I found out that earlier in the month my cat Borris had died from old age. He was taken to the vet on Tuesday December 6, 2005, and was put to sleep. That was his 16th birthday.
Rest in piece, Borris. You'll be missed.
Apart from the usual gripes about the crass commercialisation of the Christmas holidays, I actually enjoyed the Christmas break this year. I think more than anything it was a chance for me to sit back and unwind a bit, something that I haven't really had much of a chance to do lately.
The day itself was pretty uneventful, but against all odds it appears that we all tried to out-do each other this year with our purchases for each other, despite previous arrangements to make this a fairly low-key Christmas. I managed to pick up all sorts of useful stuff that I wanted (thanks to the Christmas list). Some more useful than others, but all appreciated nonetheless (I mean really, what use am I going to get out of a oversized novelty pencil?).
One of the problems with heading up to Mum's place for Christmas (or any time really) is that recently I've been falling asleep up there. Literally. Crashing on the couch and grabbing a nap for 1 or 2 hours. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad trend yet, but it seems entertaining enough for everyone.
Anything could change by the weekend, but Hurricane Wilma is currently rated at category 4, and heading straight for Naples, Florida.
Guess who's dad just bought a house there?
I know he can look after himself, but I still worry.
It's been a month since the last update. It seems that there's a general lull in all blogs overall. Is it a sign of things to come? Or is it just that time of year?
My dad and his wife came to Perth for what was to be a whirlwind weeklong visit, but ended out turning into a gale force two week stay. He's flown in from Bali, where he's been working for the past two(?) years, and is stopping by various placing on his way to his new home in Florida. He's worked in Florida before, but this time he's going to work for a company that he owns. He figures that if he's going to be stuck working for bastards for the rest of his career, that bastard might as well be himself :P
So that was nice - got to catch up with him and Yola and shoot-the-shit, so to speak. I'm glad we got the extra week to catch up with him before he had to fly out again. The US immigration department should fuck up like that more often. Heh. It was also really nice to catch up with him on his birthday for a change.
In between being extraordinarily busy, Michele and I have had the opportunities to do various things - including celebrating our three year anniversary. We did this by dining at the Seizan. A nice place - you should give it a try sometime if you can. We had Teppan Yaki, which is Japanese for "The Chef sets your food on fire right in front of you and then expects you to eat it." Very economical, the Japanese language... The food was awesome and I can't wait to organise a group dinner there. Should be most fun.
Right next to it is a tiny little place called "The Ramen", which is a little Ramen house (duh). They're very cheap but the meals are pretty damn good. We've done some group dinners there on a few Friday nights. We should do it more often.
Another great Japanese restaurant is Tsunami, which I had the pleasure of dining at tonight to celebrate Michele's mum's birthday. The food there is simply wonderful, even if it is a little pricey. But hey, what can you expect from Mosman Park? If you get a chance, try it. It's worth it. Hell, make a point of getting the chance :P
Other random things include the flash work of Vinnie Veritas, whom I found on Deviant Art. I just love the way he puts his animations together to tell a story. If you've got an half hour to spare, I recommend you check it out. I love clicking though on Deviant Art - you can always find some amazing stuff. You can waste heaps of time there if you're not carefull.
Speaking of wasting time, I've found a bunch of new webcomics. The best of them is Orneryboy, which is about a guy with an irritable disposition, a very messy girl, and a pet zombie. I've also rediscovered Neko The Kitty, which I had lost through the Great Bookmark Debacle. Only a few more to find again.
Exams are finished, so that means that I have to gear up and redo the labs for next semester. Thankfully there's only a small amount that needs to be updated, but it's still time consuming. During the mid year break we get a chance to do training too. I've had training authorised for the following courses, which I think will benefit me when it comes to looking after the Macs:
- MacOS 101 Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.4
- MacOS 310 Mac OS X Deployment v.10.4
- MacOS 330 Directory Svcs Integration & Admin v.10.4 (Client)
In other news, my IdleRPG character seems to be steadily climbing up the ranks, sitting somewhere around 6th for now. My bash.org quote is still stuck in the Top 100 (around position 84, not that I'm counting), still showing that people will click on any old shit. All in all, not too bad.
Training has ramped up recently due to the upcoming grading. I'm trying to double grade to 1st Kyu in Jodo. This should be okay, seeing as I missed the last grading. I'm going for 4th Kyu in Iaido, and I'm not too worried about that either (unless I really stuff up on the day). Again, I missed a grading, but I haven't really had the opportunity to learn the Kata's enough to attempt a double grading. I'd have to be really impressive to actually be able to score a double grading there. Better safe than sorry.
I'm also looking forward to the arrival of my new sword bag (Weapons Case E) (Cordura Charcoal), which should get here in six to eight weeks. It's to replace my two sword bags, which are a) not big enough to hold what the hold, and b) a pain in the ass to carry around. They're a gift from my dad, who didn't know what else to get me for my birthday :P
That about it for The Life Of A Grumpy Bastard on this Sunday night. I can't think of any suitably unique way of signing this off tonight, so I'll just stop here. Bai bai.
So that was my birthday... Pretty uneventful, but that's how it should be.
The thing with birthdays in our family is that everyone suddenly starts hounding you for birthday ideas. The problem is, and I've said it before, I don't really want or need anything that I haven't already gotten for myself, or that I really need. I tend to make do and forget about it, or go and get it for myself. That said, I do have some ideas, but they're usually pipedreams or big expensive items that noone is going to get me in a million years :P I did manage to score some impressive loot though.
The other aspect of Birthday Hounding is the organisation of an Event. This was done by Michele for my close friends. We went to this mob called "K on Hay" in town, formerly known as "Kilo". Nice place - cheap menu, decent food. Add great friends in there, and it's Fun All 'Round. I had to organise my own birthday family diner though. After a bit of discusion, I ended up suggesting dinner at my place, and we ended up making some home made pizza. Very tasty, and I've still got some in the fridge :) It was nice spending the Friday and Saturday evenings together with family and friends.