My Home away from Home

Festive season

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 02:20:47 GMT

Well, after all that I thought it would be a hassle with my mum.

But things are working out at the moment because I've employed a new strategy. :)

As she came over with her sister around her age it was a good idea to keep them together.

Initially my mum was going to stay with me but it would be inconvenient as I live 100kms from her sister.

So she stayed at her sons place with my mum.

When I did take them out, I employed the walk as the slowest person speed. None of this break neck speed that I'm use to. lol

And I based them around the shopping centres where there were air conditioners. Yeah for modern technology. This was a good idea considering we are getting temperatures of around 30 plus at the moment.

Sure I do take them around the sites, but I can't take them to the Harbour bridge climb since they wouldn't be able to make it. So it would be anything with less walking and heaps of seats during the journey.

So need we move onto the second week and the post chrissie sales. Hmm must remember to arrive early so that we can get parking.

My next strategy is to get her heaps of movies to watch at home, where upon she will fall asleep and I can do my own thing.

Isn't life wonderful.

Oh yeah while I was at my cousins chrissie lunch/dinner I meet one of my nieces boyfriends parents. They're from Canberra also so I might pay them a visit the next time I'm down there for a wnbl game. ;)
And hopefully LJ will be playing again. :)

Spot ya and have a good one.

Christmas

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:40:40 GMT

Today I almost ruined some people's chrissie.

I was going to lay some staff off early as they were only casuals. Which meant they wouldn't be earning anything during the christmas period. That's like being Uncle Scrooge to them??? :(

But sanity prevailed and I didn't turn out to be a bastard. :)
These things happen when you look after 6 - 12 staff.

Have a Merry Christmas and spot ya. ;)

wnbl

Sun, 18 Dec 2005 10:34:10 GMT

Went down to canberra this weekend again.

This time I tried the new M7.

It actually loops out around the west (Blacktown way) so even thought it cuts out heaps of lights you still have to take into account the distance you have traveled. I think it's a 40km link?

What I don't understand is why the still only build 2 lanes instead of 3, especially for motorways. Surely the traffic is going to increase in the future?

I believe the final cost of using the road will be around $18. Off course you will also have to take into account the other motorway charges. Can't remember what it's called at the moment. M something.

I can see traffic build ups very quickly on this new stretch also.

Anyway it was good to get down to Canberra to watch the Flames take on the AIS. This would be the last game in the training hall for quite a few of the girls.

Some of them will be graduating at the end of the season. These include Camino, Dombkins, Fox, Herrick, Scaglia, Shearing and Smith. So it's going to be another bit flush out of girls.

Although I did see the emergence of some new stars such as Molly Lewis and Bishop.

Picked up the Dombkins book mark, so I only need Hollies card to make up the set now. :)

Another night of shame

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 08:26:04 GMT

My country

I hate this sunburnt country,
When it shows its hate and blame,
Its racists and its bigots.
Who make us all ashamed.

I hate their small horizons,
This stupid anarchy.
This home-grown brand of terror.
And white supremacy

We look at terror overseas,
We scorn, we point, we blame.
But let's look in our own backyard.
-We're really just the same.

This was in the daily telegraph yesterday.
It's a remake of My Country by Dorothea McKellar I think.

Day of shame

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 11:13:44 GMT

It was a sad day for australia yesterday.

The Redfern riots.

The Macquarie Fields riots.

And now Cronulla??

They're just excuses. Half the crowd weren't even from Cronulla??

Those damning pictures of thugs bashing middle eastern people on the train said it all.

Why have we descended to this level?

Why....

Shame Australia shame

"do you hate him, cause he's pieces of you?"

Jewel

Caps v flames Part II

Sat, 10 Dec 2005 04:06:43 GMT

So here we are, the day after that amazing game last night. It didn't finish until just after 11pm.I don't think anyone got any sleep last night.

As I wondered into the Sydney stadium I was wearing my caps supporter shirt. Yep I was determined to support the caps even though I'm also a flames supporter. But I like the caps a lot more and also they don't suck like the flames!! lol

I found my fav seat which is about 3 rows behind the oppositions bench (caps). I found this a reasonable place to take pics, although it isn't the best stadium for it. The AIS stadiums are the best places for taking photos imo.

As I sat watching the prematch game the caps rocked up. And Tully spotted me and said "hi" as she walked past!! How cool is that!!

Then some more caps fans arrived and sat around me. Yeah, in the previous game I was the lone caps supporter but this time it was sweet!

Opal booster was the first of my seating partners to arrive. I handed him the storm drinking cups, but he was reluctant to sit with me - which was quite funny. Guess he's not a caps supporter. lol

Then misch rocked up, and I handed her the LJ poster, Storm championship poster and the caps team poster that I had scored the previous night. I also gave her a storm drinking cup and Mcclure & sharpy bookmarks. After all she started the LJ fan site so it was the least I could do for her.

Eventually I ran into Keegan and Rachel, er they didn't seem to want to sit next to me and all the caps fans either :)

So I still gave them both a storm drinking cup and storm stickers. :) Always willing to help out fellow wnba supporters. ;)

This was a hoot of a game, as in the past the flames shoot sensationally in the first quarter. It seems they always do this whenever they play the flames. The caps were only a step behind.

Oh yeah, caps fans can cheer, abuse and support their players. The flames fans sit diligently watching the game and rarely coming to life?? That's one of the reasons I like the caps fans better. You know you've had a game because win or lose you gave it your all too!! Well I lost my voice afterwards. :)

At one stage one of the flames fans looked at us in disbelief as we shouted support for our beloved caps. I guess that empahasises the diff between the 2 fan bases. One time the commentator tried to rally the flames supporters to support their team. But we still managed to shout them down. lol Not bad for a group of 8 or so supporters.

We had our thunder sticks, caps banners, clappers etc... Yep the stuff you would expect a fan to bring to the game. :)

The game was always close up to half time. It was during this break I managed to have catch up with Keegan.

Then it happened, the caps (Tully & Alana) stole balls off the guards for layups and suddenly they were 15 pts up. Yep the flames had capitulated again. Something we've seen all season!!!

It was all over red rover. :)

The flames did make some attempt to close the gap at numerous times but the damage had already been done. Bye bye flames.

After the game I managed to get Alana's autograph. I have been trying all season and this was my last chance. Yes I did it.

As I was getting the caps to sign the team poster I came across Tully. We had a short conversation about meat pies and then we got on to talking about the storm 2004 team poster. She didn't have this one so I gave it her. How could I refuse the ledge!!! :)

Yep that made my night. Beating the flames, getting Alana's autograph and giving Tully my poster.

I'm going to ask her next time if she wants a storm drinking cup, as I have a few to spare. :)

WNBL weekend

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 13:00:52 GMT

I had an awesome weekend last week.

Had to work in the morning 7am - 11am first.

I arrived in Canberra just before 6pm and only had time to get organised before I had to go the the AIS arena.

While I was waiting for them to open the doors, I picked up some sharpy bookmarks and a transact thunder stick. This was the caps 21st birthday and the fans had an opportunity to sign the birthday card. So I put my comment and cartoon on the card.
There was also face painting but I think I've passed that phase. :)

So there we were in the stadium watching the players warm up. This was Alana's last home game in Aust, and the caps were determined to make it memorable for her.

During the introductions they mentioned the burning smell. Um should we worry about the burning lamp?

Graffie presented Alana with a bunch of flowers.

Abs got another plaque. :) Go Abs

This was a close quarter with the score seesawing. They stopped the game a few times while they removed all the fans from behind the caps basket and zoned the area off with security guards.

The the game started again. Tully did a brilliant layup and Alana had some beautiful moves.

Then they stopped the game again.

The caps walked off the court. The fellas stood around the middle wondering what was happening. Eventually they left the court.

LJ then suddenly came out with a fire extinguisher. It was so funny, the crowd laughed.

Then came the announcement "everyone must leave the stadium immediately!!"
So we all left the stadium and waited outside. Some people left others just waited around.

After about half hour, they announced that the game would continue at the AIS training hall. This stadium holds less than 200, so it was a mad dash to get a prime position in the stadium.

Yep I was out with my elbows pushing pass the crowd. I finally got a seat under the basket. :)

It was amazing watching hundreds of fans trying to cram into the stadium. In the end they had to push the crowd back as they were overflowing onto the court.

There was a load cheer when the caps rocked up. :)

As the caps did their warm up run, the kids would give tully high 5s as she reached the end of the court.

After a long wait the fellas finally turned up. They didn't want to play but after consulting the fiba manual they had no choice.

I sure this had an effect on the players.

It was an amazing game. Tully and Alana were throwing their bodies everywhere. Tully and Screeny ended up in the crowd a couple of times.

The crowd was cheering and with the confined space it seemed to lift the caps. :)

In the end the caps won.

I met Capsfan and swapped my 2004 seattle storm championship poster with him for a caps team poster. Yep I couldn't make the previous game when they handed out the team posters so I was keen to get one.

Afterwards I started to get some autographs for my poster. During this time I had a talk to Beattie after the game. She was really excited as she had a corker of a game.

I like the way they play the Beattie and Harley, as it means the opposition has to match up to 2 talls. And now that Beattie attacks the boards more it adds another dimension into her game.

Alana racked up fouls quickly so she didn't have much of an impact on the game.

It was truely a wonderful start to the weekend. :)

Tomorrow it's off to Sydney for the second game.

Bad news

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 10:21:27 GMT

Oh no, last night I got the phone call from my mum.

She's coming over this chrissie!!

And she brought an open ticket so I don't know how long she will stay???

I'm going to do heaps of overtime at work now. ;)

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 09:46:20 GMT

This was my hat I made for the Melbourne cup. It had to reflect on the job I did or some facet of it. :)

And I won.

Tafe

Sun, 27 Nov 2005 09:08:09 GMT

Yeah, finally finished Tafe this semester. So now I can concentrate on work and all related matters.

I look after production, so I have to schedule and allocate resources to completing this jobs.

As I need to allocate staff, I must also need to inform people when their services are no longer required. Such is life. :)

However it appears that I am doing things beyond my scope of work. Things that my 2 bosses should be looking after instead of passing them onto me.

Um you're my boss so you should make the decisions. Not ask me for advice and ideas. It doesn't work like that. I have enough on my plate without worrying about what your issues are?? Duh.

I can't accept all responsibilities now can I?