Catching Up

It’s been just over a week since I last blogged, so I thought this a good opportunity to catch up on what’s been going on.

Nothing exciting much happened last week with the exception of Sunday at work. I was the only one starting at 10 because Deb had called in sick, not that anyone let me know of course. It was drama from the beginning with problem after problem. I ended up having a queue at the register of about 5 deep with other people mulling around the department waiting to be served. I was not a very happy chappy. The only thinking that made me slightly happier was the arrival of Craig about 20 mins earlier and he saw me, saw the people and basically got straight to work. The day did get easier after that, but it still put me in a mood for the rest of the day.

My 2 interesting days consisted of Monday and Tuesday, my day’s off from work, I like to refer to them to my weekend. On Monday morning I mowed the grass like a good little Tina and then got a pone call from Pop because he wanted to come up and visit me to buy a Camera. Considering I wasn’t working I decided to go for a ride down to their house (Bellmere, Caboolture) and take them down to North Lakes. I found it quite interesting that the Myer at North Lakes sill had Mid Season Sale material up at the front door, even though the sale finished on the Sunday before. Apart from that pop found a camera he liked and we got it at a pretty good price so he bought it. After finishing the shopping expedition when we got home pop informed me that he wanted to go and look for some suitable cars to get for Nagyi (G’ma) so that she can start driving again. Nagyi hasn’t driven a car for 18 years after a bad accident that she and Pop were involved in. and since pop drives a big Toyota Prado, we were hoping to find something a little smaller for Nagyi to regain the ropes of driving. As Pop’s health is fading, he wants to do it now for her so she can still get around if he is unable to drive.

So I told them that I would come and visit Tuesday as well and Pop and I could go car shopping. As the weather was good I was able to ride my bike down both days and really stretch her legs, haven’t been able to do that for a while :).

So Tuesday I decided that I would also give Pop my old iPhone 3G. I restored it and got it all ready to go and headed on down to their place. The main reason for this is because Nagyi said that she would like something to play card games on when they have to take the train into the city etc. so I got there and set it all up for them, I did however have to take Pop into the Telstra shop to get a 3G simcard, since the one in his phone (and his phone for that matter) were both about 10 years old! We also had to add a data pack onto his plan so when he checks the weather he won’t get charged through the nose!

So after all of that we headed out car shopping. Went to almost every brand we could think of, and the end result was between a Suzuki Swift / SX4 or a Hyundai i20 / i30. Although Nagyi did inform me that she liked the new Lancer very much :).

After that we went back to there house and it was time for me to teach them how to use the phone. Pop took to it pretty quickly considering the technology change he had just been given. I hope he doesn’t forget how to use it!!

So that’s about all for my adventures for this week. Just an update on my Nail biter post, it lasted about 2 weeks… then I went to Fiji and my nails didn’t stand a chance! I will try again at the beginning of November.

Until next post…

TTFN

OH MY GOD

Well. What a day. Today Monday the 11/10/10 started out alright. Had to wake up early to take Lea to work as I had plans to take the car into nambour to get new tyres on her. This all was okay until I got to the tyre place and Peter (my friend who works there) told me that there was a big chuck missing out of the front left tyre. This chunk was about as big as a 10c coin and the rubber was down to the cable/wiring inside the tyre itself. So that ment that instead of getting 2 tyres, I needed to get 3. Not the most fun thing to do when these tyres cost $240 each!

However Peter did inform me that he could do a deal where if I bought 3, I'd get the 4th free. So instead I ended up getting 4 new tyres on Annabelle.

So everything was good then until I left the place. Was driving home from nambour, just heading down the hill that the Coles Express Servo is on (for those of you who know where that is) and the battery light comes on the dash. It felt like the car had stalled because the power steering had gone also. So I stopped at the bottom of the hill in the safest place I could find to find at the engine was still running and it had not stalled. By this time I'm stating to get a little freaked out. I thought to myself, I can still drive it without the power steering so I gently took off. Only got about 20 metres up the road and then the temp. light comes on. Now I'm worried and I pull the car over at a bus stop.

I rang the RACQ peeps and because it's raining and what not, she informs me that they are busy and it could be up to a 90 minute wait. Great. So after an hour the patrol guy pulls up, pops e bonnet, pulls out a loose belt and also tells me that the water pump had died. The car is going to need towing.

So he organized a tow to come and get me and told me that he would be there in about 30 mins. So after an hour and 15 mins of further waiting I was about ready to ring the RACQ people back again to see what was going on when the tow truck showed up. As it had just started raining I asked the guy if I could get into his truck, and he said yeah, but the passenger door was locked, and the lock was broken so I had to wait for him to crawl across the drivers seat to open the door for me. Good start.

As soon as the towie gets in the car, he grabs his mobile phone, makes a call and off we go. So this guy is on the phone, it's rainig, he's got my ute on the back of his truck, and he is NOT wearing his seatbelt. Again, great. So after talking for about 10 mins, he hangs up and then decides to inform me that he hasn't put one of the wheel straps on the back tyre because the tyre was on the strap and he couldn't be bothered. Right now I am feeling really safe and secure.

We finally make it to the mechanic and I tell him what I have been told. The only good thing is the my mechanic is within walking distance from home so I grabbed my gear and brelly and headed home.

The only savour from boredom that I had with me for the day was the fact that I had my iPad with me. I Read a book (well, some of a book anyways) played bejeweled and mahjong. And I am so far extremely impressed with the functionality of the iPad and the extrodinary battery life!!

So all thats left now is to wait until the mechanic calls me and tells me what it will cost to get Annabelle back up and running again. Although it will be funny to see me collect Lea this Arvo on the bike if the car is not fixed, specially if it's still raining!!,

Here's hoping my day turns up.....


TTFN.

I hate being Forgotten!

Now I know this headline is a bit of a contradiction, as I have such a bad memory, but I still hate being forgotten!

This all stems from my activities for the day. Woke up at 7 am, had to take Leanne to work as she started at 8am. From there it was off to the Chiro for a very needed snap crackle and pop! I will admit I have forgotten a Chiro appointment in the past!

After which I thought a quick stop into Telstra would be okay, little did I know you can NEVER have a quick stop in the Telstra Shop. And that didn’t help that the lady behind the counter couldn’t even answer my Question! She gave me the option to get on the phone and ring them, to which I promptly declined. I have worked out the best way to contact Telstra and get a prompt response is…. Wait for it…. TWITTER! I got a response to my Question in about 5 minutes, which beats waiting on hold for ½ hour!

So anyway after that I got a call from Leanne asking to go and collect her from work as she had a sore back. She blames that on Craig and her personal training session of course… hehehe.

I thought that since I was in Mooloolaba I would head down to the Mower place to check up on the Brush Cutter I put in for a service 2 weeks ago. The guys told me that it would take prolly a week to look at as they were running a little behind and then they would give me a call. Since I had not heard anything, when I asked the guy, he looked it up on the system, noting that nothing had been done yet. I must have looked more then a little quizzical. “Apparently” the paperwork got lost. Now, usually if I have a machine just sitting around with nothing on it taking up space that wasn’t mine, I would prolly look it up to see what the go is. Too much trouble apparently for those guys. They tried apologising and said they would look at it today. I was miffed but too tired to argue the point.

After heading home with a broken Lealea in toe, we decided we needed to head out again and grab some medication for her sore back. I took this opportunity to bank my coins I had saved up, which totalled $89.90!!! I could not for the life of me find another 10c!!!! After banking the coins I got a call from the mower place saying it was ready to collect (only took about an hour). So they had the machine for over 2 weeks and only needed it for 1 hour!!! I was not very impressed.

Anyhoo, I thought after getting it home it would be a good idea to test out the newly serviced machine, 1^st plus, I could start it!! Always a good thing. Worked out well and I had just mowed the lawn yesterday so now it looks all bootiful!.

One more thing I wanted to mention was the switch over of the new registers at work. This happened on the 30^th September 2010 after we had been promised them for the past 5 years or so. so far so good, some functions seem  little harder then before, but all in all, an easier process. I thought I would try and get as familiar with the machines as possible so I kept checking out the functions and exploring what these machines can do. As I like to keep an eye on my sales for the day I found the function where it can show me what I have done for the day, or a selected period, which I found quite useful on keeping an eye on my $$ targets. Apparently I must have been accessing it a bit too much as I was then promptly told by my team leader to stop going in there or we will get banned. So I guess I won’t be doing that anymore.

So all in all a pretty good week or so for me. Nothing else outside of the ordinary has happened. Right now just watching the Commonwealth Games and the gold Rush that is Australia cleaning up the medals!!! Good luck team!!

Aussie Aussie Aussie!!!!

TTFN.

Fiji

          

Wow, what a fun couple of weeks!! A lot has happened in the past 2 weeks, and that is mainly the reason why I haven't had the time to update my blog!

Okay, 1st up, Fiji. I got spend a fantastic 4 days in Fiji courtesy of Panasonic Lumix and it was truly AWESOME!!! Day 1 and day 4 were mainly spent travelling but day 2 and 3 were picture perfect action packed days! 

Day 2 consisted of travelling the Islands around Mana Island (Where we stayed) on a boat / yacht called the SeaSpray. The crew on board provided all the food and drinks needed for the day as well as some on board entertainment. We got the chance to snorkel just of a sandbar around some fabulous reefs in crystal clear blue water! 

After that 1st stop, we headed over to Monuriki Island (Which is the island that Tom Hanks shot the movie Cast Away on) and got lunch served on the boat. When we arrived at the Island we got a chance to snorkel the reefs surrounding the island as well as explore the island itself. One of the organisers had also taken the opportunity to make our very own "Wilson" to play with!

That night we were treated to a traditional Fijian Fire Walking show, and then entertained by Polynesian Dancers. It’s safe to say I was very tired at the end of that day!

The 2^nd full day we got to spend on Mana Island was lined with activities without much room for movement! 1^st up 2 out of the 4 groups (including us) got to snorkel the reefs off Mana Island. We headed out about 50 metres offshore to where the reef drops off and then swam up the reef for a about 100 meters or so and it provided some fantastic photo opportunities’! 

After that we were supposed to head out to the airstrip for our helicopter ride, but the helicopters were running a little behind schedule. This was because there is only 1 Helicopter Company in Fiji that only has 3 helicopters, and one was in the shop under maintenance. So there was only 1 helicopter doing the flights (takes 6 people at a time, there were 60 of us!) as the other was on an emergency call out. So instead of heading straight to the chopper, we got to take the Jet Ski’s out early. So after a 1 hour Island hop in the Jet Ski’s over the beautiful blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, I was totally sold on these awesome machines! So after back on dry land, we eventually got our Chopper ride in. Some of the photos that I got were amazing!

The only downer on this day was where we returned from the chopper ride to go parasailing, we were informed that the parasailing boat had broken down. This was kind of annoying because the other 3 groups that got to go before us all got to do it. Anyway, we were then informed that instead we could have the choice at going back out on the Jet Ski’s and I think everyone was pretty happy with that option! (I know I certainly was!)

So that night we were treated to a 4-course dinner at a very nice restaurant on the south beach of Mana Island. This was also tied in with the official Lumix Academy presentation where Ken Duncan had judged the best pic’s of the trip and decided on the top 4 for some Lumix prizes! I didn’t win any prizes but I did get 3 of my photo’s ‘highly commended’ which was a big boost considering that Ken was doing the judging!

So the final day was basically travel, a total of 14 hours by the time I was at home in bed and snoring my little head off (About midnight Friday) I was not very alert when going to work at 9am Saturday mooring!

So that was Fiji, feel free to head over to my facebook page to check out some pic’s that I took!

TTFN

Everything goes so fast!

This week has been all about Fiji. For those of you not in the know, i recently participated in a competition from Panasonic by which they are sending the top 50 camera sales people between a 3 month period from around Australia for an all expenses paid 4 day trip to Fiji.

 

Both myself and Gage from work participated in this promotion but by the end of it, I finished 74th and Gage finished 62nd. It was extreemly supprising to there receive an email from Panasonic saying "You just missed out on a spot in the top 50, but we'd like to invite you along to Fiji anyway". I was estatic to say the least, jumping around like a... i dunno, like a kangaroo i guess?? Either way, this all happened around the end of July, and the trip dates are the 13th September to the 17th September.

Gage and myself hadn't herd much about it after the innitial email and we were starting to get a bit edgy with the trip pulling nearer. But on tuesday morning, when the postie FINALLY came, he dropped my Itinerary in the mailbox. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face when reading through it. I get a stay-over night in Sydney on monday, staying at the Mercure Hotel, then off to Fiji with (i'm assuming) about 50 other winners.

The trip is all expenses paid and involves a bunch of activities such as Jet Skiing, going on a Helicopter Charter, Parasailing, Snorkeling and numerous photo shoot's with Ken Duncan (Panasonic ambassador). I think it safe to say i will have plenty of awesome shot's to blog about the week after next!

So now i am busily trying to get ready for the trip. buying all the things i think i will need for the 5 days away! I am taking the opportunity on Monday night to meet up with some fellow Sydney-siders for a drink or too as it will be an early morning for me Tuesday!

So aside from Fiji, i did want to mention a car accident that happened just up the road from our house on Wednesday afternoon. Turns out it was a result of a 'domestic' but when you got 2 cars wedged up against the pole of a bridge supporting a motorway and they are almost vertical, it's defiantly worth a mention. This pic better explains how the cars were, I'm still yet to figure out exactly how it happened!!!

(This pic is Copyright from The Sunshine Coast Daily).

And that's about all from me today!!

TTFN


L4LFC

madness!

Wow, I never really realised how much time flies when you get busy! Haven't posted for a while simply because I haven't had the time!

So, what's new? Well, for starter's, on Thursday night's 2 times a month i play tennis at Bli Bli tennis club in an in-house competition. I am proud to announce that last Thursday i won my very 1st 8-0 set (Games are played best of 8, not a traditional set 1st to 6). Then proceeded to get beaten 2-6 in the very next set, am still pretty proud of my acheviement though!

On Friday i met up with a Girl i went to uni with about 4 years ago, Katrina. I haven't seen her for about 2 & 1/2 years, so I was really good to catch up with her and talk about all the good old days! It's funny how that times flies so fast, I didn't think it had been that long!

Saturday was an interesting one. Work 9-5 (don't usually do a full day shift!) and then there was Drinks down at the Pig'n'Whistle for our Manager Tony, who after something like 16 years with the company, is leaving us and finishes on Thursday. I would have expected more then about the 10 or so people that arrived, (unless more showed up after i left) but like they say, it's not the quantity, it's the quality! Turned out to be pretty good, got to talk to the top managers alot about the new registers that launch in store on the 30th of September! Can't wait considering the ones we are using have been around for about 25 years!!!

So, I had every intention of heading home to hit the ZzzzZZzz's early on Saturday night, left the work thingy about 7pm. Lea had informed me that she had just left her parents house about the same time (she was there for her family's father's day do) and said she was bringing food home, i'm like Sweet! (Hadn't eaten since midday). So, she gets home about 7:45pm and I literally grab the bag out of her hands and got stuck in, meanwhile she gets a phone call, nothing i thought much about.

So here I am, 1/2 way through my dinner and she walks back inside with a pair of keys, i'm looking at them thinking, these are not our keys. Turns out, they are the keys to her sister's car, which is at her mum's house (Woodford) and her sister keep's the spare key in the glove box... (not such a bright idea Bec!). So, Bec, needing the keys to get her troop home, Sent her Husband Lawrie to come and collect them, and Lea, feeling bad said we would meet them 1/2 way. She's like "come with me" and i'm still trying to eat my dinner and said "how 'bout you come with me on the bike?" (thinking she'd say no) and she's like "yeah alright" and i was like "sweet!" The night air was just the perfect temp and there wasn't any rain around, so I got dinner and a great ride as well!

So now it's Sunday morning and i am about to start getting ready for work. The weather today is not looking Kind so i'm thinking that I might catch the bus to work today and get Lea to pick me up instead of getting Bugsy all wet!

And that's the extent of my activites for the last few days, haven't really had a chance to get any good Photo's in recently so until next time!

TTFN


L4LFC

This is gonna be a Nailbitter!

I've been thinking about this for a while now. Anyone that know's me know's that I do not have any fingernails, bite them too much (thanx dad!). So i though for the month of september I would TRY and not bite/pick/cut them what so ever to see how i go.

I have a feeling that this will be a hard task as most of the time i don't even realise that I am doing it. I will be supporting this with photo evidence of a before / after scenerio.

So, on that note, let the NON nailbitting begin!!

TTFN


L4LFC

Let's get clean!

Alright. Time to get serious.. and clean!

As I do not work on Monday's or Tuesdays, I found today that I was bored, (hard to imagine I know with all the gadgets I own!) so I decided to take Bugsy out for a ride. (For those not in the know, Bugsy is the name of my Kawasaki Z750 Motorcycle... mainly because of the mirror shape!). Upon returning home I decided it was time to give her a bath. Considering I have owned her for just over 1 year (got on 26th July 2009) and I haven't cleaned her yet!!!

She was looking a bit sad, still had her "undercarriage" caked in mud from the February / March downpour that we had. So after spending a good 45 mins cleaning her, scrubbing all the dry mud away and de-greasing the wheel's she started to look all shiny and new again!

I also thought this a good time to get a few shot's in as well. Unfortunately the sun was not in the right position, so you cannot really see her true colour, but in my mind she is a truly beautiful Motorcycle.

Now that i have a clean bike, i can sleep well at night again!!

TTFN (ta ta for now!)


L4LFC

My First Blog

G'day peeps.

This is the first time that i have "Blogged" anything. kinda strange considering that i'm not usually good at writing stuff.

I wanted to create this blog so I can post some pictures that I will take with my new Sony Nex 5 DSLR Digital camera. I will use this blog to track my progress and share the stories associated with the photo's.

Okay, so this is about the extent of my writing capabilities for now.



L4LFC