My Monster Truck

Now if that isn't completely ridiculous then I don't know what is. I mean as a guy I think it is awesome but honestly who in their right mind would try to jump a 727 jet plane in a monster truck. Crazy

My Tired Week

This past week was absolutely crazy. Working by myself and organizing different pours and different employees took a huge toll on me and by the end of the week I was stuffed. My body was stuffed and mentally I was a blur. I made it through though and I was really successful. I did two pours and everything went perfectly. I'm relieved, but most of all proud of myself. I did well. Now its on to this week, haha. Its all fun though.

The lost show played a gig Friday night which went like a dream and they played an incredible set. It was for the End Child Slavery charity concert which was organized by the Oak Tree foundation and at the last count they got over 1000 people through the door so that was great. The lost show got some great exposure and the crowd really got into them which was awesome. We had planned to hang around after to watch Poetikool Justice but due to the week I had I was done and the girl and I headed home to bed. I was a bit disappointed in not seeing them but I was stuffed. Not so much physically but mentally.

Saturday was a weird day. I woke up and was awake for about 3 hours before I started to feel average and decided to lie down. After about 4.5 hours the girl woke me up and I was dazed. Some peeps came round that night and chilled. It was mainly a few beers and a bit of Xbox but it was awesome and it was what we needed because after about a million 21st in a row it was nice to have a weekend off.

Love ya, byes.

My Big Pour

Well today all in all went really well. The only hick up was the start of the day. We were all organized, the concrete pump was set up everything was ready. The first truck pulled up and started pouring concrete into the pump. The problem was, the pump was not pumping. For some reason the concrete didn't want to flow through the pump lines and kept blocking. This normally happens at the start of pours but this time it was ridiculous. We waited and waited until the second concrete truck pulled up and I started to worry. I had to ring up and stop the trucks coming because we had 10 cubic meters of concrete on site and no way to get in in the trenches. After 45 minutes they finally got the pump running smoothly and we started pumping. We went like a bat out of hell because the concrete had been sitting in the trucks for too long and we didn't want to waste any more time. We started with the strip footings around the outside of the slab and then worked our way in. Apart from that little hick up everything went well and the slab turned out perfect. I guess it is all in the planning.

I was stuffed after finishing the concrete and packing up so after heading back to the yard I swung past Becks Bakery and bought a ham and pineapple pizza slice, a potato pie with sauce, a chocolate donut and an ice coffee. It had been a long day and I hadn't eaten so at 3:30pm I had a feast. God it was good too.

Not a bad day in the end.

My Big Day

Tomorrow is a big day for me. Tomorrow is the day of a big concrete pour that I am organizing. Its the first big pour that I am doing by myself and I am actually quite nervous.

Since my old man has been away I have had some huge responsibilities and I like it a lot but tomorrow is still a bit nerve racking. There will be four other guys working for me and a daunting 240 square meter pour which isn't huge but it is definitely big enough. There is a bit of work to be done but I put in a huge day today to get it all ready and prepared for. Hopefully everything goes well. Wish me luck in a way I guess.

Apart from work life has been pretty boring lately. The weekend consisted of playing Xbox and chilling at home. The girl and I went out Saturday night to Hannah's 21st but both felt a bit average so weren't in a party mood. It was pretty good once we got there and there were a few funny speeches so that lightened things up a little. There was a bit of a fight between our group and another group just after we left so it was bad luck we missed out on those shenanigans but oh well.

Anyhow wish me luck for tomorrow and I will post a photo of the perfect finished product. Woot.

My Xweek

Alright so I may or may not have bought an XBOX with GTA4 and I may or may not have been playing it every night this week. It may or may not be awesome too. The girl even likes it which kicks ass. We have been flat out this every night this week and work has been crazy so I have only got to play for a half hour here and there but tomorrow may be an XBOX day. Woot.

My Big Update

So its been a while between drinks really hasn't it. Last week was one big crazy time. Work was crazy because my parents were going away and we had a huge amount to get done before they left. We got most of it done but I have still been left with about six weeks work to do in a month while they are gone. I went out a lot last week as well. I did tea with Cat and her sister Ness and also got Mexican with Tilney. Both nights were really good. Its so good to catch up with those guys and its so good to have friends thats even though we don't see each other every week its still as if we see each other every day.

Friday night I went out with Sam and Nicole to the Ed which was something almost new because I hadn't been to the Ed for a long time and it has been even longer since Sam and I have hung out. Sam and I used to do everything together but now a days with me working full time, him working full time and us both living pretty flat out lives we don't catch up as much. I hate it but it seems to be the way things are going these days. It was good to chill out and laugh about all the stupid things we talked about. I miss hanging out with Sam because he and I both have the same observational humor at other peoples expenses. We hung around till close and then chatted in the carpark for a while about the weekends past and the weekend to come. The main reason for catching up was to talk about the speech we were both planning on doing at Joyce's 21st which was Saturday night. After about four hours of talking we had not mentioned the speech and so both said to each other, meh we will work it out and then headed home.

As I mentioned Saturday night was Joyce's 21st. He had asked me about a month beforehand to do a speech and I was honored but couldn't think of much to say. Joyce is a hard man to describe, and I didn't want to embarrass him with too many stories so I decided to have a few drinks and wing it. It went pretty well and was a lot better than some of the other speeches. It was a joint party and the girl who shared it with Joyce had her brother speak. He described a night were she had brought home a guy and he had stayed over at there house. During the night he got up and had to make a bowl movement. He told the story of how it woke the whole house up because it was so loud and then went on to describe it as someone pouring cold custard into a bath tub while someone else let go of a balloon. It was different. The funny part was that the girl tried to send a message to one of her friends saying "This dude has just taken the loudest crap I have ever heard" but instead sent it to the guy and when he walked back into her room his phone beeped with the message and she absolutely froze and then burst into hysterical laughter. It was an odd story.

The highlight of the night came when a group of us were out the front enjoying some fresh air when a guy came up to us, pulled a card out of his wallet which burst into flames, to which he lit his cigarette. We were shocked and then found out he was an illusionist. He did numerous tricks which were mind blowing. One of them involved him hovering a gym membership card above the ground for a while before floating it back up to his hand. It was incredible. We all were blown away and plan to see his show on Wednesday night. I guess good publicity works.

Last night, finally, we caught up with Steve to play the new GTA4. Steve and his girlfriend Bridie and the girl and I had dinner at a pizza joint near his house before returning to play the greatest game ever. The highlight was landing a helicopter on the Empire State building before falling off and landing and crushing a car. It is ridiculously good. It was so good that I am considering forking out $500 dollars to buy an XBOX and the game. If someone wants to buy me one though that would be great, cheers.

Anyway this week should be a little less hectic even though I have a 280 square meter concrete pour to organise as well as a few other jobs. I will actually post some bloody posts this week too so watch out for that. Also I posted about 100 photos up on the Spud Photo Blog so check them out. PEACE!

My Anniversary Weekend

The weekend was absolutely amazing. We headed off Friday morning and enjoyed the scenery on the drive up to Tununda. We had looked at a few different places to stay but in the end picked the expensive one. We were unsure if it was worth spending the extra money but once we got there and saw the units we were very happy. Our accommodation was situated on the side of a hill over looking a huge valley. We had our own little self contained unit with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and a room with a two person spa in it with windows looking out over the valley. It was heavenly. We had plans of going into Tununda and some of the surrounding towns but got sidetracked and just had a spa instead.

After our spa we drove into the town of Lyndoch and had tea at the Lord Lyndoch which was a really great place with different but incredible food. We ate too much as usual and then headed back to the unit. The wasn't a light too be seen over the valley and it was incredibly peaceful.

Every morning we woke up to the sun rising over the hills and shining in our bedroom. The unit was an open plan and had sliding glass windows all along one side which provided amazing views. Saturday started at a reasonable hour and the girl and I enjoyed complimentary breakfast before driving into Tununda to have a look around at the town and the Wineries surrounding it. We had a look at the car dealership that I have bought my last two cars from and then walked down to a huge furniture store called Wohlers. Wohlers is full of custom made furniture and was very enjoyable to walk through. The furniture is exquisite and ranges from small coffee tables to a table that could seat 22 which would have looked more at home in a castle. The furniture, though, is very reasonably priced and then girl and I found a dining table that we would love to buy when we own our own home.

After seeing the sights of Tununda we started hitting the wineries. I don't drink wine so was more interested in the buildings and people than grapes but enjoyed it anyway. The first winery we stopped at was Cockatoo Ridge and after hearing that I wasn't a wine drinker, the girl being the counter presented me with a sparkling black which she said most beer drinkers liked. Being polite I said it was different but it was utterly horrible and it was off to the next one. The girl bought a few bottles of different wines and we enjoyed our few tastings. The only low light was wine snobs. At one particular winery there was a group of people who obviously knew nothing about wine but thought they had better sound snoby anyway. They were incredible rude to the staff working there and treated the girl and I like we weren't even there. The funniest part was that the girl and I had one taste and ended up buying a box of wine and after tasting the wines the other group did not purchase a thing. I think they were just out to get pissed for free. Bloody wine snobs.

We relaxed after our hard day of cruising around with another spa and then decided to get take away pizza and come back to enjoy our view/room. We ended up with the best BBQ chicken pizza the world has to offer and an incredible night.

We packed ourselves up early Sunday morning and the weekend was over. The room was a bit pricey but god it was worth it. It was absolute bliss and made for such a relaxing weekend. I would do it again in a flash and it made for a perfect anniversary weekend.

This week has been pretty crazy so far, but more later. Byes.

My Karnivool Atmosphere

This week has been really really good but so flat out its not funny. Work on Monday was the easiest with us just digging the footings for an addition and bathroom. Tuesday was a different story. I worked by myself Tuesday because my old man was on another job. I had to put all of the reinforcing steel in the trenches and get it ready so we could pour it today. God damn was it a struggle. The job would have been a easy three quarter day for two guys but by myself I nearly died. I could barely lift some of the steel for the trenches and then dragging the 72kg sheets of mesh around was a huge struggle too. I got it done though but I was absolutely dead on my feet.

Just as I was leaving the job I got a message from Layno asking me if I was going to see Karnivool that night. I had already bought a ticket but had forgotten it was that night. I made it home and recovered for a short time before heading back into town to meet Steve and Layno for pizza. We chilled out and enjoyed our meal and a beer before heading to the gig. We went in and just caught the end of Mere Theory's show and then decided to go across the road to the Colonel Light Hotel for another beer. We chatted for a while and then headed back in to meet up with the Rogers boys and to see the start of Karnivool's set. As usual the concert sold out so there was a huge crowd there and as usual they put on an incredible show. They are such an intense band and the crowd was really into all the new songs they played as well as trying to compete with Ian the singer in the old songs. This is the fifth time I have seen them and they are one of the only bands that I will always go and see just because there live shows are so incredible. It was a really great night in the end and after the Karnivool boys played about 30 minutes over time I headed off. I didn't get home till 1am and was up five hours later to go back to work. I did not want to get out of bed that morning, believe me.

Wednesday, thankfully, was a really easy day for me. I did two loads of concrete from a job to the dump and then brought 60 tonne of rubble from a quarry to the same job. It was a relaxing day driving the truck. It was exactly what I needed though, but I was still buggered when I got home that night.

Today we poured the job that we dug Monday and I steeled up Tuesday and it went really really well. It was a tough day physically but everything went smoothly and by 3pm we were finished. I needed an early day and even though today is only Thursday it felt like Friday and that felt fine to me.

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day which will make this weekend a long weekend and it means that it is the girl and my two year anniversary. Looking back on what has happened in our relationship it feels like so much longer than two years but in the same regard it doesn't feel like two years has passed. After two years we have become so close due to everything that has happened and everything we have experienced. We decided we wanted to go away somewhere so we booked a unit over looking the Barrossa Valley for Friday and Saturday night. It should be a really relaxing and peaceful weekend so I cant wait. Happy Anniversary my gorgeous girl. I love you.

Byes