Thought Control

The right house.

2011-11-25T10:57:00.008+10:00

We've been searching for a house. We didn't start out knowing what we wanted, but we definitely knew what we didn't want. In fact we looked at so many places, and left so many disappointed realtors in our wake, we renamed ourselves "Mr Negative" (because I would immediately point out any faults I found), and "Mrs Hard Faced Bitch" (because my wife does not tolerate fake people and keeps her

Snobbery at its Finest

2011-11-18T11:52:00.005+10:00

We are currently looking at houses, with an aim to purchase, which our bank was very keen to assist us with by offering us large amounts of money. Commendably we have resisted utilizing this amount to the last dollar, leaving us in the mid range listings for the areas we are interested in.During our interactions with RE Agents we are inevitably shown structures that are well outside our "

Living in Loser Yobboville

2011-11-18T10:34:00.006+10:00

I have recently had the misfortune to intermingle with a sub-class I am embarrassed to recognise as Australians. Before I begin my rant I would like to identify myself as an average, working-class Aussie. Sure, I am one steeped in cynicism with sociopaths tendencies (mainly due to being let down many times during life's lessons), but at least I have retained a measure of self-respect and common

Pollyanna meets the Cynic.

2011-09-29T11:12:00.006+10:00

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Digging ditches

2011-09-08T11:44:00.008+10:00

I've been helping my brother dig ditches and lay pipe on and off for the last week or so. Probably the hardest I've had to work since the Great Pack Up and Move and has helped me drop several more kilo's.We did all the work by hand to cut costs, digging through clay, shale and a million tree roots, and so what if I could barely move the next day after each session. I'm sure Jules can tune out the

Comfort Zone or Stagnation

2011-09-02T07:15:00.002+10:00

In the past I have always found a certain level of uncertainty in my life acceptable. I've never seen the point in planning out a career path, with goals highlighted along the way. I usually get itchy feet in the 2nd or 3rd year of residing in one place, even if we break it up with holidays away. Therefore the long stay in SmokeTown has effected me profoundly. I accumulated stuff that I found

Blog rediscovered and reopened with a self inspection ..

2011-08-31T08:01:00.007+10:00

I don't know if you're still with me...Luckily I don't mind talking to myself, and I definitely need the brain space as the past few weeks have been extreme. Jules and I been through several large life changes in the part 13 years so we have the tools to help us where other people have to make do or rely on others to help them. Our latest change involved leaving a stagnating life in a town full

The moral athesit

2010-10-27T21:00:00.002+10:00

I thought this was rather interesting as it sums up what I stand for quite well.http://www.iamanatheist.com/rights.html

Sam at the end of the world.

2010-10-11T09:54:00.002+10:00

Hi All,I have removed SATEOTW from the Killer Serials blog to do that long overdue edit I promised. Found some horrendous crap amongst many superfluous words. Removed around 20 pages of rambling confusion and tied up some loose ends and inconsistencies. Very strangely the word count pretty much stayed the same.I'm currently having the novel professionally edited as I've found a publisher who is

Killer Serials

2010-07-07T07:50:00.004+10:00

I was a little shocked when I went back to Killer Serials to begin uploading the new story SAM IN 'A BETTER WORLD' (SIABW). There are 14,000 plus hits. Very pleasing, even if half of these are bouncers, which is likely.Since you can start the counters at any number you want, I'd like to point out I start mine at ZERO. Also I have re-started this one several times due to format changes and other

NZ Holiday - Day 14 - Wild Animal Attacks prevented by High Fence and The Self-destructing Plane Engine.

2010-06-18T11:40:00.011+10:00

Our last day in NZ threatened to be a fizzer. Kicked out of our motel rooms at 10am and with an early afternoon flight looming we could either wait around aimlessly to go to the airport or we could... go to a safari park. It was close to the airport so it seemed like a good idea at the time. The park was huge and as usual we had to rush through to see all the good stuff. One day we will learn to

NZ Holiday - Day 12-13 - Beery Tram Rides and Surviving the Howling Gondola Gale

2010-06-18T10:31:00.007+10:00

We left Lake Tekapo way too soon. Another night would have allowed us to explore Mt Cook and the surrounding area, but it wasn’t to be. On our way back to Christchurch we knew we HAD to stop in Geraldine. One of the finest collections of Vintage and Veteran Cars, Tractors and Machinery in the Southern Hemisphere is here; and you know what, they weren’t lying. It really pissed me off

NZ Holiday - Day 11 - Playing with the Devil's (Beach) Balls

2010-06-15T11:20:00.008+10:00

We left Dunedin late and headed north up the coast. I was feeling pushed for time as our next accommodation was a fair way off but we stopped at Moeraki to look at a big set of balls. These unusual boulders were strewn across the beach. Some were as big as a car but all were almost perfectly round. The tide was well in but I think we saw most of them. Check out the Wiki link if you are interested

NZ Holiday - Day 10 - The Chinese Garden Monstrosity, Steep Street of Impending Doom and Delightful Rich Dude's House

2010-06-13T13:43:00.010+10:00

Dunedin. Wish we’d spent more time here. Historically rich and excellent winding roads for more of that ‘spirited’ driving. Dunedin lays claim to the world’s steepest street. The Ford managed to crawl up and down this impressive 45° obstacle with 4 adults on board! No-one in this area needs a Gym membership. A walk in the backyard would be like climbing Everest. Mark and Tamsin know all about

NZ Holiday - Day 8-9 - The Monster Storm, Underground Terror and Deadly Frostbite (avoided).

2010-06-13T10:42:00.007+10:00

Te Anau, our next port of call, was a nice little town, (even if we never did get the pronunciation right). We settled into our motel as a massive storm broke across the entire South Island. It pissed down all night. Next morning our expensive Milford Sound Tour was cancelled. Flooded roads. BUT, they told us if we hurried we could upgrade to the Doubtful Sound Tour. The alternative was to

Published!

2010-06-07T12:37:00.015+10:00

I am now a published writer. My world should be complete... I guess.Unfortunately the short story Antipodean SF published, Pod 5534, wasn't something I'm particularly fond of, nor do I think it is particularly clever. I regard it as forgettable; a passing milestone preceding the eventual world-wide publishing of my beloved SAM novel, and a notation of accomplishment to populate a fairly bare

NZ Holiday - Day 5 to 7 - The Psycho Jet Boat Driver and Gondola Clamp Test

2010-06-05T11:18:00.012+10:00

After our nanna-nap rest it was time to hit Queenstown. We’d pre-booked a lovely scenic cruise... ON A JET BOAT, YEAH BABY. It was freaking insane fun. The crazy bastard driving had us going sideways through gaps we shouldn’t have fit through going straight. We were bashing over rocky sections of the stream that you could have walked across, ankle deep! And we were doing it at over 80kph.

NZ Holiday - Day 4 - The Blood-sucking Swarm and the Justified Rest

2010-06-05T11:11:00.005+10:00

We left Fox Glacier after the first sleep-in we've managed so far. We decided to take a break from our hectic holiday and just cruise for a day. A holiday from the holiday so to speak.On the way to doing nothing we came across some very strange piles of crap on the side of the road at Bruce Bay. We just had to stop, it was so weird. Underwear, CD's and hats festooned piled rocks and drift wood.

NZ Holiday - Day 3 - The Near-death Glacier Hell-ride

2010-06-01T22:28:00.001+10:00

The views in New Zealand are unrelentingly spectacular in almost every direction. Mountains, rivers, historic landmarks, 10,000 possum fur shops. The mountainous terrain was such a novelty for us. In fact there were only a couple of flat bits scraped out by glaciers which I judiciously used to gather up a bit of speed before serpentining our way up and down the next range. And thusly, we

Goodbye Steve and Matt.

2010-05-24T11:17:00.001+10:00

In recognition of true mates, Steve and Matt. I leave these memories of my friends out here in cyber-space. This is a work in progress and, as with all my scribbling, I will edit it for the rest of my life. Matt, and now Steve, are gone. I guess, one day, I’ll find out where. I hope it is a better place. I met Steve through his son, Matt, and most strangely, the Cult of Amway. I knew

NZ Holiday - Day 2 - The Case of the Missing Hire Car.

2010-05-19T11:21:00.006+10:00

Early start: 5am.We suck at holidays.Took another shuttle bus to the train station. No, not the romanticised Steam Loco that would puff its way through the mountains. Just a couple of dirty old diesels hooked up to some really old carriages. The carriages weren’t ‘romantic’ old either, well used might be more accurate.The trip had been advertised as a magical scenic experience so the lack

NZ Holiday - Day 1 - The Airport/Customs/Flight/Airport/Customs Horror.

2010-05-17T13:03:00.006+10:00

Our need to go on holiday coincided with the In-law’s similar need. We decided on NZ as it was being flogged mercilessly on the TV as a fantastic holiday destination, and the dollar conversion was favourable. Another plus - they almost speak the same language as us. After a horrific, yet non-crashing flight from Mackay to Brisbane, a group of relatives on both sides of the family organised a

Word Verification

2010-02-08T09:35:00.002+10:00

I really hate to put WORD VERFICATION on my blog but I'm getting a lot of spam lately. It took these weirdos a couple of years to find me, but hell, when they do...I know it is off-putting to type that crap in, but until I find a better way it's all I can do to protect myself from the insidious encroachment of my privacy.Hope to post something interesting soon. Cheers and beers.Coops

Nano - Day 29

2009-11-29T13:17:00.003+10:00

The penultimate, and preferable number to be at: 48,333Oh it was so sweet to pass my sister's total. I shall remember it for, well, minutes.

Nano - Day 28

2009-11-29T10:18:00.002+10:00

Look, it's getting hard to keep up with everything I'm doing. There was no update for today. I think my Nano is not going to be won this year. But I must beat my sister.