Damn, missed him by THIS much!!

Hulk food

Hulk food
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

So what's 1 to do when he's sick as a dog & have 4 ripe avocadoes? Make muffins of course! Even though I'm supposed to be fixing up my chapter 3, my heavy dose of cold/flu has left me incapacitated (at least I'd claim so). Having heavily drugged myself (on Panadol/Herron, chinese cough medicine, & Soothers/Strepsils) I simply have no mental/intellectual capacity to do any writing/re-writing, let alone the mood to do as such. So, with 4 ripe avocadoes that've been sitting on their sorry arses for the past wk or so I proceeded to put them out of their misery & baked them! First, you stripe (ha, stripe!) then dice, followed by moosh. When they're at a softened-butter consistency, mix in sugar as per normal muffin baking (minus the butter & eggs, ie avo as butter/egg replacement), followed by self-raising. Decorate with almonds & sesame seeds, & bake at 200'C for 25 minutes & wah-lah! Green muffins! They're not exactly 'spring lawn' green but more like a soft green tint. Kinda like the puss-green the Hulk has on while in the midst of transforming. My scoops of dough were a bit big so I ended up 1 short of a full dozen. Ah well. And the verdict? Only a hint of avocado, but that light sprinkle of salt on the scooped dough really brought out the flavours. I've already had 3 today!

p.s. That should teach me for staying up late to watch the darn Socceroos play the World Cup. Have been feeling horrible since wednesday (not just because we LOST after the most RIDICULOUS penalty decision!) but battling cold/flu + sleep deprivation. Ooh, Lucas Neill is at Sunrise tomorrow! Maybe I should stop by before heading to uni?

p.p.s. Damn! My Mozilla is mal-functioning again!!

p.p.p.s. Stupid dry cough!

Chronicle of the perpetually sleep-deprived

+

+

Who is the genius that played this butter-finger instead of the trusty Schwarzer?

Batch No.3 - Parsley, tarragon, & avocado

I underestimated my own countrymen

Having said that, it was still a very scrappy performance. With that many yellow cards, would we have anyone left for the last match against Croatia?

Doggy biscuits - take 2

Surprise surprise, I'm not feeling like writing up chapters again. So what is 1 to do when he doesn't feel like working? Clean his room, of course! Well, I did for an hour or so anyhow. I chucked out some old stuff, re-organised 1 shelf & opened up a little bit of room which I have already filled with stuff that I bought prior to the clean up :'( So it's pretty much back to the normal chaotic state that my room was in. What's the bloody point?

Still not feeling like writing after the clean up, so went downstairs & baked more doggy biscuits, this time with added bonus! As you might be able to see, there are freckles of green littering the biscuit dough. That is parsley. With my dog aging, & having finished reading Marley & Me ages ago, 1's gotta do something to try & improve his eyesight. Thus, the parsley! & I made this batch without any sugar either, which makes them extra healthy! Half a stick of unsalted butter + 1/3 of a kilo of self-raising + 4 eggs + a handful of parsley from the yard = 5 dozens of doggy biscuits!! Whata bargain, & what a sense of accomplishment. I've almost forgotten the therapeutic powers of baking/cooking!! & the kneeding & oven keep you warm on such cold winter days as well :D

new Snoopy products

After searching thru 3 Kmarts I've finally found this ceramic Snoopy dog bowl. No, I'm not going to give it to da dog. I'm keeping it for myself & eat off it!!! Well, not quite off it, but I'm going to use it as a candy dish instead (see below). Still have a few tic-tacs & sticks of gum lying around. Perfect.

Other new Snoopy products came courtesy of Betty, a little bit of present from HK. Look at how cute the little mug is :D

Keep ducking

Currently having a bit of a duck obsession. I mean, I've always had a bit of a thing for rubber duckies, but I never had 1. Until last yr it was. When one thinks of rubber duckies you of course immediately think of Oslo, Norway (just go with it for now) so when I was there for 5 whole wks las northern summer I went around the city a lot. At one of these bathroom specialist stores (Saap! I think it was) I cam across one of them that was on sale for NOK10 (1st 1 on left of pic). Ijust had to jump to the opportunity now didn't I? Soon after, I found 2 more on sale at a rival store (the 2 non-yellow 1s). The 3 of them sat on my shelf & were quite lonely for a while. When I went down to Geelong/Melbourne this January with Rae we were looking around Holy Sheet! & I was yet another rubber duckie on sale (middle, between the 2 non-yellows). And since then the duckie collection had been growing steadily: 1st the Darling Duck from BUD, then back to smaller 1s again to fill out what's left of my shelf. 2 days ago I was @ Holy Sheet! Bondi Junction buyiing them down-filled booties for mum & grandma & I saw BUD now have these giant ducks @ AUD30 a pop! Luckily there are only 2 designs so far, otherwise I'd have to go broke!?!?! Not that I ended up buying them or anything. Just too big. Bought a green apple pamper pack instead, in which thee was a green apple duckie. Have yet to find a BUD official website, but have some some sites that specialise on rubber duckies, with some listings of BUD ducks. I so far have seen 47 designs (excluding giant ducks). I only have 1 (green apple.coconut/lavendar pamper pack ducks are not listed as BUD ducks even thought they're from the BUD team). Oh crap! Must stop obsession or make more money.

Peach nesting

Peach nest
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Autumn has arrived and as nature's intended, deciduous trees have started shedding leaves. This is what the peach blossom in our backyard now looks like. & THAT is a nest (of some native pigeon or something) that I found in the last few days, nestled behind the now shedded green leaves. It's nest No2 that I can see from my window, the other being the kookaburra nest at the top of the gum tree that stands just outside our fence & in the playground place adjacent to our house.

Doggy biscuits

Doggy biscuits
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

With ever increasing petrol prices 1 is always trying to find ways to curb spending in order to offset this growing weekly expense. I, not having to drive regularly anymore, also need to curb my spending after reasonably hefty expenditures in the last month or so. It all started with my groomsmaning and related activities, then followed by things that weren't really that necessary, like more new clothes, books, etc. Now that I've kinda decided to take a yr-end trip to HK & surronds, that can only mean for $$. So, my first step of curbing expenditure starts with spending less on things that I can spend less on, and the 1st sacrifice, da dog. Yes, da dog. I'm not really cutting back that hard. he's still getting his main meal,evening snack, plus his usual duty as a garbage disposal on things like apple cores, broccoli stems, carrot tops and the odd pieces of fruits. In all, he's eating more than he should, really. But in recent yrs, the $$ of dog food has gone up quite a fair bit. Back in the days when B started living with us, we could easily feed him for around $1 a day. Now, it's more like $2. I know, I know, $2 is still very cheap, but if you add it up his annual bill would be doubled to what he cost a mere 5 yrs or so ago. In an attempt to battle purse strings, & for his health, no more store bought snack biscuits!! Instead of the $15 a box doggy treats, it's home-made doggy biscuits. Considering all the ingredients (a stick of unsalted butter, 89c; a 1kg bag of self-raising, 87c; 3 eggs, next to nothing; an owner's love & care & the 6+ dozen doggy biscuits out of the oven, priceless), it would only cost 10% to make as many treats as store bought! & all done while watching 1 (albeit very long) Rome final between Federer & Nadal. What a bargain. Taste-test result? It's a 'swallow straight down, no need for chewing' gooood!!

Just so u know, I'm not just cutting back expenses on others. I'm also cutting back expenses on myself. Like, no more clothes & accessories (until the next big sale, at least :P), & spend more time writing PhD & planning Dan's cellar party instead of the customary end-of-the-day 15 min shopping trips. So far so gd.

Update on TV-quarium II: finally went to Parklea & ordered the tank. Should arrive in 2 wks. No need to hurry really. The happy couple is not expected back to report for regular duties for another couple of wks, & then it's months of looking for a new place before finally settling in. I'm guessing I have until the end of the yr to finish the project. Easy...

Starting all over again

Another old TV shell
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

It's trash time again so the streets in the surrounding neighbourhoods are of course littered with, well, trash. Like usual, there are 'good' trash, and there are 'bad' trash. An example of 'good' trash would be this old TV set. I'm not sure if it still works or not, but it's old, it uses dials to change channels manually, and worst of all, has no remote!! Then why did I pick it up & brought it home? Well, for those of youse who know me, you'd know that I made a TV-quarium a couple of years ago (see Aug 1^st blog). I also have a couple of other shop-bought aquariums, 1 of which is no longer in use. But I digress. The reason why I’ve picked up this, smaller old TV set was to, yes, you’ve guessed it, make another TV-quarium!! :D There actually isn’t any more room in the house to accommodate another TV-quarium, and no I’m not actually making it to re-sell (although I once saw them on sale at a market at $200 AUD a pop!). It is actually going to be a house-warming present for my bride & groom (see Apr 23^rd blog). They’re on their honeymoon now & when they return they’d start looking for a bigger place to move into. Judging by their previous house-hunting effort, I’d say I’d have till xmas to finish this present (rotfl!!!!!) In any case, if the last time was anything to go by, it took a long time for the custom order glass tank to arrive (from memory it took nearly 2 months) so I can just take my time with it. Just as well, gives me time to work out the intricacies such as fixing the dials back on without the unpleasant mechanisms in the box, spraying it to go with their furniture, & to order accessories online.

Still groomsman-ing

It's almost been a wk since what I thought was the end of my groomsman-ing days but a little over an hour or so ago Clement msged me again. The Chinese banquet is in 2 days & he needed 4 songs for the night. As I was the groomsman in charge of helping out with the music my service is called in once again. Ha, the life of a groomsman. It just doesn't end, does it :P I'm not helping much though, mostly just talking him through (again). The entrance of the roasted pig is a bit of a toughy. I mean, what songs do you play to pigs' entrances? McMug?

YES! Finally got my 4-match Swans pass. My 'getting over the post-wedding blues' regime thus is officially started. Stupid Telstra Stadium is relaying some of the turf, which means that the ground might not actually be ready for this Saturday's game. Ah, ratz! Not that I have anything against the SCG, but just the fact that I haven't been INSIDE stupid Telstra Stadium for nearly 6 yrs is reasons enough for me to want to keep the game there. Plus, it's SO much closer to home. Must find warm clothes that are red. Looks like a 10-er on Saturday night. Brrr....

'Good' bad luck

DSCN0396
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Edmund got a call from his father while we were at Artarmon returning the rentals. I had parked our little old red Laser in front of his house the morning before so we only needed to drive 1 car over to Clement’s place to get ready for the wedding. His father had called because someone had crashed into the Laser this morning & dented not 1 but both cars on the left hand side (see above). At first we didn’t know who crashed into the Laser so we stood around for a bit & took pictures. I also took some more after I went home despite the fact that I was delirious and headachy from the compounded lack of sleep (14 hrs in 3 nights, not something I’d recommend to anyone). Eventually we found out that it was Edmund’s neighbour from across the street who crashed into the Laser while backing out from her driveway earlier that morning. The Laser also happens to be over-insured (or over-evaluated or however you want to call it). With NRMA’s advice, we think it’s possible to take the claim $$ & just write-off the car. We actually had been thinking about selling it for some time, but seeing that state that it’s in it is not actually worth much (yes, still delirious, can’t find a better way than to use 2 ‘actuallies’ in 1 sentence). This was we probably would get more for the car than to (1) either trade it in when buying a new car, which at last evaluation was only worth $500 that way, or (2) sell it off the street which we’d probably get a little more than $500 but no much still. I wonder what we’d get.

‘To do’ list:

1. get hand-made name card & customised candy from bride & groom. I left in such a hurry to get the car ready that I didn’t actually have a chance to pack up anything except for what was already in my bag.
2. organise to view wedding video together with rest of bridal party (minus Edmund, who goes back to HK this coming tues) upon the bride & groom's return from their honeymoon in 5-6 wks' time
3. get 4-match package for Swans games Tuesday afternoon. Everyone (ok, maybe just me) is suffering from a little bit of a post-wedding blues so I'm trying to fit more events in (not that I should. I really should get back to writing my chapter)
4. post-grad BBQ in just under 2 wks' time :)

Finally, the big day had arrived

Invitation
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Yes, the big day had finally arrived indeed, and just like that it was also over. After a very long build-up, even the early morning start & late late night finish didn't seem like enough time to fit in all the scheduled items (I feel so very much to say 'commotion', but the nice kind. You know what I mean).

Groomsmen had it a bit easier than the bride's maids. We 'only' needed to gather at the groom's apartment in Chatswood at 0730 (translation: up by 0545 to get ready). We actually had a bit of a sit around while we waited for the photographer, make-up & florist to arrive. Groomsmen didn't actually get made-up, just a light touch for the groom to cover up his dark circles so he resembled less like a panda. After getting snapped while getting ready, we finally left to get the rental cars 10min behind schedule. Traffic to Cherrybrook was light so we got there with some time to spare. The bride's maids & 'sisters' were not ready anyway so we had a bit of time to wilt in the warmer than expected daylight. As we wilted, so did our floral buttonholes. It was also during this time that we had to do a lot of ‘fake’ poses for the photographers & videographer, ‘fake’ poses walking in a line pretending to talk & having a laugh, standing around in a circle pretending to talk & having a laugh, standing in line pretending to talk & having a laugh, etc. (I’m starting to see a trend here…) While the groom got humiliated at the ‘getting the bride’ games, the rest of us sat around for a bit before getting stuff ready for the cars & the rest of the day. As the Bentley – the bridal car which was of course magnificent – arrived we knew it was our cue to step up with the preparation & getting ready. We managed to delay ourselves further by another half an hr or so. We were stopped on our way to the church ceremony (groom, best man & other groomsman went ahead in a rental, while I drove the 2 bride’s maids & maid of honour in another rental, closely following the Bentley which held the bride & bride’s parents), luckily not by the police but by the groomsmen, informing us that the videographer was MIA. We stopped on the side of the road for nearly 15min before given the all OK to continue our way there.

I fought hard to not cry as the bride entered the church with her father. Luckily I was successful otherwise I would’ve made myself the centre of the showing instead of the bride & groom standing in the middle. Because of the pre-existing delay, & a little mix up in the end, we couldn’t have group photos according to the schedule as set out in the order of service. It got chaotic as we tried to gather people of the different groups from where they had spread – basically all over the church premise, taking refreshments, chatting, taking pictures, etc. As a result, we ended up being nearly an hr late for the location shoots. Further disasters as the bride’s maids dresses keep getting caught in their shoes, the rose on my floral buttonhole deciding to go walkabout, bride’s maids getting cold as the chills of dusk moved in. in the end, we didn’t have time to fit in the 3^rd location shoot, which was supposed to be around the golf course, the venue for the night’s reception. In any case, everyone was busy running around the dining hall doing final preparations (informing the DJ, having buttonholes fixed, calming the bride, then groom, then bride again, re-do hair & make-up… It was a lovely reception. Lighting was moody, food was nice, people had fun, the schedule got pull out of whack because speeches went long… In the end we had to abbreviate some scheduled items so we could vacate the premise by midnight. I didn’t end up sticking around the help clean up because I got switched back to driving the bride & groom to their hotel in North Ryde. I hugged them goodbyes before sending them in to rest after such a long, eventful day. I of course wanted to just go home & crash also, which I did, for a few hrs, before getting up again to pick up the groom (the bride was still asleep), drop him home, before heading on to return the rentals before 9am. I needed to pick up the groom & drop him home because (1) we needed someone to come to the rental place to take us back to Chatswood, and (2) we needed to go back to Chatswood to pick up the Best Man’s tux, return all 3 tux, collect Edmund’s car before coming back home to Castle Hill. I ended up letting Clement drive the Audi for a little while, seeing that he’s paid for it and all. He actually wanted to drive it yesterday already, but no one let him. Nifty little toy that Audi was. I had the A4 for the day, & it did take a bit of time getting used to. Not just the fact that the sticks for the indicators & windscreen wipers were on the 'wrong' sides of th steering wheel, but also the fact that the brake was very sensitive while the accelerator was slow to react. In the end, I did get used to it, so much that when I went to collect the Laser to drive home I was trying to indicate the left (which for the Laser is the windscreen wipers). No more driving for a little bit. That should be long enough for me to forget the Audi.

For recap of rest of Sunday, see next blog.

Boys' (half) night out

Last night was also Clement’s buck’s night. It was pretty late organisation, so we wouldn’t really plan something big/wild. It was also Easter long weekend, and for some reasons a lot of the cool restaurants that we called up for reservation (the Belgian & Bavarian Beer Cafés, Jap restaurants… James Squire Brewhouse was open but didn’t take reservation) were closed for the entire weekend. Finally we settled for Sakana-ya in Crows Nest & just played it by ear afterwards. Unfortunately there were only 2 pubs in that little corner of Crows Nest. I started out soft with just 1 beer before dinner while the groom skulled 2 schooners & the best man 2 screwdrivers. Hot sake during dinner was a treat, although it did get tougher to down as it cooled towards the end. Afterwards the task of toppling the groom was left to just Herman & I as Edmund passed on everything but the sake during dinner, & Felix simply doesn’t drink. More unfortunate was the situation where everyone was driving apart from the groom, so the night ended relatively early at around midnight. At least I’ve heard reports that the groom threw up pretty much immediately after I dropped him home, which means that we did a great job grogging him up. Fun night, fun night.

Heads down again to focus on the big (& very long) day that is coming up very soon.

The final countdown

As cliché as it sounds, it IS the final countdown. We had our final dance lesson yesterday evening down at Chinatown again, this time with the whole bridal party present. Edmund having just arrived the night before (& thus not having had any lessons before) struggled to catch up while the rest of us got messed around with changed choreography. I’ve also switched partner to make way for the 2 MCs of the night. Final practice is after the church rehearsal on Wednesday night. Let’s hope no one trips :p

Getting Creative

Creative Zen Neeon 6G
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

After a bit of cajoling, I finally managed to talk myself buying a Creative Zen Neeon 6Gb. It has 7 different back-lighting, unlike the blue-lit MuVo TX FM 512Mb, all the great functions that the TX FM has/had PLUS line-in recording. Terrific investment I think. Now I only need to unload the TX FM that I bought less than 9 months ago. Already listed on eBay, will check how it's progressing nearer to the end.

On the same day that I bought my little Neeon, lil' bro Ben also got offered a contract job down in Wynyard. on way to dinner he stopped by Myer & picked up a 30Gb iPod video. Seeing that my Neeon doesn't have the video function (I'm not at that advanced a stage yet technologically) I'd just have to stick with books while train-ing.

WESTIR/WSCF office launch went without many glitches except for half of the entertainment turning up late. Otherwise it was a fine affair with 30 of the 50 complementary CDs of the new occasional papers gone along with a couple of the hard copies. It's back to mundane office-hood from tomorrow & think about next projects. Maybe I should really think about the recreation one?? A little in-person research wouldn't hurt, right? :P

Easter is coming by again and after a few yr's absence I decided it was time to head down to the Royal Easter Show at Olympic Park again. This time I went with the perenial-attendant Wendy & her cousin Terrence. Despite the fine weather (compared to the downpour which I endured 3 yrs ago, anything would have been fine weather) there weren't really large crowds anywhere, which suited me just fine. All in all, a fun day out to take my mind off things. By the time I got home 10:30-ish I was knackered & left all my un-packing to be done the following day (by others :P)

Speaking of taking my mind off things, I had yet another dose of that this morning. Last night was the helps party at the bridal residence. Attendance was quite high (20 or so, with about 10 more helpers absent) so after some food a run-thru of the big day's schedule was, well, run thru. The task list was 3 A4 pages alone. Luckily most people's tasks were limited to about 1/3 of a page, with multiple persons fussing over the same tasks. It should be fun watching them fight over "artistic differences" :) Anyhow, with more responsibilities ahead (ribbons to buy, bride's bday party, final dance rehearsal, buck's night, church rehearsal, the BIG DAY...) I'm totally buggened (mentally). Not feeling like writing (yet again) I finished reading the last few chapters of Marley & Me. I flicked thru and read the bit where Marley was put down after health problems when I was still about halfway thru the book some time ago, but the sadness that overcame me this morning was something that I did not anticipate. I literally weeped my way thru most of the last 3 chapters, with every few lines presenting new materials to cry about. I haven't cried in may years, & I honestly cannot remmeber exactly when I last cried except maybe my high school graduation (oh my God, was that really 8 & 1/2 yrs ago??). Anyhow, after that little liquid-release & reading of materials totally unrelated to my studies (yet again) I now feel totally refreshed & rejuvenated. Already managed to write 2 paragraphs in the last 2 hours. Wait a minute, why am I wasting my writing on this piece when I have more important things to write about? Oh buzz off then!

Busy busy busy

If you have been followin gmy blog it should come as no surprise to anyone to know that April is an extremely busy month for me, socially speaking. It has not even been a week into April and I already feel that I've done more than a month's worth of socialising. While technically Trish's graduation celebration was not an April event (30 March) it did knida take me until April to recover from the after effects. I arrived at uni as per usual around 9:30 in the morning & proceeded to carry out a whole bunch of tasks - library returns, new interlibrary loans, photocopying, realsing done photocopying wrong & had to re-do, used photocopied sheets for prelim analysis for final results chapter (last of 4), general office adminstrative stuff, print outs, filing, etc. So by the time the graduation ceremony came (6:30pm start, so be seated by 6:15pm) I was over doing work for the day & skipped (not quite literally) into the Clancy Auditorium for the ceremony. After bopping head around for a bit looking for Kev we realised that he was MIA for the academic procession & ended up sitting 2 blocks right of us in the top row of seating. We found out post-ceremony that he was caught (trapped?) in traffic on the notorious Parramatta Road & thus missed the procession by about 10min. According to (Mrs) Elaine, Big Kev was gutted. Not that there was anything that could have been done at that stage. Anywho, while of of the honorary doctorate deceipient (Ian Kiernan) was an absolute bore, the other (Robyn Williams, & NOT, I repeat, NOT the comedian) was an absolute hoot. He was very funny in making fun of the current political stage of Aust. That act was worth the ticket price alone, not that it cost anything... The night continued on afterwards at Giovanna's down in Kingsford. Trish's Uncle Joe, who accompanied Trish's mum here all the way from Ireland, was an incredibly generous man. He bough each of our tables (3 in all) a bottle of Chandon. Absolutely delicious thing it was. The rest of the food for dinner was good too, as expected from Giovanna's. Speeches were also witty & entertaining. It was after 11 before we realised that it was actually time to head on. Big kev & Elaine gave me a lift to Central. I had intended to catch the M2 bus back to Towers, but had just missed by about 15min, & did not realise that the next bus was another hr away that I trained to Pennant Hills instead. By the time I got home it was after 2.

After about 4.5 hrs of sleep I got up early the following morning so I could make up for the day that I had missed at WESTIR. I never fully got over the self-induced sleep deprivation during the day & thus took me until April to fully recover from the graduation. There are light days and there are heavy days. In view of the self-induced sleep deprivation I decided to have a light day at WESTIR (choice of light day was fortunately made available after on tuesday having 1/ finalised profiles for Waverley, and 2/ made final corrections for crime cccasional paper thus making it ready for publication) & instead of doing any work that required levels of intellect higher than that of an ant I tidied up the office in preparation for tomorrow's (6 Apr) launch of new/joint office w/ WSCF. Have continued on such low-intellect duties this tuesday as well as did covers of occasional papers #3 & #4 ready for show-&-tell tomorrow and attend joint staff meeting for task designation. Plenty of work still tomorrow. At least there is champagne at the end of all these. Hope they are good ones. (Do I smell a running theme?)

Sunday was the future Mrs D's bday & so being a Pol-ish gathering the alcohol was flowing freely all afternoon & evening. Nice gathering Mrs D. More social events had been flagged as a result of alcohol's involvement.

This week my groomsman duties continued & expanded with new duty - song list. Luckily I already had a contingent song list ready from weeks back so coming up with a short list wasn't quite as hard as one would think. Still, had to go thru the 10 pages of songs in the DJ's list & pick out the appropriate ones. Will also request songs that were notably missing. (How can a DJ who does wedding not have Tony Bennett's version - or any version for that matter - of The Way You Look Tonight??). Duties continue on sunday was dance practice & run thru of the day's schedule prior to the 'bridal party' party.

Just the thought of these hightlights of social events is leaving me exhausted. Will report again post office launch.