My Beloved

I was devastated the other day when I started my car and it sounded very sick. I didn't book it in to be looked at straight away because I was too busy with work but the noise got worse and I got worried. I like my car, a lot, and weird noises mean bad things. I had an oxygen sensor replaced on the manifold a couple of months ago and I thought it might have been something to do with that and I was right. I took in to the Holden dealer near me and they worked out that the right hand Catalytic converter had died for some reason. It is going to take a few days to get another one because it has to be flown over from Melbourne so I am stuck with a sick sounding car for the moment. It should be fixed soon though and my little orange baby will be back on the road. Woot.

My Raw Music

I stole this from Tony Pearce because it is slow and nice and nothing in this world beats raw music. Nothing but a guitar a violin and a few claps and its a wonderful piece of music.

St. Vincent - Marry Me... enjoy.


#22.1 St.Vincent - Marry Me from Handheld Shows on Vimeo.

My 21 22 22

This weekend was full of big milestones for four very important people in my life. The first was Sam's 22nd birthday which we celebrated at his place Friday night. Friday was a good day for two reasons, Sam's birthday was one and the arrival of our good friend Helen was another. Helen is from Manchester and since we met her a couple of years ago has come to Australia to see us every year. She is such a lovely person and always good to see and have a laugh with. She is staying with Sam for a few weeks so Friday night was a birthday/welcome celebration.

We enjoyed a few drinks and an incredible tea with Sam's mum dad and sister while chatting away about everything that has been happening in all of our lives. It seems crazy that Sam is turning 22 because it only seems like months ago that I was making a speech at his house for his 21st. It was so great to see his parents because I haven't been up to his house for a while and they are lovely people. We wolfed down desert and decided to continue the party at the Dublin at Glenelg. We made the trek down but had to leave after only about a half hour. It killed me to leave but I was so tired and had to work early the next morning.

Work was a struggle because I was tired and it was freezing. It went quickly though for some reason and before I knew it we were finished. I raced home and pack my clothes before racing to the girls house so she could start getting ready for the celebrations that night.

After the girl put in a couple of hours and me putting a good 20 minutes in we were ready to head out to Tilney's party. I have to say that the girl looked amazing and I felt even more greatfull to call her mine. We arrived at the amazing Adelaide oval function room which overlooked the oval and the famous score board and started an amazing night with a beverage. We mingled around and talked to so many familiar faces before Adam, Sam and I gave our speech. Adam and I have known Tilney since we started school so we had almost 17 years of stories to cram into a short speech. We picked the highlights and hopefully people liked it. Its still weird to think that little Tilney is all grown up.

I spoke about how in year four Tilney was my first girlfriend but after two weeks she broke up with me because I was too scared to talk to her and made a few jokes about the first time she got her new car. We also talked about how we used to jokingly pick on her at school and all of the funny moments from back then. After speeches the party really kicked on and by 12 we were all quite drunk. The plan was to head into town and it was decided upon to go to the Stag.

We got there and to our disappointment there was a huge lineup so it was off to the Belgium Beer bar. More drinks and more laughs and stories followed before I hit the wall and was dead tired. Too much drinking, laughing, yelling and not enough sleep and it was time for us to go home. We caught a taxi home and were a bit shaken because the guy drove at 100 in a 60 zone the whole way home. We made it, thank god, and were incredible relieved to finally be in bed. It was a good night though, god it was a good night.

We paid for it today though with the girl and I both waking up and feeling terrible. We finally got out of bed at 12:30 and the girl, the angel, made scrabbled eggs for lunch. We devoured that and decided that the best thing to do was to head back to bed. After sleeping for 3 hours we awoke again feeling hungry. We grabbed our stuff and headed to my house. The girls car was still up at Sam's house so we collected it on the way and saw Sam who said he felt just as bad as us. No sympathy there.

The day slowed down when we arrived at mine and we just relaxed and rested our delicate heads. We had tea and then headed on down to the Grand Bar for drinks with Groke for his birthday. The girl managed to get two thirds the way through a vodka and pineapple but I couldn't manage any alcohol. We only stayed for a short time because we were both feeling worse for wear and came home to enjoy a lie down and some TV.

This weekend was such a good weekend. We had two really amazing parties and Saw so many people. I have to say Happy birthday Sam, Tilney and Groke. The weekend was all the more better because the girl and I received news that the girls mum got the all clear on her two year cancer scan. It was the best news we could hope for and a huge relief. I couldn't have had a better weekend.

Byes

My Re-Size

Isn't it weird how you grow up and your body gets bigger but you still feel small. I still feel like I did when I was in year 8 and all the other kids in the years above me were bigger than me. Now a days even though I am bigger than most people I still have that little kid thought in the back of my mind. Its so weird. A lot of the blokes I work with are a bit older than me and there is always that thought of age equals size when the fact is that I am a few inches taller than all of them. I guess its a bit of a mental thing and it comes with growing up but I find it so funny.

The last weekend was really cool. Friday night at Sophie's birthday celebrations was hilarious and I saw something incredible. Nicole came and I have never seen the girl so drunk and that is saying a lot because she can really handle her alcohol. Saturday night was a let down. We went to a farewell for a friend of mine from school but she got there late and it was crap. We left after about an hour and chilled at Hoggots house. Sunday was good. We went to Groke's house for tea and hung out with him and another friend of his. The food was great but it was also awesome to catch up.

I was devastated that the girl internet was not working on the weekend because I couldn't do my Sunday post but I am making up for it now. I want everyone who comes here and reads this to let me know something about them. Please post your name and were you are from and that will be fan-bloody-tastic. Bye byes.

My Lesson

Alright yesterday I learnt a very valuable lesson. I finished work and had parked the truck in the yard. My old man said he would pick me up and to just ring him but I thought bugger it I will just run home. Our yard is only about a kilometer from my house so its not a major thing. I have walked home from there a few times and its pretty easy. What I didn't take into account was the impact of running in big steel capped boots. By the time I got home I felt like my legs were going to fall off and I could barely lift them off the ground. My boots probably weigh a couple of kilograms each so it was like running with heavy weights strapped to my legs. Today was the worst part because all day I struggled to walk as my legs were still stiff and sore. I definitely learnt my lesson and next time I think I will just take them off and run bare foot.

I am in a bind this weekend because as usual I am double booked but this time its bad. The Lost Show are playing a gig at a venue called the Rhino Room in town but it is also Sophie's birthday celebrations at Salt down the Bay. I feel terrible missing the Lost Show's gig because I always support them but I cannot miss Sophie's. I'm in a Jam. I am going to go to Sophie's no matter what but I still feel bad.

My Two Part Role

I have had a couple of good days at work this week. Its been different but good none the less. Work can be weird because of the way my Dad and I work. When we are doing earthworks one person is always driving the truck and the other is on the machinery. Normally my dad drives the truck and I work using the bobcat or excavator while he is doing loads to the dump or quarry. Lately though things have been reversed and I am the one driving the truck.

I did a lot of driving today but it was good. I don't mind cruising around in the truck. Its not an incredibly exciting job but I have always enjoyed driving whether it be a truck or a car or a motorbike I just like being behind the wheel. The only downside to my day was changing a tire on our bobcat but apart from that it was all gravy baby!

Tell me about your job?

My Flashback

The weekend was good. We didn't get carried away with fancy things like going out in the city or getting ridiculously drunk but it was good to chill. The Lost Show played Friday night at the Underground and it was an awkward flashback to my gig going days. The Underground is an all ages alcohol free venue and the guys played an awesome show. The only awkward part was the crowd. The place was full of 15 to 16 year old emo kids. It took me back to the days were my friends and I used to go to gigs every weekend. The only difference was that these kids were being absolute morons. They were running around and jumping all over the place is if they were listening to their favourite Limp Biscuit record in the own room. They just didn't fit in, it was all way to over the top and they were all making asses of themselves. I could not believe how they were acting. It was embarrassing. I remembered back a few years ago and we never did anything like that especially not in front of a crowd of people. It was an awesome gig and I am really glad that the kids got into the Lost Show boys but damn it was odd.

Today the girl and I thought it would be fun to head to IKEA and have lunch and walk around. We ate a lot and then walked around for a while looking at all the items. We saw a lot of things that we would like to have when we buy a place and made a lot of comments about the things we didn't like. It was a good afternoon though.

Now its time to go play Monopoly with the girl. Byes.

My Quickness

I am in two mind frames. We are planning on pouring a concrete job tomorrow but it is raining and the forecast is for showers tomorrow. I really want to pour it tomorrow though because I am not in the mood to work Saturday this week. The next problem is that if it isn't finished this week we have to do it Monday and the only time we can get concrete is 6am. Now I don't mind early starts but that is too much. I would have to be there at 5:30!!!

I was thinking about analogies today and I came up with; wearing a condom during sex is like going to an ice cream store and only ever getting one scoop of vanilla. Now don't get me wrong I love vanilla ice cream but you cannot beat a scoop of choc chip cookie dough and a scoop of peanut butter and chocolate in a waffle cone. Condoms are also a good thing and I definitely condone them I was just making a joke, geez.

Byes?

My Contemplation

Lately I have been contemplating things and one of them is for me to start putting pictures on here of myself and the people around me. Since I have started this thing I have only ever posted the photo I have in my profile which was taken back when I was 16. Hopefully things have changed since then and I think the world is ready to see further into my world. I have never been one to take a lot of photos of myself but I think this blog could be the start. It has been about two years since I started this blog and in that time there has only ever been one photo of me on her so I will either flood the internet with Phil faces or I might just change my profile photo. Let me know your thoughts though because after all you and 50 percent of the reason why I type all these sentences.

I haven't really been taking as many photos as I normally do. It seems lately that work has dominated my life a bit and it has only been work photos. I will definitely improve on this soon though with some random pictures of random objects in chaotic motion and that should liven up everyones days. This may be a spud blog revolution. You just never know.

Byes

My Final Payment

Well today I paid the final installment for the ski trip we are going on this year. I was about two weeks late I think but I managed to remember and got it paid. I cant wait. I am in two minds though because the girl and I are going with a lot of people we don't know. Last year we went up with a small group of friends and it was one of the best weeks away I have ever had so hopefully this year is the same.

The trip is through Calvin and his uni and although neither the girl or I go there, Calvin still got us a spot. It is all organized through them which makes it pretty cheap due to the numbers, so that is awesome. Last year I had a bit of a tumble and knocked myself out for a bit so hopefully I stay upright this year.

This week has been really cushy so far. We have been doing a lot of organizing and not a lot of working. It all needs to be done and it looks like we will have a few big jobs coming up so that is always good. There is a company which we are trying to ease our way in to get all their work because there is years of work to be done up there and it would be a massive step for us. I will let you know how we go in the next few months.

Back to the grind tomorrow I think.

My Big Scull

It has been a while I know but its been a pretty crazy past few days. In the last week everything has changed. Everything. I went from living independently, being my own boss and having so much freedom to back to my old life. It was a pretty smooth transportation though.

The girls mum got back from her trip and she is as sick as a dog so it was straight to the doctor for some antibiotics and then some rest. The same day she got back I had another big concrete pour on which went really terribly. The first load of concrete came and it poured out of the truck like soup. 45 minutes later though it was completely hard. We could walk on it and could barely shovel it. We worked like you wouldn't believe and got the second truck load down and then started finishing the first load. The second area was finished 2 and a half hours after the first even though they were only put down 45 minutes apart. I was not happy at all and even after giving Boral, the concrete company a serve, they didn't even send a sales rep out to see me. Not happy Jan.

Apart from a few headaches the pour came up alright and it finished off a stressful but successful month. The weekend was a bit of a release and with Emma's 21st Friday night and a very funny night at Nicole's Saturday night. I was relieved. The high/lowlight of the weekend was at Nicole's where after being the loser of the drinking game Kings I had to scull a glass which was made up of one part vodka, one part white wine, one part Heineken and the last part Hahn Super dry. I got it down but god it was terrible. Really terrible. I felt a bit average after that but had a great great night. I ate the best pizza ever about an hour after my big scull.

This week is all about new things in a way. New jobs that we are moving on too and new ways of living. Its good though because without change life becomes stagnant and boring so I guess shaking thing up a bit is a good thing. I think I will just go with the flow.