Saturday, October 19, 2002

Goddamn it. Polly and I got our car locked in the basement of Box Hill car park tonight. We totally did not see the sign saying the carpark got locked at 9.30pm. We had dinner with the guys after basketball, then went on to have a drink at the Bubble Tea place round the corner and by the time we got back to the car it was 11.30pm and all exits were sealed off! We had to go get security to open up and I had to cough up $20 for their trouble. Well, a small price to pay for this lesson I guess - they could quite easily have asked for $50 or even $100. We were actually going to catch a cab home and then go get the car in the morning (a more expensive and inconvenient solution). Good thing we spotted a security guard and asked whether he could open the gates. Next time before you park in a multi-storey or basement car park at night, check and see what time they close their gates!!! That's my gratituous advice for the day. Have a great weekend, all! We're getting our Queen bed in the morning and Polly's moving in. I'll take some pics and post. Over and out.

Thursday, October 17, 2002

Those Australians who are "in fury" about how slowly the bodies are being identified in Bali should check their emails and look at those pictures of the dead being circulated. They would have problems even trying to determine gender seeing how badly the bodies were charred. I can only guess how difficult it must have been for the search parties during 9/11. I feel for these people, but then again, it's just seems so difficult!


I've started http://sportswriter.blogspot.com. This is where all my Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings and Tiger Woods cheer posts will go from now so you will all be spared the agony.

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

NBA.com: Denver at Washington
And there you have it... Wizards are now 3-0 preseason. Bring 'em on! Kwame, still putting up strong numbers. I hope he doesn't burn out down the stretch.
I was doing some very deep thinking this morning while driving to work (don't do this at home!) and couldn't help getting rid of the thought that I've got a different role to play in this life. I felt and still feel like I am wasting my time with this job - I mean, in the grand scheme of things, the farmers in New Zealand will get the fertilizer for their crop and ultimately keep the industry supporting the country's economy. But that doesn't do anything for me. Sure, I get paid quite well, considering I don't do a whole lot, but the time seems "wasted." I don't love this job but at the same time I don't hate it to the extent that I am dragging my ass into the office. But for this lifetime, something's telling me that I should be doing something else, something more meaningful for me. I've a feeling that it's got something to do with humanitarian work. Which is surprising, to some extent... why would an idiot like me want to help people?

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

It never fails to amaze me how little security there is in Australian bank transactions. I forgot my ATM card PIN number last week, punched in too many wrong combinations and got the card locked. This afternoon I went into one of the bank's branches, showed them my passport (they asked for a drivers' licence, and didn't even look at the photo in the passport) and asked me whether I wanted a new PIN number. And how about this one. Last month when I bought my car, I went to the bank to get a bank cheque done. They only wanted my ATM card. Didn't even ask for ID. I got an open cheque for whatever amount I wanted just by showing them my ATM card. I should become a professional pickpocket.
ESPN.com - NBA - Washington Wizards/Philadelphia 76ers Live NBA Box Score on ESPN.com
Kwame Brown again leads my Wiz to another preseason win over Philly AT Philly. And this, without Jordan, Stack and Oakley!
The Bali incident was all over the tube last night, showing updates every half hour. It kind of makes all our problems seem so petty and trivial. Anyway, life goes on and everyone will just have to pick themselves up and move along.


I've kind of lost the mood to write very much as the occurence over the weekend has muddled up my thoughts. Golf didn't go very well - Tirhatuan has the hardest greens and I just couldn't get the ball to bite. Had a few pars and I guess the highlight was driving the par4 4th hole. Three-putted to make par, though. Sunday was horrible, weatherwise. It rained pretty hard overnight and was raining when I went to pick Polly up. What will I do without on-line information? I didn't get out of bed until the Melbourne airport site confirmed that the plane had landed! :) Dog school went OK, at least it stopped raining for awhile. Tiger threw a tantrum and didn't want to do any of the exercises. I think he was sleepy because of the early rise to get Polly (6am!). Anyways, testing day is next week! It's the last test until next year, so there's a bit of pressure to pass I guess. We've been working hard at it and I think we deserve a pass. He got a white ribbon for joint 3rd place in last month's test.


Polly bought some nice stuff for the house. She got a couple of chinese scrolls with 'nice' inscriptions on them (at least she can read it), a cute little chinese teapot with little teacups (they were ceramic and looked really fragile) and some other bits and pieces here and there. She also got me a nice shirt (a bit short on the sleeves) and a polar fleece jacket (very warm!) as well. I don't deserve her! She told me she wants to put a "Mickey (Mouse) corner" somewhere in the house, some kind of shrine I guess, where she can display all her Mickey toys and accessories. I told her to do it in the back toilet and she wasn't too impressed with that comment. She treats Mickey like God. Every second thing she owns has something to do with Mickey. I hate Mickey and his high-pitched faggoty voice. Donald Duck's the one for me. Cynical, funny and scheming. What a nice package of qualities. But my all-time favourite cartoon character will have to be Johnny Bravo. now, he da man.

Monday, October 14, 2002

I am still reeling from news of the blast in Bali. September 11 was bad, but this hit back hard because it happened in a Muslim country, and so close to home (Malaysia and Australia). Everyone is in hysterics here in Oz, because there are so many Australians still missing in Bali. Here we are again, 13 months later, looking at the carnage caused by those cowardly terrorists. Again, the media has begun to speculate who did it and everyone wants to go into Indonesia and help 'stamp out terrorism.' What these events have showed me, though, is how easy it is to take lives (and hundreds of them at that), it can happen anywhere, and that our lives are really not in our hands. I refuse to live in fear and be intimidated by these bastards. But even if you pay me to go to Bali today, I won't. That is the 'right side of the brain' telling me "logically" what I should or shouldn't do. Listen to the left side, I say, otherwise we'll continue to live in fear, and be imprisoned by it. This way, the terrorists win. I'm not saying we should run blindly into trouble, but we should not let these incidents prevent us from doing what we love doing which gives meaning to our lives. My aunt lives and works as an expatriate in Jakarta, a mess of a place where bombings occur every now and then. I don't believe she is unperturbed, but she's not making immediate plans to evacuate even after this incident in Bali. That's because she loves what she does there and to leave would mean taking away what means to her the most. That's what we should all do a little better... we should put our worries aside, go discover what makes us tick and pursue it. Once real happiness is found, it cannot be taken away from us. Not even a bomb blast that kills 200 people.