I've done it!

It has taken nearly three years, but I have finally gone and done it, whether or not I can actually afford it.

I have gone to a lawyer to discuss the legal options for filing suit against the bastard that started the fire that burned my house to the ground.

In the initial interview, both The Wife and I had to relive the events of that fire.  It wasn't easy for either of us, but it was necessary.  Where we live, one has a maximum of three years to file.  The date of the fire was the 9 September, and in seven weeks, that window will be forever closed.

To make this happen I have had to sacrifice some bills that may make the next two weeks less that pleasant, but such is life.  Right now, they can simply get in line.

At the end of the day, the sentimental stuff that was lost in the blaze can never be replaced, but I'll settle for the money and the apology.  I couldn't have gotten through the crisis without the support of many people.  The local theatre group raised a few hundred.  The Sisters of Mercy at The Wife's place of work.  Her family and past students at a previous school. They all came forward with money, as did the wonderful people at the Salvation Army.

I also won't leave out the people Mobil Tolga that gave us free fuel for two weeks immediately following the fire.

All of you, money raisers and donors, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

But the guy who started the fire, not an apology nor a dollar to my knowledge has come.  So to you I say,  if you won't come to me, the mountain will come to Mohammed.

Reports of my Death

They've been exaggerated, to say the least.

New laptop, which means proper typing, which means ....

I'm  Baa-AAck!

Bwhahahhahaha...

No one and nothing is safe from my rants.  We all know that.  I'm working, I got my payout. 

Over 6 thousand dollars and wiped out in 24 hours.  Goddamn bills.  I, at least, bought a cheap laptop.  And by cheap, I mean ACER.  A brand I have only slightly more respect for than COMPAQ- I will never again own one of those.

So, What happened to my ASUS?

Graphics card shit itself.  Over heats and crashes the machine.

To help minimize this, I bought an i-5 which I am given to understand runs somewhat cooler than the the old core duo. 

The decision to buy this was a budget one.  An i5 with 4 gigs ram and 1 gig dedicated graphics was the minimum I was aiming for, and I acheived it for less than $700.  So I guess that makes me a sucker.  Next thing you know, I'll buy a great wall ute.

Regardless, Its good to be connected.

So, what do I owe you?

The last chapter in A Driving History.  I will be discussing my Prelude soon.

I'll even tell you bout my new job.  I see the sun these days, thats a big change.

I also get to drive the Gillies- 20km of twisty mountain road that is as fun to drive as it is paradoxically annoying.  It is almost too long.  But I will dedicate a full post to that drive.

And I still haven't got the damn haircut.

Of Mohawk Haircuts and Other Weirdness

Okay, first the other weirdness.  As a bespectacled person I have determined that the problem with looking for my glasses is that while I can't see them, they can quite clearly see me.

On with the headline proper.

Mohawk haircuts.  I had hoped the hairstyle had ended it's heyday with the demise of the A-Team from the airwaves.  Sadly, the reports of it's death were greatly exaggerated.

The fad has once again gotten out of hand..  The evidence I offer here is undeniable proof that this has, indeed, happened, with out doubt or question.


I saw something that damn near made me heave up my half eaten Subway sandwich.

A guy, who appeared to be about fifty, grey hair and all, sported one in the local mall's concourse.  He didn't even have the sense to shave the sides.  It looked completely ridiculous.  This spiky hairstyle didn't make him look cool. It didn't make him look like an old punk rocker.

It only served to make him look like a never was.

It only served to make him look uncool.

My unshaken sense of conservative styling hopes that the hairstyle came from some stupid wager the person- I wanted to say gentleman, but the haircut renders that word impossible to use- lost.  The more likely truth that it was something his misguided mid life crisis hormones encouraged him to take on notwithstanding.

Even if its some kind of world's greatest shave thing, can we just stop it?  I'm all for finding a cure for cancer but not at the expense of seeing something like that.  Especially over lunch

I will unequivocally say that Mr. T. remains the only living person who can pull off that hairstyle, everyone else is just a fool and a sucka.

All of which serves to remind me, its time for a haircut...

I Know What You're Thinking

You're thinking "For guy who has an opinion on everything, this bastard isn't saying much."

You'd be right too.  My computer is fucked. As soon as I repair it, I'll say more.  For now, all you get are my cheeseball updates.  So, it starts with my fucked puter.

It goes on with the fact that I have switched jobs. The away from home requirement means I won't be blogging as often as I have in the past, but I may still blog as much.  Just in bursts.

I did get my redundancy package, so I'll be buying a new computer as well as getting my old one repaired.  This tablet typing, and I use that word loosely, sucks chocolate salty balls.

It also means that I'll be able to pay my biker mechanic, once again saving my face sudden rearrangement.

We have 2 foster kids with us.  A 5 and a 7 year old.  Working nights I have grown accustomed to a certain level of peace and quiet in my life.  I can honestly say I am not ready for it.  At the very least, it will take some getting used to.

I am trying not to ignore you, but I am finding that, at the moment, my pesky life keeps getting in the way of blogging.

The Why of my absence

It's not rocket science. Simply put, my computer farted and then shit itself. I think windows vista and my nvidia graphics card has had their marriage end in divorce. I think vista got the hard drive and the card got the RAM in the final settlement.  All of my attempts to mediate in the situation have left me frustrated as they have ended, after marathon sessions, in failure.

It's not all bad, I think, as I have gotten that other job, I'm going to buy a new computer with the redundancy money.  With windows 7.  I hate vista!

So now I'm writing this update on my Samsung tablet.  Ok for net surfing but a thrice cursed nightmare for blog posts.  I swear I could have written this post three times over in the same amount of time with a simple keyboard. Stupid touchscreen. Too damn high a PITA factor (pain in the ass).

Thank you, Jen, over at Widdershuns and Skeleton Keys, for being the first to try my good bad and ugly challenge.  i had a good chuckle. Sorry about not properly linking you blog.  I'm having difficulty with this tablet nonsense.  She is the last follower on my list.  Check out her blog.  A brilliant writer with a solid sense of humour.