Phillbo’s Blog Site

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 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.

It has been a while since my last post, but I’ve finally found a few minutes to concentrate.

Well tonight I think I became the most unpleasant person to work with. Some people test my patience to its limit, but today I treated someone very unreasonably. I am not happy with the way I had reacted towards someone. They way they responded was also not expected.

When I look at my own behavior, or even look for the reason triggering it off, I cannot see anything that compelled me to snap so hard at this person, considering it is not in my nature to do so. I can’t even blame any drug addiction withdrawal as a reason for such strange behavior. But in reality, I wouldn’t want to be a drug addict anyway. Maybe I am placing myself under too much stress? Who knows.

My holiday to Tocumwal was short, but I enjoyed every moment, especially as my folks came up for the week also. I also really appreciated spending a whole week with them too, but I feel my body and mind needs more time to chill.

At this stage, I can see my life being fast and short, so I definitely need to focus on looking after my health and general well being. It may sound selfish, but I won’t live long enough if I don’t start taking action now. I think reality has hit me pretty hard, but I know I can do it, even though it will take much self discipline.

My excess body mass is affecting my ability to aviate. So I have a new philosophy to live by: Loose Weight to Aviate!

Today I went for a job interview with the local council. I’ve managed to be shortlisted down to four candidates out of over 100 applicants, however my interview didn’t go as well as expected. Having a mental blank prevented me from asking some cool questions and answering other questions in a better manner, however I think it went relatively OK. I will find out next week if I am successful in getting a job there. I am pretty happy that they called me in a second time though, which in itself is encouraging.

Yesterday I visited Myer, and bought some slacks. My suits are all to big for me now.. I’ve dropped around 10cm around the waist, so here I go again. I wish I never donated my older (and smaller clothes), as I’ve come to the realisation that I’m smaller than I used to be, and some of those clothes may fit me again. It is good to see that I can now fit into my dress shirts again, and if a drop a few more kilograms, they will probably fit very comfortably indeed.

Job interview time is fast approaching, and going through my old wardrobe, I’ve found some shirts that haven’t fitted nicely in years. Well I think I must have lost a few centimetres around my waist, as these shirts fit quite nicely these days; in fact they look a little to large for me now. This has been quite a positive experience for me.

Most of my ties are in Melbourne (and I’m in Geelong right now), so today I am wearing my Dad’s wedding tie, which is very purple in colour. My choices in ties right now are very limited, however I think it matches my blue shirt quite well.

It is about an hour before my interview starts, and I’ve completed my check list that includes:

* Bank account details
* Tax File Number
* Birth Certificate
* Referee List
* Drivers License

I think I should have adequate details to provide that I do actually exist.

I find it quite amazing how I’ve come into contact with many people over my life, and some friendships seem to have evolved by chance. I have been blessed by knowing many friends; however it seems most of them live miles away these days. Many of them are married, have families, and have dedicated their time to serve others. I think it makes me appreciate them even more. I do tend to bump into these friends occasionally, and make the most of every opportunity. However over the past three or four years, I’ve had to adapt to changes in their lives.

Sometimes I feel like I am the loneliest person in Melbourne, yet other days, I feel like I am on top of the world. I often ponder about, “What if” I pursued this relationship, where would I be now? Why didn’t I embrace this opportunity? I know if I ponder on it too long, it gets depressing. I know it is pointless, however some times I think about the most happy times in my life.

Some friends have told me I’m not settled, and I agree with them. I not sure *if* I’d be content living elsewhere either, unless I can find a way that I can be totally content with myself. But hey, I am working on it. I am sure its a positive goal to work towards.

I know when I was younger, I had more determination than I could possibly imagine, and I wouldn’t let obstacles in my path come even close to defeating me. These days, I’ve allowed complacency to master my existance. In some ways it has benefitted me, in other ways it has had negative implications.

I am now starting to feel that desire to move forward once again, I’ve even very happy with my perseverance on watching my weight. There have been a few set backs, but I am sure I can keep making progress to healthier living. I know not to expect too much straight away, but I am already happy in knowing that I am making progress none the less. Anyway.. I’ve rambled enough, I should get some sleep.

PS. I am mobile again, I have a new car. I may take some photos of it pretty soon.

After a friendly cliff hanger tennis match last, my team managed to win by one game. This has happened two weeks in a row. My performance was probably close to a D grade standard, so I wasn’t too happy with myself. However I did managed to play much better in the final set.

Afterwards, Dave, Ross, Shane, Angelic Basic, Ian, and myself had a few beers (which isn’t good for my diet), however we had a grand social occasion that went well into the early hours of the morning.

When I finally got out of bed, I managed to take a shower after several interruptions. I noticed that hardly any water was going down the plug whole. My friend Marcus came up from Geelong, so we weot on a mission to find a plunger. K-Mart didn’t have one, and a supplies type of shop didn’t have one either. I went to the Supermarket, and voila, a plunger was to be found and consequently purchased. I also bought some Draino, and proceeded to fix this problem. Attacking the plug hole with a plunger managed to cause some water to go down the plug hole. It took about 10 minutes for the water to drain. I then administered some Draino, and I could hear the plug whole errupt. A foul smelling gas also appeared from the plug hole. In the end, I just poured all the Draino crystals in, and after several more erruptions, I can finally have a shower without having a bath also.

Marcus and I also went to Miles and Brooke’s place for dinner, and we had our first weigh in since the challenege began:

I am currently 118.5kg, and Brooke is currently on 109.5kg. So it looks like we’ve both made progress on the race towards double digits.

In order to promote good health, and also due to lack of reliable private transport (but not for long), I decided to ride my bicycle down to Richard’s place. As Richard likes to remain anonymous, we’ll call him by his real name as most people I know never refer to him by his real name.

Anyway… I jumped on my bike, rode down Merri Trail from Fawkner to Northcote. About forty minutes later I was at Richard’s place. I got to see his handy electronic work in action, as he was moding the circuitry in his guitar.

We later proceeded to head down Cheltenham, which is on the other side of Melbourne in comparison to where we were, so I got a ride with Richard. We saw Enzo’s Van Halen tribute band perform, and appreciated some class act guitar riffs and brilliant lead work. I also saw a few more “shredders” from work, being Phil and Gavin. The band that followed were a Deep Purple Tribute band. They were good musicians, but Deep Purple doesn’t have too much appeal to my musical tastes.

Richard got a bit drunk, so I was made designated driver back to his place. I then hopped on my bike, and proceeded to ride back in the dark using my bicycle’s new head light. It was smooth sailing until I hit Moreland Rd. I had to improvise, and took a dubious detour past flood damaged areas along the creek, and eventually got very lost. Going through some unfamiliar suburban areas, I headed back down to the creek trying to find the Merri Trail. I found the trail, however it lead to broken tree branches, blocking access to the path. Back tracking, I was trying to find a familiar land mark, but could not find any. As Merri Trail has paths on both sides of the creek for much of the trail, getting to the other side may have been a viable option.

I don’t remember going past Coburg Lakes on the way back, however for some reason, I missed my suburb entirely after making a final creek crossing, and ended up somewhere in Resevoir. I had to ask a service station attendant about my current location, and he gracefully provided me with directions back home. Riding along next to a highway type road, I had to walk my bike, as fast traffic on blind corners kinds of puts the chills down my spine. So it was a slow walk back in some instances.

I finally made it to Camberfield on the Hume Hwy, and headed back to Fawkner. Along my journey home, I felt extremly tired, and almost lost the will to persevere. However as I was lost, I’d have problem calling a Maxi Taxi to an unknown location. It was bloody cold outside, and when I kept moving I stayed kind of warm. However once I saw familiar territory, I found a new supply of energy.

I am certain I have ridden well over 50km today, and probably walked about 2 - 3 km along unstable terrain, and alongside thin highway shoulders. But I am glad to make it home. I think I should invest in a Palm Pilot and GPS unit. Whilst my body isn’t thanking me right now for the extra excercise, I am sure it will thank me later. But one thing is for certain, I will sleep very well.

So my weight loss tip of the day is, deliberatly get lost!

Well I decided to at least have one day off… (this week) as I worked overtime yesterday. My typical weekend is Sunday/Monday. Today I did my laundry, went for a walk from Fawkner to Hadfield and back, and paid a visit to the green grocers and local bakery. Even though I’ve hardly touched fruit in the past so many years, I remembered that I like it. So today’s diet consisted of fruit, and some whole grain bread… and several cups of tea. I am not feeling too hungry at the moment, but I’m sure I will need some eating discipline over the forthcoming days.

Tonight I played tennis with Vince, who is the captain of my Thursday night mens team. We played three sets of singles tennis, and I got beaten quite convincingly on each set. I did quite a few nice shots, but my backhand was letting me down a little tonight. What surprised me most of all was that my volleys were firing nicely.

I still haven’t found a new place that I like, but I am sure I will find the right place when the time is right.

Right now I am feeling pretty good about life. Well I usually feel pretty good anyway, but today I am feeling very happy. I just hope that I start making some healthy daily routines, and stick to them.