Don't bother talking to me
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Like perhaps a third of all commuters, I listen to music on the train. I have my ipod nano in my pocket, and use my old sony earphones - partly because they're black and stealthy compared to the ipod's white earphones, but mostly because they're comfy. I don't know if it's that the black headphones are hard to see, or whether I just have a friendly face, but I often have random people talk to me.
This is more frustrating than it sounds, because I'm too nice to just ignore them totally. So I have to remove one earphone and/or pause the music I was listening, then excuse myself in asking them to repeat themselves. I'm not even sure why I excuse myself when they were the ones who interrupted me.
Cars, Cricket, Beer, and Girls
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
The last few days have been pretty hectic, so I figured I might as well blog while I have something interesting to talk about.
I've committed myself to going to a track day on Feb 21st out at Queensland Raceway, so Saturday morning I dropped in at Fulcrum to see about some suspension upgrades/tweaks. When I went there I had in mind Whiteline's Handling Pack, which gives adjustability for camber, castor, and I believe toe, as well as adjustable sway bars. It can be had for under $1k fitted and sounded like a pretty decent upgrade for that price. In the end, however, I walked out with two quotes: one for Tein coilovers (yum!) for $2500 (!!!), and another for essentially a beefed up version of the Whiteline kit for $1800 fitted (!!). While I was there I had a good long chat with the guys, and they even chucked my car on the hoist and checked out the alignment, all without charging me a cent. Turns out that not only is my castor and toe all over the shop, which explains the pull-to-left that's been annoying me of late, but my rear camber is at a pretty crazy angle - it'd only be good for drifting and chewing through tyres faster. So I'm going to have to get at least some of the work done in order to correct those issues. :/
Then on Sunday I finally had a crack at installing the Whiteline pineapple rings I bought before I went to the States. After about an hour of working out how best to jack up and support the car - including a 20-minute impromptu jack-repair lesson when the damn thing broke on me - I finally got underneath to undo the first bolt. No go. It wouldn't budge, and I only succeeded in all but destroying my 17mm socket bit. :/
So I gave up and decided to replace the fuel filter, which I'd been meaning to do for about 4 months now. Thankfully it went about as good as a fuel filter replacement can go, with me only spilling a relatively small amount of fuel on both me and the car. At least I had one success for the day. :)
Last night I went to the Twenty20 match at the Gabba, where Australia slaughtered South Africa.
That's the view we had, which I took just as one of the South Africans got out. That's the guy in front of me giving the Billy Bowden-style dismissal. Thankfully the weather was kind to us and the predicted storms never arrived, and I got home only a little tipsy at around 10:30 or so.
So after a short night's sleep, work was a bit of a struggle today, which was followed by a night out tonight (which I may discuss at a later date).
So now it's 10:50pm, I'm back at work, and my next train is in 15 minutes. Time to pack up and head home for a few short hours sleep before another long day tomorrow!
2005 in a nutshell
Friday, January 06, 2006
This has been shamelessly stolen from Rhiannon :)
1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Travelled to the US!
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and did you make more for this year?
I never really make any new years resolutions. I always have a couple of goals I'm working towards. I finally nailed two or three of them, but there's still a couple to go.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A couple of the girls at work did. Other than that, no.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.
5. What countries/cities did you visit?
United States: Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, Washington, Raleigh, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, and Mammoth Mountain
New Zealand: Auckland (well, the airport :P)
6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
A girlfriend. *sigh*
7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Pretty much all of November, but here's the highlights:
- 2nd: Landed in LA
- 7th-9th: Seeing New York
- 10th-13th: Finally met Sara and spent the weekend with her, Dave, and Simon. :D
- 19th: Las Vegas
- 21st: Grand Canyon
- 23rd: First snowboarding lesson
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Organising my trip and travelling on my own (and coming out of my shell a bit in the process)
9. What was your biggest failure?
My love life :(
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
A couple of colds, a few hangovers, but I think that was about it. Oh, I hurt my knees from a little too much gym at one point early on in the year. That hurt for about 2 months.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My camera
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Manuel, Derek and Cindy for letting me stay with them for a few weeks.
Sara and Dave for also letting me stay, despite having never even met before.
In fact, everyone I hung out with in the States deserves a mention, cos they all helped me have such a great time! :D
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Can't think of any I'd like to mention here.
14. Where did most of your money go?
The trip, and the camera.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The trip! :D
16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc
17. Compared to this time last year, are you...
i. happier or sadder?
Happier for the memories my trip has brought me.
ii. thinner or fatter?
A little fatter I think.
iii. richer or poorer?
That's a toughie. Technically richer, but my credit card took a massive hit on the trip :/
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Socialising (including, but not limited to, dating)
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Spending money on pointless crap
20. How did you spend Christmas?
With the family at my Sister's place, then going on a late-night cruise with the guys.
21. How did you spend New Years?
Again, at my sister's place with various family and friends playing poker etc, but I got a call from work just before midnight :(
22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
Sadly, no. There was a crush or two, but nothing more serious than that.
23. How many one night stands?
That's not me.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
No real outstanding favourite. Here's the short list of favourites:
Scrubs, Seinfeld, Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris, My Name is Earl, Family Guy, American Dad
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope. I'm not one to hate people without really, really good reason to.
26. What was the best book you read?
The Green Mile. Even though I'd seen the movie the book was still really good (and very sad in parts, but maybe that's just me).
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Douglas Fir. Not only is their music awesome, but Adam is a good enough guy to give me a free copy of their EP :D
28. What did you want and get?
A digital SLR.
Also got to meet Sara finally! :D
29. What did you want and not get?
Real answer: Love
Manly answer: Goodies for my car
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
Again, a short list of favourites:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hitch, and Just Like Heaven.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I don't think it was on my birthday, but I went to Amici's at Southbank with friends, then continued on to the Plough Inn. I was 21 (+7)
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I think you can probably guess my answer to this one.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
I'd say it's evolving. I'm "getting out of my comfort zone", with friendly prods from Sia and Katrin. :)
34. What kept you sane?
Who said I was sane? :P
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
It's a little embarassing, but I'd have to say Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars")
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Can't say politics really stirs me too much at the best (or worst) of times.
37. Who did you miss?
Jo.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
John and Solange. (Friends of the twins) It seemed like we had dinner with them almost every night I was in LA, which was definitely not a bad thing. Solange seems like a lovely person, and John was a lot of fun. Plus John gave me some really good pointers and encouragement when I was learning to snowboard.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
It's a big world out there, but I faced it on my own and survived.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Why is he always the one who ends up second best
Why do the girls always say to him 'Let's just be friends'"
-- 'Sucker', Douglas Fir.
New design
Thursday, January 05, 2006
This new design came together real quick, and I decided in the process to switch to blogger.com for managing my blog. It seemed to work pretty well for my trip blog, so I think it's time to give my homemade engine the flick.
I'll have to see how I go at importing all my old entries across. Depends how hot it is this weekend. :/
Happy New Year
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Happy 2006!
I think it's almost time for a site redesign...
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