Posts

saying goodbye

There are so many thoughts and memories, from things Nanna said to the smell of the spare bedroom in her house. Remembering the gerberas she grew in the front garden and hoping she knew I loved her and was grateful for all the things she did for me. It's terribly hard to say goodbye, but I know she had reached her time to slip away.

i hate moving

i'm sick of the sight of boxes. i'm sick of the smell of packing tape. the removal van cost twice what we budgeted for - apparently we bought a lot of furniture and accumulated vast amounts of shit in the last three years. the removal van knocked a drainpipe off the new place. it's been raining. the broken pipe makes a splattering noise outside our bedroom window. it also hit our garage door, which was a shitty tilt door in the first place and now jams.

gah.

on the upside, at least it wasn't 40deg when we moved. it's done. new place has air con. it's done. i didn't break myself too badly, although both removal guys hurt themselves. one guy dropped a box of books on his toe. i didn't check for damage - hell, if any books got bent i'll call that one a draw. other guy managed to put his entire leg down a little gap on the truck.

it's done.

news bits

  • NEWS.com.au | US Marines back accused soldier (November 17, 2004): US marines have rallied round a comrade under investigation for killing a wounded Iraqi during the offensive in Fallujah, saying he was probably under combat stress in unpredictable, hair-trigger circumstances. I wonder if the US is still denying that this war is a new Vietnam.
  • As Powell goes, US doors get harder to open - World - www.smh.com.au: When Colin Powell leaves his post as Secretary of State, so too goes his deputy, Rich Armitage, the de facto minister for Australian affairs in the Bush Administration. And so too goes an era in Australia-US relations. I think it speaks volumes that Powell is no longer willing to work for Dubya.
  • NEWS.com.au | Thieves steal 10-tonne bridge (November 15, 2004): [The local MP said] Who are the bastards that have flogged our bridge? That's a champion effort. Maybe someone did the old 'got a bridge to sell' and they decided to take what was theirs :) Probably being sold off as scrap metal.
  • Scramjet hits Mach 10, sets record. 17/11/2004. ABC News Online: An unmanned experimental jet has broken a world speed record by accelerating to about 11,200 kilometres per hour high over the Pacific Ocean in a NASA test of cutting-edge engine technology. They talk about potential commercial flights... I can imagine it: 'your cabin staff will now fly past your seat under several Gs of acceleration, anything you can snatch off the trolley is yours...'

around the traps

news bits

no court battle this time, but was the US vote glitched to pieces?

Check out linkfrenzy: QuickOne... not returning yet... Conspiracy? Possibly. Trying to roll out a new voting system without enough testing and accountability? Probably. Will Bush get back in again in four years? Did America really vote Bush back in this time? Well who knows - can Americans actually trust their voting system any more? Regardless of whether people supported Dubya or not, there are serious questions about the way things are run on polling day.

ok. status report.

  • I finally feel confident enough to post this: L's mum has come through the surgery and is recovering incredibly fast and well. We can all breathe again. It's been one hell of a month since the rollercoaster started.
  • We got the new rental place we wanted. Air-con is ours. Summer shall not kill us like last year and the year before and.... Well, so long as the power doesn't go off, ha ha, ahh crap. Poor sods in Energex are in for a bad summer, I guess.
  • I will miss our current neighbours (in our own complex that is). They've just moved out too, so they're giving us a huge stack of moving boxes. Anyone who has ever paid for moving boxes will understand what a boon that is. Admittedly they didn't pay either - the army paid their moving costs - but it's still an indication of the type of people they are.
  • I won't miss any of our neighbours in the next unit block. Fuck the lot of them. If I win lotto I'm still coming back, buying the place out and bulldozing the lot.
  • My Colorado boots have finally bitten the dust - the sole came off one of them this morning just as I got to work. Very comfortable but don't have the staying power of Doc Martens, it seems.
  • Found some photos of the last of our family dogs (both gone now) when they were puppies. A pair of Border Collie pups - cute beyond belief! I miss them.
  • Looks like it's about to rain like all hell where I am right now.

old photo

No Trespassing - a gate in Ipswich - 1998

Took this one back in 1998. Actually developed and printed this one myself, not that I did a good enough job of it to really be proud ;) Very grainy, probably shot on ISO 800 film, but I think it suits the shot.

I should dig out the original print and re-scan it.

Labels:

gahhhh

  • NEWS.com.au | Bush claims four more years (November 4, 2004). Fuck you, America. I cannot believe you voted the Shrub back in. Well ok, I can. Gah. But it's still unbelievable.
  • Australian leaders congratulate Bush. 04/11/2004. ABC News Online. Well Howard is no surprise, but Latham? For fuck's sake. Just sign us up as the 51st state and be done with it.
  • Fuck. I had nightmares about both Howard and Dubya getting back in.
  • Obviously not everyone voted for Dubya, so to those who voted against - ok I don't hate you. Just your Fellow Americans. What were you thinking?? oh hang on... thinking... I was assuming you were thinking...

Update/PS. Yes, I know, democracy - just like free speech - is a bitch when the situation or result isn't what you wanted. But we have to go with it, since it's marginally better than the alternative (non-democratic dictatorship and thoughtcrime). At least the US elections saw - from what I have heard - a substantially increased level of participation, which is a good thing IMO.

I'm still amazed (almost impressed) that the opposition found someone so bereft of charisma that he couldn't knock off a chimp in a one-on-one (refer: Democrats search for a new Clinton. 04/11/2004. ABC News Online). Seriously. Not only did he not beat Dubya, he didn't even come close. What the fuck gives?

news bits

  • Police lose judge's blood sample. Imagine that - a supreme court judge's blood sample just happens to be the 'extremely rare' sample to go missing. particularly given this statement: Justice Shaw has acknowledged that he has a medical problem and is undergoing treatment... which given the context sounds like euphemism-speak for 'alcoholic in rehab'.
  • US election in voters' hands. i've got a feeling this will turn into another lawyer-fuelled debacle, ultimately returning dubya to power and permanently redefining the way US elections will be decided from now on. hell, the rest of american life appears driven by legal challenges, so it's just a logical extension.
  • army pilots in trouble for 'show us your tits' sign... at the indy, i'm surprised anyone noticed or cared.