Evil Oddie

Holy crap.  I have been working a lot lately. 

Where I work, the premises that they used to be in have been deemed unsafe due to electrical problems.  We were given a week to move.  Seeing that we didn’t have a lot of time to figure things out, people went to where ever they could.  The Finance Team (of which I am the manager) and some other teams have actually moved into the Ingenuity Office.

We also kicked the tenants out of our rental house.  They trashed it.  There are holes in most walls; the kitchen needs replacing; we have gutted the bathroom & toilet and; it needs new paint.  So in my spare time, I’m helping out with the renos… Plus the insurance company are not being exactly cooperative! GRRRR!

I got an email from a friend. Apparently Andy Rooney said the below on a 60 Minutes episode. It sounds like a rant that I would be capable of. I am not racist, bigotted or anything like that. I try to be fair. I had a rant (verbal not on here) about women’s only gyms. In Brisbane there’s a males only club in the city and a well known female tried to become its first member. The decision was made that it was to stay as a Male Members Only - GOOD DECISION!!!! I believe that we need to be fair. If us as females are allowed female only gyms then why can’t males have clubs all to themselves?

Anyway, the email is below that I got about Andy Rooney’s rant…

Andy Rooney said on ‘60 Minutes’ a few weeks back:

I don’t think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens…Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.

I have the right ‘NOT’ to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.

I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American/Canadian/British citizen, you should have to speak English!

My father and grandfather didn’t die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot or arrest you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can’t understand the word ‘freeze’ or ’stop’ in English, see the above lines.

I don’t think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special National Assistance, loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, corner store, or any other business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.

I don’t hate the rich I don’t pity the poor

I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn’t stop you from watching them.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that’s better, and put your name on the building.

It doesn’t take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say ‘NO!’

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don’t pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don’t want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!

I am sick of ‘Political Correctness.’ I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be ‘African-Americans/Canadian/British’? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don’t go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was fromEurope . I am proud to be fromAmerica and nowhere else

And if you don’t like my point of view, tough…

Last weekend I had the pleasure of doing the Real Relationships Course through REAL Education. A close friend of mine has completed all the courses that REAL Education offers and she told me that I would get a lot out of the course on the weekend.

I can’t tell you what the weekend involved, but I can tell you how I felt. On Friday, it seemed that the course was going slow and I wanted it to pick up pace. On Saturday, I found myself chewing quite hard on some of the information that Murray put forward and I had to challenge myself on why I was feeling the way that I was. I would swing between being comfortable / uncomfortable during the weekend. By Sunday, I didn’t want the weekend to finish. The understanding and truth that was in the room was indescribable.

It was a really big weekend. We didn’t finish til quite late (11pm - midnight), so it was big on learning and big hours too.

I did the course by myself, and if I had my time again, I would’ve gone with Glen. If you are experiencing issues with your relationship, I can advise you to do this course. What I learnt, I can use with every relationship I have, not just my personal relationship. I cannot speak highly enough of Murray and his team from REAL Education. What an educator!

I’m looking forward to my next course! Woot!!

A friend has recently had a baby and when she was pregnant, she organised to have some professional photos done. They were beautiful photos and when the photographer was looking for models for her new business Lush Boudoir - I jumped at the chance.

Lush Boudoir was set up for ladies to have professional photos to make them feel special (and sexy!). I’m not one of those girls that gets worried about how I appear. So I didn’t mind having to get my “bits” out for the photos. I thought that the pics would be a great anniversary present for Glen too.

Ainslie (the photographer) is one of those top chics that you just click with. Her studio is at her house, and you just feel really comfortable. She had funky music on and you just get into the groove.

I am waiting for the copies of the photos to get to me (and I will put up my favourite)- but in the mean time check out the website. Those of you that know me will be able to recognise me. Let me know what you think!

Ok… I don’t think I have written a rant on here before but here goes…

I think that we need to start thinking about oil. I do not have my finger on the pulse of everything that’s happening in the world, but I do not understand the price of oil. Are we running out or is it the billionaire’s who are controlling the supply of oil deciding how many barrels of oil will be produced a day pushing the price?

I know that oil is used in quite a few things, but the main place that we are feeling it is the price of Petrol. And the price is getting beyond a joke. I have a company car, so I don’t have to pay for petrol out of my pocket. YAY! So this may seem a little strange for someone in my situation to have a rant.

I think that it is about time that the world in general needs to start looking at the bigger picture. I remember an episode this year that was on Extra.  Some retired guy has come up with a way that he can run his car on water…. Ok - well it seems like it works (they showed it running) so why don’t we implement it?

The other way that has been getting talked about for years is a hydrogen car.  I believe Honda has a prototype and it is running quite well.  I’ve been told the hold up is that the Government is unsure of how to tax us if we don’t have to go to a station to fill up with petrol. True??

The last part of my rant.  We have 4wds that run on LPG.  When we first bought one of them in 2004 (it seems so far but not really) LPG was a staggering 18.2 cents a litre.  Now we’re talking about the 70 cents per litre.  Why is LPG so expensive now?  Seeing that Australia is exporting LPG for a couple of cents a litre - why are we (the silly taxpayers) paying this????????????

Once Dad had an Angiogram, the Cardiologist (Dr Rafter) got the Cardiac Surgeon (Dr Mau) to get further advice. Dr Mau & Dr Rafter agreed that Dad needed four bypasses. Seeing that Dad’s heart was still trying to have further heart attacks, they scheduled Dad in for surgery asap. They were trying to get him in on the Friday afternoon, but they couldn’t get the theatre staff.

He went in for surgery on Saturday morning. Glen’s Dad had bypass surgery about 5-6 years ago, so I had already gone through what happens and what to expect.

During the Op, Dr Mau decided that Dad actually needed 5 grafts. Apparently there was only one artery keeping Dad alive.

I think the worst part was seeing Dad in the ICU. I can’t say at any point I thought we’d lose Dad. He’s such a tough old boot, I think he’d get through anything. My only thought was, I want Dad to see me get married & have kids (whenever both of these are going to happen - for everyone that knows me - NOT YET PPL!!)

Anyway, Dad was in the Wesley for a week after surgery. I cannot speak highly enough of Dr Mau & Dr Rafter. They did a fantastic job with Dad. Dr Mau has really made an impression with my Dad. Dad is not a small man (he weighed 94 kilos before the surgery) and Dr Mau sat him up on his bed with one hand. I can’t believe how strong he is!!

In Dad’s room, he shared with four other males. Wayne who was in the opposite bed turned out to be a great room mate. I think they both talked a lot about the surgery (Wayne was going in for bypass the week after Dad). If Dad was out getting tests done etc when I turned up, I would sit with Wayne and talk.

It’s been 7 weeks since the op now. Dad came back down last week for his check up. He has been given approval to drive again. I think he’s really happy about that. Normally, bypass patients have to wait 12 weeks to get the ok to drive.

So Dad has a zipper front & back now… LOL…

Mum called me last night to tell me that Dad has been rushed to hospital because he’d had a heart attack.  The Royal Flying Doctor’s picked him up and flew him down to Brisbane today because their closest hospital couldn’t look after him.

He’s having more tests tomorrow, so we’ll know what other procedures will be done then.  They were talking about stents while I was at the hospital visiting him.  Life is such a rollercoaster…

Last Tuesday (the Tuesday after the Easter 4wd Comp), Glen came home from work with six red roses for me.  The card read something to the effect of “I couldn’t have done the weekend without you.”  I loved my roses, but initially I thought that I was about to have a bad experience.

When Glen and I were first together (a long long time ago),  I came home from work and Glen gave me a lovely bunch of flowers.  He said that he got them just because… Then about 15 minutes later, he says “I’m going away and I don’t want you to come.” 

I have only received flowers a couple of times and this is the first time that it was for a positive experience.  Plus this is the first lot of roses!!! Yay!!!

Over the weekend, Glen was the navi for Mick for the first time.  It was the first competition for the SSS Winch Challenge at Landcruiser Park- more info here. I think that they will put the results up shortly.

Anyway, on with the weekend. Glen was majorly excited. We got up early on Friday morning and we got to the camping ground at about 9:30am. We set up camp (took us only 30 mins - yay for our instant tent and gazebo). Then we got to watch everyone else set up camp. There was one couple that took over an hour and a half to put up their tarp just to put their kitchen under!!!

I think Mick got to the camping ground at about 11:30am and we helped him set up his tarp and swag. Once that was done, the boys set about getting the last little things done on the Comp Truck. As more people arrived, we started to get some visitors to camp. Jen & Fester rocked up just before the guys had to go for Drivers Briefing at 6pm. So I went with Jen & Fester to their camp (they scored the best site - we got stuck with the plebs on a slope).

Soon enough, it was time for the comp to start. At the draw, Mick and Glen were the first to run on Stage One. Everyone hates having to go first; but for Glen it was his first Navi experience at night and he had to go first. The boys did an ok time, but picked up a couple of penalties. The first one was pretty bad - Glen had stepped over the live winch rope - 30 points and Mick broke the bunting - 10 points. After that though, they didn’t incur any further penalties.

The boys broke the driver’s side CV on Stage 3. It was majorly hard core - the hill that the Navi’s had to climb for Stage 3 & 4 was unforgiving. Glen was stuffed after Stage 3 because they didn’t have any drive, they had to winch everything. Unfortunately, they ran out of time and recorded a DNF.

All the stages were really well planned and I think that organisers did a really fantastic job. The only issues that I had as a spectator was: Parking on Saturday; No Toilets until lunch time on Saturday; Didn’t see much of the night runs and; Having to Pay Extra for the Navi’s car to get to the Comp sites (I’m cheap - so I reckon it should be included).

Other things I should mention about the weekend. I met heaps of fantastic people. Everyone is really nice and helpful. The drivers & navi’s got to know my face, so they’d stop and have a chat and talk about their run. The families of the other competitors all look out for each other too. It really is like a gigantic family that catches up at every comp.

I also got to meet the photographer who goes to most of the comps. Her name is Sam and she posts the pics here.