From time to time there’s a story so big on the news that it dominates everything else in the western world. Something you’ll remember in decades to come, and tell your offspring exactly where you were when you heard the news. For me it’s been the death of John Lennon (on the telly when I ... [More]
There was something missing when I got into the city today. The City Weekly! It’s a weekly magazine handed out at the station every Thursday morning, but today the hander-outerers were nowhere to be seen. gasp. How would I survive without my Thursday morning fix of city gossip? Without Kate Langbroek’s usually amusing column? Without ... [More]
Today was my birthday. Along with Don Bradman and Mother Teresa. I invited them out for drinks to celebrate, but apparently they were both busy. I think someone else in the office had a birthday too, because I heard people singing it from behind some partitions somewhere. It was just the immediate family doing the ... [More]
It was a pretty crappy weekend as far as the weather goes, so we didn’t get out very much. I spent some of Sunday sorting through all my tax stuff to take to the accountant tonight. (Yes, I have an accountant. Don’t give me shit about it. This isn’t the sleevenotes of Neil’s Heavy Concept ... [More]
Less than twenty-four hours after I posted the above entry online, paper towel had re-appeared in the bathroom at work. Never underestimate the power of the Net! From time to time people ask me "what ever happened about…" If you’ve been wondering about various things I’ve talked about, but haven’t mentioned in some weeks, here’s ... [More]
It would seem that, having given up on the idea of the paperless office, the company I work at is trying out the paperless bathroom instead. Err, I mean for drying your hands – if they took the actual toilet paper away I think they’d face immediate petitions, strike action, and maybe a riot or ... [More]
We’ve been having a few more hassles with our neighbours in the flat downstairs. It’s nothing major, you understand, just a matter of a television blaring infomercials at three o’clock in the morning. And it’s in the room directly below our bedroom, while I, Runner-up of the Pan-Pacific Light Sleepers Competition 1997, try to get ... [More]
Management has spoken. There is work for me to do. Which is good. Because although sitting around at work doing nothing for four months might be some people’s idea of a good time, it’s not mine. It’s quite possible that I could die of boredom in those circumstances. Or at least go insane from it. ... [More]
Last night we saw "Bean". I wouldn’t quite call it "The Ultimate Disaster Movie", but "Bean" was pretty good. Put it this way – I judge any comedy that makes me almost spit out what I’m eating to be a good comedy. But the real highlight of the outing was that this weekend’s celebrity spotted ... [More]
Work is pretty quiet at the moment – in fact dead sometimes. The other day some of us were discussing strategies for dealing with the quiet spells. Like learning to sleep with your eyes open. The theory is, if you leave one hand on your mouse, and run a program on your computer that would ... [More]
I forgot to mention my weekend. Saturday was just your average day, bumming around the neighbourhood, a little shopping in the city (oh, we did spot Poppy King skulking in Myer). On Sunday we set out to catch the Steamrail Snow Train. It only stopped a couple of times before reaching Moe, and we went ... [More]
The trains have been pretty crowded in the past week or two. My understanding is that government and unions are still squabbling ("We want this!" "Well you can’t have it!" "Can!" "Can’t!" "Can!" "Can’t!"…) and there’s some bans over train repairs so a bunch get cancelled every peak hour instead of getting repaired. The guys ... [More]