Phillbo’s Blog Site

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.

I am not sure how reliable this news feed is, however the Honourable Senator Stephen Conroy, who is the Deputy Leader of the Australian Federal Government in the Senate is hell bent on spending millions of tax payers dollars finding a way to effectively filter the Internet.

As a geek, I know that this Internet filtering trial is total waste of time, nor is it even viable to consider. The government could save millions of dollars if they simply drop this Internet filtering concept. I wonder if the government will hear common sense calling them. My guess is that they are too stupid.

The Rudd government may now be looking at cost cutting measures, however canceling this unnecessary Internet trial would be a great way to reduce some of this government’s frivolous spending.

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.