Room For Improvement, It's Already Working.

The room is done! That's also a lie! Plasterer is coming back on Monday to smooth everything out. Electrician is coming that day too to set everything up, though I thought it would make more sense to do that before the plasterer did all that work, I'm not an inconsiderate tradesman so what do I know about their procedures? Painters will be in some time during the week to make everything shiny. But I've moved in for now, three days to just bask in it. I don't have a camera so I'll just have to describe it as best as I can. It goes wall, wall, window, wall, door, wall, closet, wall, wall. Beautiful ey?

It's not like it was terrible where I was before, I don't remember complaining too much apart from the lack of privacy. No complaints now though, no way! Best part is that I don't have to keep thinking of things to do all day. Was a good week, but man there were some pretty dull moments. I discovered that sleeping in a recliner is really weird and slightly painful if you manage to roll over to your stomach and the seat goes back to it's original shape, ouchies my spine. You also tend to wake up really disorientated, like you're being cradled in giant arms, sort of nice really.

Heard from Tanzih yesterday, trying not to be too jealous about her European adventure, after all I have my own gifts from the universe too...like, I got some comfy new tracksuit pants complete with drawstring, cheers universe I love 'em! Can't wait to check out all the photos, stunning architecture with the hint of a thumb in one of the top corners of each shot.

Started watching Six Feet Under today, haven't formed an opinion yet, will wait to see if it maintains the same level of quality as the first episode. This coming from someone who voluntarily watched all three Starship Troopers movies, at least I can say I thought they were bad though, don't want to go on a rant on bad movies right now though. Especially not after Supernova yesterday, possibly the most boring movie I've ever seen and it was all about the sun exploding. How do you fuck up One of the most interesting story lines imaginable?

I wonder if I'll be able to sign on for my uni courses soon, I'd like to get my timetable finalised. Must be soon, quite excited now. Got another letter from Boystown today saying that they'll be taking over my job seeking from Sarina Russo and that I have to come in for an appointment on Tuesday. But I'm switching over to Ausstudy on Friday, cutting it pretty close. I'll give them a call tomorrow and hopefully there'll be a nice, understanding person there. But that's a dull story for our next edition, don't be a glutton for tedium! You don't need that. Go do something exciting now, I command it!

Andy Scott

Back Dulldrums, You Foul Demon!

I'm so angry at myself for being bored... There's always something to do. Was planning to spend most of the day waiting at Pete's for the Optus man to arrive and install his phone line. The guy came at 9 AM and I didn't feel right just hanging around once my purpose had concluded. So back home to builders working away down stairs once again forcing me upstairs. I've got to think of something to do... Looked at what's playing at Birch, I have a choice between The Proposal or Night At The Museum 2, those are the only two I haven't seen, unless I want to give Hannah Montana a go... I have a feeling that movie wasn't made with me in mind, though I hope Hannah makes the right choice and decides to just be herself...

Besides I'm feeling so film'd out today, watched the original film version of War of the Worlds today, it was pretty damn good for the early 50s. But I thought Spielberg did a much better job. I watched the first episode of True Blood, everyone said I should. I enjoyed it and it left me wondering what sort of direction the show is heading, kind of an adult version of Twilight I guess.

Decided to start posting the albums I've recently bought on the main page again, give people some ideas if you've run out of music. Not planning on doing reviews again, maybe one day. 3 hours til I can go back downstairs...umm. I get the feeling I'll be writing this sort of post daily until I get the floor back, that's good news for all of us. Better save some for tomorrow then! Laters.

Andy Scott

The Crack Of Man Was Far Worse Than The Crack Of Dawn.

The builders are back again, I lost my foothold on the downstair stronghold and was forced into the badlands. The badlands had a nice piece of carpet with which to curl up and nap, there is also a fridge with an ice dispenser. Perhaps I have misjudged this region and its people. That nap was awesome even despite the back pain I now have from sleeping on such a hard surface, it was worth it. I just looked across the table and noticed my Nanna's will, never seen one of those before... mustn't take a peak. Almost made a bad joke about patience... but I think most people would find that offensive in some way, my family has a different view on death, we joke about it until we feel better. It can make others feel uncomfortable.

Friday's dinner was made my stomach sigh with joy and I finally met a pepper that took my throat to its limit. It was just sticking out of my dish begging to be chomped on, Grisha hilariously moved in ultra slow motion passing me the water, good one! Man, I love food. I'm glad we've reached the age where going out to dinner has replaced the pub, Eliza didn't seem as happy with that news. Wonder how many more years it will be before even going out to dinner becomes a young man's game? Dem lives go quick.

New Mars Volta album out, Octahedron, clip above is the first track Since We've Been Wrong. Got through a few great albums this weekend including;

- 'Stormbringer' by Deep Purple
- 'Funeral' by Arcade Fire
- 'The Who By Numbers' by The Who
- 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' by The Velvet Underground
- 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' by Pink Floyd

Music rules! This entry is circling the drain! Gotta head over to Pete's again tomorrow because the INTERNETS man is coming whilst he's at work. Gives me something to do whilst the building continues. I just went down to ask a question and there was legitimate builder's crack, it is no longer a myth...though I wish it was. Pete's place is like two steps away from my place, the Coles parking lot is on the other side of his fence, great place! Have a great flight Tanzih, I expect daily entries from Rome with many pictures. If I can't travel internationally I at least want to feel like I'm taggin along. So unbelievably jealous... heh. I'm going to have a movie marathon to make the rest of the day disappear. Over and Out! *ccccchhhkkk*

Andy Scott

Preparations For Post-Retirement.

Am upstairs right now with an Emperor's view of the builders vehicles. They've just arrived and work on my new room commences today, which leaves me wondering how to wisely spend my day. I have to do some job seeking so I can my form into Centrelink. A film? I guess that's enough.

Parents are going down to Warwick tomorrow to ensure Nanna moves into her new apartment here in Brisbane. Can't begin to tell you how stressful it's been for them, I have high hopes it'll get easier once she's in Brisbane but it's beginning to look like the matter will only get worse. Not much you can do about it except go with the flow and keep the stress down as much as possible.

It's made me reevaluate my own conception of ageing. I can't begin to imagine how difficult it must be with parts of your body not doing what they used to and even if everything works you probably feel totally alienated from the rest of society you don't completely understand anymore. All you have left to anchor you to life are your equally aged partner and friends. Then they start slowly disappearing, till your left alone in a house with no idea what to do next. Do I think of new to bide my time or do I not bother because I could cark it at any point now? By this point you've reached the era of your life that follows directly after retirement, the time before you exit the mortal plain.

I doubt many people plan for that part, they think that retirement is the end but it really isn't. I imagine on average most people retire when they're 60-65 these days, then there about a decade of lying back and relaxing (if you've left means for yourself.) It must be because it's impossible to determine when ageing will affect your lifestyle to the point where you can't take care of yourself and everyone wants to leave it to the last moment.

The aged are one of the most discriminated against groups and they seem to be viewed in the way others look at the unemployed like me, a drain on society. I don't know what the right thing to do would be? Should you plan for your death as you would your retirement? Can anyone ever voluntarily admit that they can't care for themselves and need help? Seems there must be a simpler way. Is it wrong to have age restrictions on things like driving or living alone in a house? Would that be a denial of human rights? There's got to be some sort of compromise.

What I do know is this, if you have kids then you need to realize that a) you're not immortal and b) dying alone in your home is not 'being less of a hassle to others'. Getting an apartment in a retirement community instead of that house out in the countryside is sounding more and more like a smart plan. At those places you can enjoy your retirement unimpeded and when your body begins to shut down that's when the staff begin to help you get through the day in dignity.

I'm going to have to think on this some more, at least turn this situation into a learning experience. Great thought to begin the day, hey? heh. Indian dinner tonight, much looking forwards. Later!

Andy Scott

Where Wanted Wares Were Waved Wildly Without Worry.

Brain's a bit fuddled right now, can't get the words out. At the end of my last post I was awake in the early hours of Sunday waiting till 4:30 AM so that we could drive to the Rocklea Market and set up stall. It may have been one of the least problematic things I've ever attempted in my life. Give your name at the gate, drive to your empty stall, wait for the tables and begin setting up. I'd gotten my worries under control but I suppose there's always that sense of dread as a salesperson that you're not going to make any money. I didn't have that worry for long...

Turns out my stall may have been the belle of the ball that day. Shortly after setting up my DVDs a few other stall owners came to check it out. One of them immediately asked what sort of deal I'd give if I sold to him in bulk, resulting in half my stock disappearing and me being up $700. All that before the gates were even opened for customers, my confidence rose an iota. I'm not sure what it would be like trying to make a living off the market, but for two casual entrepreneurs like Tanzih and I, we had a fantastic time. You just get to sit back and chat, have foods and drinks, chat with the occasional customer and chill out.

It was still tiring though, the constant pacing, standing up for extended periods of time, no sleep for over a day. By 10:30 AM we were both looking pretty weary, but you got to keep up the appearances for the customers, besides we were still having a good time by that point. Carmen and David visited for a bit and we just sat back, that's how I keep summarising it, lots of sitting and smiling. It was close to 12 and I'd made a further $500 from all the customers of the last 6 hours. The man who'd bought half my stock earlier in the day returned to see what I had left. I really didn't want to go home with anything, so we haggled out a deal and he just took the rest. I really can't imagine how the day could have turned out better.

Sure that guy is going to go off and sell them again for a higher profit, but it'll take him months to get rid of all of them. I'm just completely uninterested in investing that amount of time. I got rid of all my DVDs, made enough money to get new computer & Tanzih and I had a brilliant day doing something completely different. I've been really tired since then though, slept a few times and woken up really exhausted, that's not usual for me. Getting up today to head out felt impossible, it was one of those times you look at the clock and it's 8 AM, you blink and open your eyes again, it's 11 AM! That's weird...

Grisha helped me place an order last night for all the pieces for the new computer, really good of him. I don't know much about the details, my major stipulation was that it had to have at least 1 Terabyte of space, which is what it has. 1,000 Gigabytes. I still remember back a decade when computers were just about up to 1 Gigabyte. I hope the technology keeps advancing at the same pace, won't be long till we can buy 1 Petabyte. Picked all that up today, $650, that's so cheap. Though that's probably because I didn't get a monitor, case, keyboard or mouse. Plenty left over so I finally bought an iPod, just over $300 and comes with 120 Gigabytes. Gonna take a while to fill that up.

Construction of my new room should begin this Friday and we're also getting new Internet, from 15 gigs a month with bloody Optus all the way up to 100 gigs a month and there was only a $10 increase in price. Things are really going my way, will be in the new room half way through July, just enough time to prepare for Uni! Gonna have to find something outside to do whilst they're building. Really can't think of anything else. Great weekend and it seems like a great week lined up as well. Gonna get some more sleep! Night.

Andy Scott