When your local celebrity hits the big time

In the big wide world we live in, we all know the big celebrities out there:

Brad and Angelina, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Madonna, Beyonce, Sting and all the others out there.

But we all have local celebrities who live in the same city or country as you. They may not have the fame or money as the people above have but you know them because they are on local TV, radio, movies, stage, the catwalk or store catalogues. They have varying degrees of popularity and fame in their own country.

In Canada I remember musicians like K-OS, Bedouin Sound clash, Chantal Kreviazuk, TV/Radio personalities – Shaun Majumder, Jian Ghomeshi and Sook-Yin Lee. TV actors like Rick Mercer, Gavin Crawford, Cara Pifko, Leah Pinsent.

What happens if your local celebrity hit’s the big time, do you feel a connection to them ? Because you knew of them before they hit it big? That happened to me in Oz.

I was browsing a movie website for news on movies in production. One of the items was for a comic book adaptation of Justice League, which features many superheroes in one movie. Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. The person slated to play Wonder Woman is Megan Gale. Then that evening on the local news was footage of Megan Gale doing her last catwalk in Melbourne before going on to shoot Justice League.Megan Gale is very famous in Australia as the face of upmarket department store David Jones. Megan Gale is also a model and actor. She has appeared in an Italian movie and had a small role in the American movie Stealth, which was shot in Sydney. She also dates one of the radio hosts that I listen to in the afternoon.It was quite amusing when I recognized the name, but not recognized it as being a big Hollywood star, but for being the face of David Jones and dating radio host Andy Lee.

Just last week I received a David Jones flyer and she was on the front cover and I paid no attention to her. As you see her on TV, billboards and catalogues.

I am sure there are actors, comedians and singers all around the world that we don’t know about that make it big every year but have a history and connection with the people from their city or country.

Since living in Melbourne I now know of people who provide entertainment (both Australian and from around the word) that the rest of world may not know of. People like Myf Warhurst, Hamish and Andy, Adam Hills, The Chaser gang, Akmal Saleh, Rove McManus, Peter Helliar, Dave Hughes, Ed Kavalee, Julia Zemiro and host of other people.

Now not only do I know of American entertainers, Canadian entertainers, but now Australia ones. I feel that I have a better appreciation for the difference in entertainment and comedy from each of the countries.

Airplanes in a climate of change

Since moving to Australia I have become more interested in airplanes and the changes occurring in the airline industry. The main reason being I would like to travel more comfortably in the future. For the foreseeable future I won’t be able to afford business class, first class or even premium economy with its 50% or more mark-up over regular economy.

The new planes and retrofits in older planes, which increase comfort in economy seats interest me. But also of interest is how airlines and new airplanes are increasing efficiency in fuel usage and greening the airways due to global warming concerns.

Airbus A380

Last year I became interested in the new Airbus A380 “Super jumbo” airplane. As test flights and demonstrations were occurring in Sydney and Melbourne. The A380 is a double-decker with a maximum of 555 seats in 3 classes or 853 in an all economy class configuration. It depends on the airline and how they configure the plane.

The first A380 to fly commercially was Singapore Airlines on 25 October, 2007 between Sydney and Singapore. The delivery of the first A380’s was expected in 2005. But delays occurred because of issues with manufacturing and configuration in the airplane, specficially the wiring of the plane.

After 2 months of operation, Singapore airlines CEO said that the A380 was performing better than he and Airbus expected. The plane was burning 20% less fuel per passenger than the airlines fleet of Boeing 747-400, which carries less passengers.

The reason of this according to Airbus is:

The A380 has an efficient structure that incorporates more new material than any other jetliner, with composite and other lightweight materials accounting for more than 25 per cent of its structure.

The A380 also incorporates many other innovations in aerodynamics and the latest in engine technology to meet regulatory requirements for emissions now and into the future.

A380 Seating

Economy
In economy the wider cabin of the plane allows for 48 cm (19 inch) wide economy seats instead of 43 cm (17 inch) seats on a 747, although the seat pitch of 81 cm (32 inch) is the same as that on a 747.

All seats feature 27 cm or 10.6 inch LCD screens in each seatback, as well as an AC power supply in most seats and USB connector.

Business
In business-class, seats are 84 cm (34 inches) wide, can lie flat for sleeping, and have 39 cm (15.4 inch) LCD screens.

First Class
In first class, Singapore airlines offer 12 enclosed seats. Which features one full seat, similar to a reclining chair and a secondary seat, similar to a bench. A full sized bed, a desk, personal storage area and a 58-cm or 23-inch LCD screen. All of this costs about 20-25% more than a standard first class seat.

Four of the suites are double suites, which feature a double bed.

In future posts I will talk about Boeing’s Dreamliner airplane and other steps airlines are taking to combat climate change, such as biofuel.

Academy Awards and Cars

The Oscars
The four actors who won Oscars this year for 2007 movies, presented an international flavour to the winners circle. None of the winners were American. I find that a nice change. Here are the winners:

Best Actor, Male
Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood (England/Ireland)

Best Supporting Actor, Male
Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (Spain)

Best Actor, Female
Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose (France)

Best Support Actor, Female
Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton (England)

Cars in Oz 2
Back in September I mentioned some of the cars available in Oz but not in North America. I mentioned the Toyota, Honda and Holden (GM) cars. But those brands are available in Canada.

In Oz you can get cars that are not available in Canada but available elsewhere around the world, most notably Europe. If you watch a show like Top Gear, you will see brands like Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Citroen and Renault. They are available here in Oz as well. They are more expensive than standard/mid-range Japanese or American cars, but also more stylish cars.

In Melbourne I notice a lot of Peugeots, Alfa Romeo’s and some Fiat’s; but not many of the other brands - Citroen and Renault.

The excitement of oversees Travel

Last weekend Lauren and I booked tickets for oversees travel. The reason we did it then, was due to a free travel expo that was on. The expo is a place for airlines and tour companies to sell their services with specials and discounts. They wine and dine you with the specials and then you go to a Flight Centre booth to book it.

Before we headed to the expo on Saturday, we went to our local Flight Centre to check prices. We wanted to do an around the world ticket and go to Bangkok, Helsinki and Toronto. Because we wanted to go to Helsinki, we learned that Finland’s national air carrier – FinnAir has special deals to entice you to visit Finland. But unfortunately our travel consultant could not navigate the various rules and conditions. So we were left without a quote. But with a price in mind, of what it may cost. As well as the cost for a direct flight to Toronto, it’s very expensive. Toronto is on the other side of the world from Australia and that’s the reason for the cost.

We then went into the city to visit the Expo; we bypassed all the sale booths and went straight to the Flight Centre booths. There must have been over 100 Flight Centre booths, representing all the Flight Centre locations in the city. No one was at our local Flight Centre; so we tried a different location. A young woman sat down with us and took down our details. She then went away and came back to the Flight Centre booth and was in deep discussion with two other travel consultants. After about a total time of 15-20 minutes she came back and gave us a rough estimate for an Around the World ticket. She told us it was crazy here and computers were down and she would call us on Monday. We thanked her for time and wondered off. We decided to try one more Flight Centre agent and tried the next suburb over from where we live. We told her about this FinnAir deal and she said come in tomorrow and we’ll work it out for you.

On Sunday morning at about 11:30am we headed to Flight Centre. Working with the travel consultant for more than an hour; a lot of it just waiting while she worked out the routes. We were able to get our flights and most of it direct, on well known air carriers. But what shocked us most was the price. It was much cheaper, than a direct flight to Toronto. This summer in the northern hemisphere and winter for the southern hemisphere; Lauren and I travelling around the world. We are going to Bangkok, Helsinki and Toronto. Most flights are direct, expect for a few legs where we transfer from one plane to another. We booked the ticket that same day and later in the afternoon paid for the flight and even chose seats on some of the flights.

We were very excited and happy. We couldn’t believe it happened so fast, the quality of flights we got and especially the cost. We are flying Qantas, FinnAir, British Airways and American Airlines. The best part I like, is our return journey to Melbourne, we are flying direct as possible - Toronto to LA, LA to Melbourne.

I am very happy; I get to visit an exotic Asian country – Bangkok. Visit a dear friend in Helsinki and come home for a month to see family and friends in summer time.

In 4 months time I will be back in Ta-ronn-to, TO, The Big Smoke; after 18 months living down under in Oz. I am looking forward to it, being a visitor in my own city, seeing changes in people and the city itself.

The Format war is over:

Blu-ray wins!!

It’s official, on Tuesday Toshiba announced they are withdrawing from the HD-DVD market. They will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD-DVD players and recorders. Toshiba will continue to provide support and after-sales service for all owners of HD-DVD products. They will wind down operations by the end of March 2008.

Shortly after Toshiba made the announcement, Universal Studio’s announced they have started preparations on Blu-ray discs; although no titles were given yet. Universal was the only studio to support HD-DVD from the start. It is welcome news that they have moved so quickly to support Blu-ray.

With Toshiba dropping HD-DVD and Universal announcing support; that leaves just Paramount the lone studio supporting HD-DVD. I am sure within the next few days they will announce support for Blu-ray. Paramount previously supported Blu-ray and even had titles which had been produced and manufactured, which they held back from retail when they switched to HD-DVD back in late August 2007. So it will be no problem for them to jump back into Blu-ray. While it may take longer for Universal to ramp up their Blu-ray production.

Now that there is only one High-Def format, the focus can change from fighting HD-DVD to spreading the news about Blu-ray. As I mentioned in my previous entry; Blu-ray faces an uphill battles against standard definition DVD, High-def downloads, awareness/education and price. The cost of Blu-ray hardware and software is not on the same level as DVD. It will take a lot of marketing and price reductions to get Blu-ray to become appealing for the masses.

Work also needs to be done to work out the kinks of Blu-ray. Beside the specification issues - Profile 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 players. They are still many issues with the BD-Java implementation, which drives the interactivity of Blu-ray. If Blu-ray is to become mainstream, it cannot expect users to download firmware updates, burn it to a CD and load the CD to install the firmware. This really needs to be addressed and hopefully over the course of the year with the introduction of full specification 2.0 players they will be.

Before ending I must give kudos to Toshiba and HD-DVD. In April 2006 they introduced a player with full functionality – Picture in Picture functionality, Internet connectivity and on-board decoding on audio codec’s. Blu-ray was not ready to enter the market and it forced the Blu-ray group to release (June 2006) earlier than expected, that’s why there is all the different specifications for Blu-ray. HD-DVD included advanced video codec’s such as AVC and VC-1 as part of their specification. This forced Blu-ray to include it as well, which was not part of the original Blu-ray spec, MPEG 2 was. The first Blu-ray releases tended to be MPEG-2 video and the quality was not great. It was because of HD-DVD that Blu-ray picture quality got better, interactivity increased and hardware prices fell.

Toshiba had a great machine, which provided more or less the same video quality as Blu-ray. But Blu-ray was able to convince the content providers to go Blu, because of security measures and more disc space. In the end 4 things won the war.

1. The Trojan horse of the PS3, which included a Blu-ray drive capable of playing DVDs, Blu-ray movies and PS3 Blu-ray games.
2. The exclusive content of Disney, Fox, Warner Bros and Sony movie studios.
3. The retailers in the United States put their weight behind Blu-ray. Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Blockbuster and NetFlix all decided to support Blu.
4. Sony learned from its Betamax defeat and created a consortium of all the major electronic and computer companies – Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, LG, Phillips, Apple, Dell, HP and cut them in for a piece of the action.

Whereas HD-DVD just had Toshiba on the electronics side and Microsoft, Intel and HP on the computer side. LG and Samsung made dual (HD-DVD/Blu-ray) players, but they were much more expensive than a standalone HD-DVD player.

The High-Def format war is over; all I hope for now is that Blu-ray become mainstream over the next couple of years. So I can rent Blu-ray discs at my local video store or buy at a reasonable price to enjoy on my High Definition TV or projector. Not that I have one now, but hopefully in the next few years I will.

But I don’t expect Blu-ray to be as popular as DVD. DVD has only been around for 11 years and really only experienced massive growth within the last 8-9 years. If Blu-ray is half as successful as DVD I will be happy.

HD-DVD finally Dead ?

Earlier in the year I mentioned that Warner Bros. studio changed their stance from supporting both High-Def DVD formats to just supporting Blu-ray. Since that announcement 6 weeks ago, the tides have changed drastically for Blu-ray. Many smaller independent studios around the world have changed to Blu-ray only.

Last week was a St. Valentine’s massacre for HD-DVD. In the United States, retail stores Best-Buy and Wal-Mart have decided to support Blu-ray and Netflix the #1 DVD online renter has decided to stop supporting HD-DVD and only support Blu-ray.

On Saturday and Sunday reports were coming out of Japan that Toshiba would cease production of HD-DVD hardware and close a factory in northern Japan. This is not official, but all major media outlets around the world are reporting on this and signalling the end of the Format war. Now it’s just waiting for Toshiba to publicly announce it.

The next hurdles Blu-ray faces is get people to upgrade their DVD player to a Blu-ray player to watch High-Definition movies on their Rear-Projection, LCD and Plasma televisions and projectors. Competing against Blu-ray are high-def download services from Apple TV, Xbox 360, Sony Playstation 3 and cable/satellite subscribers with On-demand and Pay-per view access. But all of the above pales in comparison to the quality of Blu-ray picture and its uncompressed audio codec’s.

Over the course of the next year, the Blu-ray Disc Association needs to reduce prices on hardware and software. As well as market the benefits it offers over DVD. And bring to market full specification players, that do Picture-in-Picture functionally and Internet connectivity. The future looks bright for Blu-ray for 2009 and onwards. Hello to 1080P High-Definition video.

The writer’s strike is over

Billy jumped over the 6 foot crevice which fell 50 feet down to sharp rocks. Keeping pace right behind him was a tall man who must have been in his 50’s. Billy could not believe the man made the jump and was still keeping pace with him. What did this guy eat for breakfast? Steroids! But Billy could not keep concentrating on the man behind him, but what was in front of him. He was in a dense jungle with trees and branches protruding from every where. He had to be careful or he would get knocked out by a branch. Before Billy knew what was happening, he was falling. When he looked down he saw the most beautiful lake he had ever seen. He braced himself for the impact, Splash!

When Billy opened his eyes he was on a bed, dry and his clothes had been changed, he was in a sterile room with a bed and wash basin. He got up and went to the door it was locked. He banged on the door and the large glass windows. Slowly a curtain was revealed behind the large glass window. The man chasing Billy was staring back at him:

Man: Hello Billy, we meet again

Billy: What, I don’t know you? Who the hell are you ?

Man: Come on Billy, do we have to keep playing this game

Billy: What game ? Where am I ? Who are ?

Man, whispers into a microphone. He hears something over the speakers, only he can hear it.

Man: Jessica says hello

Billy: My mother ? Where is she...

Man: So you do remember

Billy: I know who my mother is, I don’t know you!

Man: Bolivia 1962, where were you ?

Billy: What are you talking about I wasn’t born until 1977.

Man: You have no recollection of the past 60 years ?

Billy: Are you crazy, I’m only 30!

Man presses a red buzzer, there is a loud siren noise, the lights dim and emergency red lights are turned on. The door to Billy’s room bursts open with 4 men entering. They tackle Billy and put him onto gurney that is wheeled in by 2 doctors. Billy is strapped onto the gurney and injected with a sedative. The Man walks into the room:

Man: It’s alright Billy, we’ll send you back to 99 and fix everything. Don’t worry mate, you’ll be fine.

Billy is wheeled away, and passes out. A much older, distinguished man comes into the room now.

Distinguished Man: Where is the device, Tagart ?

Tagart (Man): We’ll get it, don’t worry Mr. Smith, your past is secure in the future. I know where it is, all we need is….

End Scene

The above was my (poor) attempt at being a writer for a movie or television series. Over the past 3 months writers in the entertainment industry (both Movies and Television) in America have been on strike. Their contract was up and the demands they asked for were not met. The 2 primary issues the writers were asking for are:

1) Compensation for new media: the Internet – streaming and downloadable content, mobile phones and PDA devices with Internet/Television access.

2) A better formula for sharing profits on DVD, Pay-TV and television re-runs

A deal was struck this past week and now writers are going back to work. As for the details, it has not yet been released. Not sure if it will be released to the public.

With no writers for the past 3 months new television episodes could not be filmed or movie projects in development could not be written. But now that the writers are back at work, most television shows will air new episodes starting in the April – May/June period. All the big favourites like CSI, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives will be back.

The start of a new TV season in North America brings new shows. But because of the strike many new shows were not able to film more episodes. So a lot of new shows fate are undecided. If you liked shows like Women's Murder Club, Lipstick Jungle and Moonlight their fate is undecided.

Some new and old televisions shows that were renewed for a whole season won’t be finishing this season but starting again in the Fall season (Sept/Oct 08). You can expect to see shows like Heroes, Chuck, Pushing Daises, Life, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money and Prison Break start-up again then.

Other shows are being cancelled outright, most likely because of low ratings. Gone for good are Bionic Woman, Cane, Carpoolers, Cavemen, Journeyman and K-Ville.

Two shows that start airing in the January and February period - 24 and Lost have changed their schedules. 24 have now been pushed back to January 2009. And Lost has cut its episode from 16 to 13 episodes.

I hope the writers got what their asked for and deserve. Millions of people around the world derive pleasure from Television. The entertainment and escape it offers give people much enjoyment.

I myself look forward to seeing new episodes of Lost, Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother. As well as looking forward to new episodes of Chuck and Pushing Daises later in the year.

A Historic day in Australian history - Feb 13, 2008

Yesterday was a historic day in Australian history. The federal government, lead by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the Aboriginal people who were taken away as children from their families and grew up on missions, farms and institutions. The Aboriginal people call this group of people the “stolen generation”.

This apology is considered a landmark in Australian history. Both Aboriginal and white Australians never thought this movement would happen. What the apology does is open a new chapter in the future of all Australians. Now the task for people – communities and government at levels is ensuring that the native people of this land have the same opportunities as all Australians. The education and health of Aboriginal people are far below that of other Australians. This needs to change, so the Aboriginal people can be on equal footing as other Australians. Instead of just being known for their artistic endeavours (paintings and music) for both Australians and tourists, they need to become part of society.

It is a long road ahead; there are many issues that need to be resolved. It will take hard work and determination by all. But all you need is a first step and the future can seem so much brighter. That step was taken by Kevin Rudd and the Labor governments’ apology. Now the rest is up to the Aboriginals and the rest of Australia to help in the process.

Yoga – Lesson on how your body should be

At the end of last year Lauren and I took a beginner’s yoga class. The primary reason for enrolling being I have hips issues. Any time I bend left or right or put pressure on my hips I can feel tightness in my hips. I went to see a physiotherapist two times and he suggested some exercises to do, but it didn’t really help. Maybe it would have, if I continued doing it on a daily basis. That’s another blog entry on procrastination. We decided to take up yoga and did a beginners class, for 8 weeks. We both found it beneficial in increasing our flexibility in our body and decided to take beginner level 1 in January.

Beginner level 1 is a whole different level altogether. It’s all about increasing or lengthening your muscles; so you can do hand and head stands, which is a very good thing to do apparently. But I could not believe the difference in the class. It’s a 90 min class and during that time you are in all manner of contortions and at the end it really feels like a workout.

Over the course of the past 5 weeks, I have been thinking how our bodies are out of whack. Yoga is all about the ability to place parts of your body in poses to attain a certain physical posture. In doing so it helps with mental, spiritual and physical well being.

To be able to get your body in the poses you must twist or move each part of your body so it’s straight in line with other parts of your body. For most of us our bodies are not straight. Our shoulders, arms, thighs, knees, calves, toes, ankles and arches of our feet are out of line with the rest of our body, specifically the spine, hips/pelvis and back.

I feel like it is going to take decades to properly do poses and get the complete benefits of yoga. I wish yoga was taught in primary school. As I get older, even though I am relatively young, I feel I need to spend time helping my body so I can grow old gracefully. But if I had learnt to do this 25 years ago, maybe I would not have a misaligned body now. I have the next 30 years to fix it or at least help my body in the right direction.

The path to losing weight and saving money

On Monday I started a new job and also vowed to eat healthier and be more active. Over the past year being in Melbourne, I have gained a few pounds and wanted to shed some weight.

The start of a new job was a good time to also start a healthier regime. I have decided to do the following for a month; give up 2 things I like but are not so healthy for me – Coca Cola and Pizza. As well as increase my exercise routine. I have also decided to reduce my intake of other unhealthy items like Potato or Corn chips, White bread (Pizza rolls), chocolate, other types of soft drinks, desserts and especially fast food – hamburgers, fries etc.

It has been 4 days since I started and things are going well. I have ridden my bike to work for 3 days and will continue to do so. I have also taken my lunch to work for 3 out of 4 days. I have eaten fish 3 times this week. Well one big serving for dinner and 2 smaller servings for lunch – Tuna sandwich and Salmon quiche.

The biggest fear I have is giving into the temptation to have coke or pizza. It also makes it harder that I now work very close to the Preston Market. You can get very tasty slices of pizza – Mexicana, Margarita and Capriccoisa for $2.70 a slice. It’s the tastiest pizza I have ever had. It is very tempting to walk over and get a slice or two or three. But yesterday as I was walking through the market; not satisfied with my tuna sandwich, I walked by the pizza shops but did not buy. Instead I wondered over to the fruit section and bought a banana.

Over the course of the past 4 days I have saved quite a sum of money by riding my bike to work and bringing lunch to work. Not only am I saving money but I’m eating more healthily and being physically active.

When you look at the money you save in not paying for transport and lunches; it makes you feel good that you are doing something positive for your health and your savings.

The only thing left is to keep it up and start going to the gym more.

Tiger Airways

Back in November I mentioned the launch of Tiger Airways, a new low-cost flight carrier to be launched in December 2007. I booked two flights with them, one in Januray to Noosa and another in March to Adeliade.

Our flight to Noosa was orginally scheduled to be a morning flight. But the night before we checked the flight and it had changed to an early afternoon flight. That change was fine, as the flight was booked before Tiger launched their service. But we had to check in 2 hours before the flight. That was also ok as we were staying at Lauren’s parents and they are close to the airport. We were able to check in, return to their place and chill for another hour.

At 11:30am we arrived to do the security check-in and waited in line to board. But at 11:50am we were told it would be a delay of 15 mins and then at 12:10pm, told it would be another 20 mins delay. We finally boarded the plane at 12:30pm.

The plane is a brand new Airbus A320-200, which is built for short domestic flights. All seats are economy class, with a capacity of 180 passengers. There is one lane with 3 seats on each side of the plane. I believe Tiger has a total of 8 planes for Australian domestic flights. As with most low cost carriers, any snack, food or drinks have to be bought. The flight was smooth and trouble free, no issues with luggage.

On return from Noosa to Melbourne, our scheduled flight was a 1:30pm flight. That was changed to 1:50pm and we didn’t board until 2:25pm. But we still arrived at the same arrival time. Again no problems with flight, but we did have to wait longer for our luggage.

I think the main problem is their small fleet of planes. One plane may go from Adeilaide to Melbourne to Noosa and back to Melbourne. You need time to check systems and fix any problems that arise; and that is the reason for the delays. Also the 2 hour check in on domestic flights is because they use the same staff to check your tickets/bags as well as check your boarding pass.

Overall the flight experience was fine, no issues with it. The delays although annoying were tolerable because of the price. Lauren commented, for business purposes she would not take Tiger. But for vacations and the price savings it offers, it is very good alternative to Virgin Blue and Jet Star.

We will be using Tiger in March to visit Adelaide for the long weekend and at $100 return for the two us, you can’t beat it. Taking a car would take more time and be more expensive for fuel.

Summer in Oz

It’s summer in the land down under. The big 2 months of summer have passed and it’s downhill from now on. But February and March will still be very warm and stay light into the early evening.

In January there are school holidays for primary and secondary students. So it is a time which parents take time off to go on vacation with their children. The Universities are also on break, young backpackers go on vacation around Australia or oversees.

January is a month filled with tennis; there are tournaments in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney. They all lead up to the big one in Melbourne, the Melbourne Open which occurs mid to end of January. During the Melbourne Open there are many exciting matches, that take place during the day and night time. The night matches can sometimes last 3 to 5 hours and it is not uncommon to be watching tennis into the wee hours of the morning.

Summer is a time when clothing gets shorter and there is less of it. It’s not uncommon to see thongs worn by both males and females. No not the skimpy lower body garment, but good old plastic slippers.

It’s also a time for more BBQs, common items are sausages, steak and chicken skewers. Also common is Dim Sum done on the BBQ. Not so common is Shrimp (called Prawns down under) on the Barbie.

In holiday destinations like Noosa, Sydney or the Great Ocean Road in Victoria the beach is the place to be. Cooling down in the water, or surfing the waves with your body, a boogie board or surf board. Things to do on the beach include reading, sun bathing or playing beach cricket.

Summer is about enjoying the warm weather and the taking advantage of nature’s natural beauty – the beach, the water, the lush green foliage of parks and forests. Same as it is anywhere in the world, summer is a great time of year.

Back on the Chain Gang

My two month vacation is over; I am back in the working world. Part of me is relieved, as I was starting to deplete my savings and getting bored looking for work. But it also came to quickly, as I was offered the job last Thursday, no interview necessary and started on Monday (today).

I still wanted to do a few things with my time off, mainly preventive items. Go see the dentist, get more physical activity by going to gym and possibly seeing a doctor. Oh well I will have to fit it in my schedule of after work and weekends.

As my working day neared its end, I felt the tiredness seep in. Having to be on for 8+ hours sure does take its toll on you both physically and mentally. No more waking up after 9am or afternoon naps for me.

During the month of January my motivation was to find work. And now that I have a job; my motivation is my next vacation. Saving money so I can go on my next trip – wherever that maybe.

But I also find myself in a position where I’m not doing the type of working I initially wanted to do. I am doing 1st level technical support, which I have never done. I have always done a combination 1st and 2nd level or 2nd level support.

As I started my working day, I begrudgingly set about to learn the environment that I need to know to support the users. But as the day went on and I took my first call in late afternoon and helped a caller, my mood changed.

I think what changed was that I realized I could be bored at home looking for work or get paid working in a comfy office environment helping people over the phone. Not so bad when you consider the alternative.

There are a variety of jobs that would require harder work and less pay. So I’m going to tough it out and do the job. It’s only a 2 month contract and also a lesson in humility, I may have to do things I consider beneath me with my technical skills and experience, but it’s not really. It’s all how you look it.

For now it’s a job to cash up and help me save for that next vacation. Also working seems to get my creative juices flowing, so expect regular Blog entries now.