Good As I Once Was...

So, it was brought to my attention by a mate of mine last night that I hadn't updated this blog in a little while.  I didn't realise that by a little while, it had been two years though.  These last two years have been quite interesting.  They have seen me learn to ride a bike, buy one, sell it, and now buy another.  They have seen me out of my twenties and into my thirties.  Some friends have passed by the wayside like so much wasted chaff, whilst others have been found and made.

It is on the subject of two of these 'others', (one of which is the afore mentioned mate who reminded me to update the blog) that I will write about tonight.  You see, we went out on the town last night for a bit of a "Guys Night Out'.  Now, in years gone past and with other mates, I've gone out on the town.  We just went out, got down and funky with the crowds in whatever dives we happened to go to, tried to avoid trouble, and come morning, made our way home doing our best Dawn (or was it Shawn?) of the Dead impressions.  Fun was had by all.

Enter 2011.  Enter (and the names have been changed to [very loosely and badly] protect their identities) Nick Burns and Dexter.  Enter 30 year old me.  We decided that it was high-time that we had a guys night out.  With this one, however, is that it was quite more enjoyable; to the point that we are considering next time extending it to a road-trip weekend.  What was the difference?  Why was this night out better than the others I mentioned before?  We got a room in the city so that we wouldn't have to worry about getting cab fare back home, or someone to come pick us up at whatever twilight hour it might have been when we had decided that we had had enough.  When we wanted to crash, we just walked back to the room and did so.  Granted, this is a significant upgrade from the random unplanned chaos-infused night outs that I had been used to, but that in and of itself does not a good night out make.

No, I have thought about this, and have come to the conclusion that it was because of  Nick Burns and Dexter.  They are my speed and my type of people; quick, sarcastic, intelligent, and sharers in the belief that in the great gene-pool of humanity, someone forgot to put in the chlorine.  Couple that with the fact that we have moved into a more 'mature' stage of life, and have the ability to just relax, this all adds up to be quite good value and a great time out all round.  Of course, should we feel the need to go out and tie one on, I'm sure we're all as good once as we ever were.

Play That Funky Music....

Yes, yes, I know. We haven't posted anything in ages. Not to worry, in the near future, we will post the before, durring, and after pics of the house renovation. For not, please enjoy the accoustic musical stylings of Newton Faulkner (sp?) as seen on tonights episode of GNW.

Painting the roses red...

Due to a long story of reliance on others to perform when they said they would... our roof is finally in the first stage of getting fixed from when I fell through it on New Years. The hot breezy drafts that have hit us whilst sitting on the couch for the past four months are now a thing of the past. Dustin asked one of his friends at work (Mike) to come around Thursday night and give us a hand patching it up. After an hour long trip to the local Bunnings (with apparently some not so helpful staff who did not know what gyprock/drywall/plasterboard was), Mike then proceeded to do the whole patch job himself with Dustin and I helping where we could. I learned a lot because the whole way through the patching process Mike was kind enough to take time to teach me how it was done and why things had to be done the way they were so the surface would be smooth and unnoticeable once painted etc. Later on Mike will come back over and sand it down and finish it off. Several days later Dustin and I still walk into our loungeroom and still expect to see a whole in the roof as we had gotten used to it being there. See pictures.

The study house

Dustin and I celebrate our 5th year wedding anniversary on Thursday and for the first time ever in our relationship we are both studying at the same time (both still working also of course). I am completing my masters in law whilst Dustin is doing his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering.

Whilst I am sitting here on my couch listening to my lecture via podcast, Dustin is in the study doing a group assignment via an internet meeting between the members of his group.

It occurred to me when I logged into my uni website just how far technology has come for me to have a lecture each week that I can download into an ipod and listen to it anywhere anytime and where Dustin can study via distance and for his study group to not only consist of people in other states of Australia but also overseas. - lining up times for his study meetings is going to be interesting with the different time zones.

I know I am not as old as some but I very clearly remember when whiteboards just came in and our school got two, we all wanted to have classes in those rooms because they didn't get chalk dust everywhere and it was easier to read... yet now how far have we come... I don't think I could study without my USB stick and my laptop not to mention my downloadable lectures, online study materials and wireless internet anywhere on our property all at the click of a button... I fear the traditional library research session has become obsolete which is sad really as I do so much love the smell of old books.

If this is how far we have come just in the past 15 years or so... how far are we going to go in the next 15 years and what will people be using for study aides then? I have always looked forward to that downloadable data that I may one day be able to plug straight into my brain... I wonder how far into the future that is?

I Travelled to a Mystical Time Zone....

I figure that it's about time that I made a musical post again.  So, last week I made two cds for my guitar instructor.  Just kind of so he got the idea of what type of things I was wanting to learn.  One cd was a sampler with some Metallica, AC/DC, Jerry Reed, ect., ect.  The other one was all Smiths.  For some reason, I don't know if it's all of Australia, or just Brisbane, but it would seem that there is a musical imigration department set up.  Only a certain amount of a certain type of music can get through it, the rest are never allowed in.  The Smiths are ones of these bands that, unless "smuggled in", no one ever heard of.  

Last night, when I went to my guitar lesson, Steve, (my instructor) was sitting in there listening to the Smiths cd, and started going off about how he can't believe that he'd never listened to them, and how awesome they were.  Sweet.  So we then proceeded to attempt to learn This Charming Man and Ask.  I felt better about not having been able to learn them on my own when even he was having a bit of trouble with it, (I emphasize the BIT) and he has dual degrees in guitar from the Conservatory.  It turned out to be a good session though; quite enjoyable!

When I got home, Cindy's and my friend Kelly was over.  She's come back home from Ireland for a few weeks to visit.  When I mentioned what we were doing at guitar, she made the same comment on how she can't believe that she had never heard of The Smiths before she went over there, considering how big they were/Morrissey is.  She said her favorite song was Frankly, Mr. Shankly, and as such, That's the video that I have decided to go with this time around.  Enjoy.

Read

Frankly, Mr. Shankly Lyrics

here.

Minimum Wage, Ha!

So, for those fo you who don't know, or haven't been able to work it out, I got a promotion of sorts at work.  Granted, this was first offered to me back at the end of June, but it has taken till now to eventuate, due to circumstances created by other people, or lack thereof.  

I am now, according to the signature that was set up on my email, a Technical Sales Representative.  This means that instead of being outside in the heat, humidity, grease, dirt, and oil, standing on concrete all day, and lifting heavy things, I now get to wear nicer clothes, sit down in A/C, have a desk and computer, and slightly more flexable work conditions, and the heaviest thing that I have to lift all day is probably a stapler. (no, it's not a red one...)  

I've kinda been thrown in the deep end, with a half-eaten life preserver, and told what to do to tread water.  What better way to learn!  But I am having fun, and most of the guys upstairs are willing to give me a hand when I get questions that I don't know, (which at this point, are most of them!) I answer the phones/faxes/emails that customers give us, wanting to either just buy some fittings or design a whole power system for them.  I know it might not sound like much, but I'm enjoying it, and that makes a lot of difference.

If you don't know and want to see what we do, go here: http://www.southcott.com.au/  Ignore the Cycles part.  Our branch doesn't really do them, although I CAN get them if requested.  That's about it. 

Oh, Listen To The Music

Music has always been a major part of my life.  The last few years, however, due to working and other things getting in the way, both my playing of, and listening to, music has fallen a bit on the wayside.  For Christmas this year, Cindy got me a new guitar strap, the Best of The Smiths tab book, and 4 lessons to help improve, (or possibly even create) my guitar playing ability.  I start these lessons on Thursday night.  Also, for our Christmas Eve game this year, we got the Guitar Hero World Tour pack for the XBox.  Cindy is surprisingly good at the drums, while I love signing aspect; everything from About A Girl, to Up Around The Bend.

Now, reading my sister Sharon's blog for the last year or so, I've watched her Friday Flashback posts; a lot of times I remember the songs that are there, and sometimes I don't know them at all, but enjoy being exposed to things I would otherwise not have known about.  It's not like the radio stations in Brisbane play anything older than about 3 months...  and it's all that new crap like the Pussycat Dolls and such, that doesn't have a bit of real music in it. (my opinion, obviously. Sorry to those that actually like that type of stuff)  As such, hearing things that I don't know and that actually is music is fantastic.  

So what do these two things have to do with each other?  Well, I thought that I'd start trying to post on a simi-regular basis, some sort of Ode to Musica post.  To start it off, I thought that I'd dedicate this one to Sharon, in thanks for her involvment of music throughout her blog, both posts about it and random, sometimes obscure references to it.  As such, the video that I'm posting is of my favorite Smiths song (which I am currently learning to play, btw).  If it wasn't for Sharon, I would never have heard the Smiths, James, The Ocean Blue, They Might Be Giants, and so many more....  so, thanks Shaz!