The Problem with Blogs

One problem with having a blog that your friends and family read (even if occasionally) is you are unable to complain about them. You almost need to start an anonomyous blog just to vent your frustrations and complaints.

Same goes for anything personal. I can hardly blog about a my sex life, fantasies, silly ambitions, bowel problems or anything of a personal nature without both my friends saying "TOO MUCH INFO" or getting in trouble by my girlfriend (hey Ervi).

You end up self censoring yourself and just linking to funny Youtube videos.

I wonder if the more celeb bloggers have their own "secret blog" as you never saw Doogie Howser talking about that wet dream he had or that he cracked a boner at the wrong time as he knew the camera was behind me. Once people know who you are it all becomes this G rated boring world.

Nutri Grain Mini Speakers = Pile of Shit

We got some Nutrii-Grain bars in our office and when I opened the pack I noticed we won a "mini speaker".

What a weird promo item i thought. It says for us with portable Mp3 players and laptops. Weird don't laptops have speakers? This must be pretty cool to replace your laptop speaker.

I tested it out and you can't hear shit. And what you can hear is muffled and distorted. I crank the volume on my laptop or Ipod and I can just hear it.

What a waste of time. What a waste of potential. Did Kellogs get a call from a Chinese distrubutor who had thousands of these to flog off and they just said yes?

I'll post a video of it in actionas it's truley the worst promo item Ive seen since the Yahoo! beach tent.

Bus Seat A-Hole

I got on the bus during the Easter break and sat down near the back. Only to find the person on the window seat was sitting at a 45 degree angle. I tapped his legs and asked him to move them and he said he couldn't fit as he's too tall.

The guy looked no taller then me and was slouching so I said just sit up. He then made a shitty effort and didn't move at all. I remarked that it was a shitty effort on his behalf and he just said "get over it" "oh and happy Easter."

So now I'm the bad guy? and a cranky Easter Scrooge for wanting to sit on at least half the seat.

This was followed up by two groups of loud talkers (the couple that decide to commentate the movie to each over and don't even bother turning their heads to speak) behind me in the cinemas while watching 300. After telling the first group to shut the fuck up I lost all will power to tell the second group. Mostly out of fear of being called the Easter Scrooge again and the fact I had nothing to throw at them. I almost tossed Ervi's sandles but reisited.

I've had the same thing at work with Rob. We'd be in a meeting and he'd tap the chair or table with his foot. I'd ask him to stop, then 5 min later he does it again. I ask to stop. The third time I just get annoyed at him. Then I feel like a dickhead then I'm confused and embarresed for the rest of the day. Maybe its my tact (or lack of) or maybe I'm just overally sensative to shit like that.

So I guess the morel of my story is I should have come up with a good retort to his "oh and happy Easter" comment but I couldn't and that's what probably hurt the most :)

People on Ebay are Idiots

How is anyone meant to get a bargain on second hand goods when idiots pay more than retail on Ebay? It makes no sense.

Take thisMr Potatohead auction that just went through. My big was $20, if you factor in delivery I would have saved maybe $5, but some idiot paid $105!!!

Either they put the wrong amount in or have no concept of money.

Thats 3x retail prices!

Free Hugs

I saw a friend from my old school giving out free hugs in a busy city mall. I'd say she wanted the attention more than she actually wanted to make people happy by giving out a "free hug".

FUCK + STICK

Why do some people make it their duty to be a pain in the ass?

We're dealing with one guy who is creating a site for our of our clients and a simple request for FTP access to the server has been met with nothing but delays.

Rather than set up a username and pass for the one folder we need access to, he has decided that that would be "insecure and therefore unprofessional" and gives a week turnaround to create a "SFTP or SCP chroot jail." What ever the fuck that shit is.

These are the type of guys who got wedgies at Highschool and now will hold that pain for the rest of their life. Making everyone else feel the pain they experienced.

I never gave or received wedgies at Highscool so why do I have to deal with idiots like this guy?

This guy has a baseball bat worth of karma coming his way.

Patience

I went to Valentines dinner (first time in 7 years sorry Erv) and ended up waiting 1.40 min for my meal. Normaly I annoy the waiter if longer than 30 min but I thought I'd be patient and also I had filled up on my potatoes in spicey sause tapas entree. But as it neared 9pm, after arriving at 7, I had enough.

In the end the meal wasn't that good which has lead me to create a strict guidline for resturants.

1: Always order the resturant specialty. ie dont go to a Spanish place and order steak. Order Tapas. Only order steaks from Steak Houses.
2: Always hassle the staff if you meal is longer then 30 minutes being made.
3: Don't fill up on bread

Fuck You Steve Gunnels!!

Like a kick in the nuts* my web host, Steve Gunnels, unplugged all his servers and disappeared. Leaving me with no backup of my data and no legal access to my files which were ultimately hosted on theplanet.com.

The Planet kept telling me due to their privacy policy I couldn't access a backup of my files. Even though i had created these files their policy states they I'm not the owner, their customer is. Even if this customer has acted fraudulently or is unable to be contacted I cannot access the my files.

So anyone out there DO NOT host through a reseller. Go right to the source otherwise a beef with the reseller could mean all your data gone and no legal right to access your files.

On a positive note I didn't actually get kicked in the nuts which should help me spread my seed later in life. And I do have a backup of my blog data (no happy snaps) to October 2004 so I only lost 1 year not 5. So hears to a fresh start.

Any missing images from previous posts I will try and find and re-upload.

*I say like a kick in the nuts as they usually come by surprise and make you feel sick on top of hurting like a bastard.

I threw up

I threw up twice today, which brings my 2004 total of chunk blowing to 2. In 2003 3 i think I threw up 3 times so it's already looking like a big year in vomit, compared to last.

The worst thing is I had already had a shower before I threw up. Which sucks as it's good to have a shower after being sick. Anyway I still had some crust bile on my chin half way through the day. Lucky the lift at our office had a mirror.

Buying Headphones

Buying headphones is very confusing and hard. I reality you need 4 sets of headphones.

1: Work Set (Noise Reducing) : When the office is noisy you pop these closed cans on and all the noise is gone. Good for those tight deadlines. Although when the phone rings next to you you stare at the computer screen in ignorant bliss.

2: Work Set (Open): Some cans that let you enjoy your music while still being able to answer questions of colleges and pass the stapler if needed.

3: On the Go: Cans for using your IPOD on the train. Not to big, so you don't look like a tool, and they can easily fit into your bag.

4: Home Base Set: Cans for listening to the stereo/DVD at home on the Bean Bag with a bag of lollies and a drink.

You also can't buy headphones online without first trying them. They may not fit your big ass ears and you'll forever be annoying by that bit of plastic that scrapes your ear every time you take them off. Or you ears cook like little muffins on the side of your head. Either way you have to test them out.

To make it all harder still, companies love to spin BS on the specs of headphones, 40 MM drivers, 12-50 khtz, etc etc. What the fruit does it mean? I don't know. And everyone has their favorite brands. I went with Sony cause they were the only ons I could try on and they fitted well.

Client Briefs

Here is a few outlines of the clients briefs you seem to get a fair bit in the web design industry.

1: We want a viral game

2: We want a promotion that's viral and uses SMS

3: We want something creative and cool

4: We want something like that thing you did for this client last year

5: We want something that will win awards

6: We want a website, how much?

Im not bitching as all those requests mean the opportunity to make money and do a good job i just found it funny how ofthen these requests come up. So far we havent created a game like the penguin and yeti game. As that's just pure gold. We did however create Bogan Surf which seems pretty popular around the world. Especially in Sth Korea

Pizza Toppings

I ignorantly ordered a chicken schnitzel pizza from Pizza Hut yesterday.
The little schnitzel finger stuck into the middle of each piece with it's brownish/grey meat inside was not what I was expecting at all. In fact I didn't even think through the toppings that well at all. I just imagined something nice.

Now I know to stick to the simple pizzas and leave the steak & chips or seafood pizza's to adventurous people.

Also Pizza Huts Troppo Veg with corn??! I guess it still tasted better than Eagle Boys which make the worst pizza in Australia.

Pizza ratings for Australia for me are:
1: Independent Gourmet Pizza Places
2: Dominos
3: Pizza Haven/Pizza Hut
4: Home Made Pizzas
5: Frozen Pizzas from Supermarket
6: No Frills Frozen Pizza from Supermarket
7: Bread with Tomato Sauce
8: Go hungry, eat nothing
7: Eagle Boys Pizza

Debt

I've never been in debt, i only just got a credit card last month, so I don't know how I would react to owing a lot of money to a bank. Our family never had much money when I was growing up. We weren't poor at all it just seemed we never went crazy with buying stuff. We also lived in housing commission on the Gold Coast in a place called Nerang. And before that in a mobile home/caravan park. So i think my growing up had impact on how I spend money now. I always feel I have to save and feel guilty buying things. It might also explain my terrible fashion sense. Gold Coast Caravan parks aren't exactly fashion central.

I have a friend in debt i'm not sure how much he owes, but it seems enough to stress him out all the time. Not only this he didn't do his tax for a few years and now has to possibly be fined for not completing the BAS statements and stuff.

But I think if I was in debt I'd try everything I could to get rid of it fast. Especially if it was causing me stress. My friend owns a nice car, rent's a nice apartment but doesn't see that to get rid of debt it's not a matter of earning more money but changing the way you live, your money habits. Again I don't know the particulars of this problem so I can only see one side of this story.

The hard thing is talking to your friend about it. You can't offer much advice when you have never been in that situation and also debt is very personal. What someone does with their money is their own business. You can't say "hey mate why not sell your car and move to a cheap apartment or move home with your parents", cause it's none of your business. So you can't do much but hope they get through it. But it painful when your friend seems so sad about money.

Other really personal stuff like buying Christmas presents. I would have thought this year he'd say to his family that he's trying to fix his debt and he'll just send cards or something. And being family they will understand. But they still all went and got each other gift's. I mean that's none of my fucking business but it just means the debt is prolonged a little longer just for a holiday.

So if you have a friend in debt then try and support them but it's hard to not seem like a nosey prick. And if you have a family member in debt then by all means be nosey and tell the person to pull their finger out.

Potatoe

Why doesnt my site work anymore :)

948

This is a 948th post on this site and i do believe I have no readers to the site any more.

What happened I was asked? Could be the fact my spelling is getting worse. Or the fact I dont post very often. I havent really updated the site for a year or that i'm pretty boring and peopel realised this.

Does anyone still read this site regulary? Why not comment below and give me a reason to update more regulary. Anyone??? hehe

I have so many photos I need to add, new desktops, new right wings and a couple of merrimac moments.

Also would like to regig the site so it's a little more streamlined and add a new section.

I think the blog sites I visit regulary always have good links and interesting stories. Right now I have neither. I better pull my finger out I think :)

Broken DVD Player

My DVD player remote would not work properly today. This happened earlier in the week but fixed itself as things seem to. Most of the buttons work just the power and navigation buttons don't. What to do.

Well i packed up the DVD player and trained it back to the city. I showed the guy there whats was wrong. he looked puzzled then went to get a new remote to see if that was the problem.

Well after 5 minutes he told me that I had set my remote in TV mode. Dont by pressing the TV button just under the eject button. This would make the remote into a TV remote if i had an LG TV (which I dont). By simply pressing the DVD button it puts the remnote back in DVD mode.

Yay. We laughed about it but i suspect most of the laughing was done once i left the store.

The troubleshooting guide int he booklet didn't help my problem and that fact the TV mode only works if you have an LG TV is silly. An almost usless function.

Oh i also relised that the guy who sold me the DVD over charged me. I haggled him down on the price only to be charged the ticket price. I admit defeat by not checking the price on the docket. Silly me. 2 points Bing Lee

Code v Design

As someone who earns a living by coding in flash i have a large volume of pre built code from sites, games, screensavers and various presentations already built.

I am also constantly asked by friends and others for bits of that code for their work. Most of the time paid work. "Hey can i have that nav thing you did", or "hey you know the scroller can i get the code to work on my site".

Now normally i'm cool with this as it's helping out a friend and they woudl do the same but after doing soemthinkign i realised that this sint the same when it comes to design. Why is my flash code seen a common property but anything else is hands off.

If i asked "hey can i use that logo you did last year for this company i'm doing the ID for. I just need to change it a little... that cool" people would say fuck off. So why different for code. I guess it's not seen as being designed.

When i think more about it they are two different things and a logo is alot different to a bouncey nav.

Anyway still feels wierd that what i do fpr a living and what ive been paid to do is seen as common property.

CEO Pay

What do people do when you earn over $200,000 a year. Every month would be like christmas.

Even if the company you run is going down the shitter, it seems the CEO is the last to get the chop. Probably because he/she is running the show.

I guess income tax is a bitch. 200k equals over 70k in income tax. Poor bastards but luckily high prixed lawyers can fix that. Or the property they buy means their expenses are so high they dont pay any.

So next time you see your CEO punch him in the nuts or twist her nipples. Or even better steal their wallet. They wont notice a thing. Also don't feel bad about stealing company property or pretendting your work laptop was stolen.

Don't like the Skin

I saw this old lady on the train in fornt of me eating apple. Now theres nothign wrong with that. But then after each bite she spat the peel into a clear plastic bag.

Chomp, munch munch munch, spit
Chomp, munch munch munch, spit

She didnt seem to avoid the peel either. Purposly eating and spitting. Im not sure of where the practice comes form but I only spit if in dire need. But everywhere I look in Sydney I'm surrounded by people spitting. on the trains, waiting of the bus.

Not onto grass or in a bin but pretty much evetywhere. I guess it's the equivilent of dropping your cigerette but where ever you please. What do you say to someone that has just hocked a piece of snot next to you? pick it up? Rub his/her nose into it.

Font Fun

Being the ULTRA OSX nerd i am i decided to make my OS faster by removing the asian fonts and all those other unused fonts from the 3 font folders in my system. In theory inproving the speed considerably.

What i did was stuff my system so it wouldnt boot.

The most advanced operating system doesnt work without a few fonts.

bahh

i have since learnt my lesson.

Contractors

One reason why you should never pay a contractor as soon as the work is done is that it's only after 10 days you will find anythign wrong that needs changing.

A contractor that still wants to get paid is more likely to do the work quicker than one who hasn't recived their money.

I still think 50% - 50% is the best way to work.

50% at that start and 50% within 30 days of delivery.

This way the contractor knows you are serious. Has cash to keep them happy and the company still has soem control over work getting done in time and any unforseen changes.

S+M laptop

I've noticed with ever increasing awareness that my laptop has a current running through it now. After dropping it I must have squashed two metal parts toether. the result being that when it is plugged into the wall i get slight electric/static shocks form the metal.

Not being insured (warranty doesn't have a butter fingers clause) I visited my local apple centre and asked for a repair quote. It will cost over $1500 to replace the panels, just panels!!! no ram, no super important logic board, just metal panels!!!. If it's $1500 for just a few panels it means that the inside of the Apple is worth nothing. Build your own case and save heaps :)

Anyway I must doing something as now when I write this I fell my fillings tingling

I was thinking of marketing this laptop as a S+M laptop. Where you chat and get shocked at the same time.

Dropped Laptop

Like crashing a car into a pole, breaking your arm or burning your genitals wth hot coffee. Dropping your laptop is really fucking annoying.

Luckily everything still works in mine it just looks minda shitty.

Bastard!!

Doh

Insert winge here:

$550 to fix the scratch on the rental cars bumper. WTF
They charged my credit card twice. WTF

Neighbours above me don't seem to understand (or know of) the 5pm rule of work on units. Drilling at 9pm isn't kosher.

Geez it's cold :)

56k is crap

18 days in new place and still surrounded by boxes

Table tennis table seems to be broken a little ( i think it heard the stuff I wrote about it)

$6 montly bank fee!!!!!

Ahh feel better now.

WE ROCK!!!

The people living above me were jumping up and down and playing music at 2am. So i deceided to ask them to turn it down. I went up and realised it was the people 2 levels above me. I felt sorry for the people 1 level abpve me.

I knocked onthe door and waited only to hear the last bit of a song. Then I heard excited voices say "WE ROCK!!! You got any Alice Copper" then they opened the door. It's funny seeing old people shitfaced.

I believe that these may be the same people contactly hammering above me. I don't mind during the day but at 8.30-11.30 on a Saturday morning its really annoying. I guess they were building a stage for the great concert they had last night.

Add this to the trains that go past every day and this place is very noisy. It is darker at night and i liek the fact I can't see anything when I turn out the light as opposed to the previous unit we were in where the neon, fast food signs lit up our living room.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

It seems having a migaine impacts on your driving skills as much as being drunk. I badly scratched the rental car I had last night while trying to get into garage.

I can't find the TV cables so I missed my weekly dose of Malcom in the Middle, Mr Hell Show, South Park, Sex and the City and Six Feet Under.

Other good news is that The Osbournes is coming to Channel 10. In the USA you have to have MTV to see it. You also need HBO to see Six Feet Under and Sapronos. But all free in Australia. Suddenly the HCF chick in the ads is more appealing as I know her bog eyes are paying for my free TV shows

Beep Beep

Everytime I wait for the bus I wish that I had a car so I could drive where ever I want. But in reality what I want is someone to drive me around.

I hired a car today (to assist the move) and ended up almost crying cause I was going around in circles making wrong turns and generally getting lost.

When you walk you just face on direction and bam!, your off. Driving through the city is different as you think your going the right way then suddenly you've taken an exit and are on the Harbour Bridge?!?!?!?!

I wish I had P plates to excuss my aimless driving

Yay to public transport!!!!!

Cafe City

Cafe City (an italian cafe on Parramatta Road) is right behind my house. And one day it closed down without warning. It closed so fast they still had the gelati in the fridge for 3 weeks. It just sites there with a "closed until further notice" sign on it. I think the tell tale sign they were going under was when they stopped serving the Arribiata. Cutting back on the menu is a sure sign

Whats wierd though is that they have been closed down for almost 2 mths now but they are still advertising in Cinemas. Do you order cinema ads that far ahead??

Also whats with the the Bronte Gormet Tongues cinema advertising????. MMMM people are sitting there eating popcorn and lollies and suddenly they are meant to be tempted with Tongues in Jelly.

Cheap

Do you buy the 59c bar of soap and get a rash or the $1.99 Soap and feel clean?

Doesn't matter how much you try to tell people that it's not a price issue but a quality issue most people would use the 59c soap.

These are the same people who buy the cheap chinese food in the food court near closing time and wonder how they ever got such a bargin.