Stinking Car Thieves!

Got back to my car last night to discover that some little shit had broken into it and gone through the center console and glove box. They attacked the door lock to get in so now it’s unusable (can still lock the door, just can’t use the key to get in). They also broke the center console lid as they tried to get into it.

All they took was my mobile phone charger that was in the cigarette lighter ‘cos there wasn’t anything else in the car.

At the time I discovered it, I would have quite happily smashed the bastard’s face into a wall if I could have found them. Now that I’ve relaxed a bit, all I can do is hope that they get all that’s coming to them. Just wish I could be there to see them get it…

There’s something fishy here…

I’ve just had my friend Michelle from the USA stay here on her way home after two weeks in Tasmania. Given that she’s a marine biologist, we figured it might be fun to take Nykolai to the Melbourne Aquarium. Well, it wasn’t a bad time and Nykolai managed to have fun, but I have to say it could have been better. At AUS$23 per adult (AUS$13 per child) I found it over priced – half that price would have been more realistic.

The main tank with the sharks and other marine animals was great – walking through a pair of clear-roofed tunnels into rooms with enormous viewing windows provided a wonderful way to see everything. It is possible to go diving in the tank as well which helps the rest of us get an idea of how big everything is in there. Of course, there’s a price to pay for that, ranging from AUS$130 to AUS$270 depending on your experience and equipment.

Most of the exhibits are interesting and there’s some education going on, but we found ourselves left rather flat by it all. A special exhibit was a giant squid recently caught near New Zealand – it’s about 7 metres long and appears to be encased in some sort of kinda-clear material so it’s preserved. From the promotions for the exhibit, you get the feeling it’s going to be bigger. Also, the eye looked rather false.

It may be indicative of the whole place that Nykolai’s favourite part was “The Ride” at the end – basically a simulator that moves around and attempts to give you the sensation of movement. Where the ride could have been related to the ocean (eg: a hair-raising run in a submarine or something), it’s basically a sled ride through a series of ice caverns. Not bad, but how it relates to an aquarium, who knows…

Michelle noted how many eating areas there were in the aquarium, ranging from cafes to a restaurant. She asked if this was an aquarium or a restaurant with funky decor. And what’s on the menu? Fish! :)

So, all up, not a bad time but not worth the full price of entry – perhaps half the price instead?

Still sans phone

Unbelievable – almost 3 weeks without a phone or ‘net connection at home. Telstra keep missing deadlines, stuffing things up and generally acting like an incompetent, bureaucratic bunch of idiots. I know that’s nothing new, but I was expecting that the “big changes” going on over there would have brought them into the present, not sent them even further back into the 1950’s….

Where’s Grant?

So, it’s been almost three months since my last entry – what’s been happening?

LOTS!!!

Will tell you all about it over a series of posts that, hopefully, I can load up over the next few days.

It may take a while as I don’t have ‘net access at home – a storm came through a few days back and a lightning strike right overhead/nearby took out phones to our apartment block. We’re *still* waiting for Telstra to sort it out – seems it slagged the core coming into the building and it’s *really* old so they have to get a special group out to repair it. Oh, joy.

Psycho Mice

For a while there, we thought the two new mice we picked up (Hoopy & Frood) were exhibiting the same behaviour as the existing pair (Kissy & Licky) – eg: one gets real fat and bossy while the other stays lean and cute. No such luck. While Hoopy is getting fat like Little Licky Lard Arse, Frood is turning into a neurotic psycho mouse from hell – she’s racing around the place, jumping about like a startled cat and generally tearing everything apart. If you hold her next to Hoopy, you’d swear that Frood was almost a generation younger.

We’re starting to wonder if she has a secret stash of white powder somewhere ‘cos she’s hyper, jumpy, nervous and rather thin compared to the other three.

What’s News Today?

Lots happening at the moment – from studying for my Maintenance Authority on balloons through to keeping the computer systems of my clients operating. Then there’s the crap – like the latest bullshit the government keeps throwing at us. As if the new Industrial Relations laws they’re on about weren’t bad enough, now they’re destroying our freedoms with these new “anti-terror” laws.

Right now, I have zero faith in either of the two main parties in Australian government. The Liberals, headed by Jackboot Johnny, are complete bastards while Labour, under Beazley, are almost useless – they’re agreeing to all the changes that are, slowly but surely, turning Australia into a fascist state.

The terrorists have won, and they haven’t had to do a bloody thing since 9-11! We’re destroying our society for them – how stupid can we be?

Mo Mice Mon

We picked up some more mice on Sunday as Nykolai’s current pair (Kissy and Licky) are already about one & a half years old. Kitt got naming rights over these two and so they’re called Hoopy and Frood (most of you should get the reference :)

Will load photos of the new arrivals shortly…

Flying over the valley

There were a couple of spare spaces on Rob’s flight in the Yarra Valley this morning so, seeing as we weren’t flying in Melbourne (nasty weather), I took Nykolai with me for a flight

It was great except that Nykolai spent the last 20 minutes trying to hold back an urgent need to go to the toilet. Bit hard when you’re in a basket at 4,000 feet. When we landed, we tossed him out of the basket, at which point he let me know that he really needed to do slightly more than just a quick pee….

Ooops…

I took him over to some bushes and he had a pee, but decided that here was not the place to do a quick squat. Fortunately he managed to hold on until we made it back to the winery for breakfast – there he broke a few speed records as he sprinted from the truck to the toilets :)

All good in the end – he’s saying he enjoyed the flight and is happy to go up again. Guess next time he’ll be careful to really try to go to the toilet before we fly…

Grand Final – the aftermath

Yesterday was the AFL Grand Final, held here in Melbourne and featuring the Sydney Swans and the West Coast Eagles – both teams from out-of-state (Sydney and Perth respectively). Apparently it was the closest, most exciting grand final ever and really packed in the punters. A friend of mine was doing a trip to Fort Worth (Texas, USA) for work and he was listening in with workmates in the hotel room. Not bad for a bunch of “foreigners” :)

The only drawback to the whole thing was the amount of glass on the roads this morning. I was crewing the balloons this morning and there was glass everywhere. Smashed bottles, tiny crunchie bits spread through lanes, you name it. From Richmond into the CBD and around, it was all I could do to dodge it – most of the time I had to drive over it and just hope it wouldn’t puncture a tire.

So yeah, the grand final is a big thing here in Melbourne. Yeah, it was a close game. Yeah, the fans can go wild. Yeah, it’s party time – but hey, how about a little respect out there, huh? How about you wankers with bottles learn to control them, eh? Assholes who throw and/or intentionally break bottles around the place should be forced to walk over it with no shoes.

Bet you they’re the some dickheads who bitch and moan about aircraft or balloons flying overhead :)