Wednesday 20th July 2011 - Day 156 - Self Portrait

Hello Friends,

I know it's been ages since I blogged, and my apologies for that.  There has been much going on in my world, and I've recently become addicted to ebay, so you'll find me on any given non-work day staring at ebay like a dog stares at a food bowl at dinner time.

Well, life has been pretty good lately.  There was a little bit of turbulence at work for me a week ago, so I had a little hissy fit and took a week and a half off just so that I didn't have to be there, but I've accepted what I need to inside of me and I'm not bothered about having to go back to work.  I think that even those people that are causing problems for me at work (of which I must be one....you should always accept some responsibility for the situations you find yourself in), are only a passing part of my life, so it's not worth getting too stressed out about the issues.  I'm reminded again of the old adage "This Too Shall Pass".

Well, in my week (so far) off work, I have discovered the joys if ebay for buying second hand things for a fraction of the cost that you'd pay for them new.  I have been looking for the perfect reading chair off and on for a couple of years now, and everything I liked was in the $700-$1500 range.  After my awesome friend Lishy suggested I go to the second hand furniture shops and see if I could find something that I liked and could get cleaned/re-upholstered, it occurred to me that ebay was much the same thing, and I found a great reading chair and ottoman for the budget price of $50.  Never having been one to buy a whole lot of second hand furniture, I wasn't aware that you can actually get good quality item!  I've since bought a second hand washer/dryer to free up some space in my kitchen (where resides my laundry cupboard....which can now be cut in half :) )

I'm also looking at other chairs that I might buy just to have some occasional chairs around the apartment.  Thankfully the absurd amount of chairs that I was bidding on in the first few days of my ebay addiction were all outbid, so I don't have a home full of chairs and no room for movement! :)

At any rate, I've also caught up with some friends: Chris and Claws at their house last weekend, Holly for her going away drinks the weekend prior, Sarah for breakfast and a stroll yesterday, Garth at C&C's last weekend (who then helped me pick up new chair).

Oh! that reminds me:  I bought the washer/dryer as discussed from a woman called Michelle in the inner western suburbs, and unfortunately my friend who's care I was going to use to collect the machine, had to leave before I could collect it.  The short version of this story is that the woman (Michelle) who sold me the machine, then collected me from the city in her car, drove me to her house to pick the item up, then dropped me off with the machine to my building!  I didn't know that strangers in Sydney could be that kind and helpful.  Conversation indicated that she was born and raised here as well, so there is something positive to be said of Sydney city natives.

So, now I have my sweet Mumsy on her was down from Queensland to collect my old washer and dryer, which is great as it's a good break for her to come visit and she hasn't been here for a while.  It will be nice to have here visit for a couple of days.  She doesn't like driving in the city though, so I'm going to take a train to Hornsby when she get's there and drive the car in for her.  Bless her cotton socks!

It occurred to me this morning that I haven't really attacked much of my sobriety list since I got home to Australia, so this morning I flexed my (somewhat atrophied) artistic muscle, and attempted a self portrait.  The portrait was done while sitting on my sofa opposite a mirror, and it is a clear indication that I need much more practice before I could be considered an artist.

I think I've managed to make myself look like a bit of a zombie in it, but all things considered I did a pretty good job for Me!

Ok Friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy and that life is treating you well.  Until next time, take care, and be kind to people :)

Howie..

Thursday 7th July 2010 - Day 143 - Mondays that are Sundays, Duty and Yoga

G'day Friends,

Well, life is good today.  I've had a pretty good week, which started with a day at HMAS Watson which should have been a day of pretending that we were working on the bridge of a ship at sea, but as there were some room booking issues, we ended up spending the day sitting in the sun and chatting for the most part.  What an outstanding way to start the working week, even more so as we were right on the water overlooking Sydney harbour at Watsons Bay.  Here are some pictures that I took while out there.

I call this picture....trees on harbour.

I call this one.... trees on harbour with cloud.

This one is called.....Grassky.

Ok, I'm struggling with what to write to justify these pictures. 

Tuesday wasn't quite so relaxed and Wednesday consisted of being duty on my ship which meant I lost half of my working day to standing on the gangway, and then was up at unwholesome o'clock this morning to stand on the gangway again.  On the up side, being duty gave me occasion to take that following two pictures:

HMAS Newcastle's Australian National Flag with the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Sunset in the background. 

I took this photo at about 6am this morning, there was so much colour considering it was twilight in an industrial wasteland of a wharf. 

And tomorrow I have the dubious pleasure of heading out to HMAS Watson to (hopefully) do what we were meant to do on Monday.  Thankfully that will lead us into the weekend, and it should only be a half working day (being Friday).  I'm quite looking forward to this weekend.  I don't think I have any plans for tomorrow night, which will be great, I should be able to have a night in my PJ's watching a few movies.  Saturday is Holly's going away drinks (LLB's for me), and then Sunday I should be catching up with my cousin Divinia, who I haven't seen in about 7 years.

I am still managing to keep away from smoking and drinking, although I had the most overwhelming desire for a beer at about 5pm yesterday afternoon.  I can't justify what the reason was, but I certainly did want to have a beer.

Well, that's my news for the moment friends.  I hope you're all have a great week.  Until next time, take care.

Howie..



Sunday 3rd July 2011 - Day 139 - Hiking in the Blue Mountains

Hi Friends,

Well, firstly apologies for it being a while since I last posted, but I've actually been a little bit busy.  I've had a great last couple of weeks:  catching up with friends, going out in the cross, living the torment of work, and (more recently) visiting Nicole in the Blue Mountains and going bush walking.

We started off at the Wentworth Falls area which was amazingly beautiful, before heading to Echo Point where we viewed the Three Sisters (or as Nicole affectionately calls them "the Three Lumps Of Rock"), which if nothing else, are something else I've seen now.  After that we had lunch in Leura and had a little stroll around.

Leura is a beautiful little tourist trap village consisting of a single main street with a number of beautiful boutique shops in it.  The kind of place that up and coming city folk like to head for a weekend lunch.  I loved the place, it reminded me a lot of Berry on the south coast.  I think I'd enjoy going back there soon.

After lunch and a stroll, we then saw signs for Leura Cascades, so followed the signs (that we later realised were aimed more at people walking the whole way.......we were in a car....), parked at the end of a local street before trekking through some nice muddy steps, which had Nicole amused/annoyed because of her non-trekking shoes, and me almost wetting myself laughing at her response to each sloppy step.

After about 5-10 minutes, we crossed a road and realised that we could have driven a lot closer than we had.  We then walked on for another half an hour or so before coming to a sign pointing back to Echo Point, so thought we'd best turn around and head back to the car.

The Blue Mountains are amazingly beautiful, I can't believe that I've lived in Sydney as long as I have without actually getting up there to do the walks.


Here are a few pictures from our Saturday of trekking and fun.

Nicole and I at the start of our day of bush-walking.

After taking Nicole on an adventure down a path that may or may not have been considered a 'safe' path, we decided that with signs like this (advising of swamps) we ought to turn around and take the path more travelled.

This was one of the many beautiful paths of the water along it's way to the falls.

Nicole pointing out her shoes full of muck after our sloppy path to Leura Cascades.

Me along the waters path along the way to Leura Cascades.

Just a nice picture that I took from one vantage point.

Another great picture I though.

The Three Lumps Of Rock.

I just really like this picture......part of the path as you make your way down to to bottom of Wentworth falls (we only went part way down before deciding to head back, so that we could see a bit more.

So that is the adventure of the last weekend.  We caught up with our friend Holly for breakfast in a little cafe this morning before I caught the train home.  I got home about lunch time today and have had a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon at home.

Well Friends, that's my news for the moment.  I have managed to pass another weekend without drinking or smoking and in a week and a half it will have been 5 months since I put out my last cigarette.  I'm pretty stoked with myself for having lasted.  I've also still maintained my self-imposed alcohol ban.  I'm still in two minds about what I'm going to do at the end of my year of not drinking.  I actually miss the sensation of drinking and the social aspects of it, but I also am truly enjoying the vast amount of life I'm living while I'm not drinking.  I think I've actually achieved more in my spare time in the last 4 1/2 months, than I did in my previous 2 years, and I'm loving it.

Well, I'll keep pondering that one as the year progresses.  Have a great week friends.

Howie..