Te Blog

2013-08-17T10:52:00.000+10:00

Alannah doesn't play as much with her Barbie dolls so they are mostly going in the shed with some being donated. Doll house has been repurposed as Lego house!

2013-07-28T10:24:00.000+10:00

Lego sliding tray - semi finished as Xavier is anxious about it. Still need to trim and sand the edges and perhaps apply stain and definitely a rope handle. No nails used, all wooden dowels and my arm hurts from all that drilling!

2013-07-09T21:25:00.001+10:00

checking out the map to look for gold at Sovereign Hill

2013-06-11T09:45:00.001+10:00

like two old people looking at old photos and videos from Alannah's
camera that hasn't been used for a couple of months

2013-06-05T18:46:00.001+10:00

checkout Alannah's blog, link is on the right side of this page and
here is a photo of her inside her tent, writing a new post

2013-06-04T18:21:00.001+10:00

Impromptu literary writing for grade three..

2013-06-03T11:44:00.001+10:00

made gnocchi at Nonna's yesterday and tonight we eat them!

2013-05-13T10:17:00.000+10:00

A couple of photos to mark events such as Alannah's 9th birthday and reconciliation from Marisa's camera. Should get one of those wifi enabled digicams or perhaps eye-fi so can get a hold of pictures straight away instead of manual retrieval so that it can be posted as it happens.

2013-04-29T14:46:00.001+10:00

It would be nice to have an office room and turn it into a google/apple headquarters style space. First requirement would be to have a large desk space for standing with your laptop and also another table for the times you need to sit down.

At the moment, the kitchen bench is working great because the fridge and coffee machine are close and can also use the dining table as a work space, with the lounge and tv close by for breaks.

In actual fact, the size and layout of our kitchen/lounge would be a perfect spot to setup an office but obviously for practical reasons, it cannot happen on a permanent basis. There is the shed but that is where storage and carpentry happens, besides, there is no proper heating/cooling.

What inspired all of this? I have my gadgets scattered all over the house and would be nice to put them all in one homogeneous space and working from home would never be the same again.

Checkout my google plus cover photo

2013-04-20T19:35:00.001+10:00

The addition of the bureau kick-started the change in the decor and
color scheme of the living room. It was on sale so we could not pick
black, and brought home grey to tie in with the rest of the room.

Cushions had hints of red with the previous rug - both had to go, so
the quest for the right rug started. There were plenty of products
meeting the design requirement but not the price point and rigor of
day-to-day play activities. Legos would be lost in the lambs wool
shaggy pile like in the other room or the black cowhide was just to
rad to play Transformers on.

As the photo shows, today, the choice is made in meeting design and
price requirements as well as the suitability of playing on it with
toys. Xavier debuted laying train tracks and there is ample room and
style to match.

2013-04-06T10:46:00.001+11:00

better late than never .. posted for posterity

Urban Myths

2013-03-30T15:54:00.001+11:00

Dinner last Good Friday night at the Napolis, we found ourselves
discussing counterfeit fifty dollar notes. Apparently the absence or
presence of printed names below the portraits or the order of
signatures determine whether a banknote is counterfeit or not.

After searching the web, I found these tips which are available from
the Reserve Bank of Australia website:

- genuine Australian banknotes are printed on polymer (plastic) which
is more durable and has a distinctive feel. You can tell if the fake
notes are plastic or high gloss paper just by comparing the texture
with the others

- it is difficult to start a tear along the edge of a genuine banknote
due to the nature of the polymer

- the banknotes have multicolored fine line patterns appearing on each side

- hold the note up at the light, and it should show images that can
only be seen when the note is held up to the light.

- a magnifying glass will show micro prints

- there is a clear window that exists on genuine notes, with that
particular area around the window uniformly smooth to touch

- serial numbers fluoresce under the ultra violet light (if you have one)

So there you go, it is an urban myth debunked, and thanks for Joe for
providing this week blog topic to discuss inadvertently.

Art of Writing

2013-03-24T11:46:00.001+11:00

I was sorting the drawers full of old pens from trade shows,
conferences, training courses and hotels I have been through the years
and was trying them out on paper if they still work or not. I was not
just writing lines like a kid but was using the newspaper to copy the
words in the articles.

I came to realize that I had a hard time not just sorting which ones
to throw out (the IBM metal pens were nice, also found a 3COM one
which since went bust) or swap refills with black and blue as I prefer
the black ink.

The hardest part of the exercise was actually writing. My hands and
fingers ache like I was in the first grade learning how to write.
Technology has slowly but surely made the writing with the use of a
pen, slowly obsolete. Looking back, I had probably peaked at writing
or taking notes in the first two years of high school.

It went downhill from there as I progress through life, especially
studying engineering and computing at university. With tablets and
smartphones these days, hardly have the need to write down something
as recording life events or communicating is pretty much through a
digital medium.

Writing these days for me is limited to signing cheques (very
infrequent) or signing credit card slips (again, not very frequent
because of PIN) which is just really scribbles as signatures are hard
to comprehend. Notes taken from meetings are hardly legible as they
were short and quickly written down (I do not use my iPad like the
others at work).

While I was fixing the bed, I have decided to practice writing again
on a piece of paper, together with Xavier as he learns to write
himself. (He was writing a menu and was asking how do you write ice
cream and so on) It also reminded me of the recent tweet I did about
seeing this man in the train, probably a uni student, choke the hell
out of a pen while writing something.

He was not holding the pen the conventional way (three fingers).
Alannah & Xavier also does not grip like me or Marisa (four fingers).
The man's grip was choke like as he was utilising all fingers to grip.
I am still not sure if it is an evolution of man due to technology or
an enigma.

Going back to old style writing also allows me to go back to my blog
to have actual more meaningful text, not just comments on pictures. I
had to retype this entry on the iPad using a bluetooth keyboard from
Belkin, but I have included a photograph of the original draft in
paper.

I will attempt to practice writing on paper even only on weekends so
as not to lose my ability to use a pen. In the future, people can
probably classify it as a skill. Gee, my hand hurts.

2013-03-23T11:07:00.000+11:00

Xavier art, hummer and hoops circa March 2013

2013-03-23T08:59:00.001+11:00

Alannah's new love - the bureau

2013-03-11T15:06:00.001+11:00

extended summer over the Labor Day long weekend

2013-02-24T19:57:00.000+11:00

happy birthday Mummy

2013-02-22T19:19:00.000+11:00

Principal's Award for Xavier

2013-02-16T20:26:00.000+11:00

A day at Altona beach - they made huts surrounded by a mote

2013-01-31T09:30:00.000+11:00

first day of prep school

2013-01-26T19:30:00.000+11:00

Happy Australia Day

2013-01-19T14:02:00.000+11:00

Alannah cleaning the cubby house and it is hard work maintaining this
backyard, should get more paving and minimize the grass area

2013-01-07T15:07:00.000+11:00

got new blow up pool for the kids - there goes the water bill

2013-01-03T22:27:00.000+11:00

vet outfit at the Melbourne Zoo kids corner, no pressure
as Marisa said

2012-12-25T12:00:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas