Natural beauty.........

Today we went for a drive to a few of the many local places of natural beauty. the first is the 'natural bridge'.............



The swell was pretty calm....only about 2 metres but it's pretty clear how powerful the ocean can be.....this was created by ocean swell working against granite....not bad! Then we moved along the coast to the 'blow-holes' which is another interesting effort were the ocean has worn holes in the rock under a ledge and the waves trap air which is forced up through the holes sounding much like a gigantic whale blasting air through it's blow-hole....



'eL' is looking over the holes which are just down the rock a little...no direct pictures of the holes because they often shoot out spray and occasionally rocks under the pressure of the air....not safe to stand over the top.


The ocean is the Great Southern Ocean....next stop Antarctica!















And finally Goode's Beach....we're thinking that this would be a nice spot to build a house to retire to......and there is land available.















What a horrible lifestyle......but I guess someone has to suffer.....:-)

Night shift..........

Well....I've just finished my first night shift in Albany....actually the first one in about 20 years....so please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors.

I'm astonished at how well I've coped with the 7 days straight of working between 11.00pm and 7.00am........I slept well each day and stayed awake each night without problems.

Night shift brings out the strangest and sometimes the worst in people.....well in our customers anyway. We had people calling '000' to speak to the bailiff or to ask us to make housemates move out (apparently being an annoying housemate is a 'life-threatening' emergency these days!). Sadly we also had an extensive sea search and rescue operation this week involving a Canadian student who was washed off the rocks near a local natural attraction called 'The Gap'.........he hasn't been located since and the weather hasn't been kind. On a lighter note I have found that getting home at sun rise down here presents you with some of the most beautiful natural sights which change constantly........spectacular clouds, fog, and stunning blue ocean on the drive home......it doesn't get much better than that!

Even with the occasional tragic event.......I'm having a ball and really enjoying the 'country policing' environment. The move here has been the right decision ....so far.........and I can't see it changing.

I'm baaaaacck!

After a long and frustrating hiatus from these pages I have finally been able to regain my internet access.......about bloody time too! A month without any internet access was very annoying and getting the holdup rectified was even more frustrating......whilst I now have access I think the billing is still way wrong......and not in my favour!

Anyway..............

The move has gone amazingly well and we had no breakages......don't ask how that happened, I'm not. The new house....and it is brand new, is four bedroom, 2 bathroom and even has a home theatre room! but it's very white bread.......no real character although I would argue that it's gaining character by having us here. The locals are very nice,here is a picture of our next-door neighbour out hunting



Not bad for a picture from the back door......it's a black shouldered kite. We have a fair bit of wildlife around and signs on the road warning to be careful of turtles and bandicoots....apparently they like to cross the road without looking!

Work is going well and is alot more relaxed than the last place......although being a country Police Station also means we are the call centre for local '000' calls which can be very interesting - for example we have a local nuisance caller who regularly phones to report the theft of her clitoris!.....apparently she has also come into the station to make the same report.....it takes a special skill to deal with some of our work.

'eL' has been unpacking and making this place a home...there has been a huge amount of throwing out or donating of old possessions....quickly followed by the purchasing of replacement with 'new stuff'. No surprises there.....

Oh....and we have already started visiting the local wineries and restaurants....of course.

Recent events and musings.........

As I implied in my last post I have been transferred to a town 500 km south of where we live.....a place called Albany. It's a lovely, coastal country town with a mild climate and it's close to vineyards and their wineries, the most beautiful beaches on the planet and a multitude of natural attractions......in fact during the calving season you can see humpback whales from my new office windows.....frolicking in the bay!

The day after I received news of the transfer my boss (hairplug!) had a family tragedy.....his adult son was killed in a road crash.......what a disaster! I may not really like the man but I really feel for him.......this is something no one deserves.

Since then we have been very busy at work helping out, making arrangements and being as supportive as we can......hopefully it has helped.

Yesterday it dawned on me that because of events at work, Christmas and New Years celebrations I had already lost 3 weeks of the 6 weeks I had to prepare for the big move south.......we haven't moved with my work for 15 years so this is going to be a bugger of a job.....packing and driving and all the rest. Then a good friend said to me, "relax, it's like a tsunami, it's going to happen anyway so just go with it!"

So that's what we are going to try to do.........stay tuned!!

Can you say........

Albany!

Musings......continued

As I said in my last post I need a change at work.........I mentioned that something was in the wind..........I may be able to explain on Friday! Stay tuned..

On a different note I have discovered a quote which I am using in my signature on my work emails.........because it fits my work environment in so many ways,

"Never attribute to malice that which can be readily explained by stupidity."

Musings...............

'Pancakes' will understand when I say I have been mentally pre-occupied by the thought "what is it with parents?".......I'm guessing she has too!

In other news I'm again feeling stifled at work and after 6 years it's definately time to move......I'm still looking but I may have to compromise and move within first.......and then maybe without! I'm trying a few options to at least change my work environment if not my occupation so stay tuned!!!!

On the world stage I will say I'm glad no one in this country is popular enough to influence the public's opinion when it comes to who to vote for (a.k.a. Miss Winfrey)......that seems tantamount to driving people to the polling booth just to get their vote......oh hang on...that's been done too!!! At least we cut down our 'tall poppy's'

Election.....!

We have just had our federal election here in Australia.........

We had a choice between the incumbent who had already served 11 years and was promising more of the same (tight fiscal management and low unemployment) and the 'new kid on the block' who comes from the opposite side of politics and was espousing almost identical policies but has no track record to judge him on!

The nation somehow managed to choose the latter and voted for change but more of the same.........that's compulsory voting at it's worst and believe me I support it but when the choice is no choice......what can you do!!!

So we either have change of the personalities or we are in for a shock when we find that Prime Minister Rudd has lied to us (shock, horror!!!!)

Oh hell.....he's a politician......of course he lied....they both did!

Painting....the epilogue or is it?

Well after a week I'm thoroughly sick of this painting business......and sore!

I've managed to completely paint a 6.5 x 4.5 metre room with 3 metre high ceilings.......yes it's bloody huge and I'm still finishing off the woodwork and trim. That's the worst part....it's so fiddly and after painting for hours you don't seem to make any headway.

Oh....and I also filled a mini-skip and put together a cupboard and 5 new bookcases (flat packs from the Swedish hell shop!)

I guess I haven't done too badly....there's just 4 times as much left to do!!!

Now I'm back at my day job.........yay :-(

So here's a question; What was the first edifice that immigrants saw as they approached Manhattan (New York) by ship in the early to mid 20th century? Think carefully.....

Painting.....!!!!!

At the end of day one....I haven't got very far

And

Owwwwww!

Back to normal?

I have spent the past 7 weeks doing somebody else's job....he was away on leave. After that time I have reached the firm conclusion that he does very little.....but takes credit for a lot. I'm not surprised as it was as I expected but at least I can now speak with authority....not that anyone listens.

Now I have a little leave of my own.....to paint the house........so not really a rest.


While I'm away no one is doing my job officially....we'll see........

We need to win lotto!

In other news:-

The Nobel prize committee need to look at a lot of other scientists to spread the accolades around more fairly and our Government in Australia really needs to call the election.....just stop pissing about.....not that there is anyone worth voting for on either side!

What's special about the 24th of September!!!

Happy birthday bro......you know who I mean!!!

Have a great day, party like you are only 44..........now you're only one year younger than me....until next year eh!

BTW 'eL' asked me to say she's found the perfect recipe for 'Panera' cheese and broccoli soup......hmmmmmmm yummy.....it's identical

Talk Proper Ye Scurvy Dogs!!!!

Don't forget to talk proper tomorrow Wednesday 19 September.....it be International 'Talk like a pirate day'

So be proper and piratical........or ye will be keel hauled or rogered quite jolly!!!

Aaaarrrrggghhhh ye black hearted coves........find me a piece of eight or maybe a parrot!?!!!????

Do it......it feels good!

Symmetry in life....

It's funny how often we find symmetry in life.......well I do!

Two weeks ago my better half 'eL' went to have an eye check and discovered that her distance vision was a little off and it was time for glasses. This of course turned into a style exercise which wasn't cheap......but they look fabulous darlings!!!!

Last week I had an eye test (because I thought it was time.....) and who would have guessed....my distance vision is also a little off and I need glasses........another style exercise which cost even more (not my fault....she did the choosing of frames!!)

It occurred to me that I'm the last of my siblings to need spectacles.....some comfort I guess. The interesting thing about my vision is that it's above average for distance but it is a little blurry at the extreme range so technically and legally I have really good vision but I still need glasses......apparently my brain is too good at working out what I am seeing and compensates for the blur....an interesting dichotomy!

So now we will both be able to clearly see how little money we have left after buying glasses.......typical........:-)

Looking busy.........

I'm currently doing somebody else's job.....acting up as we call it. It's 'hairplugs' job actually.........that makes me the Officer in Charge.....woohoo!

The thing is..... on Monday I finished all his duties by 10.30am, on Tuesday it was by 9.30am, Wednesday 8.30, Thursday 8.00am and Friday it was 7.25am. It's not like I did nothing for the rest of the working day.....I did my normal job as well and when I had spare time I helped out the 'big' boss with 'corporate' nonsense.

I was feeling pretty smug by Friday...given my disdain for 'hairplug'.....and then I realised that I had been forgetting to do the most important thing!!!

I wasn't running around making out I was overworked and under-appreciated......I'm such a fool!!!!

Meeeaoooow.....give the boy a saucer of milk!!!

What be your nerd type??????

Now this is just freaky strange

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Drama Nerd   You sure do love the spotlight and probably have a very out-going and loud personality. Or not. That's just a stereotype, of course. Participation in the theatre is something to be very proud of. Whether you have a great voice for musicals, or astounding skills for dramas/comedies; keep up the good work. We need more entertainment these days that isn't television and video games (not that these things are bad, necessarily.)
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Anime Nerd
Literature Nerd
Musician
Science/Math Nerd
Social Nerd
Artistic Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

I'm not sure about this at all

Work and responsibility...............

Most of us work and take our jobs seriously....we know what is expected of us, we try hard and do our best. Every now and again you meet someone who just hasn't got a clue!!!!

I have one of those as a boss.....'hairplug' to my readers!

I've been back at work for several weeks now and I'm still pretty relaxed....it must have been a good holiday!!!! For the past few days I watched as 'hairplug' has systematically duck-shovelled most of his work and responsibilities to staff under his direction....I can't say 'command' because he has no understanding of the concept. Some of this work has come my way but I seem to have found a way to push back some of it, but the rest is being dumped onto the 'can't say no' people in the office (the good workers....who have pride in their work). I work with 19 year old's who have a better comprehension of our job than this guy.

He is what most of us refer to as 'old school' but even in that area he's a loser in that at least 'old school' detectives (yes he's also an ex-detective) would work hard giving some balance to their arrogance. He has no sense of balance........and he thinks all the young female staff fancy him.......that's just wrong! Oh and for my siblings...he has two sons called Beau and Luke.......hmmmmmmm

This type of personality always seem to slide right through life causing the accidents without suffering the consequences........I wonder why? There's probably at least one PhD in there somewhere............

Back to work...........

After a wonderful and lengthy holiday it was back to work last Monday.......and I survived the first week remarkably well. My good boss missed me and so did 'hairplug'....he didn't have anyone to handball his work to and had to do a hard day's graft for a change!

I have now re-built my PC with all the goodies I bought in the US and whew......it flies!!!!!! However I'm still working out a few software bugs that have resulted from imaging my old hard drive......at least it keeps the brain active:-)

It's funny how we're both tired and unenthusiastic after such a good holiday......I can't think why???

Now back to our trivia battle:- What was the first man made object put into space....and by whom?

You may be surprised at this one!!!

Whew!!!

We're home...........safely!

More soon.

My Pirate name!!!!!

It should be Jolly Roger but it's

My pirate name is:

Dirty Roger Flint

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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How did they know of my family conection to "mouthful of pancakes"