Phillbo’s Blog Site

Well I am probably the laziest blogger in the world. I even question why I still have one. Maybe it is just a strange security blanket?

Anyway, I must get back on track.

July 12 2009 will forever be burned in my brain. On this very day, I proposed to my beloved girl Sandra, and she gracefully accepted. Choosing a place to propose drove me mad, so I eventually settled on our local weekend breakfast cafe which we affectionately call it by its old name - Poppy. This cafe serves the best Bacon & Eggs that Frankston can offer.

I must admit I have never lied so much to keep the engagement ring a secret, but I am glad it is over and done with, as I am a very bad liar. I only had the ring for 3 days prior to the big life changing proposal, and that was bad enough.

Sandra and I are now happily engaged. Two years ago, I would never have thought in my wildest dreams that I would find anyone, but I am so happy that I now have someone who loves me for me. I don’t want to sound sookie, but I thought it was about time everyone knew.

I plan to have a house warming and an engagement party in the next few months. I am not sure in what order, but both will definitely happen soon. So expect the unexpected. If you want to make sure you get an invite, please comment. I haven’t seen a lot of you in along time, so we now have the perfect excuse to catch up.

I must go to bed now, the midnight hour has commenced. Sleep calls my name, otherwise work tommorrow will be insane.

Much has changed in my life since this time last year. I would never have dreamed much of it was even possible.

Sandra and I have been in a relationship for almost a year, in fact April 27 is the big day when we celebrate our one year together. This is my longest relationship with a woman ever, and I am still madly in lover with her. Sandra and I also have a beautiful puppy too, I will definitely publish a photo soon, I just don’t have any appropriate software to resize the images installed right now.

I spent two fabulous weeks in New Zealand wth Sandra during February this year. We travelled across both the North and South Islands, and visited places including Auckland, Timaru, Napier, Lake Takeapo, Queenstown, and quite a few other places too. I have a huge collection of photographs which will take forever to upload to Flickr, but I will definately work at getting them up.

I have got myself a house and a big mortgage to go with it in the prestige suburb of Frankston. Buying a house was a very challenging experience, there were many ups and down, but I have no regrets about it. I have to follow up a few more committments, but they will happen in due course.

I have finally got  my Internet connected, after waiting for three weeks, so my house now feels civilized. Fancy that!

I still haven’t got a MySpace page or Facebook account, despite mounting pressure to do so, but my blog will have to suffice, even though I am guilty of posting once in a blue moon.

The past four days have been a drag, as I have come down with a nasty virus, with has resulted in a horrible throat and chest infection. The doctor has told me to stay away from others for the time being. Being sick is so boring. But I will survive now that the Internet has arrived. I hope to be back at work soon - I actually enjoy my job on most days.

On anoher noteworthy announcement, I have dropped 17kg since this time last year. I think I may be doing something right, or Sandra has been teaching me the ways of the force. I sure hope it continues. Must get an early night - I want to get well as soon as possible.

Well my Christmas was a blast. I had the Chilean Christmans on Christmas Eve. My folks came up for the celebration, and the atmosphere was great. A good time was had by all.

Come Christmas day, Sandra and I head down to Geelong, for Christmas lunch at my sisters place. I got to spend some valuable time with my brother in law and my nephews. In the afternoon and evening, I got to kick back with my family, and I must admit, I didn’t over indulge.

Come Boxing day, I wished Dad a happy birthday, and then headed to Maldon. Went via Ballan, and came very close to running out of fuel. Country petrol stations don’t seem to be open on public holidays. According to the trip computer in my car, I had 6km left.

Sandra and I went to Dalesford, and then to Hepburn springs. Drunk the very metallic tasting water, chilled out at the mineral baths, and soaked it all up. Sandra definately enjoyed her time. We crashed in Dalesford for the night, before heading up to Maldon for a day trip. Maldon is a town trying to keep in touch with history, and they sure do a good job at it.  No plastic bags, lots of bargains to be had, and a great place for old collectables, memorabilia, and the entire town is in walking distance. Although it was a very warm day, we headed back to Melbourne via Mount Macedon.

As with every trip to Mount Macedon, I like to visit Straws lane (one of the roads to Hanging rock), where I get to see the illusion of my car rolling up the hill backwards. I know that the way the horizon is visible, along with the road cuttings, you could definately get the impression that you are facing down hill. But as my cousin Alistair and I proved over 10 years ago with a spirit level, a big bottle of water, and a ball, it is simply an illusion, but a very good one. Many others would provide you with some magnificent explanations saying gravity pulls and magnetic fields, but they are not really plausible arguments, although some strange events have actually happened at Hanging Rock itself.

Sandra and I then went down the Mountain, and visited one of the countries biggest private gardens. It was amazing, a whole world, with rain forest trees and plants, to a beautiful array of floral, ferns, ponds, and statues, along with some replicas of artifacts from around the world. I was very surprised, and I think I will return, even though the entrance fee is $6. Afterwards we stopped by Gisbon for a coffee, and then to Shane and Helens for a magnificent barbequeue.

At about might night last night, we finally arrived back home, but I must admit, Christmas this year, along with the longer weekend that followed was awesome. I think Sandra is beginning to relax again too. So I am very happy about that too.

No time to proof read, as work starts again tommorrow, but I hope all is legible.

Well that time of the year has happened again, and I turn another year older.

I had to work on my birthday, but it was awesome that it was a Friday night. My beautiful babe Sandra bough me an iPod Nano for my birthday, a purple one, and it sure is prestige. I’ve been using it in my car all the time. No more swapping CDs. I should have got one earlier, but was always to much of a tight arse to justify the need for one. But it is so cool.

My babe and I then headed to St Kilda for a spectacular dinner which included pizza, pasta, bruschetta and beer, as it as was a hot night. But it sure did go down well. Afterwards we just had a quiet night together, as the weekend involved the mass clean up.

We worked hard, and then harder, and finally the back yard and porch looks almost habitable. My cousin Al dropped by in the evening for a beer, and I feel like my weekend went way too fast. But not to worry; Christmas is just around the corner and I cannot wait. I get to experience the true Chilean Christmas. I am sure it will be grand.

Well my week had some ups and downs, but ended on a high. The Christmas break up / End of year party at work was awesome. Got to sing a few tunes with Osama Bin Johnston (aka Ian), and ate in true style at Caesars. Magnficient. I got a little drunk, and had to suffer this consequence early Saturday morning, but I had recovered by 11am. I am glad that I didn’t become very drunk, unlike a few other colleagues.

This Saturday just past, I had to go on a trip to Doncaster, as my girlfriend Sandra had to have some dental work. Even with the Eastlink being so convenient, a trip to the dentist can take a minimum of three hours out of your day. A good Dentist who works on Saturday is hard to find, hence Doncaster will have to do for the interim.
On Saturday afternoon while Sandra was sleeping, I went to Bunnings, purchased some more gardening tools — including a saw and some gardening gloves, and I finished my pruning of trees in the backyard, although I had to saw the bigger branches.

Today I slept and slept and slept. Had planned to go to Geelong, but even Sandra was full on sleeping in. I think the drugs she had yesterday finally wore off. We had a late late breakfast of bacon and eggs (2pm), and did some Christmas shopping afterwards. All is looking good, although I still haven’t decided what to get for a few people yet. I did run out of available money, but I am now living without any credit whatsoever, so it makes life a lot more interesting. It also means I have to save to buy. I have now been developing better money habits, recording all my outgoings, as I plan to get a home loan sometime next year.

Tonight I’ve been kicking back with my babe, listening to a variety of music. I look forward to a good night’s sleep, as next week will be even busier for me. I just know it.

Sandra and I celebrated our six months as a couple yesterday, and we had an awesome time. We headed down to Emerald, ate a delicious lunch at the local bakery and cafe, and then walked around lake emerald, admiring the beauty of nature. We also took an aqua bike for a spin in the lake. This lake is a lot smaller than I remember it – but that was 16 years ago since my last visit. The day also ended on a high, with an excellent dinner at Latino’s Restaurant, a new Chilean restaurant in Dandenong.
But back to today. Deadlines at work are fast approaching, and today I realise again that despite my own personal prejudices towards some people, I must support them - and work with them to ensure the end goal (and common goal)l is achievable. The desired result is to be a success. So today I find myself changing tasks again, but I know if I am diligent, it can work, and work well.

Instead of me getting upset by other employees, I must do everything I can to help them.  It is a valuable lesson to be learned, but it requires much discipline to act upon such a conviction. This in turn will also demonstrate how I should lead by example. Now time to get into machine mode as the task won’t do itself.

It is amazing how time can fly, and what things can really change your life.

Three months ago, I was waiting for that holiday, and it finally arrived. Too bad I had an ear infection for most of those two weeks, but at least my mind got to relax a bit.

Three months ago, I was single, keeping myself ultra busy as I had too much time to think. Now I have a most beautiful girlfriend, and she is simply amazing. I think my priorities in life have changed for the better, however I am now working on striking a good balance between work life and home life.

Three months ago, I shared my unit with my housemate Rob. In about a week to two weeks time, I get to share his prestige house in Carum. The house is very prestige indeed. I am thankful that Rob must have liked me as a housemate too.

I do however get annoyed that I haven’t blogged in such a long time. So much has happened in the past three months.

I think it must take a weird bout of gastro like symptoms to keep me at home, but today my stomach isn’t very good at all. I do hope that all gets well soon. As far as I am concerned, sickness is the only cause of boredom.

Well I’ve had adhere to my advice, and I am now trying to focus on looking after me. Then something else comes along and turns my life upside down. But I am positive that I am in getting in the right frame of mind - and I am finally seeing some positive results too.

On David and Leanne’s wedding, I came to the realization that I am too fat to wear anything respectable, so it was embarrassing for me dress wise. I assumed everything would fit as planned, but it didn’t. I have never had a “wardrobe incident” before. So over the past two weeks, I have steadily lost 8kg through moderate exercise and good dietary habits. I think I will fit into my suit nicely now, but I am on the mission to keep going, and I am going with the flow.

I have Shane and Heather’s wedding in two weeks, so this time I will be able to dress for the occasion. I’ve never been to a wedding with a greek family involved, so this could be a day to remember - and not for just the bride and groom. I hope all goes well. Which reminds me, I must deliver David and Leanne’s wedding present. They’re still in my house! Doh!

I think I will have an early night.

Well it is almost 3am in the morning, and I wake up and I am wide awake. I went to sleep way too early. This is not a great way to start a week, but at least this week is shorter. I suppose this is the price you pay for behaving badly yesterday. I had too much scotch whisky! I should be grateful that I didn’t drink so much to make me sick.

I saw the movie Street Kings today (or should I say yesterday) with my friend Stu. He came down for an afternoon visit. It is always a pleasure to hear from Stu, although he has this uncanny ability to talk more than me, which is a challenge in itself. But hey, I still love him for who he is - and he’s definitely down to earth.

Next weekend involves a housewarming and bucks night, so I better get my RSVPs back. I am usually either ultra quick to respond to invites, or forget completely, which isn’t a good habit.

The other news hasn’t quite sunk in yet - but there is a 95% chance that I am going to Africa soon. Time to organize extra immunizations.

I would say that my skill set is unique. I have the ability to work effectively in any role (now I sound like I’m bragging too much - but its mostly true), but working in many roles at the same time is a much harder challenge. That is an introduction to my working world, but one thing is certain, I never have a dull moment.

Every day I have to juggle tasks, and then re-prioritize them, respond to a short term crisis or escalated matters, and try and find quick solutions to longer term issues. I also like to keep an eye on the geeks to ensure everything is going smoothly, but to date, everything has been running on schedule despite a few minor hiccups. Rob has demonstrated exceptional leadership with the team of geeks, and this also reflected in his cooking skills too! Sir Rob as I call him is almost Mr Universal, and a freak of nature. I better not give my house mate too much credit though - he may get a big head!

But today was one of those days I’d almost rather forget. For most of the day, I am documenting a quiz for potential BOFHs, and also planning to develop a performance review system for this area. Tonight I am head first into examining firewall rules due to a deliberate attack on our system, organizing new servers in data centres overseas, bulk transferring hundreds of domain names, following up issues relating to a few of our foreign companies - which are still at this time unresolved, and now looking at extending the life cycle of our current servers due to unforeseen circumstances. The challenge of the geek in charge is to decide when to move over to a new system - as the current system is currently the lifeblood of the business. This decision is most critical, and careful planning is an absolute requirement, but at the same time it is also painful too. I am fortunate that the team of geeks I work with are good, and if we dot every I, and cross every T, all should be OK.

Today has gone on too long for me (as it is now 3.30am), but I also look forward to waking up. John (our project manager) and I are visiting RMIT to see their progress in the Australian Infrastructure ENUM trial. I am very interested to see the latest developments. I have this soul kind of feeling that we could be jumping into this project too. If this happens, our team will need to increase.

When it comes to leading a team, I think my focus will have to change considerably. Maybe I should consider becoming a wisdom hunter?