm unable to do any work, that's not entirely true. I just mean that I'm unable to do any of the work that needs to be done. I spend my time talking to the families and finding out what's going on. It's not gossiping. It's taking an interest in the local community.

When this happens, I can normally get my work done after 9:30. That's when the morning madness normally drops off, and I'm able to get some stuff done. Today that didn't happen though. Today there were a few people coming to see the centre. Today there was a dude trying to sell us a better phone package. Today there was a new photocopier contract to sign. It was painful.

It did end though. Finally. I wasn't actually too annoyed at this point. It was just another day. Albeit one with a few more different things sucking up my time than normal.

Things went a bit crappy later in the afternoon for after school care. We had quite a few children, which isn't a problem. They were a pretty good group. There are a couple of new boys who are giving me some attitude at the moment. The eldest one can actually be quite rude. I've had enough of it though. He's finding out who's boss now. I don't think that he likes it very much.

The drama this afternoon shouldn't have happened either. There was a breakdown in communication and one little boy had to wait up at school a little bit longer than usual. We had been told that he wasn't attending today because his father had broken his leg and the boy was at the hospital with him. That story was only half true. The father had broken his leg. And the boy had been up at the hospital with him. He was attending today though. Unfortunately the boy also chose that day to spend 15 minutes walking down from his classroom to the pick up point.

The mistake was discovered fairly quickly, but it still shouldn't have happened. His mum was pretty pissed off and she let me know about it when I saw her later in the afternoon. Fair enough. The last thing you'd want to hear when your husband has broken his leg is that your son has been left behind. Especially when your husband is going to be out of action for 12 weeks. Ouch.

To top it off I made a pretty terrible apple crumble this afternoon. And I didn't get out of the centre till 6.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. There's a fair bit to be done tomorrow, so we'll see.

Cockpit Culture

Okay okay. I blotted my copybook on Saturday night. It wasn't when I was at home. It wasn't when I was at the Sommer's house. It wasn't when I was at Hotel Bravo. It wasn't when I was watching Schoolfight. It wasn't when I was in the cab back to Ria's. It was at Ria's house.

I won't go into it, because it's not very nice. Needless to say it's not something I am hoping to ever repeat.

I think that the cause of it was the gardening. I was really tired in the afternoon, and drinking flat out like a lizard probably didn't help. Not that I was drinking that much. I think. I know that at the end I was getting a little bit excited and there was a shot or two, but that sort of thing happens as it gets later in the evening.

Before the shots I had been enjoying the Schoolfight show. For the finale there was a heap of mcs up on the stage. I had a fun time dancing around. At the show there was a few people that I haven't seen for a long while. I think that two of the dudes haven't been in Brisbane for a couple of years. One of them, a redhead, has definately been in Melbourne for the past 4 years. The other dude, Billy, has, I'm pretty sure, been in France for a little while. I might have asked Billy about it on the weekend, but I can't be sure, and I certainly can't remember the reply if I did. The gardening really tired me out.

Earlier in the night I attended the farewell to the old Bedford truck at the Sommer's house. They had some fairy lights and a bar set up in the back of the truck. It was nice. I've had some good times in that truck, but that was probably the most relaxing. It was interesting talking to the two older ladies at the farewell. They were both there when the truck was first bought and when the pan-tec was attached to the back. They were telling me stories about when the truck used to be a deliverer of beach buggies and about the time they went to Bribie Island and some servicemen slept in the back of it. The truck has been in service for about 45 years. I'd say she deserves a good retirement now.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day. I was ashamed and a little hung over. Ria and I were looking at going to Noosa to see her friends from down South, but the weather didn't look very nice. So we didn't go. Instead we had a look at a baby. He was a nice baby. We didn't buy him though.

Cherry Cola

Sea Food and Eat It is not just a fish and chip shop. It's a fish and chip shop, a catering company and a very popular place on a Friday night. I was down there with Ria last night. We were picking up some burgers and chips. Ria had made the order and she headed into the shop to see if our food was ready. It wasn't but she waited inside.

I was standing outside, minding my own business and minding the six pack we'd just bought. I considered cracking one open, but decided against it. I didn't know how long the food would take, and I didn't want to have the beer in the car with me.

There was a guy standing next to me. He was smoking a cigarette. He was really sucking hard on it. And gripping the butt tight. He was an intense smoker. I looked at him and he looked at me. We started talking. At first we just conversed about the fish and chips from Sea Food and Eat It and how they were superior to most fish and chips. Then he asked me if I lived around the area. I said no, but Ria did. I asked him if he lived nearby. He said that he did. He said that it was a good place to live. There was the fish and chip shop here, and then there was another one in Stone's Corner.

He was an interesting guy. Often when he finished his sentences he would give a little chuckle. Just a little laugh. I wasn't sure if this was a nervous thing, as the sucking hard of the cigarette would suggest, or whether it was just he thought that everything he was saying was funny. It didn't worry me too much.

After we'd spoken about the merits of local purveyors of deep fried delicacies he started telling me about how his girlfriend was pregnant. She's about a month away. He's pretty excited. It's going to be a little boy. They're thinking either Joseph or Hayden. I didn't say this to him, but I'd choose Joseph. I don't really like the name Hayden. He was telling me about how it's quite expensive having a baby. There's a lot of costs involved and the little guy isn't here yet!

I asked whether his girlfriend was going to have a caesarean or a natural birth. He said a natural birth. It's easier for the mother to recover that way. He said that if they'd had private health care then a caesarean would have been more likely. He said that if you've got private health coverage, then 90% of the time the child will be delivered through a c section. I didn't know this, but it didn't really surprise me.

The chips were taking a while, so our conversation continued.

I asked him whether he was surprised when he found out that his girlfriend was having his baby. He said that he was floored. He said that as soon as he found out he sold his sports car. It was a Toyota MR2. He then said that he probably didn't need to sell it straight away and that he'd thought that just because he was having a kid he needed to become a responsible adult straight away. He was still doing that little chuckle at the end of most sentences.

I asked him what he'd bought to replace the MR2. A stationwagon? No, he said. He was a car salesman, so he could drive a different car every night.

He started to tell me about the night that he thinks that it all happened. He was down snowboarding in Mt Hotham. It was a last minute trip, some of his mates were down there and he and his girlfriend decided to join them. Apparently it was a massive night. He's still surprised that it was that night, but he's pretty sure. A huge night. Drinks, coke, pills. He couldn't believe that she ended up pregnant.

At this point Ria walked out of Sea Food and Eat It with her butcher's paper-wrapped parcels. I said good night to the guy, shook his hand and wished him good luck. Ria and I jumped in the car and headed back to her house to consume our delicious burgers.

It was an interesting conversation. Especially the end part when he was telling me all the different drugs he was on when he and his girlfriend conceived. We'd only been talking a few minutes and here he was telling all about how he likes having sex with his girlfriend when he's got several different illicit substances coursing through his bloodstream.

Oh well.

Today has been busy. I've been taking out a garden bed at the child care centre so that I can put in a new one next week. It took a few hours and my hands are fairly blistered now. It feels good to get the job done though.

I'm thinking of going and buying some books.

Taste Of Tea

It's Friday afternoon now. It's been a good week.

Yesterday afternoon we had the reunion for last year's pre-school kids. About 20 of them came which was great. It was surprising to see how much they had all grown. Some of them have shot up a couple of inches in the last few months. It was amazing. It's funny how quickly they seem to grow up. At the end of last year they were still little kids. Now they're big school kids in their school uniforms. Teachers. Homework. Lunchtime games. They've seen it all. They had a fun time yesterday I think. There were 5 or 6 different uniforms on their backs. It was cool.

Some of the children were a bit shy when they first arrived. But once they saw their old friends they started to get up to their old tricks again. Last year was a bit of a funny year with the introduction of the prep year. So some of the children were still 4, while other ones are now 6. It was nice to see all the parents again and to catch up on everything. One of them has a new job. Another one is pregnant. One wants to go back to uni to study primary education. And another one has finally had finished a tattoo that has taken 9 months. It was a tough looking tattoo.

It was a nice afternoon. There was lots of energy in the room and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves.

Today has been a little bit quieter than the rest of the week which has been nice. Apparently one parent has been asking whether I've got a girlfriend. She's got someone that she thinks I would get along with. She's been warned off.

This isn't the first time that one of the mothers has tried to play matchmaker. The first time it happened I was single. The mother asked one of the staff whether I'd be interested in making a new friend and offered to give me her phone number. I wasn't really too interested. I didn't need work following me around on the weekend too. So I turned it down. The girl she was trying to set me up with lived on the central coast and had a disability.

I've since met this girl a couple of times at the Christmas party and stuff and she's quite a nice girl. But I'm not a fan of distance.

The next time that it happened it was actually the mother who was keen. I heard it on the grapevine. I wasn't though. So I let it go. I'm pretty sure she has a major drug addiction.

This latest one is a teacher up at the school. Apparently she's a nice girl of 25 who's into music and stuff like that. I'm unavailable though so I guess she's missing out too.

I don't think that I'd be too interested in being set up though. I think that it would be an extremely embarrassing and awkward time. Well, the first few times anyway. I guess I've never done it, and I'm sure that in some situations it would work. I just think that it would be a bit weird. And then knowing that the matchmaker is waiting and hoping for the two of you to get it together. Ew.

So this weekend I've got a bit planned. Well, I have things planned for Saturday at least. During the day time I am going to go and do some gardening at the centre. I need to make a new garden bed. This will involve breaking down the one that is there at the moment. Carting all the crap soil out. Carting the wooden sleepers out. Cutting the new garden bed boundary into the soil. Installing the new boundary. Filling it up with fertile soil. I don't plan on getting it all done, but I wouldn't mind getting a bit of it done. That way I can say that it is a work in progress. And once something is started it is always easier to finish it.

Tomorrow afternoon I am attending a farewell barbecue. This is a farewell barbecue with a twist though. It's not for a person. It's for a truck. Back when I was doing removals I used to work in an old Bedford truck. We called her Bettie. Bettie was out there in the field for over 30 years. She deserves a good retirement. She's being put out to pasture now up in Toowoomba and there's a barbecue where we can all say good bye to her.

I've had some good times in Beddy. Some not so good times. Some extremely hot and dusty times and some very wet and stinky times too. She once tried to kill me. I was opening her up and the lid fell off the back and landed on my head. I was out of action for a couple of hours. It was not good.

So it's sad to say goodbye. But she's going to a better place.

Saturday night I'm off to see Schoolfight at the Columbian Bar. A guy I went to school with, JB, who's now living with Ria plays keys in the band. I've been meaning to get out to see them for a while because I've heard that they really rock the house and people get pretty loose so I'm excited. Ria is bringing some friends of her's from down south so I'm keen to meet them too. It should be fun. I just hope I don't get too drunk and stand directly in front of the speakers again like last week. I couldn't hear straight til Tuesday!

A Tennis Ball And A Lizard!

One of the kids found this up on the oval this afternoon. It was very well camouflaged and very good at playing dead. Except for when it was moving around.

Memoirs Of A Geezer

I heard an interesting story today.

There was a boy, his name is Harry. It was around this time last year, and it was night time. He was sleeping in his bed. He wet his bed and he woke up. Then he saw the Easter Bunny. Then he saw all the eggs and surprises. Then he called for his Dad. Harry still believes.

Last night I made it down to Taco Tuesday at the Alibi Room last night. It's the first time I've ever been in there. I seem to remember it being owned by one of the Lions a few years ago. I don't know if he still owns it though. Everybody that has ever mentioned Taco Tuesday has always raved about it, but have always said that you need to get there early. The Alibi Room isn't a very big place, and tacos are popular.

Well, unfortunately I couldn't get there early. I had a staff meeting to go to. The other unfortunate thing was that we were having tacos at the staff meeting. So I had one there, then I headed into New Farm at about 7 o'clock. It took a little while to find a park, but I eventually got one.

I walked down to the bar. I was late. It was busy. That was okay though.

Did you know that there's a downstairs at the Alibi Room? I didn't. It was a big surprise. I always just assumed that it was only the one area that you can see from the street. Downstairs was pretty cool. They have heaps of old Pez dispensers and old toys and things. Not great air flow though. It was very warm down there. I was sweating a fair bit. It was kind of gross. I thought that summer was gone. Apparently not.

So I ordered a burrito and a corona. The total came to $7 which was good. The beer was good. The burrito, not so good. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as nice as the one that we'd had at the staff meeting. Still, it was fun for a Tuesday night. And it would be a fun night to do if you lived locally. Just have a couple of beers and a couple of tacos and keep it all under $20.

Today has been a big day at work. Long. There's been a fair bit going on again. After school care is big. There's a heap of kids.

We did get a new sign. I'm very excited about it. It's a great one. We also need a new photocopier. I'm not so excited about that. I just wish it was worth fixing the old one.

Diminished Capacity

So Saturday morning I headed home in the morning and then out in the afternoon. Stuart and I were engaged in the act of moving Stuart's stuff out of Carindale into his new place at West End. He had packed up most of the stuff in his room, and even he was surprised by the amount of clothing that he has. I believe that Stuart would be able to go at least 3 months without needing to wash an item of clothing. The only thing that he might run out of would be underpants, but he's never been opposed to letting things hang as they are. He really does have too much stuff.

So all that was packed up, and he had packed up quite a few other things. He wasn't going to take his bed with him, and there was a couple of other things that he wanted to pick up. Like some storage containers for all his clothing. It was decided that Ikea would be where we would find it.

We had a look at the shopping precinct that is next to Ikea. The store called Anaconda had a lot of camping supplies and some of it seemed really cheap. There was also a huge Dick Smith store down there that was more like JB Hi Fi. The only problem with the Dick Smith version was that it was very hard to find cds and dvds. They were put together alphabetically, but it was a different alphabet to the one that I'm used to. It was weird.

We didn't purchase anything at any of these stores, and made our way into Ikea. It was very interesting. They really do have just about anything you could want to buy. I thought that it was hilarious that you could buy meatballs there, but somebody was telling me that they know a Swede who goes to Ikea especially for their Swedish meatballs. Apparently they are really good.

Walking around Ikea was great. There were lots of things to look at. Not just the furniture, it was interesting to watch all the different people who were going about and trying to put their lives together using the furniture and knick knacks. It took a long time to get through the store, and when we hit the restaurant part I thought that we were almost at the end. I was wrong. It was halfway. But we powered on, and eventually got to the end. Stuart even made some purchases! He bought some sheets for his bed and a clothes rack and some other stuff. I was tempted to buy some lingonberry jam, but decided against it.

Do you know the really sad part about Ikea? In the past I have sort of looked down on it, and have laughed at the idea of the allen key and mocked their furniture, but do you know what? I now am kind of looking forward to the day when I will be able to follow their arrows on their floor and find their items that are really meant for me.

Have I spoken about Friday night yet? I can't remember. If I haven't then I'll tell you now. I had some great sushi with Ria's sisters and had a good time. Afterwards we ate ice cream, and I ate too much and felt a bit sick. It was fun. We monstered about 20 plates in about half an hour. Tony and Emma were walking past and they helped us kill some too.

Back to Saturday afternoon.

After we'd put Stuart's purchases in the car we had a look at the Weekend Shopper. The Weekend Shopper is great if you're looking to buy some second hand furniture, and Stuart was able to find a queen size bed without too much fuss.

We picked it up in Daisy Hill from some really nice guys who have got some great hobbies. They were a father and son duo and have done a lot of work with building their own aquariums. They were trying to sell one that was the most impressive empty aquarium I have ever seen. Only $900. It would have been awesome though. It was about 6 feet long and quite deep and had some high tech filtration system. I would have liked to have bought it, but I don't think that a $900 fish tank is really a good idea considering that I can only get regular gold fish to last about a week before their eyeball falls out, followed by their brains. It's not pretty.

The bed isn't too bad, there were a couple of suspicious stains on one side of the mattress, but I guess you kind of have to expect that. We managed to fit it all in the car and took it to Stuart's new place.

Once there we put it all together, and it didn't require as much sweating and swearing as I thought that it would.

That night it was time for the Eagles of Death Metal. It was a good concert. I went with Stuart and Nick. We drank a carton of beer before we got to the Arena, and I think that this may have been a mistake. I was probably just that little bit past having a great time and loving the music, to just being drunk and loving everything. That was okay though.

The support act was just about to start when they arrived. They were called The Answer. They were terrific.

Next up was The Eagles of Death Metal. They were fantastic. No Josh Homme, but that was okay because Jesse "The Devil" Hughes was an enigmatic frontman and seemed to enjoy the show so much that everyone else in the Arena did too. It was a lot of fun. Very very loud though.

It was in fact so loud that I was partially deaf all Sunday with quite a loud ringing in my ears. By Monday that ringing had diminished to a point where I was talking and not shouting at people when conversing.

My Dad is really annoying me right now so I am going to go. He's asking me about my future again. I don't think that the believes me when I tell him that I will be okay to make up my own mind and that I will be fine with whatever I choose. I don't need him to hold my hand all my life.

The Eagles Of Death Metal!

Or the Pigeons of Shit Metal. My ears are still ringing.

KIMBO SLICE

I had a dream last night.

In this dream I was with Stuart and I had decided that I was going to get a tattoo. (I've been thinking about getting one again) The tattoo that I was keen on was going to be a white ink tattoo, so I called up my friend Jonesy and asked him about his. In the dream he lifted up his shirt and showed me where the big star should have been on his belly. He also had a rippling six pack in the dream that I don't think is there in real life. I couldn't see any ink in his skin, so that sealed it for me. I was going to get a tatt.

Stuart and I headed off to the parlour which wasn't on some urban street, but was in at someone's house out at like Chandler or something. The room where the work was to be done had double sliding glass doors out into the backyard that was overgrown with vines and trees and didn't look very hospitable. It also looked very hot out there.

When the tattooist came into the room he had a lot of very dodgy tattoos. Some were with a blue ink, most of them were little more than scribbles and doodles that had faded on his skin. He had a tattooed on version of a Chelsea grin which was kind of creepy.

He asked me what type of tattoo I was after. I told him that I wanted to get a square done in white ink on my hip. I wasn't sure if I wanted a 2cm square or a 1cm one. Or whether I wanted it filled in or just an outline. I asked him what he thought. Then I asked him about where he had received most of his own tattoos. He started talking about how he had them done when he was in Korea and Vietnam during the wars.

He asked me to show him where I wanted to get it done. I pulled down my pants and had a hard time showing him exactly where I wanted it done. I couldn't figure out where would be best. I wanted it to be hidden if I was wearing underpants, but the pair that I had on were a high cut pair, and I couldn't figure out where normal underpants would go. Eventually I made a choice.

The tattooist had a look at the area, placed some of the ink on my skin, then started the gun up. He told me that I was too sweaty and wiped me down, then he placed the gun against my skin.

Then I woke up.

It was a bit of a weird sort of a dream. I normally can't recall what goes on in my head when I'm asleep, but I could this time. I thought that I would write it down.

I probably would get a tattoo if I knew that it would fade away over time. I just can't seem to commit to any idea for a lifetime. That's a sad indictment on myself, but it's just the way that it is.

Expand Your Life

I like balloons. I think that they are fun. Blowing them up, hitting them up into the sky, watching them when they burst upon hitting the ground. Giggles galore.

So today I played with some balloons in the afternoon. It was fun. The kids got sick and tired of it pretty quickly, but I didn't. I could have been out there for hours. I don't like to discriminate between colours. I like them all. Even the pink ones. And the orange ones. Did you know that you can buy 100 balloons for under 3 dollars? Cheap!

Tonight I'm having a barbecue for dinner. I don't know what sort of meat is on the grill, but it's smelling good at the moment. Later on tonight I am going to visit Ria. She'll be disappointed that she's missed out on the barbecue. It can't be helped though.

Actually, dinner is up now. I don't really have too much more to say. So I'm going to go right now.

High Quote

So do you remember that guy I wrote about last time? The guy in the red shirt that I imagined Ria had once been in love with? The one that she had never met before? Well, I found out that he died on Friday night. Apparently he was out drinking on Friday night then decided to ride his motorcycle down to Byron Bay for the weekend. He didn't make it.

My weekend wasn't quite that bad. It wasn't terrific though.

Friday night saw Ria and I head down to Oxford St in Bulimba. We decided to have some Sushi Train and then catch a film. There wasn't a whole lot on, but we decided on Music and Lyrics. It wasn't very good. Ria and I ended up walking out halfway through. I could probably have tolerated it a little bit longer, but I am a glutton for punishment.

It was actually a year to the day that Ria and I saw our first movie together. It was a shocker too. The Pink Panther. I think that the 9th of March could be a no go night for the movies from here on in.

Also on Friday night I had a blast from the past. I ran into a guy that I used to hang out with in front of a convenience store. The last time I saw him he was pilled up to his gills in the Beat. This time he was drunk in a bookstore. I don't think that I could qualify him as a loose cannon though. I just don't think that he quite has that little bit of crazy that you need. Who knows though? I don't really know him that well.

Saturday morning was time for some jobs. It was good to get them done. I did a dump run. I really like going to the dump. It's always fun. It feels good. Plus, when you're finished throwing your stuff into the pit, you can do a little burnout on the slippery surface. And then buy a lemon lime and orange drink from the vending machine. Good times.

Next up I went and watched Team Ramrod play in their grand final against The Crew. Team Ramrod is Erin and Ria's mixed netball team. It was a good game, but unfortunately Team Ramrod went down. They did stage a gutsy fight back in the second half and The Crew were getting nervous. You could see them checking the scoreboard over the shoulders regularly. There was alot of skill involved with the game. It was exciting, but the fairytale finish just was not to be. Luckily, it's only a game.

Straight after the game Ria and I hit the road up to Twin Waters. It was a good drive up. No real traffic. No wrong turns. Some melted chocolate truffles.

Once at Twin Waters we checked in and put on our togs. I was very keen to get down to the lagoon to do some activities. I don't know why I was in a rush. I felt like I'd just walked back into one of the playgrounds at work. There was children everywhere. And they were all screaming and yelling. And they were all using the activities that I wanted to use. It wasn't fair.

I did manage to scare some children off the inflatable trampoline. I enjoyed bouncing around on it. Then the kids wanted it back. So I had to jump off.

Twin Waters was a disappointment. It was nice to spend some time with Ria, but not so nice that we spent our time with a few hundred kids.

Sunday was a ridiculously hot day. We headed into Mooloolaba for breakfast. There was a heap of people there too. It took a while to find a park, and then a while to find somewhere to eat. It was heating up quickly, and everyone was running out of patience. It was swim time.

The water was the best place to be. Everyone else thought so too. It was packed. And the hottest part of the day. It was soon time to hit the road.

So back we came. It was hot in Brisbane too though. Everyone was still grumpy.

I had a beer. It almost knocked me out.

When I had sufficiently recovered I drove David into West End. Ria and I decided to hit up the movies. Again. Surely our next choice couldn't be a shocker too? It wasn't. We saw Hot Fuzz. It was great. It was great sitting in the air conditioning too. Unfortunately the movie had to end.

When it did we discovered that we were slightly hungry. So up Hargreave Road we went. Up to Quan Thanh. It was a good choice. Probably too good a choice as I ate too much food. I also tried this preserved plum drink. It was salty, sour and a little bit sweet. I didn't like it at all. Give me the tri colour bean drink any day.

Unfortunately the heat was still affecting me after dinner and I was still grumpy. The temperature didn't start to drop until after 10:30.

So today was Monday and it was big day today. Lots of work and lots of grumpy people. I think that just about everybody was cranky today. It seemed that everywhere I went people were cranky. Not good. I thought that summer was over? I thought that it should be starting to cool down a little bit now? I guess not.

I'm thinking of going to see the Eagles of Death Metal this weekend. I reckon that it would be a great show. I think that it's going to be another busy week this week. There's quite a lot of jobs I need to get done.

Apparently Disco Stu is moving out of home.

Incredible Inedible

This past weekend saw the Musgraves head down to Burleigh for a family retreat. The purpose of this weekend away was for Dad to explain the way the family's assets have been set up and to go through his will and talk about some plans for the future. It wasn't really something I was looking forward to. Dad had it all planned out. He even had a written agenda and program. I really wasn't looking forward to it.

So the plan for Friday night was just a few social drinks. I guess I was in a really social mood because I had quite a few. I didn't think that I was that drunk at the time, but I've been informed I was pretty wasted. I was even talking about my future with Ria and all that jazz. Wasted.

So the next morning I woke up at a quarter to 8 and felt like I wanted to die. I went and had a shower and lay face down letting the water run down my back. It was supposed to soothe me, but it didn't work. So I went back to bed for a while. I repeated this process a few times. It didn't work. It was the worst hangover I've had in a while. Even worse than the one in Japan I think, because at least with the Japanese one I was able to sleep until after lunch. There was no escape from this sickness.

Eventually I started to come good. I credit this in part to a Big Chief burger that I managed to get down. It felt wrong while I was doing it, but it felt oh so right an hour or so later. It turned out pretty well really, I was well enough by the time the meeting began to actually take part.

So the meeting itself was mainly Dad talking about stuff. I think that I understood most of the stuff, and I guess it was important for me to hear it. It was okay in the end.

That night we went out to La Bella, which is the restaurant I used to get my pizzas from when I was spending a fair bit of time down the coast. They still do good food and it was an enjoyable meal. While we were sitting there it was fun to look at the different people walking past. Next door to La Bella is the Magic Apple which is an organic vegetarian eatery. There were lots and lots of pregnant women getting meals there. Alot of them had very prominent and healthy looking bumps. Stuart was a little grossed out by it. There was also an older gentleman with a shaved head and a long beard. Actually I don't know if he was a gentleman, but he certainly had the most amazing sock tan I have ever seen. His legs above his sock line were a deep brown. Below that exact line they were a lily white. The contrast was unbelievable.

After dinner was over I drove back to Brisbane to go to a 21st. I didn't get into town until just after 10. The party was in full swing when I arrived. Drunk dudes dancing, girls trying to get noticed, other drunk dudes telling me how awesome a country France is. It was good. After the hangover of that morning though I had elected to not drink. I couldn't face another morning like the one I had had. I guess Ria took it upon herself to drink enough for the two of us.

Everything went well for the first hour or so. Then things started to fall apart. I didn't know what was up at first, it didn't really worry me too much Now, I wasn't drinking this night, but I don't think that I was thinking clearly. It could have been because it was getting late and I was a little tired, but I started to think that Ria was staring at this group of guys downstairs, this one guy in particular. I had seen her talking to somebody else beforehand and sort of motioning in their direction so that was enough of a trigger to ignite my paranoid imagination.

Somehow I created this scenario that one of these dudes was a guy from her past that I hadn't heard about and that he was somehow 'the one that got away' and that seeing him had made Ria feel a bit out of sorts. I don't know where this hypothesis came from, but there seemed to be enough evidence to support it. I didn't really let it get to me too much, I'm not a hugely jealous guy, but I did try and talk to Ria about it. She didn't answer me.

So I let it go and went and spoke to this guy who is thinking about riding his bike down to Sydney. He wants to do this because he hasn't got anything better to do. Once I'd heard all about his plans I thought that I'd go and talk to Ria again to see how she was going. She didn't respond to me favourably again. So I spoke to someone else about how they were having an operation in a couple of days.

After a while Ria was still ignoring me so I started to get pretty annoyed. I mean, I had driven all the way back from the my family and the coast for her, and she wasn't even talking to me. So I went up to her and said, "Ria, I didn't drive all the way back from the coast for you to ignore me. I'm leaving." She looked at me a little bit funny, then said, "Well, I'll come too." This annoyed me more, and I tried to get her to stay, but she seemed to be pretty keen to come with me. So we left.

In the car we didn't speak. I sat there and fumed and thought to myself that I wasn't going to say anything to her until she said something to me. I was pretty cranky. She sat there in silence and looked out the window.

We drove all the way home and didn't say a word to each other. Once at her house she jumped out of the car, and I considered leaving and driving home. Curiosity got the better of me though, as I still didn't know why she was upset with me and I was interested to see how crazy she actually is. So I followed her inside.

In the house I went and brushed my teeth and got into bed while Ria spent a bit of time in the bathroom taking her make up off. She was banging and crashing around a bit, I just thought she was being dramatic. At one point I heard her stomping between rooms and thought that I heard her crying, but I didn't go and see how she was. I wasn't going to be the first to speak. I was going to tough it out and she could talk to me when she was ready. I hadn't done anything wrong.

So eventually Ria comes to her bedroom, turns the light off and turns in for the night. We still haven't spoken since leaving the party. We lie in silence, Ria drops off to sleep and I lie awake and angry for a while. What happens next isn't very pleasant so I won't go into details.

The next morning Ria and I spoke about what had happened the night before. Apparently all that stuff about there being some other dude was all completely in my head and the only reason that she wasn't speaking to me was that she was too drunk to speak. I know that this might not sound entirely credible on paper, but the events in the intervening period between going to sleep and getting up in the morning proved to me that this was the case.

Still, Ria didn't get any sympathy from me with her hangover that day.

So Ria and I went down the coast and it was a nice day. That night we had dinner with David Zahnleiter and his girlfriend, Jill, and my Dad. Everyone else had come home. It was nice, but I was definately tired at the end of the weekend.

Driving back to Brisbane was a pain in neck Monday morning. It took 1 hour 45 minutes to get back. That sucked.

Actually pretty much all of Monday day time sucked. It was hot and humid and all the kids at work were being irritable. The evening was nice.

Today is now Tuesday and we hired a new group leader for the Red Room. I hope that it goes really well. She seems very handy. The other girl we interviewed today would have been pretty good as well. I just wish they could have called a month ago. Oh well.

Lizard On A Rock!

Doh!

Last night we had some drinks. I haven't felt this unwell in a long time. Especially considering what we had to drink. It was only some beer and wine. I think it may have been the beer. They were Stellas. Actual imported ones. I think they did me in. I've been nil by mouth all day. I've had 4 showers. I lay down in the shower. It's been a waste of a beautiful day.

Undies Are The Look Of The Weekend

Oh!

This is one for the ladies! And the dudes who like other dudes. If there were sound effects it would sound like someone cutting a log.