Weekend Wrap

Another Monday is upon us, the weekend is but a memory and there are 5 days of work to get through until you are free again. I shall try and ease that pain of the Monday blues with the weekend wrap!

Another Friday night of relaxation. After another full week at work all I could be bothered for was to go home and relax with my girlfriend. So after the weekly shop was done that is exactly what we did, we relaxed. A home made chinese feast and some ice cream were in order and then slobbing on the sofa.

Satruday, like most Saturdays, started off nice and tamely. After getting out of bed at about 9.30 I had some cereal and watched some T.V. My girlfriend then left to head to her parents on the Central Coast and I awaited my lift to rugby. The plan was to stop somewhere and get some food. We soon found a distinct flaw in our plan, there was no where to be found around the place we were playing! Hungry and a bit cold we went and watched the other teams play, then someone gave us the great news that there was a pie shop 2 mins down the road. We were in the car faster than you can say Steak and Mushroom.

The game was played on a bog of a pitch, but we won by a point which is always nice. It only really hit home how bad the facilities were at the end of the game. Caked in mud and with a train up to the Central Coast to catch I had to wear a hoodie, beanie, put my jeans on over my cycling shorts and give my extremely wet klit to a friend to take home so as to not get all my clothes dirty. I was then dropped t the station looking like someone that could do with a  good bit of TLC, a shower and some hot food and waited for the train. It came in and on I got. The looks that people gave me were priceless. I don’t think they could have looked more disgusted had I openly pissed on the seat next to them.

The journey was uneventful apart from that and soon I was in the car with my girlfriend on route to a hot shwoer and a change of clothes. After a quick spruce up we were off out. The first destination a 30^th birthday party. This was a very family orientated affair. There were children running around and people sat around talking, eating and drinking. A couple of beers here and off we went again. To a 21^st this time. For the first time in my life I had to sit on the ‘adults table’. I was no longer the young spring chicken anymore getting drunk, I was sat having adult conversation about how drunk they were – it starts.

A few more beers in and then off home and to a nice warm bed – good Saturday

Sunday started much the same way as Saturday. A welcome lie in and a lazy breakfast. This was soon shattered by the arrival of a ball of energy in the form of a 2 year old. Much running around after him and getting shot by a water pistol followed then we were momentarily relieved of duties as we were off to do a spot of shopping. This was a very succesful trip. After seeing the state of my hoodie, my girlfriend, very kindly, decided that she would buy me a new one as she would not be seen in public with me in my current one (I still don’t see the problem with it). I also got a nice new shirt and enjoyed an Iced chocolate and a doughnut and the relative peace of not having to chase after the 2 year old.

Back at the house normal service resumed. I was back doing the chasing around the coffee table and getting passed a ball, before repeatedly being shot, with the now empty water pistol and more bizzarely a plastic corn on the cob.  After a nice lunch it was time to be on our travels again and head for Sydney.

Before getting to our  seemingly long deserted flat, we called into a friend to pick up some books and enjoy a hot chocolate, a catch up and a look at her new born baby ( young child overload. He is very cute though so that is ok). Then finally home.

No rest for the wicked though our final stop was a friends house for a small gathering, some home made pizza and a spa. This time it was my duty to be the designated driver whilst my girlfriend had some much deserved and well earnt wine. The pizza’s were superb and then the spa was just he right temperature to not noticve how long you had been in there until you noticed you looked like a prune. Getting out was a different story. It was freezing!!!!

After we had (in record time) put our clothes back on it was time to head home. On the way up to the flat we picked up our washing from the washing room and then it was over. The sofa called and we gladly fell into it for an hour or so. A 20 minute skype comversation with my mum and sister and then it was time to sign out, not even enough time to consider that I hadn’t watched Homes Under the Hammer. Oh well there is always next weekend. That is the thought for today tune in tomorrow for something else. Laters

Weekend Wrap

It’s back, I have been having the dreaded writers block for a few weeks, but don’t you worry it is time for some new material, and to start us off it is the weekend wrap.

This weekend has been particularly busy. Friday night was the calm before the storm. I had a nice quiet night in. I vacuumed the flat, did some washing, watched some rugby and wound down from the working week.

Saturday was rugby day. After a morning of getting my stuff ready to go, making some lunch and watching a bit of T.V it was time to head off. My girlfriend and I couldn’t find a place to park in the ground so had to park outside the ground but it was directly opposite so that wasn’t bad. We then dismantled the league leaders getting a bonus point win. My girlfriend, freezing on the sideline to the point she couldn’t feel her toes anymore, was not upset when the game finished and we headed for home.

A quick turn around and we were out again. Darling Harbour our destination, for a mates birthday dinner. Having not eaten anything since before playing rugby I was, to say the least, peckish. The banquet (as it was called) was gratefully received and quickly devoured. On the way home, a pit stop was made at ’The Chocolate Room” for some unnecessary indulgence. It was so good, but both me and my girlfriend were feeling the effects all the way home. Bed was a welcome sight.

Sunday. This was the day for our 6km obstacle course. We were off at 2 and it was an hour’s drive away. We had a hearty breakfast at about 10.30 and were on our way an hour or so later. The drive was incredibly quick. We had harboured in getting stuck in traffic time and there was none, so we were half an hour early for our registration.

After a brief rain shower that kept us confined to our car, we got out and went to register. After registration, there was a quick pit stop and then we were off. There were 20 obstacles in total to negotiate ranging from climbing over a sheer wall to a flying fox, to crawling through a mud pit and scrambling up very small tubes.

The going was tough but it was fun. We completed the course in just over an hour, both very proud of the achievement. Next came the clothing change. This was a lot harder than it sounded. With only one towel between us and not wanting to get mud all over the car, there was much hopping and manoeuvring until we were decent for public and off home we went.

After a brief thought to do the weekly shop was quickly dispelled, the only option we had for dinner was a take away – a thoroughly deserved take away. The sofa was our number 1 allie until we wearily headed for bed and the ache that the next day would bring.

Sleep was a little while coming with all the adrenalin and excitement of the day, but when it did come, my god it was good and I awoke this morning with the usual feeling of ‘Oh bollocks, it’s Monday’ but onwards and upwards. That is the thought for today, tune in tomorrow for something else. Laters

weekend wrap

As the proverbial bell rang at 5pm on Friday it was time to start my weekend.

Firstly was an arrangement to meet an old house mate that has returned from New Zealand for a few beers. We were joined by a good friend from school, my girlfriend and a few others. The beers slipped down very comfortably, the company very good, the conversation flowed. All in all, it was a great start to the evening/weekend. There was even a bit of celebrity spotting as Geoff Huegill was in there, he is a tall human being!

After that, it was time to head off to a mates 30th. Armed with a  6 pack to keep me going, I arrived to a packed restaurant and people that I hadn’t seen in a while. It was brilliant to catch up with people and the laughs were continuous.

A great dinner of sausage and mash was enjoyed and more beers were drunk but the party didn’t end there. The next stop – the casino. This could have been very dangerous. When myself and a couple of others arrived the first thing we did was win an easy $25 each on roulette on route to the club we were going to.

The club was very good. There was live music a go go, the drinks kept on coming and the casino was in easy reach. I got myself lost wandering about for about 45 minutes on the gambling floor, trying to get myself back to the club, but it’s all lights and tables and very similar looking and a man that has indulged in a couple of beers can easily get lost.

That was Friday. Saturday involved rugby. After a skin full the night before, rugby was not on the top of my ‘to-do’ list. At the top of that was snuggling on the sofa with my girlfriend but alas that would have to wait. To add to the feeling of ‘no thanks’ the rain constantly drizzled from the moment I woke up to the moment the game ended.

Of course this was the one game where my head got knocked about, and when it wasn’t feeling great to start with, I could have done without that. The positive result though did make me feel a bit better, as did the warm shower after the game. A beautiful, relaxing evening in front of the TV with my girlfriend was then the perfect way to end the day.

Sunday, and we were on our travels again. This time to Manly to see more friends that we haven’t seen in a while. A 4 hour lunch was then indulged upon, the food was superb, the drinks great and the fact that we were nice and dry whilst it pelted down outside just added to the mood.

After our marathon lunch it was time to sample the food and wine festival. Now if the rain was still coming down then that would have been the end of our afternoon, as it was, the rain had ceased and blue sky had broken through. This meant, because of the earlier deluge, the festival was very quiet and therefore no queues were encountered when getting some very nice wine samples.

A quick pint in the pub after that and back to the mainland with the girlfriend. The ferry crossing delightfully uneventful and we only had to wait 5 minutes for a train back to Ashfield.

A quick grocery shop and then it was dinner time. I cooked up some dumplings that are as good as bought fresh from a restaurant and it was time to unwind. A couple of episodes of mad men and a nice cuddle in bed and I was in the land of nod. Only thing that was missing – Homes Under the Hammer. Another great weekend. To top it all off today is my one year anniversary with my wonderful girlfriend, Queen Elizabeth who? That is the thought for today, tune in tomorrow for something else.

Weekend Wrap

The weekend wrap. Everyone’s favourite part of Monday!

This weekend started off pretty well. I went to see the Avengers with my girlfriend and although I felt disgustingly sick from the amount of pick ’n’ mix I ate, the film was thoroughly entertaining.

Saturday. Now where do I begin with this sorry tale of woe! It started off fine. The weather was good and I was going to earn myself $20 for sampling cider – sweet. On the way to the train station, the car (that my girlfriend got serviced for this very problem) began to overheat. We stopped and put in some water, it cooled down enough to get me to the station but my poor girlfriend had to cancel her massage appointment and wait for someone to come and help her out.

She waited there for 45 minutes to be told that she had got ripped off by a franchise garage, what a joy. Meanwhile everything was going ok for me. I had made it to the Market Research place and was 20 minutes into my testing. Then the computer crashed. After it was started up again, I had to do it all again. No worries, so I did that.

Just as I was 2 questions from the end (an hour later) the computer crashed again! there was no way that I was doing it again, luckily I could finish it on paper and collect my $20. Happy, I went to wait for the train. I waited the 13 minutes for the train in the sun, it was rather pleasant. That was until the train went straight through the station!!! Someone to do with the train service then told me that there had been a problem and that the train wasn’t stopping, the next train was in an hour!

No way was I hanging around for that. I went out of the train station to catch the bus, only to see the bus pulling away from the bus stop as I approached the road – great. I checked another route, there was another bus that would take me to Parramatta and from there I could get home. Off I went to that bus stop to find, yes you guessed it, the bus pulling away from the stop – bollocks!!!

There was only one thing for it, I got a cab back to a main station. There goes the $20 I made. So far the market research thing had cost me money! Eventually I got back to Ashfield. My girlfriend picked me up and we were off to Ikea to get a bookcase.

Or so we thought. The traffic was an un-mitigating disaster. Everywhere we went to try and make it in the direction of Ikea was choc-a-bloc with traffic. Bumper to bumper. We soon gave up and went to another shopping mall.

This was more successful. I bought a couple of beanies and some socks, (mmmmm new socks) and together we bought a new duvet set, all rather exciting. It was made more exciting when I nearly left said duvet set in a homeware shop and walked out, only to be reminded by my ever alert girlfriend that I no longer had it.

The fun doesn’t stop there. On the way out of the car park, we managed to not get bullied into giving up our right of way, and made it into daylight. Oh the relief. That was very short lived. As we sat at the traffic lights, a car, clearly too big to fit through the gap it was trying to get through bumped into us. Of course!! Fortunately there was next to no damage to our car apart from a little scratch, hopefully a lot more was done to her car. We thought it was best we just went home for a bit.

After relaxing at home, our Saturday took a decided turn for the better. We had a lovely meal out, for $15 each due to a voucher, then went home watched a film and put this day to bed.

Sunday couldn’t have been any worse. And it wasn’t. I went back to finish my market research, earnt $100 this time and brilliantly the train stopped at the station. We went up to the Central Coast for my girlfriends nan’s birthday lunch, which was very enjoyable and were aiming to get the 3.26 back home.

As we were heading to the station, we could see we were cutting it fine but we always had a minute to spare. Or so we thought. We bundled out of the car only to see the train pull away from the station. Back into the car we  get and try to beat the train to the next station.

We fail. It has already gone by the time we get there. We have an 18 minute wait, not enough time to go for a drink and knowing our luck this weekend, if we had done that we would comfortably have missed the next train. Sitting on the platform the news comes down, our train is delayed for 8 minutes. Of course it is, why couldn’t the previous train have been delayed.

The rest of the journey passed without incident. I fell asleep, woken when someone kindly knocked my shoulder with their heavy bag, and we got home about 5.30. I had waited all day to watch the recorded Champions League Final.

I knew it wasn’t going to be a great game but I sat through all 120 minutes of it, getting ever more excited when I thought of the chance of penalties. I fast forwarded the adverts to get to the penalties only for the recording to have stopped as the first taker was walking up, the story of the weekend. At least we got to watch a bit of Homes Under the Hammer before bed. That is the thought for today, tune in tomorrow for something else. Laters

How can I Help ctnd

Continuing on from my ‘rich and powerful people relying too much on others’ theme, I will now delve into the knock on effects that this has.

As I described yesterday, some people, not all may I add, that have a lot of power and a lot of money, have someone to do everything for them from wiping their arses to sending an email for them. Yes it is a bit of jealousy on my part but who the hell isn’t jealous of people that can do what the hell they want.

This though then gets passed on. There is nothing worse than a spoilt child. I worked at a summer camp in America. It was a residential camp, and it wasn’t cheap. It was about $4k per child to go to the first session which was 4 weeks. It was another $3k per child for the second session of 3 weeks. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that is $1k per child per week.

The camp did have decent facilities. The children were always entertained until they went to bed, but for a grand you would expect luxury if you were an adult, and this was far from luxury. The children are very used to getting what they want. If they wanted to get some food, they would scream and stomp until they got it, if they didn’t want to do an activity, they would go off and sit down and refuse to participate.

No problems you say, one less for you to worry about. Oh no. you have to get them to enjoy themselves or the parents are on the phone demanding why their little bundle of joy has called saying that they are not having the best time ever! the sun shines out of their arses. They can do no wrong in their parents eyes. They have seen how demanding their parents are of their staff and are so used to getting their own way for 2 reasons1) their parents can afford it and 2) it is just easier for them to give the little shit what they want.

Put them now in real life situations, when they don’t have everything they need and want at their beck and call and the shit hits the fan. Tantrums of gargantuan size are witnessed and some have to be seen to be believed. I wish I could say that they grow out of it, but clearly judging by some of the stories you see in the papers and some of the TV shows you know see, they clearly don’t, and the worst part of it all is that they get away with it!

It is not just the children that are affected. This example is from the work place and I can talk from 1^st hand experience having witnessed it. Some P.A’s get on their bosses bandwagon. Yes their bosses are high powered and important enough to have P.A’s but my god they think they own the world.

One came down and started an argument with a department that a request she put through 15 minutes ago had not been dealt with. Due to the fact it is a rather large company I work for, on average a request gets dealt with within a couple of hours depending on what it is and the department it goes to. This happened to be to accounts payable – the most busy department in the company. She was screaming her head off how it wasn’t acceptable that it wasn’t done and she will get her boss out of a very important meeting if she had to.

She continuously dropped his name in there, as if trying to impress us. We all knew who she worked for and would be more impressed if she told us she had actually eaten something more substantial than a stick of celery for lunch. After much shouting and threatening, the woman who was taking the brunt of it decided to call the boss in question. His exact words were ‘no worries whenever it gets done.’ I have never seen anyone look so sheepish.

There are some people that have enough weight behind them to be able to throw it around, they just need to be careful how they do it and who sees them do it. the people that think they have enough weight to throw around never do. That is the thought for today, tune in tomorrow for something else.

How can i help you?

Why do some people, the richer they are, become so dependent on other people to do things for them. This also goes for people that are higher up in jobs, they need a PA to do the most mundane of things for them.

I know that these people can be incredibly busy, so some of the smaller things like emailing someone, copying something etc can be done by someone else, not problems with that. It is when it comes to things to do with their mobile phone, it has a problem, or is doing something that they haven’t seen before, that these people that are usually so in control get so flustered.

It is always the little stupid things that really get them in a muddle. I work in administration and I deal with the companies mobile phones as part of my job. I received a call from a manager who’s PA was on holiday. They received a new iPhone. It was all set up and ready to go, all they had to do was put the SIM in.

I told them that very information. ‘How do I put the SIM in?’ was the question. I explained about pressing in the little button you have on the side, a tray will pop out then place the SIM in there. ‘Which way do you put the SIM in?’ I then went on to tell them the tray was cut in the way the SIM is shaped and therefore there is only one way it can fit in with the gold chip face down.

Thinking that would be the end of the phone call, I was preparing to say you’re welcome and hang up, how mistaken I was. ‘I have put the SIM card in and now the tray won’t fit.’ A very confused me on the other end of the phone asked what they mean it didn’t fit. ‘I put the SIM card in and now the tray won’t go in.’ They had put the SIM card loosely in the phone and then tried to put the tray in after!!!

This is a manager, that has to know all the ins and outs of their business and they can’t work out that the SIM card goes on the tray provided not just loose in a phone. I couldn’t speak for a minute as I was laughing so hard. We had to fish the SIM card out with a paperclip and explain the situation in person.

This is just one isolated incident. Of course everyone would like to be wealthy enough to have someone cook and clean up after them, someone to drive them around everywhere and to make their bed in the mornings. It is a luxury, but they get far too reliant on others. What happens if they lost their job, lose all their money, I’ll tell you what, they are buggered with a capital B.

Tomorrow I will continue on this theme and how it goes further (queue chilling music with a scary laugh over it too). That is the thought for today, tune in tomorrow for something else. Laters

Weekend Wrap

It’s the weekend round up! This weekend was a nice quiet weekend for me. Sometimes it is very nice to have those type of weekends, just time to chill and not do much.

After another week slaving away at my desk came to an end on Friday, I headed home for a date with the sofa. My girlfriend was out with her mate for the evening so I settled down to watch some rugby. Not only did I do this I also did some of the washing that was there to be done. I know lifestyles of the rich and famous!!!

After the mountains of washing had been hung out, I entertained myself with, rugby, and 2 episodes of ‘Game of Thrones’ which after a slow start to the 2^nd series, has really picked up and is now a very good watch.

I was a good boyfriend and went and picked my girlfriend up from the station when she arrived back, brought her home and not long after that we were nicely tucked up in bed. I know how to party on a Friday night.

Saturday. Alighting from the bed at 9.50 I went about my tasks. I cooked my pasta, ready to be eaten before I left for rugby, shaved and made my kit bag. I then accompanied my better half to her beauticians appointment. I can’t believe how quick she was in and out, it was painless. I then dropped her off at the station for her to go to the Central Coast and I went home for my gourmet pasta.

Saturday afternoon was down the rugby club. It is always nice to win which we did, but this one came at a cost. My left knee is currently quite swollen and giving me a bit of jip! As this was the first home game of the season a few boys stayed around for some beers. This was my night. I stayed at the club until about 11ish, then went home and promptly passed out on the sofa at about 1145. I know how to party on a Saturday night! After waking  up on the sofa, freezing at 2.30 I thought it was time to go to bed, which is exactly what I did.

Sunday did not start well. After my toilet break at 6.55 I went back to sleep, only to be awoken when I knocked my knee, this agony left me no choice but to get up. The time. A disgustingly early 9.10!!! Walking proved very difficult so I took the executive decision to do as little of this as possible.

1 film down and half way through a second I decided it was lunch time. Due to a slight excess on the beers the night before, a dirty takeaway was my only option. My first choice was vetoed by the sheer amount of traffic on the road, I was distraught. Luckily there was another option close by so I went there (nowhere near as satisfying but beggars can’t be choosers)

My beautiful girlfriend returned at 4pm. Thank god for that, I had missed her and the boredom was starting to get the better of me. The Sunday ritual could then begin. The grocery shopping. Unlike other weeks, it was quite quiet this time round, a very pleasant surprise, although slightly uncomfortable walking on the knee.

Dinner was a chinese feast. Spring Rolls and two type of Dumplings, one steamed and one fried by our own fair hands and my god it was good. Post dinner on a Sunday is tv watching time. Due to both of us lacking in some sleep, one episode of mad men was watched and then it was time to hit the hay, yes I know disaster – no Homes Under the Hammer!!! Don’t you worry, I will rectify this next weekend. That is the thought for the day, tune in tomorrow for something else. Laters