Bugger me with a fish fork...

or, it's been a long time between posts.

Been a bit on the busy side for the last month or so, and I'm thinking it's time to put the blog on hiatus.

It's not good bye, just see ya round.

From a Letter to the Editor...

or, How a likely Public Servant is seeking to direct attention.

Okay, the alternate title of this post may be me reading more into what I read today than anything else. In today's Canberra Times, a "To The Point" letter to the Editor caught my eye.

Mike Phoenix of Greenway suggests that the Government razor gang should look at the contractor side of the house before looking anywhere else. First of all, I should state that I have a vested interest in this - I'm a contractor to Defence through a service provider company.

Yes, some contractors (mostly those that got in early) and service provider companies are making some good dollars from Defence on contract work. However, I think the answer lays in sensibly looking around at what/who is working, what/who isn't working, and what can be done to move people and projects from the latter to the former.

For example, in our section, we have two workers - one that is definitely in the latter category, and one who is borderline. The former is known as a "problem child" to the management, with less than half the workload turnover of other APS staff in the section, who has been reported several times for running a business online from work on more than one occasion, and asks newer staff (less than 6 months experience) for advice on how to handle events (he himself has worked in the section for over 5 years).

The other fella is a contractor, is good at his job, but lacks some social graces and personal skills. He wonders why the boss rides him about working with others, amongst other things...

Rant over.

And just in time for Good Friday...

Another step forward...

for the robots, that is.

This is supposed to be used to move cargo, etc., over rough and exposed terrain. It's being funded in development by the US Army, so I think the idea is deployment in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now, call me paranoid if you want, but I can see this stable quadruped robot as the perfect platform for a small turret weapons system. Gunner sitting in safety, locally, airbourne, or back in the home country, while a small calibre weapon fires at the enemy. Battletech anyone?

A long time between drinks...

or, How the days seem to slip away.

Lately, I've been so busy, I've not had time to check the few blogs I have been trying to keep up with. And it looks like it's only going to get busier.

With the weather we've been having (mild and wet), the garden is turning into a lush green jungle. That's sucking up the daylight hours on the weekend. Still, it's good to feel the sun on my back and get the hands dirty.

Work is starting to push 50 hours a week. The section head is loving the work I'm doing, which means my manager is pretty happy as well. It's starting to get in my head that I'm more than ten years older than my manager and co-workers. I'm wondering if I should be more ambitious about promotion.

On a similar note, I had a meeting with the director-designate recently. He's been receiving highly favourable reports on my performance for the company in the corporate area as well as my performance on the client side of things. Things such as my next role in the company were discussed, including being in the crew to stand up a new work area (possibly in Melbourne or Brisbane) and short/medium term deployments to South East Asia. Still, I won't hold my breath on that front.

Webmastering is getting under control after being out of control for a little while. Gawd bless me, next time someone asks me to do them a favour and look after something for them, I might have to pretend I haven't heard and walk away.

That's it for now, and I hope to get more time for the blogs in the near future (bwahahahahahahaha)

You know you're Australian if ....

Okay, so I'm posting something someone sent me. Bugger orf if you don't like it :)
Any overseas readers that don't understand the references, let me know and I'll fill you in.

1. You know the meaning of the word "girt".
2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.
3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.
4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.
5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.
6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school.
7. When you hear that an American "roots for his team" you wonder how often and with whom.
8. You understand that the phrase "a group of women wearing black thongs" refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.
9. You pronounce Melbourne as "Mel-bin".
10. You pronounce Brisbane as "Briz-bin".
11. You believe the "l" in the word "Australia" is optional.
12. You can translate: "Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas."
13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.
14. You call your best friend "a total bastard" but someone you really, truly despise is just "a bit of a bastard".
15. You think "Woolloomooloo" is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.
16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.
17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.
18. You understand that "Wagga Wagga" can be abbreviated to "Wagga" but "Woy Woy" can't be called "Woy".
19. You believe that cooked-down axle grease makes a good breakfast spread.
20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.
21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.
22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.
23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.
24. You still don't get why the "Labor" in "Australian Labor Party" is not spelt with a "u". (Okay, I've got to admit, I do understand why - bugger)
25. You wear ugh boots outside the house. (Nope. Not quite as Aussie as I thought I was)
26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.
27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.
28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.
29. You understand that "excuse me" can sound rude, while "scuse me" is always polite.
30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.
31. You understand that "you" has a plural and that it's "youse".
32. You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.
33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach or backyard cricket.
34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call "Anzac cookies".
35. You still think of Kylie as "that girl off Neighbours".
36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.
37. You believe the phrase "smart casual" refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered. (Not quite)
38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.
39. When working in a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.
40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.
41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants.
42. You know, that whatever the tourist books say, that no one says "cobber".

Try to explain this to your 10 year old...

when they ask why you are laughing so hard.

A not so typical weekend...

or, How the plans of mice and men often go astray.

My plans for this weekend consisted of not much more than doing some weeding, kegging a beer, and catching up on my blog reading.

How my weekend panned out:
- Friday was an early knock off, with a few quiet ales at a local sports club with some folk in the same company as me. It seems that I'm missed at the office, which I've got to admit brought a smile to my face.
- Friday night was a late one, with the older Boysenberries not bedding down 'til after midnight :) 'Nuff said.
- Saturday saw the piles of paperwork in the study culled significantly before we went looking at houses up for sale in the Lanyon area. Nothing we really liked in our price range, so the extension is looking more and more likely.
- Saturday was essentially a MissB free zone, with her spending the morning at a friends place swimming, then having a sleep over at another friends house. Soooooo
- Saturday evening was spent out on the town. A quiet dinner at the Ironbark Cafe, followed by a movie at the Manuka cinemas. I would happily recommend Ironbark to anyone who fancies a feed in Canberra and doesn't mind eating bush tucker. I had a crocodile and avocado entrée, followed by an emu fillet steak with a Warragul greens salad. MrsB had an entrée of squid with Alpine pepper, followed by a lemon myrtle chicken Caesar salad. Dessert was a choc-hazelnut Magnum while we watched "Atonement" - if you haven't seen it, I'd really suggest getting to the flicks soon, or renting it when it comes out on DVD.
- Sunday was gardening day, with much weeding, mulching, trimming, picking of nectarines, williams pears and nashi fruit, and planting of some natives. By the time we got inside, I was absolutely buggered!

Now, for this evening, I've got a couple of small jobs left. Bloody hell, is it time to go back to work yet?? :)