Journal Entries
Lurk mode
Posted Jan 9, 2006
Sadly I've been forced to enter the horrid world of h2g2 lurkdom 
. I'm in Estonia and I've hit the daily grind. My work is a typical underpaid boring Estonian IT slave labour kind of job, and out of work I'm finding myself very busy.
I'm certainly having fun, but just not too much spare time available to spend on ye olde computer. I'm still here reading posts, just not contributing much.
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Latest reply: Jan 9, 2006
My new home
Posted Dec 1, 2005
After a week of hostel adventures in Berlin I've made it to Estonia, which I guess I'm calling home for a while. The contrast to Australia is much more than just the weather.
The food will take some getting used to. Traditional home cooking here seems to mostly be pickles - I doubt they would survive without vinegar - and the quality of cheap take-away is a little below that which I'm used to. I guess I'll soon be missing proper aussie hamburgers and pub steaks. At least I brought some vegemite over with me.
The language is also causing me some difficulties. Most people speak English, but most information is only available in Estonian. My Estonian doesn't yet go past some numbers, beer, thanks, and some words I recognise from English, Finnish or German (the latter two of which I don't speak anyway). The end result is that trying to find jobs and activities over the internet is difficult without a translator.
This is all part of the adventure though. Luckily I like pickles, and today yet again I will be in search of good cheap food. Soon I will start looking for a language course. I'm actually looking forward to the weather staying below zero so the snow doesn't turn to slush.
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Latest reply: Dec 1, 2005
The Race That Stop A Nation
Posted Nov 1, 2005
It's the first Tuesday in November which means Melbourne Cup day. Australians are famed for their love of gambling, and this is the day the whole country, for some unknown reason, goes tote-crazy. The Melbourne Cup is front page news on every newspaper, and someone is running a sweepstake whereever you might be working. Many employers give half a day off so employees can dress up in glamourous hats, dresses and suits, eat nibblies, and watch the race in style.
Sadly for me, I'm missing the race. I have to go home to wait for the removalist. What fun! Maybe I'll hear it on the radio.
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Latest reply: Nov 1, 2005
Jubilee
Posted Oct 31, 2005
If you ever get the chance, watch the 1978 pommy post-apocolyptic punk film Jubilee. It's technically quite bad, but there's quite a few golden quotes and moments.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0076240/
Here in Sydney we have a theme park called Luna Park. I went there for the first time on Saturday night, and had a ball. It's not often you get to go out for dinner and a few drinks, then eye a view of Sydney Harbour whilst hanging upside down from a funride.
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Latest reply: Oct 31, 2005
Fridge poetry
Posted Oct 15, 2005
I'm going to sell my fridge, so I'm cleaning off all the magnets and crap stuck to it. Over the two years I've been living here the fridge writing has rarely been touched, but when something's been added nothing's ever been removed unless someone needed a word.
Since I'm about to destroy two years worth of painstaking drunken creativity (or non-creativity, as the case seems to be) I thought I'd record it all for posterity here.
The first is an obfuscated warning.
> Idiot. Lose. Been!
Then there are a the quite meaningless but rather pleasant sounding:
> Wasted emotional music
> Sleep very still
At some stage hints of profundity became evident.
> Brew to take his mind
> No is commitment to some
> Nothing is stupid
> Better drunk or insane than in a rage
Then comes one of my favourites. A full drama reduced to a length that will fit on a phone text message
> Hottie Date Score Married Sin Divorce
When that gets turned into a screenplay it will be the first time the movie has better characterisation than the book.
There's another story. The only multi-liner on the fridge.
> Macho dick got bail
> Sensitive woman alimony
> Sweet boy car
> All hurt
And last but not least the obligatory dirty or strangely suggestive slogans (which really aren't very dirty - not enough naughty words are available).
> Real women kiss manhood on my couch
> Blow girl smell at me
> Hot shower together?
> I would eat a bra and panties barbecue
That's the entire result of two years, two flatmates, and a lot of drunken nights. How sad! I guess we just never paid enough attention to the fridge.
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Latest reply: Oct 15, 2005
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