Don't forget to turn off the lights!

Today was for the most part, a very boring day. Nothing exciting happened. Sorry to sound dull, but it was just one of those days. So I will not tell you too much about it. Instead I will talk about other stuff like cows (just kidding).


Here are some pics that I snapped yesterday on route to a job. It was glorious weather, strangely beautiful views became apparent on this trip too. The valley below me was awash in a blanket of fog. You can't see them in this picture, but there are several Power plants within this region. The drive was very relaxing and this time of the year is perfect for country outings. For those who don't know, our power stations burn brown coal. (black coal is only used under unusual circumstances). The cooling towers pictured here at Loy Yang are much larger than those that I photographed in previous posts at Yallourn. The scale of Loy Yang is also spread out over a much wider area than at Yallourn and Hazelwood (I will get a few pics of Hazelwood in future posts). Hazelwood boasts the unfortunate title of being the most envirommentally un-friendly power station in the state (if not the Country) due to it's ageing technology and subsequent efficiency. Just the other day, I was hearing talk of the possibility of a renewed lease on coal-fuelled power viability and the debate that shrouds it in so much controversy. Thanks largely in part to German scientists, Australia may well be heading down the road of coal powered energy with 'zero' emissions.
Check this!


Any way It got me thinking... Will this mean that the grey mist around us every morning will disappear? Will I be able to see more than 10m in front of the car's bonnet on the way to work? Scary prospects like these leave me wondering about what sort of impact it will have on our environment in the long term. Will our children be able to see more of the road when they are our age? Through the combination of fog and pollution that seems to be everywhere these days, it is hard to see how it will change in any great hurry. Although I think it's important to conserve energy, I for one, won't be rushing out to buy solar panels any time soon.

Short and Sweet

Hi there. Well I don’t have too much to say this evening, and even less time in which to say it.

Hey guess what? I know you can't really see it clearly, but right in the middle of the photo above, is the illustrious holiday resort known as Barry Beach. **cough cough cough** You might be able to pick it from the picture, you know... The fact that a bucket and spade would not be as useful as a 12 ton beached whale on this shoreline. It's very pretty from the hills, but believe me it's no place for your beach umbrella or the spade and bucket. (sorry folks no building sand castles here either).

These are all pics that sum up the weather and some of the places that work took me to on Monday. I will have more to say later on in the week. Until then, have a great day tomorrow and be happy :)

More Networking Skullduggery

Here are some more photos of the Get Smart gig Today... Thank god for shoe phones. Two large 'Air Blue' air conditioners keep these network Terminal Units, Switches, Routers and various other puppies cool all year round: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These air conditioners are about 7 feet tall and really shift serious air within this room.


The two dark grey units pictured here in the middle are huge 5Kw fully managed UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supplies. They may also act as further protection from power surges or brown outs. At about 4 feet high, no-one will steal these babies, they probably weigh more than both of us combined. Sexy though, very sexy.



At the end of the day this job was about successfully creating a 2Mb virtual Private Network connection possible between the client site at a local Power Generation Facility and the power generation technogods of cyberspace in Sydney. I never ask where they are exactly, but they speak to me via mobile phone when they wish to communicate -much like ET did in the movie.



And this folks, is what makes it all possible. The very thing that allows you to see this post in all of its heavenly beigeness. If I added a little green, I could make it a little like the Matrix...

Into The Groove

Hi there again. Today, Phil and myself delivered and set up PC's at this place in a nearby town. It is a new building that is a multipurpose educational centre. It is a hive of activity at the moment as workers (such as ourselves) were actively going about our various tasks madly working toward our individual goals.




Yesterday however, presented various other challenges in both high security buildings and some very public areas as well. One place that houses this (amongst many other cabinets) array of rack mounted network hardware was my first port of call on what was to be a very busy day. Pictured are two of about 6 cabinets in a single row inside this data centre. Entry is only to authorised personel, and is controlled by a remotely accessible door lock. There is no key or lock visible on the outside and the building is disguised as a regular vacant shop front. It's a bit like the rooms that Maxwell Smart enters at the beginning of 'Get Smart.' You know right before he enters the phone booth. As you are authorised, the door clicks open and you are invited into an empty room that leads to a beige security door that leads to the data cabinets in a sterile beige room with yet another security enabled beige door. Surrounding the almost oddly contrasting black cabinets are beige brick and plaster covered walls with a solitary security camera watching your every move.
A bit creepy really.



Of course my busy day didn't end without a snapshot of this awsome view to the north: as the sun sank beneath the distant Gippsland horizon. Wow.

A Quiet Day at the Office

Well, it was a quiet day at the office today and I don't have much to talk about.



But I was able to soak in a little more of our beautiful Gippsland scenery.










The funky mirror pic. Something a little differerent, that's all.

enroute to a job today.
I especially liked the windmill, (taken through the passenger's side window)

A Sticky Situation. (not for the old or infirm)

Today I had my routine, post vasectomy check up. It all went well until I asked about the non-regulation quad infiltration wounds… Now before I go any further, be warned, this is about that vasectomy stuff. So if you have sensitive eyes, look away now.

“Hmm, well you see It will all be back to normal soon” He replied. I knew I had been ignored in the most polite way, but being left with distinctly unfulfilled curiosity, I had to press on with questioning the man. Eventually, sensing my concern he asked “do you feel ok.” I replied “If only the pain would go away, perhaps I would feel ok.” I said. “It would be ok: except for the fact that I still feel like my testes have been hammered by a Japanese sword smith!”

Ouch!!! “Now it’s just pissing me off, especially the left one.” “Hmm, yes I think I know why too,” he added. Anyway, he went on to say that he did the right side (which is ok) and the ‘registrar’ did the left side which is still causing considerable pain and discomfort. Now I am not sure what a registrar is exactly- however, I’m tipping that he/she/they were considerably less experienced than the surgeon himself.

OMG, I am so not going through this again. - So out comes this rather large specimen jar, complete with attractive yellow screw top lid and encompassing white information label (that is blank for now). All I could think at the time when it came into view, was ‘you’ve got to be joking’ this is going to take ages to fill!

“Fear not” the surgeon quickly responded as he whacked the jar down in the middle of his broad mahogany desk. It sat for a moment, drawing my focus totally as he continued “now I know you don’t have tickets on yourself son, so I don’t expect you to fill it right to the top. Hehehe” “Just a few drops will do, but I’m sure you won’t have any problems with a little more than that.” I uncomfortably shrugged my shoulders nodding my head. “Look: just fire a shot into the cup, pop it under your armpit and drop it into pathology on your way to work. Tell em’ Dr. A sent you”

Great, now I feel like I’ve been crossed between a sperm donor and a guinea pig. “Manual extraction is best… you know masturbation, but you may find it easier to extract it during intercourse” He added. “Before ejaculation, let it rip in this cup.”
OK. No problem, no worries. Even if I will feel like a human incubator, travelling to work with a jar of semen under my armpit: I can handle it. But hang on…How am I going to explain it to anyone if I am caught in some sort of unexpected situation? What if I get pulled over by the cops or something? Do I hand it to Tom to keep warm? Sorry can you put this under your arm for a minute bro? Eeeewwwww!!!!!!!!! I don’t think so! Anyway, it’ll be another two months before I submit any ‘specimens.’

“Whatever you do, don’t put it in the fridge before brekkie or anything like that- because the poor little critters won’t survive that. We want em’ while they’re still warm.” Dr. A said. Lovely, I thought: Just dandy: and oh so romantic too… NOT.

Ok, he summarised. Do this, this and this, then pow: pop on the top and hop into your car and go. “Oh and don’t forget to take the slip of paper with you. I exited the building feeling strangely satisfied in the knowledge that this is all apparently quite normal. But still knowing deep down that it was oh so unusual, no matter how I thought about it.

Crikey… The things we do for peace of mind…

Making Rash Decisions.

Tonight I learned that habbit is a very powerful thing to overcome. Now Judo is cool, but post-vasectomy judo is not. There are many reasons not to attempt judo right after a vasectomy. There are however reasons why you might do just that. The first reason may be habbit. The second reason might be over-enthusiasm. The third reason may be the inability to help ones self: My reason... Somewhere between all of these reasons and the fact that I believe in the principles of Judo. A part of me has to reinforce my faith in judo/jujutsu concepts. -For this, I have no doubt that I will be practising martial arts well into old age thanks to the profound teachings and guidance of my instructors. Most are still living (and some have regretably passed away).

I have analysed and tried many martial arts over the past 16 years, but I have not found any that come close to 'completing me' as Tai Jutsu Kai has. For this I must thank my teachers, especially my long time instructor and close friend Kevin McMenamin. He has been there guiding me from the darkness on more than one occasion, when I have been utterly lost. I continue to learn from him, even in his absence. Thankyou So-Soke.

So there is another side to my stupidity tonight that is reflected directly by irrepressible elements of my personality. That is to say...I just can't help myself.
I love martial arts. It is so fun, yet so serious, so dangerous, yet totally controled and as safe as houses all in a single moment. Yes it requires certain physical (and emotional/mental) skills that are attained only through experiential understanding. This is what is so difficult to explain to people about the martial arts. It is like trying to explain the universe in a single breath.

Anyway, I had no intention of rambling on about this, so I will change the subject. But that is what my blog is all about. I tell you about what I want to tell you and you read what I want you to hear. It's a great system really, albeit totally one sided. Anyway it's getting late and I am getting way too deep for a Monday night. I leave you with a quote by someone (made famous by Bruce Lee)?

'It is like a finger pointing away to the moon... Don't concentrate on the finger; or you will miss all the heavenly glory'

Ok, so I'm not fully over it yet, but I did try my best at the household duty quest today.
I was so inspired by Nicole, that I took it upon myself to try vaccuming, mopping up, dusting, kid-snacks and other bits and pieces all in one morning. Well I know it sounds pathettic, but I only got through the first objective before I realised that there was no way in hell that the other stuff was going to happen. I just didn't have the balls for it. LOL. Anyway I hope to be back on track soon. I am feeling better and better everyday. It feels as if I will be right again soon. :)

Bovine Disambiguation

Well I am soooo over this broken reproductive system. My manbits are well on the way to full recovery now with visible signs of improvement. I won't go into detail, but they are starting to look like they used to again... Phew! Being house bound has been a little depressing though and frustrating at the same time because of the fact that I am still limited in my capacity to lift things and move stuff around. Moving in certain ways is a definate no-no. I'm starting to get self conscious now of talking about my own anatomy too much. Well geez I suppose that it's not a commonly talked about area. That's probably for a good reason too. Nobody wants to know too much about me, although we all seem to have an underlying curiosity don't we? An inner voyeur that seeks to explain our own unseen behaviours perhaps. Lets face it, we can't act out some of our fantasies for fear of ridicule or embarrassment. Some fantasies are well, not realistic, obtainable, obscene or just plain bizarre, but underneath it all we all have common basic needs as human beings.

I think in general, we all struggle with disambiguation... That is we think that someone has a lifestyle or attitude to life that we aspire to, when in fact they themselves may feel the same about another individual (who doesn't seem the least bit interesting to you!) I reckon that this is because people are not always what they seem. We all have hidden agendas, secrets or attitudes that we don't want to disclose. It may be a psychological defence mechanism that saves us from bearing our souls to those who might exploit us. So there I was: the ever present (yet variable in intensity) abdoninal pain constantly reminding me not to overdo it. Yet again, the bath tub was to be my closest ally. Comforted by it's deep white edges and soothing contents, I relaxed and rested my...well you know the rest.

So life can apparently be a hotch potch of ambiguity. Oh well, I guess that that is what makes us so interesting. There again, perhaps I am wrong... Perhaps life really is like the Matrix, perhaps we are living in a dream world. Perhaps. At the end of every day do we go to sleep only to wake up in an unreal world? Does it even really matter afterall? Could it be that I am actually talking about cows??? Perhaps wombats then. Animals live such uncomplicated lives... When we finally discover our true identities, will we realise that this is all a dream: and that other people's lifestyles are an altogether unrelated story on this page in the book that is your life?

We all write unique pages in our 'life books.' My book is different from yours, and yours in turn is different from theirs. Some books are long, while others are short. Some funny, some grim. But they are all unique and are all written with our own unique style and language. We are all beautiful novels bound in turn, by the chapters unfolding in the book of life and the history of mankind. The History of Mankind is the best novel to date, but is only a snippet in the Encyclopedia of our Universe. And on it goes.

If we could choose to live like cows for a day, apart from eating lots of grass what would we do? Probably only things that really matter, like looking for more grass I suppose. Moo!!!

V-Day +5 The Wild Westicles

In the midst of my umm.... absence of wisdom, I bravely (but foolishly) fronted up at my brother's house today, tooting the horn once or twice to alert him to my presence. As is always the case, Tom greeted me with his usual enthusiasm. The road was long and bumpy (as I have already mentioned in my last post), but what was curiously difficult about the morning drive was my inability to sit in a comfortable position- thank God for cruise control though. I was quite embarrassed after dropping Tom off... I headed for the courier's depot, (he was giggling all the way there I think) I realised then that I might have to lift something if I did. My manbits flinched violently as if in protest and so thinking better of it, drove right on by. They were sore enough without me straining to the point of popping one out of it's socket (if thats possible). If you've ever watched one of those D grade haunted house movies where they just don't see the warning signs... You know when they step in through the door and that spooky voice clearly whispers "GET OUT." Even when the cutlery starts flying through the air, they just dumbly look on in disbelief. Yeah well that was kinda me this morning. -Only the ghosts were pains in my lower abdomen and the cutlery flying around were my testicles: painfully jumping about with every bump and pot hole. But still I persisted... pressing on like some marathon runner; some man possessed... I paid no heed to the warnings, ignoring the signs and with no pain killers this morning, was rapidly growing very sore.

Stepping out of the car (like a modern day cowboy dismounting from his trusty steed), I did my bow legged dance to the door of my work. I should have had chaps and two six shooters at my hips. If Gayle was a bartender, I would have slapped some coin on the counter for a whiskey... And as it slid down the long, varnished bar top, I would have struck a match and lit the cigarette that stuck to my parched lips just in time for me to extend my hand, catching that triple shot just in time before it smashed on the dusty wooden floor.

All the time I was at work, (not being able to escape the reality of the fact that this was no saloon, and Gayle was not polishing shot glasses: nor was Phil the local law man trying to bust my arse as I sometimes suspect him to be ;)) I could only wonder what on earth it was that posessed me to come here in the first place. So a quick conversation with my co-worker Gayle and my boss Phil, saw me packing my bag (yes, including that one) into the car and heading for home again. Like a whipped dog, tail between my legs (figuratively speaking) I was back out those saloon doors faster than you could say 'happy hour!'

Enduring those pot holes and bumps for the second agonising time today was worth it however... About an hour later I was slipping into a soothing bath of salts... Mmmmmmm. Temporary relief is better than none I say. Wyatt Earp - eat ya heart out baby!

V-Day Post Op

Well it’s been a long time since I posted any comments on my blog.
There are a couple of reasons for this (two very sore reasons). One is acute testicular/lower abdominal pain. Another is the inability to sit on a gas-lift chair for any length of time. And yet another reason is due to the mind numbing effects of Panadeine Forte.

So here I am at work. Drinking coffee and trying to recover from the 33km trip to work. It seemed a lot longer than usual, wincing at the sight of every bridge. You see, that road is bumpiest when the tarmac meets the bridges. You hit this bump and it feels like you’ve been hit in the sack with a mallet. Thump!!! OOOHHHHH!

And if the rash that covers my lower back (presumably due to the anaesthetic) is not enough, I woke up this morning with a golf ball sized lump in my neck! This is so not fun! But apart from that, I’m great. I feel fine. I can walk (Brokeback Mountain style) like Heath Ledger: a bit bow legged and although I won’t break into a sprint anytime soon, I am reasonably mobile. I sure as hell won’t be driving anywhere today though, and I I’ve left my camera at home so sorry, no pictures today either.

Well, there is one thing about this operation that really shocked me…Well actually there are a couple of things… One: The amazing properties of blood and Two: How many holes does a surgeon need to make in a scrotum to find one Vas?

Well, isn’t it always the way: you know when you receive advice from people after the fact, that leads you to wish that you had known all of that before you took action? Here’s what I mean people… “Oh, yeah I wanted to tell you that that surgeon is a butcher” Far out, perhaps he would be a better butcher than a surgeon. -Well, he sure made mince meat of my rissoles. LOL.

So Isn't it amazing how blood looks blue when it courses through your veins, is red when it comes out of them, and it turns black when it sits around under your skin for a while. I mean really black, and purple too. I cant get over how black and purple my balls are... They're hideous! Frightening almost. I got out of the shower this morning and the cat was scared to death! Frightened the crap out of him I think. Now the second point I raised: I have four holes in my poor old sack! Can you believe it? I have no idea why, and it's only just recently that it was discovered too. Once the swelling and bruising went down... Once the cricketball sized behemoths got back to their usual size. God that was awful.

Theoretically, it’s a simple operation right? The male reproductive system is easy enough. Just a small incision here, and snip, snip, done. Crap! Surely its not that hard? Well perhaps there is a greater degree of difficulty than I at first suspected. Ah well, it’s done now. I can only hope that it has been successful, so that I don’t have to go through all of this again.

V-Day -The Crotch of The Matter

Well. Today’s the day. Vasectomy city here we come. “Chop chop, come on get a move on” says my wife this morning to the kids. Ambitiously, I set about the morning duty as breakfast maker. I was so looking forward to my single allowable slice of toast and one cup of tea. Mmmmm. I scraped a thin film of vegemite over the surface of my lightly toasted wholegrain bread. Right now I am listening to Tina Turner’s ‘What You Get Is What You See.’ Something I wouldn’t normally admit to. But today is different: mainly because I wouldn’t normally subject myself to scrotal severance either. But There must be a light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps there’s no pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow, but there is hope that what I will undertake will be just, and uncomplicated. Today, I don my Superman underwear as a symbolic gesture of strength. I just hope that the surgeon is not from planet krypton.

Breakfast that I had at 7.00am is wearing thin. God I’m hungry already and its only 9.00am! Last night at the Final Supper, I was treated to roasted chicken and vegetables by my lovely, sexy and talented wife Amber. She does an incredible job really, considering her other responsibilities. She even finds time to listen to my whinging and whining occasionally. So a lovely roast dinner washed down with a Grolsch and followed soon thereafter by some scrumptious homemade apple pie topped with freshly milked and whipped cream… Ok I must confess- it was Safeway apple pie with week old Safeway ‘lite’ cream, but yummy nonetheless.

So here I sit in contemplation once again, with Bob Marley bopping away in the background. God its gonna be an interesting day. My mother informed me last night that she was violently ill years ago when she underwent surgery. “It was that dreaded anaesthetic” she explained. Wow, perhaps this is relevant I thought. I wish I had known this whilst filling in the hospital admittance papers. I could have sworn that there was something about anaesthetic written in there… Like ‘do any of your relatives have allergic reactions to anaesthetic?’ Luckily, I find out that she is the only one and it may not be a problem after all. I sincerely hope not. “Thanks Mum” I confusedly replied. I think I’ll go now. “Well have a nice day tomorrow” she says as I hop into my little silver car. My brain went horribly numb at that moment. Perhaps its in preparation for the General anaesthetic. Perhaps its just because I am thinking about all of this stuff too damn much??? Mental overload or something? Geeeees, I hope these Superman Jocks do so some good!

Wish me luck!

V-Day Part 2: Winter apprehension.

Ok. I'm not worried. Not worried at all. No really, I'm not worried. No problem at all. No really, no problem at all. Am I repeating myself? No I'm not nervous, not at all. It's just like... Um, well Ok, I'm worried. There! So you've finally convinced me that I am just a little concerned... Ok, a lot concerned. Geezus...

Ornamental balls on the Christmas tree? Thanks Mark. I feel so relaxed thinking of it that way. What if the surgeon slips... and gets the sack? Oh thats right, he's supposed to get the sack. Damn. This is crazy when you think about it. It goes against the natural order. We are supposed to avoid pain (I say this in my best impersonation of Grasshopper **think Kung Fu the tv series**) - This much I know. Martial arts has taught me that much oh master, but It has also taught me that it can be your friend too (but friends don't slit your sack open with scalpels now do they?).

No matter how I think or whom I talk to about it, it remains undeniably evident that this operation is gunna kill! The only immeasurable elements in the equation are time and degrees...
I.e, when is it going to hurt, and for how long can I bear it for as it gets progressively worse?

This is probably the most significant (and the last) operation that a man could undergo in his reproductive life. I was going to draw equal comparisons with childbirth, but have been easily beaten down (into submission) with categorically undeniable facts pointing to the contrary. Scaring me a bit, but just a little. Remember I am a man. And according to women, we are wimps. I can face many adversities blindly and without fear, be beaten, be put down... But hold a razor to my balls, and I will whimper like a cowarly dog. Come on guys, don't deny it. This is scary stuff. A lobottomy sounds better than this...

When I go in for the operation, I also wonder... Will I be able to choose my own music to help me relax like the pregnant women do??? -Or will the doctor choose the nutcracker suite? Will I subconsiously absorb his choice of music whilst under the influence of the anesthetic? Will I wake up with 'Bill Haley and his comets' burned deeply in my consciousness? Perhaps AC/DC's 'balls to the wall' or 'burn for you' by Farnsy will be haunting me as my manhood suffers?

I don't want to think about this too much (or reveal anything to let you think that I might be worried), so this is where I will end my blog tonight. After tonight, I will have one more sleep in which to farewell my aquatic friends forever ;) Wish me well and Phew, I got through an entire blog without mentioning cows even once!!! Um...

V-Day Part 1: Winter Enthusiasm

Flowers are so pretty aren't they? You know how flowers contain pollen and how bees use that pollen to stimulate the reproductive processes of other plants? Well thats what I was trying to think about today. I was trying to forget about the fact that today was the sixth day of the sixth month in this being the sith year of the 21st Century. Hmm 666. Not a great day for a doctors appointment, but I was confident, I was positive, I was determined, I was....a bit worried actually. What if it was going to be a problem? What if the devil has planned this all along? Are my testicles evil??? When I sign the 'consent to sterilisation' form, would i be selling my soul instead? I thought about how some people had thought that today the world would end, and I suddenly thought that this theory was flawed. If it was going to end, on which side of the world would it end first??? Anyway...

The way people talk so freely about vasectomy these days, it almost gives you the impression that it (vasectomy) is an object rather than a medical procedure. I was almost disappointed to hear that you couldn't get one off the shelf at the local Amcal. As I have learned, there is a lot more to vasectomy than meets the eye (or any other part of the anatomy).

I guess that you could say that I have been 'shopping' around, you know trying to find the best deals... No two for one deals to be found on offer, but a considerable difference in the waiting times (and the quality of reading material available) at different surgeries. I have arranged several doctors appointments in the past couple of months and today I visited my 3rd doctor: the second general surgeon (for a second opinion). Now I know what you're probably thinking but hey, I have copped a bit of flack over the whole "shopping trip" kind of approach to medical advice. But guess what? It has paid off. Not only did I find a cool doc, but I got an operation date much sooner than I had anticipated.

Perhaps the strangest thing about this particular surgery is the fact that I have worked directly for them in the recent past. I have worked on their printers, their computers, their network equipment. Well it got me thinking... "what if I didn't do a good job? What if we charged too much? What if... Blah blah blah. I thought to myself, "no everything will be ok" But what if their system crashes while they are processing my invoice? "Shut up" I said to myself. Everything is going to be ok. The office staff were looking at me in that "what are you doing here - we don't have any computer problems" kind of way when I walked in the door. "I have an appointment" I announced. Once they understood why I was there, it was all ok... But the funny thing about my profession is this... No matter where you go or what you do, people will badger you for free tech support. The doctor's surgery is no exception to this rule. The transfer station is no excetion to this rule. The public toilets are no exception either ( I kid you not). So after a quick lesson in how to set up a home network...

The next thing I know (after the sign here and sign there thing) I was dropping my daks for inspection... Not the 'have you cleaned your room' type of inspection, but in a much more informal 'oh, by the way' I need to see your nads' kinda way. I could tell he'd done this before (phew***). "Actually a thousand times" he'd said in a reassuring way whilst tweaking and probing at my manbits.

It was a bit weird I must confess. He was a bit rough too. I resisted the urge to crack the wise guy jokes like "so soon, but we hardly know eachother , how about a kiss first, or I don't do this for just anyone" gags. "Yep there's one" and "Yep, there's the other one" He confidently announced after a brief and very clinical exploration. Thank god I thought to myself. You see the last doctor couldn't seem to find the one on the right. It must be difficult to find a 'Vas.' I thought I pretty well knew where everything was on my own body, but I must admit, the vas is one of those illusive and rarely explored areas. I got the usual "hmm that's not good" sort of reply during the examination. "Well yeah, it looks like you're going to have to go 'under' for this one." I Can't say that gave me an abundance of confidence really.

Jesus, what am I getting myself into? This was supposed to be a thirty minute procedure, then back to work...Not a testiculectomy (I made that word up) in hospital for a day! Man this was supposed to be easy....

FLASHBACK::::::; First doctor- "well, you see we just make a small incision here, then snip here, then snip there and then a few sutures and (in most cases) you go back to work". "simple."

Far out, nothing seems that it could be further from the truth. "So doctor, you see the last surgeon I saw, said that I'd have to see a specialist and have a general anaesthetic. "Hmm, yes I can see that you're a big man."
What the???? I had no idea what he was referring to but it left me wondering "am I too fat to have a local or something???" but decided against a cross-examination,; afterall he's the doctor right? Anyway back to the story... He thumbed through the pages of his diary as I pulled my pants up. "How does Friday sound?" Jesus! "This Friday" I asked? He went on to explain that there had been one guy who had pulled out of his op on Friday. "Yeah book me in!" I happily exclaimed. I was really thinking, "lets get this bloody thing over and done with before I change my mind!"So there I was, left naked and alone...oh hang on thats a different story. LOL...

Well, after I filled in the 3 and one half pages of questions it was time for a squeeze of the monetary kind. And did I cough??? "Geez, I hope he does a good job" i thought to myself. Well here I am left wondering how it will all go, making final preparations, salutations and all the rest.
Wish me luck!

No it's not a Yetti, it's a Bigfoot...

These are all photos of a piece of computing history. The Quantum Bigfoot. The name presumably taken from the disk drive's large 5.25 inch form factor. It was no secret that these drives were a poor performer -because of the lage disk diameter (as opposed to the conventional 3.5in form factor) of the platter... Thats the shiny round bit you can see in the photos.
The Big Foot is not held in very high regard, but despite this general bad publicity, it has proven to be quite a reliable drive. There were actually quite a lot of them made in the mid to late 90's with the last of them being the TS Series in 99'. This one pictured here is a 2.1Gb model... Absolute gold I say. It even had a clear portal on the front of the disk casing where you could see the head whizzing around during seek operations. Very exciting, very sexy. This feature by the way is making a comeback from what I hear of late by Western Digital -Another leading brand of Hard Disk Manufacturers that was around when Quantum were making these little gems.


To my memory, I could not recall ever seeing a 5.25 inch drive quite like the big foot. They were very slow performers and awkward looking drives, but slimline in thickness by comparison to their overall dimensions. They were a chunky feeling drive with quite a lot of weight to them. While most people hated them, they apparently cost less to buy and so found quite a popular market. Bigfoot drives ceased production around the time that I started in my current job, so I never had to install one, but had several encounters with systems that possesed the sexy little buggers. Some companies like HP shipped them in their premium Pentium Pro based systems as well, which was a questionable move, given their poor seek times (the time it took to access info on the platter). It seems as though there is a popular belief that the drives were notoriously unreliable. This is larely unsubstantiated as these drives can still be found alive and well in captivity and definately deserve a mention in the I.T record books as being a drive that dared to be different. I think that Quantum was later swallowed up by Maxtor in the early part of this century. Maxtor are now one of the worlds leading Hard Disk Drive Manufacturers. Interesting huh? Quantum did what I say is an admirable thing... They dared to be different. We could all take a leaf from the Quantum book I reckon. Even if they were swallowed up by a bigger fish.

Powerblogging

Well, Its been another interesting day. I managed to snap a few more pics of the local environment. I had to work today and Hailey kept me company while I was there. Contrary to what some people think, the power station I captured in my blog titled “I love the beach…um sort of” was not Yallourn, but in fact none other than Loy Yang B Station.



Here are some pictures of Yallourn -taken today. It’s been overcast here and reasonably cold. But there was no reason getting in the way of me snapping some pics for you again. I was out with Hailey looking for some interesting shots. These are the best I could get in a hurry. I tried quickly to find some more cows, but to no avail. Sorry Gayle ;).



Well that's all of my blogging for today. Cheers all!

A long time between drinks...

Oh hi there. I was so flat out with work and busy with all of the other stuff I do, I had no time to blog yesterday. I remembered to take my camera, but to my horror there was no card in it! Oh well, that didn't stop me from getting a pic for you though. This was taken at my sister and brother in law's house last night. They treated us to a lovely roast pork dinner. Afterwards, I whipped out my speciality... I love chocolate dumplings. Mmmmm.


This is a picture of my gorgeous daughter Hailey, for those of you who don't know. She's four years old and can be a real challenge at times. They say that stubborness is a good sign in children, because it is transformed into determination and strong will later in their lives. I hope it doesn't mean that she's likely to be a pain in the backside for the rest of our lives!

Nah, she's an angel really. But I should probably face the inevitable fact that she's not going to stay that way. I can only hope that she makes responsible choices in her life. I was a pain in the neck for my parents at times. I lacked direction at times and even in my adult life, have strayed the path on more than one occasion. But we all make mistakes, wrong decisions at times and inevitably learn from those life choices. Sometimes its all roses, and sometimes it just plain sucks... But hey, that's what life is all about isn't it? Making choices.

Choosing to change our lifestyles can be some of the toughest challenges we may ever face in life. I certainly have been forced to make a few. We seem to identify people based on the way they choose to live. Or at least, we tend to make strong judgements about others based on their lifestyle preferences. Therefore, our ego's seem to be the first hit when we are forced to make such changes. It is a difficult thing to remain neutral and non-judgemental toward others, despite our best efforts sometimes. Occasionally, we are caught up in our own importance and are not mindful of the feelings of others.

By the way, this cheese platter was yummy. I took full advantage of it to take my first photo for the day after tracking down that damn compact flash card. As you are fully aware, cheese comes from the skillful crafting of that well known substance that is extracted from bovine mammory glands. This is yet more evidence of our need to remain supportive (yet ever vigilant) of our bovine counterparts.

I.T Makeover Part 2: Moovin' up

Well, here we are on arguably one of the best days of the week (the only better day is Friday). I feel a disturbance in the force Obi Wan, the horned ones are restless. I had a dream last nigh that all cows were created equal, not unlike us. But "some animals are more equal than others" according to George Orwells satirical novel 'Animal Farm.' In my dream I was told by a cow that I must focus my energy on the protection of our horny herbivores.


Anyway, I was mooving things around on that desk (yes that messy one in yesterday's blog)for ages. It took some time to get it ordered, but here it is in all of it's practical glory...

Wow, note the absence of clutter and the abundance of space... And I even vaccumed the floor. Nice touch eh?



This is a photo inspired by Gayle. If you have never seen this stuff before, I'll tell you what it is. It's solid core category 5 networking cable (that comes in a variety of colours including pink, to match your designer decor) that we use to network computers together with. Of course, wireless networks are becoming more and more common now and so physical wires are fast becoming a thing of the past. But there is something very appealing about working with cable. It's tangible, its 'earthy' and something that you can physically manipulate; unlike wireless radio waves. And given these characteristics, wired networks still have one very important advantage: Reliability. Rarely do they fail.



Check this out! This is supposed to have a close resemblance to the physical (but theoretical) characteristics of a black hole. Almost makes me want to get sucked into one just so that I can gaze into it: Because it looks so beautiful!

Maybe if we get sucked into a black hole, there will be cows to greet us on the other side in a greener pasture.


There again, maybe our bodies will be dissintegrated molecule by molecule until the total mass of our bodies is spewed out the sides of it like some funky cosmic radiation... Nice.