"Bedebap, bedebup"

This is definitely something you don't joke around with, and knowing my family history, I need to know this pretty well. But two things happened this week definitely stopped me in my tracks and made me think "Aiyoo, I don't think that was the chili in the kebab...":

1) First day of work: Some people confuse anxiety attack with heart attack. I've had an anxiety attack before, and it did occur in my mind if it was something more, but the fact that it disappeared after the toilet finally flushed properly pinpointed to me that it was all anxiety. Well, that's how I felt looking up at the building where I currently work - my first day at work. With sweaty palms, nausea, and to quote the magnet "feeling of impending doom", I was more than just a bit nervous. But once I got into the office, sat in my seat and stared out to this view, it all went away:
I'm finally working for an organisation I'm proud to say I work for, the views are great and the people are genuinely friendly. Suddenly, the anxiety was long forgotten and only serenity settled in.

2) Old house cleanup: We've just moved into a new property, but we were still waiting on finalising the old house. We've cleaned up as much as possible, and even got a professional cleaner to come around, but still we were both worried it wasn't enough that we couldn't get our full bond back. To be honest, we couldn't care less, but we don't want any bad rep with the real estate agent. It was a bit of anxiety when we handed our keys - but thank goodness we got a call to say that the house has been checked and our bond will be returned in full. Phew!

I must admit, I am worried about heart attack since I've got a strong family history of heart issues. But when I look at my new job, my new house and my wifey by my side, I'd say that I'm thankful I'm living a life full of great experiences and great people around me.

Now, off to bed - adios!

"Got gas?"

This reminds me of three things:

1) The good ol' days of getting a gas bottle in Malaysia: I still remember a truck from a local store sending huge gas bottle supplies to houses when I was in Malaysia. They would come in with a huge green gas bottle, connect it to the stove at the back of our house in Bangi, test it in a tub with soap water (if there are leaks in the connection, you get this awesome combustible bubbles - not that I tested it out :D), and then take the old bottle and be on their way.

As far as I know, only businesses have opted for natural gas supply and only a few places in Malaysia has natural gas supply to residential areas. Why? It costs a lot for infrastructure, and there's a shortage in natural gas supply in Malaysia. They should come out with myself and a few of my friends after a get together in Lygon St. We have enough gas to supply a small country. And no need for the odourisation process either :D

But I do remember those days and how cool it was to see these people drive around and replacing gas bottles for households. And how we used to get to know the gas technicians as they would come quite regularly and even let us play around with the broken gas taps when after they replace it.

2) Time to get a BBQ set: Wifey and myself just moved into a new place with a pretty nice enclosed backyard space. For the first time, we suddenly have an area we can have a BBQ! Woot woot! Bestnyer, and finally we can invite people over for a classic shrimp and snags on the barbie!

Now, a few contenders have been on our list, but would love any advice from people on any BBQ sets they've used. I would love to get this before the in-laws come over so that we can have a nice BBQ in the cool breeze of spring, before either the locusts or swarms of classic Aussie blowflies come around and hassle us on the brink of summer.

3) An excuse to visit my favourite place, Bunnings: This place has EVERYTHING! Its a man's paradise, and a woman's saving grace if they want to have some alone time and send the husband to do "blokey" things. I'm hoping to go soon as I have a project planned to make a kitchen trolley for wifey. I'll post the blueprints soon (once I have approval on the specs from the wifey) and would love to hear some ideas. Would love to get both my father-in-law and bro-in-law involved as our mini project when they arrive.

Keep your eye on this space - I'll put up some pics of the BBQ set and the blueprints soon.

So... you got gas?

"Don't Sign Anything"

Wifey and I got this magnet when we first moved into our shoebox after we got married. It came in the mail and it had nothing else but this magnet, a phone number and a website. I had no idea what it was about, but we needed magnets to hold up fuel dockets on the fridge, so it was one of the first magnets we had.

I'm sure the intention for the magnet was to get the individual to search the website, but as time went by we had other things to occupy our time. Until today, I sat down in front of my laptop, and decided to search.

What I found was intriguing - it was a book titled "Don't Sign Anything" written by a man called Neil Jenman, the inventor of what is called the Jenman System. Its focused on business ethics and client care in real estate, and the website is a consumer advocacy website warning people of real estate scams around Australia.

I would've never guessed unless I went to the website.

Then, I thought "Would I still take the magnet if I knew what it was about?". It had no relevance to me at the time because we were renting, but say I was buying a house - I would definitely consider looking into what Jenman had to say.

But then, during that time both wifey and I were starting from scratch and we were collecting fuel dockets to save as much as we can on petrol. The purpose for the magnet has changed: its so that we can both share any fuel dockets we collect.

If anything, the significance of this magnet has changed. I'm sure Jenman wanted someone to knock on his door and say "Mate, your magnet prevented me from losing my home to a scam". I'm sure that he would love to be recognised as someone who made a difference to someone's life.

But if I saw him, I would've said "Mate, got anymore magnets? They hold up fuel dockets really well!" :)

"Don't forget to vote on the 27th of November, 2010" :: from the Australian Electoral Commission

I have to admit, its not something I look forward to. Seriously, its all a joke.

"But man, by voting you have the power to shape the economy and the society around you". In an idealistic world, I wouldn't argue. But this election is no different to being given the option of choosing one out of 3 monkeys to save you from a firing squad.

No matter which monkey you'll pick, you're screwed. AND they'll probably back-flip a few times while you're getting perforated. Soo many different analogies: lipstick on a pig (no matter who or which political party is in power, it's just different make up), broken record, same sh!t different term of office, etc.

This was one part of turning 18 that got me both happy and sad knowing that full well at the end of the day, popular topics win votes, not whether or not the politicians really believe in something.

I'd vote for someone who says "I'll eat a plate full of dead locusts if I back-flip on increasing funding to healthcare and the environment". There you go - I've found our solution to Victoria's locust problem! It'll all be fixed straight after the election...

I have to get my vote in early as both myself and the wifey will be heading to Daylesford tomorrow for Dupe's wedding. Classic wedding weather forecasted: Rain showers, mostly cloudy and mild (with 6mm of rain). That's Melbourne for ya! It's great to see Dupe's finally taking the plunge (don't know why its called "plunge" - maybe us guys should read into that a bit more carefully...) :D

At the very least his wedding will always be remembered as the wedding held on the same day as the state election. The wedding is a much more memorable event though, that's for sure.