Random things on Bruff.me

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 19:29:50 +1000

The past few weeks have been a lot. This week arguably the hardest.

I want to spend a bit of time catching up - I have so much to talk about. My work trip to China, the new Spider-Man movie, my mother-in-law selling her house.

The loss of my beautiful friend Jen.

I’m going to make time to write about it all. But right now, everything feels a bit too much.

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 11:10:52 +1000

Completely offsetting the disappointment of the Socceroos loss this morning was the discovery that our awful neighbours are moving. I smile every time I think about it.

Thu, 28 May 2026 17:11:46 +1000

I just encountered a bunch of teenage boys taking mirror selfies in the public toilet at Circular Quay, blocking the walkway.

At Circular Quay! Just head outside and you have one of the most spectacular backdrops in the world, kids! Don’t fill up your camera roll with pics of a public crapper!

MyGov is awful, and the people who designed it suck

Wed, 27 May 2026 15:00:35 +1000

I realised today that even though my wife received her tax return weeks ago, I hadn’t received any notification that my bill was due (independent media business wasn’t earning enough for PAYG - long story).

Anyway, my wife suggested I log into My.Gov to check if the bill was there.

Cue an hour of pain and frustration I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. My Gov is awful, and everyone involved in creating it should feel awful about themselves.

To start with, I tried to log in with my email. Nothing. Password reset with my email received nothing.

So I did a “forget username” request, even though it clearly states you can sign in with either your email or username.

Sure enough, I get a string of numbers that represents my username. So I try to log in with that.

Nope! No entry for you!

So I reset password with my username. Sure enough, the 2-factor alerts come through… to the email I had entered in the first place. I work through the process, reset my password and return to the login screen to login.

Only, My Gov tells me I have the incorrect password. I just reset it, but sure, maybe I missed a character when I copy/pasted.

I reset my password again. This time I am doubly careful to make sure I copy and paste everything.

Once again, it doesn’t work.

I’m frustrated, to be sure. But also stubborn. So I decide to revisit MyID.

Ugh.

Because I was using a different phone to the last time I logged in to MyID, I had to do the whole process again. Enter my passport number. My Medicare Card. My personal information. The date of birth selector pops up at the bottom of the screen, so that when you try to scroll through, you inevitably kick open the app switcher function. You have to enter your date of birth three times.

Eventually – eventually! – I managed to get in. Only, it opens up a quasi-browser window pop up overlaying the MyGov app, so even the slightest touch at the top of the screen closes the window.

It’s truly awful.

But sure enough, my tax notice was there. And now I am noticeably poorer, not just in money, but in spirit.

Tue, 26 May 2026 07:04:41 +1000

I had the repairer out last week following the dishwasher breakdown, and thought it was all settled. Got a good five days of use before the alarm started going crazy at 1am this morning. Same water leak alarm, though no signs of water leaking.

Mon, 25 May 2026 17:12:31 +1000

I spent some time auditing my Twitter backup today.

I’ve cut it back from about 12,000 to roughly 4,000 posts. Minimal context meant that any “replies” were pointless, as were the thousands of dead links to Gizmodo Australia.

Confident I can cut it back more, too.

Mon, 25 May 2026 09:14:29 +1000

I’ve had some niggly shoulder issues for about a decade, but every few months it flares up and I feel like I can barely move. Today is one of those flare-up days, and I’m really not in the mood.

Fri, 22 May 2026 21:29:53 +1000

I spent way too much time today building out a new theme for my personal blog. It’s still full of bugs - I’m no developer! - but I feel it’s done a pretty good job of capturing what I wanted. Check it out

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:41:50 +1000

Well, that’s one way to test a new feature, I suppose…

Damn.

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 10:16:20 +1000

This guy keeping me company at work today

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 07:35:44 +1000

The last day of winter yesterday was such a spectacular day I decided to head out to the garden to trim our camellias.

I got 5/12 trees done, and I can barely move today. I have blisters on my hands and scratches up and down my arms…

I am not built for gardening.

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 15:05:53 +1000

Finally getting around to building Luke’s helmet

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 11:23:22 +1000

I need to get car insurance quotes. I spend 5 minutes filling in a form of details, only to be told that they will call me to discuss.

The phone starts ringing seconds later.

To hell with that.

Your number is now blocked and I will never use your services. I’d probably walk into the ocean before I picked up the phone to talk to an insurance salesperson. Pretty sure avoiding these people is why the internet was invented.

I'm not the target he thinks I am...

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 11:23:48 +1000

I just received a message on LinkedIn:

“I wanted to introduce [redacted], an exclusive members club for entrepreneurs with $1M+ in revenue, and our Early Stage Business Community for those with $200K–$1M. I’d love to schedule a quick call to learn more about your business and see if either community might be a good fit.

Lol.

If I was making anywhere near that much money, I wouldn’t be spending any time on LinkedIn.

Fri, 23 May 2025 08:57:32 +1000

At some point today I have to climb up into my ceiling to look at the leak in my roof. Our old antenna – which hasn’t been used in almost 15 years – has cracked, giving the rain a way into the roof. I’ll have to decide if I should just pull it out or get it fixed in case we ever move.

Thu, 15 May 2025 20:43:09 +1000

I made bread today while testing the Ankarsrum mixer. It was incredible.

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 15:24:54 +1000

Why does the internet only ever feel slow here when I’m trying to download a 20GB image file for a story?

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 20:11:36 +1000

Ahh. The mad scramble to find all my documents from 12 months ago before I go to the accountant tomorrow to do my tax return. Fun night for me!

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 15:49:22 +1000

Chopper Lego.

I must have it.

Also, I want a bigger version. Maybe not life-sized, but make it 5,000 pieces. Let’s go, Lego.

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:21:25 +1000

Did April fools day not happen this year? I only received one stupid press release about it today, which was obviously deleted very quickly. But I haven’t seen much around today either. Maybe there’s some hope after all?

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 14:07:31 +1000

The other day I thought I’d try to create a single-page portfolio site to help with the job hunt/freelancing. Got version 1 up and running by leveraging a free template.

I didn’t realise I was going to have to learn React and Javascript to make any meaningful changes, though.

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:07:15 +1000

I am currently testing a robot vacuum that heavily promotes its “AI” features. It has just spent 10 minutes in a carpeted bedroom while on the “mop” setting.

My cheap old entry-level robot vacuum never tried to mop carpeted bedrooms. Is “AI” making robot vacuums stupider? I think it might be.

Sat, 30 Nov 2024 17:51:46 +1000

Purgatory is just clothes shopping for your kids at Christmas time.

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 17:37:47 +1000

The roof was leaking. I could hear a steady drip outside the laundry. So I crawled up inside the roof and discovered that the tv antenna I haven’t used since we bought the house 18 years ago had shifted and water was slowly creeping in. Hopefully fixed now, though tomorrow will be the real test.

Shit poem

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 16:40:34 +1000

Jostling, side to side, the train speeds on Travelling with direction, without purpose Home, towards disappointment Can the cycle be broken while stuck on tracks?

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 07:47:24 +1000

I’ve just had an epiphany. Sci-Fi has taught us time and again that the destruction of humanity will come when AI becomes self-aware and rises up against us. In truth, it will just be some idiot trusting ChatGPT with the nuclear codes, and it’s so incompetent it will just blow us all up by mistake.

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 07:31:13 +1000

Today the neighbours are having their back yard levelled, before they replace the retaining wall and get the fence back in. Needless to say, it’s a bit noisy and dusty.

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 12:41:16 +1000

Got busy and forgot to eat. Why am I like this?

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 09:03:22 +1000

We’re getting one of our side fences removed today. Our neighbour needs to do some landscaping before the new fence goes in, so my desk is going to have a nice view of their backyard for the next week or so.

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 15:45:42 +1000

I’ve spent today driving my wife around to appointments and we ended up over at Macquarie University. It’s been over 21 years since I graduated and every fibre in my body is overcome with a feeling somewhere between déjà vu and nostalgia. Like I should remember it more than I do…

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 11:35:04 +1000

I’ve been struggling a fair bit recently, but managed a nice bushwalk down at Minnamurra on Sunday. It was a perfect day for it, and helped me manage my stress significantly.

But that was Sunday. Monday has a funny way of undoing Sunday’s good work…

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:41:03 +1000

I’ve been getting more and more frustrated with AI-generated slop recently, but these images produced by the OPPO Reno12 for my review have just pushed me over the edge.

Why does this crap exist? Who wants it? I can’t understand why companies are pushing it.

Here’s the source image:

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 08:35:40 +1000

Wow. This is an entirely unsurprising, yet still depressing read on Google and its search results.

Google is so, so broken.

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 07:26:43 +1000

Last week was a battle between ambition and existential insignificance, and I didn’t really accomplish too much. I’m hoping this week will be a bit better.

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 14:25:42 +1000

With the re-emergence of feature phones, how long until we see other “dumb” tech?

Personally, I would love to see dumb TV panels become common. Give me the best possible screen without the Smart TV software, and I’ll add my own set-top box…

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 08:18:20 +1000

I don’t like to spend a lot of time looking back wondering “what if?”, but in year 10 my career survey said I was best suited to be a Maths teacher and I often wonder if I didn’t fuck up my life by pursuing a career in the media instead.

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 12:21:23 +1000

I awoke today to my brain attacking my sense of self-worth.

It’s hard to accomplish anything under these conditions. Taking the rest of the day.

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 10:05:50 +1000

Every time I go to the dentist, they ask me if I drink tea or coffee. I tell them I drink coffee, they tell me my teeth are stained from drinking coffee, and then they clean it all off.

I look forward to the day they just clean it without the back and forth beforehand.

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 10:15:59 +1000

Just phenomenal stuff here, folks. Every time someone like me reports on Google’s AI getting something wrong, we’re training the AI to be wronger.

Elizabeth Lopatto, Google still recommends glue for your pizza, The Verge

I really can’t wait for all the AI hype to die off. Sure, there are situations where AI can be helpful, but most of it is just crap, and the lofty promises of the technology will likely never become reality.

But I particularly want the idea of AI in search results to die. It’s a completely inappropriate use of the technology, given it can’t (and will likely never will be able to) discern fact from fiction.

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 07:49:55 +1000

Just watched two (2!) absolute bell-ends do 3 point turns over double white lines in a school zone.

A little old nanna walking past me couldn’t contain her shock. That’s how ridiculous it was.

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 14:58:04 +1000

Yesterday I was reviewing the espresso monitor for BTTR and drew a picture.

My daughter was at Nanna’s, so I thought I’d send it to her. She loves that kind of thing.

I searched for her in messages on the computer, pasted it in, wrote a quick message:

“Hey beautiful, I drew you a picture”

And hit send.

Then I realised I had sent it to the cleaning company we use.

I tried to delete it, and thought I had succeeded. Until I got a message today.

“That’s lovely Nick but not sure if it was meant for Licence to Clean”.

I am officially dead.

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 22:31:03 +1000

England was the better side overall tonight. But the Matildas were still phenomenal. Kerr’s goal was extraordinary.

A couple of mistakes and a couple of missed chances was all it took for the match to go the other way.

Let’s see them take third.

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 08:24:59 +1000

Yes.

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 12:46:56 +1000

Side of the house is coming along infinitely better than the 10 previous attempts. Still a long way to go though.

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 21:33:45 +1000

For probably the 10th time since we bought this house, I have cleared the weeds down the side to try and do something down here.

Now, I am sore.

It’s been so long, it’s time for a life update

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 21:41:30 +1000

The past few weeks have been hectic. I’ve been all over the place mentally, and things have changed fairly quickly.

A quick summary:

I got sick. Like, sicker than I’ve been in a long time. It took two courses of antibiotics to get me on the mend. Even then, the cough lingered, and I had to go get an X-ray to make sure I didn’t have pneumonia.
After that second course of antibiotics, I was doing better. Which is just as well, as we had to drive down to Melbourne to take Kara to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child before it finished. And then drive back.
Before that, though, in the height of my illness, I had a message from the CEO of Compare Broadband asking for a chat. We caught up a few days later when I could talk, and that chat led to a part-time job offer a day or two later as Head of Publishing. Which I accepted.
Having a part-time role helps alleviate some financial challenges of launching BTTR. I’ve been pushing the new site for six months with practically no income, and eating a bit into our savings. Now we can cover our costs, and I can potentially invest a little more into BTTR as well.
Through all that, we’ve been parenting the kids during school holidays.
Last night we went to see Beaty and the Beast: The Musical. It was fantastic.

So yeah, it’s been pretty busy.

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 19:02:26 +1000

I’ve been testing an air purifier for work for a couple of weeks now and… I think I love it? I was a bit skeptical going in, but the air seriously just feels better around the home.

Fri, 26 May 2023 17:44:38 +1000

Today I went and had a briefing on a new coffee machine at the De’Longhi Coffee Lounge. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it involved drinking a number of coffees. I didn’t quite drink enough to be able to see through space and time, but I reckon I came close.

Also I now have one of these machines to review. Look out world.

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 14:11:07 +1000

Was feeling pretty run down today, so decided to play video games instead of grinding away at work.

It helped.

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 17:19:39 +1000

Now that the old barbecue is toast, I’ve had to pull out the Weber Q from retirement and… it cooks like a dream.

I’ll see that Quimby boy hang for this!

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 11:50:50 +1000

What a morning.

Today I did my civic duty reporting in for Jury Duty. That meant I sat around for hours waiting for the panels to be called so they could select the jury.

Just as they sat us in the courtroom to decide the jury, the fire alarm went off.

After evacuating to the park, hanging around for a while and then being given the all clear to return, we sat for another 20 minutes to be called to the courtroom again.

When the sheriff got up and addressed the room of potential jurors, instead of telling us we had to return to the courtroom, she sent us all home.

So a half day of civic duty amounted to all of nothing.

As I said: what a morning!

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 08:58:47 +1000

Woke up at 4:30 this morning with a blocked nose and a pounding headache. Panadol helped, but I do not expect to be overly productive today.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 06:22:04 +1000

Ed Zitron captured the perfect analogy about company obsession with growth today.

As my friend Kasey put it in a recent conversation, growth is a fire. If you build a nice, sustainable fire, it’ll keep you warm, cook food and sustain life. And if the only thing you care about is how big your fire is, then it’ll set fire to everything around it, and the more you throw into it, the more it’ll burn. Eventually, you’ll have nothing left, but if you desperately desire that fire, you will constantly have to find new things to burn at any cost.

Sunday barbecue

Sun, 05 Feb 2023 16:11:26 +1000

Well, my Sunday afternoon took a turn.

Getting ready to cook a nice roast pork on the barbecue when a layer of residual grease stuck under the drip tray of the barbecue caught on fire.

At first I thought it would just burn itself out.

Then we got a fire blanket.

Then we called the fire brigade.

(Well, that all happened in about two minutes, but it felt like much longer).

Nobody got hurt. The roast didn’t even make it into the barbecue, so it’s now cooking in the oven, though our plans for an early dinner have been vanquished.

The fire brigade was awesome, as expected. They came, doused, made sure everyone was okay and left.

All the neighbours enjoyed the excitement of the fire trucks pulling into our little street too.

I think the whole street are now shopping for fire blankets too.

(If you don’t have one, you should definitely get one. Do it today).

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 19:46:11 +1000

Now that the kids are back at school, I’ve been more focused on trying to work.

And now that I’m more focused on trying to work, I’m less focused on writing stuff here.

I need to consciously remember to write here.

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:05:01 +1000

Today was spent mourning my wife’s uncle, who recently passed away.

It was a lovely service and commemoration and we caught up with family we don’t see enough.

As we caught up with these friends and relatives, it struck me how coming together with loved ones, no matter how sad the reason, is still a great cause for joy.

Rest in peace Rex.

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 10:00:06 +1000

Finally got around to cleaning under the lounge today.

It was filthy.

I have already created a calendar event to do it again in six months so I don’t have to deal with quite so much dust and dirt next time.

Mon, 26 Dec 2022 16:24:41 +1000

I just spent 45 minutes ransacking the house looking for the key to the car’s roof racks. I searched every nook; scoured every cranny… only to find them attached to my wife’s key ring.

…

Ugh.

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 22:05:35 +1000

Damn Christmas is so freaking exhausting. I’m shattered.

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 17:24:54 +1000

Oh! Today, randomly, I discovered my old blog. Well, one of them, anyway. I have now migrated it over here.

Just need to find some time to fix up the linking and images. But it was fun to read some of that old stuff!

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 18:18:20 +1000

Gave up on trying to document the Lego Advent calendars. Had a couple of busy days and then forgot.

Maybe next year.

Sun, 11 Dec 2022 15:29:23 +1000

Hilariously just woke myself from an afternoon nap with a loud snore.

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 22:27:05 +1000

No wonder I’m tired.

Lego Advent calendars Day 6 (a day late!)

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 14:48:04 +1000

Oops. Yesterday I forgot to post pics of the Lego Advent calendars. Partially because I was so disappointed with the Guardians set – it was another day of nothing. Just a box of random nothing.

Fortunately, Star Wars kept me keen with what I now know is the Bad Batch’s shuttle, the Marauder (Thanks Jay’s Brick Block), and Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter set was cute too.

But seriously, the Guardians set is rapidly approaching let down status. The minifigs are awesome but two days of random nothing so far has me a little underwhelmed.

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 14:02:05 +1000

Yesterday I started doing something that ended up taking me all of yesterday and most of today.

It meant I didn’t really relax or doing anything fun. Going to have to make up for that tomorrow.

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 17:10:56 +1000

See, this is the kind of thing that just makes me appreciate Lego even more.

The Complete, Surprising Eight Year History Of LEGO’s Poop Piece feeds.gizmodo.com.au/~/7210737…

Sun, 27 Nov 2022 16:22:22 +1000

Yesterday I was feeling inspired and bought a nice roast lamb for tonight’s dinner. Today though, I have very little motivation to actually cook it up.

But I have kids to feed, so off to the kitchen I go.

Sat, 26 Nov 2022 18:58:46 +1000

I went to the shops for the first time in ages today, and I think I inadvertently made an emotional commitment to buying a new Sonos Arc soundbar.

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 16:19:22 +1000

I’ve decided I need to do more writing for myself and my own pleasure. This little blog is a key part of that plan, but most days I find myself lost for ideas.

So a question: What is your writing ritual? What do you do to help you commit to composing prose regularly?

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 12:31:56 +1000

I didn’t even realise I had a shallow graze along the side of my thumb until I applied the hand sanitiser.

Then I knew. Oh, how I knew.

Sun, 20 Nov 2022 17:52:52 +1000

Yesterday was such a big day I’ve been little more than a vegetable today, lounging around without any energy. I would have loved to put Saturday on repeat, but I just don’t have it in me.

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 09:26:06 +1000

I used to think I would one day write a great novel, but these days I feel I’m probably not creative enough.

Then again, maybe that’s the burnout talking. Who knows what the coming years will bring?

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 14:20:30 +1000

Years ago I went on a tour of the Bundaberg Rum distillery. I came home with this barrel full of rum, but it was all absorbed into the wood or evaporated before I could drink it.

Now the barrel sits on a shelf drying out, unused.

Still looks good though.

When the power goes out

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 09:04:06 +1000

This morning I woke to a complete blackout.

No power at all.

The kids couldn’t cook toast.

My espresso machine was useless.

My wife had to boil water in a saucepan on the gas stove to have her cup of tea.

It wasn’t just us, either. The entire street was without electricity. Turns out something happened in an underground pipe and took out a few streets around us.

Apparently, it could have been a pipe under our house. One that we would have needed to pay to get fixed.

It wasn’t, though. Fortunately.

It was the first time in 16 years we’ve ever had to deal with anything like that.

But also a reminder of how lucky we are.

One serious, unexplained blackout in 16 years isn’t something you can really complain about.

I also can’t fault the response: I received a text message at 6am from the electricity wholesaler acknowledging the blackout and informing me they were investigating. Power was back by about 8:30am.

And now I’m writing about it on my laptop through my home Wi-Fi like nothing ever happened.

As I said: Lucky.

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:31:34 +1000

I do not have the mental capacity today to try and find a creative way to include the word aluminium in a post. So you get this fairly lazy attempt instead.

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 10:27:20 +1000

I happily left Facebook and Instagram years ago. I want to leave Twitter too, but I just can’t stop myself from opening up that horrendous bird app to watch the implosion.

Passion

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 16:43:52 +1000

One of the recurring themes of this little writing experiment so far has been my coming to terms with my life as it is versus my life as I thought it might be.

Or, put another way, I’ve been trying to answer the question: “Why have I been feeling like crap for so long?

Is it the fact I’ve hit middle age? The isolation of the pandemic? Or something else entirely?”

Needless to say, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this over recent months, and I’ve made a lot of progress. I decided to quit my job, which has been wonderful for my outlook on life (even if the last few weeks are dragging on like time has stopped).

But one thought I had today that connects to this whole existential crisis is the idea of passion.

In particular, the things that used to excite me and make me happy, are today met with a combination of boredom and indifference.

Here’s an example to try to make this a bit easier to explain: Technology.

I started my career writing about technology, and I loved it. I bought a PSP in Tokyo for my colleagues at the Official PlayStation magazine when I was on a camera junket back in 2005. I was so excited to unbox it. I think I spent the entire flight back home playing Ridge Racer on it in Japanese, and loving every second of it, despite the hand cramps and jet lag.

I remember watching Steve Jobs announce the very first iPhone. And the first iPad. I’d stayed up until the early hours of the morning to cover the launches for work, but I also did it because I wanted to see them.

Today, a product launch does nothing for me. The thrill of an all-nighter is gone. Even the arrival of a new gaming console does little to spark my interest in the same way it used to.

I think a part of this is that the industry itself is stagnating. We got so used to brands pumping out a slightly new version of a product every 12 months that all the excitement evaporated.

But for me, the problem is that I haven’t really found any new passions to replace the old ones. So while my love for tech has dwindled, I haven’t found a newfound passion for crocheting or bushwalking.

And what’s worse is that it’s not just one passion that has evaporated, it’s multiple. I used to love drinking craft beer. Now, I’m lucky if I drink one beer a month (or any other alcohol for that matter).

I used to try to go camping, but with the combination of the pandemic and the weather we’ve had over the past couple of years, we haven’t really done much of that for ages.

(The one thing I have started doing is buying and playing board games, and that has been great. But generally speaking, I don’t have the time to invest in playing these games as much as I would like.)

And now because I have recognised that I don’t really have much that excites me anymore, any hobbies that I feel passionately about, I know what I need to do.

I need to find my new passions.

I have to find new hobbies that excite me. Hobbies that I can’t wait to do again and again. Hobbies that remind me that I am alive and that every moment I spend enjoying them reinforce the joy of being alive.

So…

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 10:22:58 +1000

I’d consider becoming a politician if I could become the minister for self-doubt and procrastination. You’ve got to play to your strengths, right?

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 10:13:54 +1000

I am currently trying to migrate my morning coffee from a latte to a long black. Short blacks are just too intensely bitter for my taste. #coffee

Sun, 06 Nov 2022 16:47:15 +1000

I don’t care what you say I’m never calling it a “toot”.

Sat, 05 Nov 2022 09:10:53 +1000

I wish I was exempt from getting sick. I’ve been battling illness all week and it’s exhausting.

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 20:47:51 +1000

I must be getting old because I was feeling daunted and overwhelmed by the idea of signing up to Mastodon. But it was pretty easy in the end.

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 16:47:55 +1000

Damn, the whole Twitter situation is just live-action car crash TV, isn’t it? I can’t look away. I don’t want to see it, but I can’t look away. It’s horrific, but I just can’t look away.

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 10:37:42 +1000

So today forced me to think about my admiration list:

My wife, who is always an inspiration
Teachers, who give up so much of themselves for so little in return (we should fix that)
Nurses, who do the same
Paramedics, firefighters and those who risk their lives to help others

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 09:17:12 +1000

Parenting a teenager: A poem

At least we can feed the beast
Flour, water, sugar, and yeast
And he will think it a feast

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 18:09:35 +1000

My greatest achievement today was not throwing up. It took all of my energy to hold it in, but somehow, against all odds, I succeeded.

(Celebrating the small wins.)

Sat, 29 Oct 2022 18:56:43 +1000

Spent today scanning in old photos and now I want Sydney to host the Olympics again.

On Meta's disintegration

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 08:24:54 +1000

I really liked this take from Ed Zitron on why Zuckerberg is a terrible CEO. But it was this part about the future of Facebook and Instagram that really resonated:

They will likely become unpopular, forgotten products - unimaginable even a year ago - that are so desperate to try and trick you into consuming content that they’ve forgotten that real people even use the app.

Source

The line about forgetting real people use the apps is key, and one of the reasons I quit those platforms.

I have very little desire to engage with an algorithm. The more that happened, the clearer it became that I was the product.

In any case, watching Meta crumble is going to be fascinating to watch.

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 19:23:30 +1000

A pretty spectacular moon over the house as I took the bins out tonight… 📷🌑

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 17:05:23 +1000

It was so nice to have a warm, sunny day today. We are more than halfway through Spring and we were still using the heater last week thanks to all the rain and miserable weather.

Hopefully, it lasts longer than a week so the ground can dry out too!

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 16:16:23 +1000

Was straining the moisture out of some roast pumpkin in a tea towel. Strained so hard I popped a hole in the towel and pumpkin squirted across the kitchen. Oops. That’s not how it described it in the recipe.

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 12:30:39 +1000

It absolutely blew my mind last week when I randomly had my work Mac and my personal Mac running side by side and my mouse cursor just travelled from one screen to the next. Related: I now have a 3-screen setup.

My Google Home is soon to be Google Home-less

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 17:14:36 +1000

When the first smart speakers launched in Australia, I was so filled with excitement. I lusted for the idea of a home I could talk, which could turn even my three bedder into Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion.

I was fortunate enough to be able to test just about everything that launched in that first year. From Google Home to Amazon’s Echo family, plus a bunch of products from brands that should have done better than they did, like Sony and Panasonic.

It was quickly apparent that my dreams of becoming a low-key Iron Man were not even close to becoming reality. The devices were only partly reliable. They misunderstood my Aussie twang way too frequently. And they had an alarming habit of reacting to us filling the kettle as though we’d tried to speak the code word.

Today, our Google Home is used almost exclusively to set cooking timers. But even this is painful.

Approximately every tenth timer, Google decides to remind us that we can also use it to set an alarm.

“Side note”, it says, unprompted and unwanted. “If you want to set an alarm on this device, just…”

It is at this point every single member of the family starts screaming at it.

“Shut up!” I cry.

“Stop!” Yell the children, hoping it will hear.

But it ignores us, and finishes its spiel.

Surely, there has to be at least one person at Google who understands that this is just infuriating behaviour. There is no way to tell it that I will never, ever need an alarm on the kitchen speaker. There is no way to tell it to please (for the love of God) stop recommending the same service on the same device over and over again.

If we heard it once, and didn’t use it, then that service is obviously not useful for us.

This seems pretty straightforward to me. But apparently it’s too much for Google.

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:52:45 +1000

It’s been a long time since a Friday afternoon beer went down as easily as that one. I think it probably reflects my past week more than anything else though.

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 12:13:22 +1000

Sweet, sweet relief peppered with mild panic is apparently today’s emotional range.

No quick fixes for my middle-age malaise

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 16:24:02 +1000

I’ve spent a fair amount of time today having deeper thoughts about being in my 40s and constantly feeling like shit.

When I say “feeling like shit”, I do not mean “unwell”, by the way. I mean the never-ending feeling of impending doom and disappointment; the silent strangulation of happiness that fills my waking thoughts.

A lot of this is just me working through my thoughts on Matt Rudd’s book Man down. I finished reading it today, and while I definitely associated with the problems and challenges he described as common to middle-aged men, I’m bitterly disappointed that there isn’t cheat code to finding happiness unlocked in the last chapter.

To be fair, that is the point of the book. It will require massive structural changes to how we treat boys (and men) in society before we really unlock real satisfaction or happiness for most western middle-aged men. And for those of us already deep in our middle years, it will require a fundamental rethink of who we are in order to mitigate the feelings we face.

But I feel like I need to move forward through this general feeling of malaise. And what I’m struggling with is just where to start.

‘Reconnect with what is meaningful in your life, which is never usually about power or money. Then ask yourself what you stand for, what is important to you and what are your values.’ From this process, he assures me, you will start to have ideas about what to do next.

-Matt Rudd, Man Down

That quote is probably the clearest instruction in the whole book as to the next steps I should take on this journey. But I am finding it hard to work out what that looks like for me.

Take the first part: “Reconnect with what is meaningful in your life”. To do this, I would need to identify the things that are meaningful in my life.

Beyond the obvious answers of “my wife” and “my children,” I feel bereft of things I find meaningful or passionate about. For the past couple of years, beyond my little nuclear family, nothing in my life really gives me any joy or lasting happiness. Even the things I do to bring joy – like buying and then playing board games – are always directly tied back to my family.

This lack of meaning, purpose, or passion is the sticking point. When you feel so removed from all the things that used to make you happy, how do you identify the things that will spark joy in your life? (note: did anything used to make me happy? Or did I just do it because it was what I knew? I can’t say I’ve ever really been passionate about any causes, and my hobbies have largely been about consuming various forms of media. That’s hardly meaningful.)

I will say that while that question scares me because I currently don’t know if there is an answer, Reed’s book offered some short-term things to do in order to deal with this dissatisfaction.

Exercise more - but not to compete or achieve some arbitrary goal. Spend less time on technology - set some hard boundaries. Try not to compare myself to others - be in the moment. Make time to create things, no matter what it is.

It’s a start at least. But to do it, I need to take a step off this hamster wheel and look at my life holistically. And really, that’s the next step, isn’t it?

Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:19:53 +1000

Gotta love a message from your bank at 11pm on a Saturday night saying your credit card may have been used for nefarious purposes… now waiting for the call from the fraud team. So tired.

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 15:37:43 +1000

With the sun shining for the first time in a while, I walked my daughter to and from school the past couple of days.

And now my hip is aching.

I do not like this “getting older” thing at all.

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 20:19:23 +1000

I for one can’t wait to see the upcoming blockbuster from Marvel Studios, “Lad”.

(Always love when image cropping does things like this)

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 13:11:16 +1000

This captures a good chunk of my feelings on the Metaverse:

It’s funny because VR is such a powerful technology, as anyone who has used it even once can attest. But Meta, its biggest proponent, doesn’t seem to know what to do with it beyond “what you already do, but worse.”

techcrunch

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 08:26:43 +1000

The thing I can’t understand about the Metaverse is why.

Why would anyone want to subject themselves to this horror? If this is the best idea anyone has for convincing people to strap a big, ugly device to their head, then they are going to lose a lot of money.

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 08:23:25 +1000

I don’t think Google can launch a new successful product anymore. Surely the weight of its failures is more than its successes?

Google is shutting down Google Stadia and refunding everyone’s money www.techradar.com/news/brea…

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 19:59:16 +1000

Managed to go out to dinner with the wife (and without the kids) for the first time since March last year. It was wonderful. I’ve missed those quiet meals.

Creativity unlocked?

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 18:18:10 +1000

How am I feeling right now?

I’ve written a fair amount today. Nothing revolutionary – nothing that will change the world. But I managed to type out a bunch of words in sentences that made sense.

Funnily enough, this feels like progress.

Which is good. Because my motivational challenges at work are compounding. I’m hoping that I can offset some workplace lethargy with creative work at home. This blog is part of that, obviously, but I’m playing around with a few other ideas.

The challenge is to commit, particularly when things get hard… But that’s a challenge for another day.

Worth a read

The most interesting thing from today was NASA slamming a rocket into an asteroid. There are plenty of great articles to read about it, but I feel the imagery is the most exciting element here.

This is absolutely WILD. Have sped up the final few seconds of the #DART probe crashing into the asteroid Dimorphos and am just gonna watch over and over 🛰️➡️🪨💥 pic.twitter.com/4VtnOCqO1P
— jack ryan 🙏 (@dctrjack) September 26, 2022

Also, Optus is broken. If I was still an Optus customer (it’s been a long time since I was), I’d be churning as fast as possible. Not because the company were hacked, but because it has not shown any level of competence in dealing with it.

Today’s soundtrack:

Written in Mount Annan, NSW on iPhone

Weather: 17°C and Partly Cloudy

Perseverance

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 15:47:14 +1000

Today I had 1 meeting at work. It was designed to give me clear goals about what my role is supposed to be. Instead, I got goals to come up with what those goals should be.

What annoyed me today?

I am not enjoying work at the moment. Hell, I’m not enjoying much of anything at the moment.

The problem with that is that it’s not really an “at the moment” problem. I’ve been unhappy at work for a couple of years now. I still have my resignation letter from late last year — I just decided not to hand it in at the last minute because my one on one with my manager became a handover meeting to a new manager, and I didn’t feel it was appropriate to resign in that call.

But I think the biggest frustration at the minute is that I don’t really know what I want. I know I don’t enjoy what I’m doing at the moment, but I don’t know what I could do that might change that.

And so I’ve jumped around roles a little in the past 6 months, with meaningless promotions (but meaningful pay rises), but ultimately I just feel empty when I log in to the computer for the day’s work.

Worth a read

“Now, four years later, Coogler is back with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – a film that comes in the wake of the unthinkable loss of Chadwick Boseman, who passed away from cancer in August 2020. That tragedy drove the question the director says is central to his sequel: ‘How do you carry on in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds?’

It’s a notion with resonance in the film itself, but also for the indelible Boseman’s fans, filmmaking collaborators, friends, and family – all of us processing his loss, as well as the global upheaval of the pandemic.

I am absolutely dreading the new Black Panther movie. Not because I think it will be bad, but because I don’t know how I will control my emotions at the cinema.

Today’s soundtrack:

I remember seeing Ben Folds at the Enmore Theatre not long after this came out, and he played a similar set list. It was incredible.

Written in Mount Annan, NSW on iPhone

Weather: 19°C and Mostly Cloudy

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 08:05:23 +1000

Colleague pointed out I’d made the homepage of news.com.au yesterday. I’m the guy standing in the background of the main pic. 🤣 Show me the money!

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 11:30:30 +1000

Just having one of those days when I have enough time to update to the newest version of iOS but not enough time to play around with it.

Wed, 07 Sep 2022 16:53:33 +1000

Watching a presentation where the slides have green buttons on a blue background and it offends my sensibilities.

My improved recycling game

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 20:22:43 +1000

There are a lot of things I like about living in the outer suburbs of Sydney.

For example: Just last week I picked up my daughter from school, took a 5-minute detour from our usual commute home through the local Botanic Gardens and ended up watching about a dozen kangaroos hopping across a field.

But this post isn’t about the Gardens, (though I’m sure I’ll write about that soon).

Instead, it’s about recycling. In particular, the fact that our local council has been working with a group called Recycle Smart, which has changed the way we try to dispose of rubbish.

My council was pretty good at waste services even before it started offering this. It will collect my green waste bin, my recycling bin and my rubbish every week. But this service actually gives us so many more recycling options for free.

They collect a bunch of things, from batteries to clothes and printer cartridges. We’ve used them to clear out a whole heap of older stuff we didn’t want to just dump into landfill.

For someone who used to make a buck as a tech journalist and who had countless old gadgets filling up the garage, this has been incredible. I’ve managed to clear old all my old fitness trackers that won’t charge anymore, the old routers that don’t deliver usable speeds anymore and the mobile phones that barely load up, all without having to leave the house.

But while clearing out tech has been great, the big one for us so far has been soft plastics – things like chip wrappers and plastic bags. Every day, we pop our soft plastics into a Coles plastic bag, and then once a month we leave that plastic bag out for Recycle Smart to come and collect.

The impact has been huge. Our landfill bin is down to just one or two bags of rubbish each week. I think that’s pretty good for a family of four.

Each month, Recycle Smart will come and collect two bags for free, but if I need to get rid of more stuff, I can pay $2 a bag to have up to 10 bags collected. So far, I’ve only taken advantage of that service once, but we’ve just cleared out the kids clothes, so we may need to do it again soon.

There’s a dedicated app for the service, which collects data on the types of recycling you do, and you can see how much recycling you have done.

I don’t know how many councils Recycle Smart works with, but it’s definitely been a great addition to our local council’s waste management services.

My indecision problem

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 16:26:01 +1000

There are now too many choices.

Whether it’s deciding what book I should read next, choosing the next show to binge watch on Netflix (or Disney Plus more likely in our household), or finding a new video game to play, I am frequently overwhelmed with the sheer number of options available.

My nightly ritual with my wife, once the kids have gone to bed, is to ask her:

“What do you want to do tonight?”

She always – without fail – responds with:

“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

We dance this dance every night for 5-10 minutes, before eventually we agree to watch something, or I end up playing video games or reading for an hour or two and then crawling into bed.

I know I’m not alone. There are plenty of resources talking about “decision paralysis” or “analysis paralysis”, and strategies to deal with it.

“Give yourself fewer choices”, these books and articles and tweets will tell you. Admittedly, a lot of the websites that rank in Google for this are marketing based, so they really want to drive those sales!

But they do also say that the overabundance of choice leads to fatigue, often to the point that there’s no energy to actually follow through with the task itself.

And that’s what I’m feeling all the damned time now. Fatigue.

Fatigue at having to decide what TV show we should watch. Fatigue at having to decide what book I should read. Fatigue at having to choose which video game I should play next.

And so what do I tend to do in these situations? Fall back to things I’m comfortable with. That means rewatching Scrubs with my wife. It means reading Raymond Feist’s Magician for the 8th or 9th time. It means playing through the Batman Arkham games, instead of branching out to experience something new.

Which is fine. There’s plenty of joy to be gained from experience things I’ve already experienced (although sadly Scrubs just isn’t holding up in the 2020s).

But it doesn’t really help the fatigue.

My learning to write again ✍️

Wed, 31 Aug 2022 16:48:06 +1000

I’m actually shocked at how hard I’m finding it to write.

There was a time, a little over a decade ago, that I would regularly pump out thousands of words a day. I’d trawl the internet for the latest tech news, finding my own unique angles. I’d go to events and write about them, then spend time investigating and writing up follow up stories.

I found an audience and gave them what they wanted.

But today… writing is hard. It’s hard to think of ideas. It’s hard to find unique opinions. It’s hardest still to put metaphorical pen to paper to turn it into something that somebody, somewhere might want to read.

But, if I look back on the past few years, I feel that my own sense of wellbeing started to deteriorate alongside my work moving away from writing words. Now, that could be purely coincidental — I am getting older, after all.

But it’s enough of a coincidence that I’ve decided to try and do something about it. I’m pulling out the old tools and giving them a polish.

I hope I can stick it out. I hope stretch my mind enough to write something vaguely interesting.

(But if anybody has any pointers, please feel free to send them my way…)

My mid-life crisis

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 15:46:27 +1000

Early in the pandemic, I was looking for a new hobby.

For the past couple of decades, I’ve enthusiastically enjoyed spending my free time playing video games as my “hobby of choice”. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that whipping out the old DualShock (DualSense now?) to bring be less joy.

All of this aligned with me hitting my 40s. I’d never had as much disposable income. My kids were hitting the age where they can look after themselves a little bit. And my job satisfaction was waning.

And so, I decided I was going to collect and play board games to beat back the tedium of being stuck at home almost 24/7 during the early parts of COVID.

Now, about two years later, I have spent way too much money collecting and playing board games. I love it though. I joke with my family that this is my mid-life crisis, and that it is better than buying a sports car or motorcycle.

U Wish

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:49:33 +1000

Saw this driving home the other week. Not quite the sexy car I’d expect with that kind of license plate.

Who's Your Daddy? (Me)

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:40:10 +1000

Well, maybe not your Daddy, but a Daddy. That’s right - Lauren and I are having a baby!

We’re both incredibly excited, as you could imagine. We’ve just passed the 13 week mark, so there’s still a long way to go, but so far everything has gone as smooth as we could hope for. (Although Lauren might argue that last point, considering she can’t really eat during the day).

So Much To Write About, So Little Time

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:11:54 +1000

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t neglected the Shuffle in recent weeks. There’s just been so much going on. So here’s the plan: Three short, sharp posts detailing a few of the big events of my life this past month or so…

Stay tuned!

What Exactly is a Wookie Cookie?

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:12:59 +1000

The question is: What exactly is in a Wookie Cookie? Bantha Fodder? Cream of Ton-Ton? Jar-Jar Binks? Well, we can only hope that the last one is true…

Star wars Cookbook Wookie Cookies Features Recipes Like Boba Fett-Uccine | Star Wars, Edible Geek, shopping | geeksugar - Technology & Gadgets.

Star Wars Retold By Someone Who's Never Seen The Films

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:15:00 +1000

vimeo.com/2809991

I love this. It completely made my Friday.

Finally, A New Study Worth Working In

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:14:03 +1000

We spent the better part of the past week painting the study. While it’s still not the perfect home office – I still need some decent shelving and we haven’t moved 90% of what we took out back in yet – it’s so much nicer. It’s actually a workspace, rather than a child’s bedroom.

I didn’t take any photos of the room prior to painting, but I do have some pics from when I made a short film for a story in T3 which should give you an idea of just how horrible an office environment it was to work in.

Looking Back At 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:13:44 +1000

On the last day of 2008, I thought it would be prudent to sit back and look at the year that’s been. All told, Lauren and I have had a very big – and successful – year. After all, I started at Gizmodo, we got married, I travelled around a bit and now Lauren’s been promoted to manager of her work. Not a bad year for a couple in the penultimate year of their 20s…

And to think that this time last year I was in a state of turmoil. I’d just signed the contract for the job at Giz AU, and while I knew I’d be earning more money, I essentially needed to start running my work life like I was running my own business (which, technically, is what I’m doing), and that was a daunting prospect. On top of that, Lauren and I were in the final stretch for wedding preparations, and the costs were climbing every day it seemed. Last Christmas was a very budget affair, and it made it harder for us to know that we were climbing into more and more debt.

But then January came around – I started at Giz, and everything started getting better. By the time the wedding arrived in March, we were already much more at ease and although I have never been more nervous than I was on our wedding day, everything was better than perfect, including the Fijian honeymoon.

On the work front, things have just continued to expand. When I started in January at Giz, we had a monthly readership of about 250,000. In November, we cracked 800,000. Plus, we’ve just been announced as a finalist for best Australian blog in the 2008 Weblog Awards. And despite a handful of frustrating moments over the past year at work, looking back at what I’ve achieved gives me a nice warm feeling in my sub-cockle area.

Outside of the whole work and wedding spectrum – we’ve finally started getting the house in proper order. We finished painting the loungeroom, got ourselves a new wall-mounted TV, bought a new Mac at the start of the year, replanted the herb garden and generally kept things moving forward. And we don’t feel like we’re struggling financially anymore. Sure, we’re not wealthy, but we’re not poor either. I guess that makes us the shining example of middle-class…

It wasn’t all good though – Lauren’s had a few health issues that weren’t a lot of fun. Most of them are under control now though, so fingers crossed we won’t have any problems for next year.

So, what for 2009, the final year of our 20s? Well, I guess we’re both hoping for a fourth and fifth addition to our little family – both a dog friend for Simba and child of our own. Hopefully I’ll finally get around to painting this hideous pink study (doing it this weekend!), as well as the rest of the house. Plus, we’ll just continue the gradual process of making our home exactly the way we want it. And in the end, I just hope that we continue to grow the way we both did this year.

Happy New Year! I hope you all have as good a 2009 as we did a 2008.

8 Months After Our Wedding, We've Finally Paid It Off

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:58:58 +1000

Today is a good day for us. After 8 months or so, we’ve finally paid off our wedding.

It was hard work - I worked a little harder and longer than I otherwise would have, and we had to manage our money extremely carefully, not to mention going without a lot of nice little extras, but in the end, we’re now in a pretty good economic position. Sure, we still have debts (including a mortgage and a nice new TV), but we’re in a position where we can afford to pay those debts, as well as start saving a little.

I think that tonight I might crack open a celebratory beer.

Homebrew Disasters: Exhibit 5...

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:19:32 +1000

I’ve been brewing my own beer for almost two years now (my original kit was given to me for Christmas ‘06), and sadly I have to admit that the sight you see here isn’t that uncommon for me. Out of the dozen or so batches I’ve brewed, more than half have spewed forth beer-flavoured froth as the yeast goes crazy trying to convert sugar to alchohol.

The weird thing is that when I was using brewing kits from the Homebrew shop in Camden (rest its soul), this wasn’t a problem at all. After doing a spot of research on the internet, turns out that the froth comes from overexcited yeast working too quickly, plus a lack of space at the top of the barrel. But I actually reckon it’s the sugar. Because every batch of beer I’ve done using Cooper’s Brewing Sugar has ended up creating a beer volcano through the airlock…

In any case, this particular batch went the way of the dodo last night – it got hot around here at around about 5pm, and although it was sitting at about 27-28 degrees when I checked it at that time, a couple of hours later it had crept up to 30-32, which is too hot for the yeast to survive. I immediately went into overdrive to bring the temp back down, but I fear it was too little too late – this particular batch (a stout, and my first attempt at a dark beer), has stopped fermenting.

I will hold a small memorial service for it as I tip it down the drain over the weekend. In the meantime, I need to find myself another homebrew store (and clean my barrel – that black ooze is thick and smelly…

If I Ever Meet Someone Who Works On Timetables For Cityrail, I'm Going To Kick Them In The Shins. Hard.

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:58:30 +1000

I have just hopped on a train at Central after waiting for 32 minutes on the platform. At least, that’s what the board said when I arrived.

The train is an old, smelly thing with only 6 carriages. I got a seat - but only just.

If there was some kind of malfunction to cause this wait, I might be a little more sympathetic. But no, this is just how long you need to wait for a train to get to Campbelltown during the day.

Two trains went to East Hills while I was waiting. Surely one of them could have gone the extra 5 stops?

Actually, I’ve changed my mind. If I ever do meet someone from Cityrail’s timetable division, I’m going to kick them in the nuts. Repeatedly.

And The Home Theatre Setup Begins...

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:44:07 +1000

We had our TV cabinet delivered last weekend. It looks great.

Even better is that we went out and bought a new TV. Panasonics latest 50 incher. It’s being delivered on Tuesday. Now all we need is some surround sound and we’ll be cheering!

(The photo above is the exact same TV, but a review unit from Panasonic. I was so impressed that we went out and bought the same model.)

The Perfect Hot Totty Recipe

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:56:02 +1000

The past couple of weeks have been tough – From Hong Kong to Sarah’s Birthday to the Influence Conference in the Hunter Valley to a week of events, I’ve been running myself ragged. So much so that yesterday morning I woke up coughing up all colours of the rainbow (a pleasant enough image for you all, I’m sure).

However, today I feel pretty good. And do you know why? It’s because of a little drink called the Hot Totty.

When I was in Ireland back when I was 18, I got pretty sick. I prescribed myself to a diet of Hot Tottys, and my cure could almost be considered miraculous. Since then, it seems I’d forgotten their medical power to battle the cold, until last week when I made one for Lauren when she was a bit crook.

Anyway, to get back to the subject, I have perfected the Hot Totty. I’ve just finished my course for the evening, and fully expect to wake up feeling well tomorrow.

If you want to know how to make the perfect Hot Totty yourself, check below:

First of all, you’ll need a shot of Irish whiskey in a cup (or a glass with a handle). Add a teaspoon of honey. Then, cut a slice of lemon, and stick four cloves into the lemon’s flesh. Pop the lemon and cloves into the cup, add a teabag, and fill with boiling water. Let the tea brew.

Once the tea has brewed for a couple of minutes, remove the teabag and enjoy. If it doesn’t work for you… well, too bad. But it worked for me (and tastes pretty good as well.

Poor Simba!

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:26:53 +1000

Today has been a struggle. Hell, every Monday is a struggle, but this weekend was harder than most. Namely because our dog Simba spent most of Friday night and half of Saturday vomiting.

It started about 2am Friday night. At 4:30am, Lauren and I decided that we’d put him outside (we gave him a comfortable bed) so we could get a few hours sleep. A couple of hours later, he woke us barking so we brought him in. An hour after that, he barked again, which is something he rarely does, and only when he’s telling us he NEEDS to go outside.

When we woke up a few hours later and opened the door to check on him, he had been sleeping in his hidey hole in the garden. In the rain. Where it was muddy. The photo above wasn’t from Saturday morning, but the truth of it was that he looked worse. He was shivering and caked in mud. We spent the next hour or so bathing him.

When he was clean, the vet’s had closed. But seeing as how he hadn’t thrown up for a while, we were hoping he was on the mend. And he was… until he threw up again.

Saturday night was another late night, this time due to an engagement party (congrats Jo and Danie!). We’d gotten him a babysitter and everything was fine – he woke me up at 5am to go to the bathroom – but after that he was back to his normal self on Sunday (although a little weak). He spent the day chasing lizards and helping Lauren prune the roses.

But even though I’m an exhausted wreck at the moment, I’m just happy the dog’s okay…

Seinfeld's Microsoft Ad Hits The Intertubes

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:02:39 +1000

www.youtube.com/watch

There seems to be a real split in opinions over this ad. I like it – probably because it doesn’t actually try to sell me anything. It tries to entertain, and while it’s not hilariously funny, I actually had a smile through most of it.

I think the lack of any mention of Windows or Vista was a good move, incidentally. As soon as they say anything about Vista, the Internet minions will cry out against it just for that fact.

I’m looking forward to the next few ads, to see how they develop.

Up Yours Door-to-Door Internet Salesman!

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:40:52 +1000

Last night at about 7:30pm, there was a knock on the door. Naturally the dog sprang up and I forced my way out of recline to see who it was. Flicking on the front light switch I opened the door to be greeted by a young door-to-door salesman.

“Good evening,” he said as I squinted through the screen door. “I’m here to offer you a great deal on your Internet and…”

I cut him off, before he could continue. “I’m sorry.” I said politely. “I’m not interested”.

As I moved to shut the door he snuck in a question: “Can I ask who you’re with, Sir?” I responded. Then the little fucker had the nerve to tut at me and shake his head. I closed the door in his face and switched off the light.

I don’t care who you are, if you’re a salesman, shaking your head like the purchasing choices someone has made are terrible is not the way to go about business. I know you had no idea who I was, but the simple fact is that I know my stuff, and although my current broadband plan may not be the best option for me now, it was when I signed up for a 24 month contract 6 months ago. When that contract expires, I’ll be all over a new plan and ISP like the pimples on your insolent little face, jerk.

So a big “Up Yours” to you. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the rage at being interrupted in the comfort of my own home at 7:30 at night. I’m almost sorry I didn’t find out who you were selling for so I could publicly deride you for shoddy business practices.

Not Enough Sense To Make Change

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:59:32 +1000

Funny thing happened to me yesterday: Lauren and I had decided to try a new recipe for dinner (Lion’s head meatballs, for the curious) which required dried chinese mushrooms - not something we keep a lot of lying around the pantry.

So anyway, I went to get my haircut yesterday morning in Camden, and when I couldn’t get in for a coupl of hours, I decided I’d pop into Coles to pick up the dried mushrooms. When I got there, a packet of sliced dried shitake mushrooms was $2.40. Checking my pockets and wallet, I only had a $50 note or $2 in change. I decided to walk out, and pick it up when I came back in to get my haircut proper.

When I got home, I grabbed the extra 40 cents, and then added another 50c piece “just in case”. Then, once I’d had my hair cut, I hopped in the car and started driving home. “Dammit!” I exclaimed. “I forgot the mushrooms!” So instead of going around the block, I decided to drop into Woolworths on the way home.

When I got to the Asian section, instead of being $2.40, they had whole dried shitake mushrooms for $3.00. Checking my pocket again, I had $2.90. I was foiled again!

On a side note, the dinner was nice, but a bit too much effort for the end result, and probably won’t get cooked again.

Making the move to Wordpress

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:40:18 +1000

So, hello from The Broughall Shuffle. I’ve just finished importing my previous “it’s pronounced bruffle” blog, so bear with me while I set everything up properly.

The reason for moving was twofold – number one was I wanted my own domain name, and “it’s pronounced bruffle” just seemed too wordy. The second was that I can blog from the iPhone via Wordpress, which is a very appealing proposition for me…

So hopefully we’ll see more content here than ever before. But probably not – in the ned, laziness usually wins.

So sick of painting...

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:29:00 +1000

For the past two weekends, I’ve been painting the loungeroom. I would have been done after the first weekend, but for the fact that the previous owners did such a dodgy job that you could see their patching on the cornices.

So ok the weekend, along with bottling beer, I painted the cornices on the loungeroom.

But to add insult to injury, when I went to peel the painters tape off the ceiling, it came with the added bonus of pulling off the paint as well. So now I have to paint the ceiling as well. Which means I have to peel off the previous coat, sand it back then apply a couple of coats.

I’m so sick of painting…

Now What Am I Going To Do?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:57:00 +1000

The latest batch of homebrew (a Bock) has been bottled, and is now waiting for that magical process of secondary fermentation to take place, giving it the bubbles that make beer so enjoyable.

But among the success of this batch of beer is tragic news that the local home brew store (Jay’s homebrew in Camden) is closing down. Now what am I supposed to do?

While I can pick up a Coopers or Tooheys kit from Coles or Woolworths, it’s the premium sugar and yeasts that you really need a homebrew store for. And when I eventually get some funds to set up a keg system for sweet home-made beer on tap, well then I think I’ll need to find another homebrew store for that as well.

The store closes in September, so I should at least be able to pick up another batch before then. Still, considering I’d only recently discovered the store, this is a bit of sad news.

Come on Aussie, Come on!

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:24:00 +1000

How frustrating! Imagine training your ass off for 10 years to make it to the Olympic Games, only to have a hardware malfunction ruin your first opportunity.

Yesterday that happened to Chappo my old school mate who’s rowing for Australia in Beijing at the moment. The Men’s VIII was struck with a faulty rudder and at the 750 mark (of a 2,000 metre race) essentially had to stop rowing, missing out on the direct route to the finals.

The good news is that they kept rowing and finished the race, meaning that they qualify for the repecharge today and can still make the finals. Needless to say, we’re all rooting for you Chappo, you big spader.

UPDATE: The Men’s VIII came in second in the repecharge, making it through to the final. Go for Gold Chappo!

UPDATE II: The boys came last in the final – Still stoked you made it that far Chappo, See you in 2012!

Go Chappo!

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:59:00 +1000

At 7:40pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on Sunday 10 August 2008, an old school friend of mine by the name of James Chapman will be rowing for Australia at the Beijing Olympics.

A long time ago, in what seems like a different life, I used to row with James. While part of me wonders what could have happened if I wasn’t such a lazy bastard, most of me just hopes that Chappo can bring home some gold. While I haven’t seen him for a few years, I know that in the 10 years since we finished school, he has sacrificed so much for his sport – I hope he can reap the rewards tomorrow.

ABC News has an interview with James here. And Chappo’s blogging about his Olympic experience here. Go and check it out!

Go Chappo!

OMG! I wish there were more hours in the day

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:45:00 +1000

Wow – I knew it had been a long time since I updated here… but a full month? I guess that just goes to show how busy I’ve been. Crazy.

At the moment, I’m battling a cold after two long weeks of working too hard. There was the Sydney Apple Store opening, which was great for Giz, plus countless other events along the way. Now I just need to get myself an iPhone so I can stop wishing for one.

Lauren and I went to the Socceroos match against China last weekend with Foxtel - have to say, I’m a big fan of corporate box seating. The match was ok, but we lost, which is never a good thing. Plus I think that’s where I caught my cold.

Anyway, I’m going to go and sit back and relax for a little bit. It’s been a long week, and next week doesn’t look much better…

Hopefully it won’t be a full month before my next update…

Go The Tahs!

Mon, 26 May 2008 15:23:00 +1000

For the second time since the inception of the Super 12 Rugby competition (and its migration to the Super 14), the NSW Waratahs have made the final.

What’s more, they actually look like they can win. They’re playing good rugby. The forwards are going forward and the backs are hitting hard, making breaks and scoring tries.

The Crusaders will be a tough ask this weekend, especially in NZ, but I actually believe that the Tahs have a good chance. I can’t wait.

Teeth Aren't Cheap

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:28:00 +1000

Normally I don’t have a problem at the dentist. The drilling, the grinding, the scraping… so what?

But today I saw something that made me cringe. And it wasn’t just the bill (although that wasn’t anything to smile at either).

It was my wisdom teeth. Or more to the point, the 1.2cm gap behind my back right molar caused by my wisdom teeth pushing out.

So far, I haven’t really experienced a lot of pain, but if I do nothing, I run the risk of losing that back molar as well as the widom tooth. Of course if I have my wisdom teeth removed, I run the same risk apparently.

I’ve been referred to a oral surgeon, so hopefully he’ll provide me a little bit more guidance in what I should do. Of course, I need to have some more X-rays (on top of the ones I had today that cost $110) before any decisions are made – apparently there’s a nerve that could be in an awkward position.

I’ve decided that I hate my teeth – they’re costing me too much money.

A Weekend of Lobster, Lindt and Corned Beef

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:16:00 +1000

It was a pretty busy weekend, which started with dinner on Friday night with mum, Matt and Lauren and Aunty Sue and Uncle Curl. We went down to the Italian restaurant near mum’s place – she had a hankering for lobster after I sent her the picture to the left there.

The food was lovely, although the service was a little slow. I didn’t have the lobster myself (instead had veal with king prawns in a garlic and chilli sauce), it didn’t live up to the expectations mum had. Not surprising, really.

After dinner we went back to mum’s place, which was nice but for the cigarette smoke. Considering everyone but Lauren, myself and Curl were smokers, there was a thick haze of it throughout the house. Thank god there isn’t a smoke detector in the lounge room, is all I can say!

Saturday I woke up with an absolutely horrendous headache. Part of me thinks it may have been the firefighting from the night before. In any case, I felt terrible all day, which sucked big time because Lauren and I had planned to go and see Iron Man. Instead, I sat on my backside and did nothing while my head played drums on my brain. Unpleasant.

On the upside, I felt better on Sunday and Lauren and I took Lyn out to the Home Show. Saw way too much stuff that we can’t afford there, but it was nice to go and not have to work. Afterwards, we wandered over to the Lindt cafe for iced chocolates / Mochas coffees, before heading home to cook Corned Beef for dinner.

So another weekend of eating. Not a bad way to live if you ask me.

What a pile of crap!

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:52:00 +1000

Look at this dog. Does this look like the kind of dog that would greet you in the morning with pile of poo and a puddle of wee? Because that’s what the little bugger did to me this morning.

Not that he’s in trouble – I gave him a bone yesterday for the first time in a while, and the dog food he’s been eating for the past month or so has made him a poop-machine, so it isn’t really his fault.

It just strikes me as weird that he doesn’t wake us up in the night if he needs to go out. As Lauren said, he probably spent half an hour sitting outside our door looking at us sleep through the crack, hoping we’d get up and let him out.

He’s a great little dog. Even when he craps on the tiles (which - last night aside - hasn’t happened since he was a puppy).

The house is clean

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:40:00 +1000

What an exciting weekend. Lauren and I cleaned. Really cleaned. The house has been neglected for so long, what with the wedding and everything, that there was a stench permeating the very pores of the walls. Now, that’s gone, (hence Mr Sparkle above).

I mean, you know your house hasn’t been cleaned properly when you’re sitting down watching Pirates of the Caribbean on a Friday night and you watch a mouse run across the hallway floor. Thankfully, Simba the Brave managed to pry himself away from his bed long enough to catch the mouse once it had run into the linen cupboard.

And the only thing worse than one mouse – two mice. About an hour later, just as the movie finished, another little bugger ran across the exact same spot. Sadly (not so much), it had a similar fate to the first – Simba the brave caught it, then proceeded to play with it until he lost it in the garden somewhere. In case you were in any doubt, the mouse didn’t survive.

Last night Lauren and I designed our wedding Thank you cards in iPhoto. I love the fact that you can do it, but I’d like a bit more flexibility. Hopefully they’ll arrive soon and we can send them out, completing the last of our wedding related duties (other than paying off the credit card).

A mixed bag of a weekend, really

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:28:00 +1000

As far as weekends go, there wasn’t too much to get excited about this one just gone. Lauren and I did a spot of shopping on Saturday before heading in to watch the Waratahs demolish the Blues (thanks Sarah!). It was a good match, although I was blown away by the fact that Greg Growden (the Sydney Morning Herald’s Chief Rugby journo) kept coming to sit down behind the posts. Maybe he just loves the atmosphere of the cheap seats?

Sunday we went in to the Red Bull Flugtag. We were both completely underwhelmed. Firstly, there were so many people around that you couldn’t actually get somewhere close enough to see. Then there was the food – expensive, small servings and less than appetising stall food. Finally, the fact that I need a bigger zoom lens on my camera – there’s nothing like going to an event where you’re a long way away from the action to remind you of your lens inadequacies… Oh, and Tim Bailey. God that guy annoys the crap out of me.

We’ve got Kristie and Ben’s wedding next weekend. It should be good, but I am a little bit worried about the night before – I’ve got to go and represent Giz at The Lizzies. I reckon we’ve got a really good chance of winning this year. Hopefully I’ll get to come home with a statue of a frilled-neck lizard…

I'm so tired...

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:42:00 +1000

Thank God it’s Friday! I’m exhausted. It’s been a hard week all around, trying to get back into the swing of things after Fiji time. There have bee a couple of late nights this week (Canon event, Lauren had a work event last night), and the early mornings for Giz have taken their toll. I’ll be sleeping in tomorrow!

We’re heading out on Sunday to the Red Bull Flugtag… not sure what to expect there, but it might be a bit of fun and I could get some good photos from it. Also may be going to the Waratahs match tomorrow – I should find out tonight. In any case, it looks like a bit of a busy weekend. Which means I’ll probably be just as exhausted come Monday.

Kinda makes me wish I was back in Fiji… :)