Thursday, October 31, 2002

Quickly:
Tuesday did more carpet cleaning via town to buy an aerial extension (why you need to know that...). Forced myself to gym and then home to pizza. Doh! (That's pizza, doh! not pizza dough.)
Yesterday worked hard through the day then into town to try and buy a gym ball to be my new computer chair chez Brumby. However I don't quite know which size I want. Hit HMV to buy music and walked home with Rich. Dragged him to see the new place and then to dinner with Adrian and Michael. $5 steak. Yum. Then to the Oxford. A few familiar faces (Andrew, Max and Gary, Rod, Howie...) and lots of unfamiliar ones. The Games crowd were out in earnest - the Finnish swimmers, the Berlin Rowers, some English swimmers, some Canadian something or other... how awful for us :o) I dragged myself home at 11.30pm.
Up early to be ready for Jon and Mark arriving. They did and we had coffee at local café before work. How civilised. They bought me Out and About and the new Soft Cell album. How stoked am I? Been listening to them all day at work. Currently still here now at 5.40pm but heading home. Should I gym? I should, but...
Meeting Tess from Uni for dinner and then a few drinks no doubt. Let the games begin!

Tuesday, October 29, 2002

Oh there is a god. Probably. Today, feeling a little under the weather I needed a bit of cheering up. One of the more dull parts of the job here is rejecting bookings that have been made after we've told agents that the flight is full in a particular booking class. One popped up on my queue here earlier this morning. Imagine my joy when I worked out who I could reject. Those of you who know me well will know the amount of pleasure I took from rejecting the booking of one Mariah Carey. Bliss!

Monday, October 28, 2002

Monday arvo and I’m sitting listening to Sunscreem and trying to make it look like I’m busy. Too much fun and not enough sleep over the weekend and I’m rather lacklustre today it has to be said. So, Friday was the last update… and more than a few things have happened since then – mostly good. In fact all pretty damn good!

Friday I met Garry in Edgecliff and we signed the lease on the new place without any drama. I went home and had some food and started to pack. Managed to fit in some surreptitious flirting with sexy Dave and sexy Andy whilst packing which helped to pass the time. By the time Adrian called I’d pretty much done my room and so met Adrian down at the new place – he loves it as much as we do! Decided to ditch the gym in favour of getting ahead in the packing game – in part driven by the desire for a cheeky beer later at the Beresford if I got my act together. And forsooth that’s what happened. Bears was fun – we thought all the tourists would be in town early for the Gay Games, but it seemed more full of Sydney people looking for the tourists! We popped into the Barracks too, and finally around 1.30am I’d had enough. Bed. One more sleep at Noise Central.

Woke at 8.30am and we started on finishing the packing. By about 11am we were done, and we’d already had brekky and taken some stuff down to the new place. The removalists arrived at 12.30pm and we we’re at the new place and unloaded by about 3pm. Hit the local café for some lunch and then fell on the task of getting the new place shipshape. By 7.30pm all was in its rightful place. Two very minor hitches – the new phone line didn’t get connected and the microwave doesn’t fit anywhere in the kitchen. Mind you, if they’re our only two concerns I’d say the move went pretty well. Got ready and hit Rich and Russ’s before heading upstairs at the Stonewall for a party. Wasn’t the best ever and we adjourned to the Oxford for a change of scene. Dave happened to be there (with Brett – grrrr!) which was a nice surprise and so the flirting from the afternoon continued. We decided to go to the Shift though, and so it came to be. The Shift was OK but not really enough people to form critical mass. Thus, after a while, Russ made the suggestion of Arq. Well why not? And so off we toddled. Fortunately Dave had gone to Arq so we kind of hooked up. Fun, fun, fun. He’s such a sexy man (yes Dave, that means you) and seems to be a nice bloke too. The clocks changed on Sunday morning and so with the time adjusted it was 9.30am when Dave took a slight turn for the worst and I took him home. We had more vodka and he played me some of his favourite music of the moment. We then watched a fantastic episode of Buffy on DVD (Hush – the one where everyone’s voices are stolen and almost the entire episode is devoid of dialogue) before crashing out at around 2pm. Dave was DJing at the Palace at 5.30pm and boy was the alarm clock a bit of a rude awakening! Escorted Dave to the above establishment and ended up staying for a beer. Or 2. Or in fact 5. Hit the wall about 9pm and headed home to tea, crisps and chocolate whilst watching the end of Galaxy Quest. I’d completely forgotten that we were meant to be cleaning the old apartment on Sunday so Garry had done it by himself. Oops. Sorry mate. I think my mind was elsewhere (focussed somewhere on sexy Dave!). Bed and my first sleep in the new, noise free, fabulous apartment.

Oh joy of joys! I’d forgotten just how nice it can be to have uninterrupted sleep! Having said that, I had the weirdest dream about working in some office and not doing stuff and being found out by my boss. Odd. Thing is the offices were like nothing I’ve ever worked in, and no-one I’ve ever worked with was there either, so I’m not sure what that was all about. I woke just before sunrise to see the reflection of the trees out of the window in the mirrors on the built-ins. That also lead to the realisation that the balcony (and therefore my room too) gets lovely sunshine in the mornings… already looking forward to leisurely weekend brekkies in the light and warmth…

Still, not surprising given the weekend’s activities, I was somewhat bleary eyed as I hit the gym at 7am. Into work and then back to the old apartment at lunch to go through the checklist before we get our security bond back. The guy from the old real estate company wasn’t happy with the cleanliness of the cooker and the carpets so I have to go back tonight and give them another go. How much do I want to do that? I’d rather drink my own urine frankly. Mind you, unfortunately we don’t really have any choice. Hey ho. So, just going to finish up at work and then head off. The rest of the night will be spent chilling chez Brumby (that’s the new apartment street name hence…) and enjoying the lack of noise…

Friday, October 25, 2002

Friday almost afternoon and nearly time for me to head off for my half day. Off to sign the lease on the new apartment and then home to pack. And gym. Maybe.

Tuesday ended up being a work late, gym, dinner, bed day. Probably needed it. Wednesday was more of the same at work, though the evening was much more relaxed. Quick drink with Russ, Rich and Adrian and then on to meet Dave for our date at Govindas. Govindas is a fab veggie restaurant with a cool small movie theatre above it. Best let them explain. It’s a great place for a second or third date, as the seating makes it very cozy! We saw Monsoon Wedding which, if you haven’t seen it, I heartily recommend. Back to Dave’s.. obviously I just wanted to make sure he got home safely, being the courteous Brit that I am…

Ahem.

Last night Garry, Rich, Russ and I cut loose. Fun. Cast members from Secret Life of Us a go-go - both on stage and in the audience. Home. Bed. And here we are.

Right – last 15 mins of work and then away. Probably no more until safely ensconced in the new apartment… Wish me luck!

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

Blogger's definitely playing up. I've got posted things not appearing in the edit screen, but they're there on the site. Weird. So who knows if this will even post. Busy day. Work was full on, not helped by an airport visit and the weekly forward bookings meeting. I organised the new phone details for the new apartment and ordered an ADSL connection for the PC. Yay. Home to chat to Gaz before hitting the gym. Gaz has done a lot of pre-packing work bless him. Thanks! Did first day of new program and felt a bit lost.. but it'll come good. Chats with Andrew on the way home then food. Quick steaky-noodle thing. Quickly on here, chats to Andy P. And although it's only 10.30pm I'm off to bed. Lots to do before the move!
Hmm.. it would seem that my blog has disappeared. Not happy about that. Hope it's not permanent... let's see if I can force it back!

Monday, October 21, 2002

Monday night. 9.45pm. Er, we've got a new apartment! Yippee!!! We move on Saturday! Yippee!!! Ohmigod too much to do...

Well we've seemingly managed the fastest real estate rental deal in modern history. We faxed in our application this morning; Garry went to see it at 2pm; Laura from the agent's called at 4.45pm to say she was on the case and by 5.30pm it was ours! How did we manage that? Anyway, we're not complaining. The place is lovely... kind of like my place in the UK in that one of the bedrooms is a galleried area over the living area, but that's not an issue for us. Downstairs is all stainless steel kitchens and dishwashers and laundry and floorboards and up(the industrial stylee metal)stairs is cool bathrooms and built in wardrobes and glass bricks. And did I mention the floor to ceiling 24' high end wall? Must have slipped my mind. Garry and I are so excited. It's going to be nice to get away from the hubbub of Oxford Street. It's been great, but we're both ready for something will a little more panache and flair...

So, removalists to organise, utilities to stop and start, that kind of thing. Still, it'll keep me out of mischief. Or will it?
Monday arvo. This thing's been playing silly bloggers with me all weekend. I was going to update on Saturday night, but for some reason it wasn't showing the big update I did last week as being live and so I didn't. And then yesterday we had some runtime errors. Trust me? I did try! So, almost a week hence. I left you with dates in hand and a quiet weekend on the cards. Well?

Wednesday night. Gym after work and then rang Andrew to confirm dinner. We were having a beer in the Oxford by 8pm and dinner at a very nice cheap Vietnamese by about 9pm. Interesting evening ? we've a lot in common and it was nice to talk music and just stuff with someone fun and animated. We even worked out (we think, though this is yet to be confirmed 100% by the other party) that Andrew may have slept with Stevie P (my bestest friend in London!). Weird. Watch this space. Back to the Oxford for one last drink and then Andrew nipped off in a cab around 11pm after a brief snog. Nice! Home. Internet. Sleep.

Had a little sleep in (though not been sleeping well generally) as it was the first of two consecutive dentist days. Nice. Off I trotted and found out I'd transposed the two appointments, which meant the first appointment was the hour long two filling one. I'd been casually expecting the pleasant Kiwi hygienist who says 'Yeah' much too often. However Wayne got to it, and a reasonably pleasant hour passed. I can say that as someone who has fillings with no anaesthetic. No sir. Just let them drill away. As it were.
So good was his work that I was able to have a coffee on the way home. No soreness, no aching, no numb, dribbly mouth. Yippee. Into work and I'm sure it was fascinating. Actually it was? I did an analysis of all the November flights that have been stuffed up by the myriad schedule changes that have been foisted upon the Cairns marketplace by the Schedules guys. So I've requested ad-hoc flights and upgrades a go-go. Let's hope they can free me up a 767 or two. Home and gym. 4th time that week. Going great guns. Dave had cancelled the date due to his work commitments (rescheduled for dinner and movie at Govinda's next Wednesday instead), so I caught up with Russ at T2. In theory $5 steaks with mash. In practice $10 steaks with chips (and mash extra) as the deal is only Mon-Wed. Doh! Rich joined us and a few people stopped to chat (check shirted Daddy from last week's Green Park; Sam, a lovely girl that the boys know from nights out on the town). And then, as if by magic, we'd been talked into going to Arq for a Mardi Gras fundraiser. How did that happen? Anyway, it was fun, but really shouldn't have done it as it was a school night. Stumbled home around 4am. Ouch. Coma.

Woke at 8am. Rough as a badger's arse. On the day's agenda - negotiate my way out of our year long apartment lease 3 months early; dental hygienist visit; work. One of those things had to give, and the one that went was - work. Felt bad, but just couldn't have hacked it. Strolled to see Conrad about the lease and he was as nice as pie. Told us we could move out and just give them a week's notice. And then he said he hoped the dentist went OK. Now he cares!! Weird. Anyway off to the dentist it was and came away with my pearly whites a-sparkling. Decided to have brekky at Go-Go's, bumping into Gary Jones's ex Richard at the lights... and he was heading there too so we had brekky together. Back to the ranch and vegged out. Played on the net a while. Dave was online and we started chatting. And flirting. And more flirting. And then he was going to the gym. And my place is kind of on the way back to the office for him. And? :o) *Lovely*

Wasn't sure whether I should go out or not Friday night, but Adrian was very persuasive and so I met him round at Rich and Russ's around 10pm after something nice to eat. Down the Beresford we went, and then on to the Barracks. Lots of people out actually and a fun night had. Not too late though. Home and bed around 1am I think...

Awake about 9am Saturday morning. Garry disappeared off to pick up the car (he was going to Canberra for the weekend) and then arrived back and left again. I got milk and the paper and had breakfast whilst scanning the Apartments for Rent small ads. Managed to find about 5 I thought might be suitable and worked out a running order and itinerary. Off I toddled! Numbers 1,2,3 and 5 were vile. Number 4 was the one Garry and I had our eye on from the website and it is very nice. I spoke to Garry after I left and we decided we should apply even though he's not seen it. Watch this space. Michael called to see if I wanted to do coffee in the midst of all of this, but didn't seem too despondent when he found out I was busy...

Home. Dozed a while and then dragged my sorry butt down the gym. Was feeling in a weird mood... hadn't heard from Jason about meeting up this weekend, felt a bit unsettled by the whole apartment thing and just wasn't feeling 100%. Anyway. Online I popped. Started chatting to the lovely Andy Palmer (who said he wasn't coming out for a beer). Doh. Jason texted me, telling me to meet him at Stonewall at 10pm. StoneVile? Why? Jason, what were you thinking?? Anyway, my mood lifted a little and so I decided to cut my hair off in celebration. Still chatting to Andy who suddenly said that he was reading my blog and was flattered he'd got a mention. He was quite enjoying it (apparently) and we got into discussion about Michael and his behaviour as Andy's friends with a guy called Tim who was seeing Michael before I was. Suddenly another message from Andy popped onto the screen. 'You know Jason Harding'. Er? I explained to Andy that it was in fact Jason I was meeting at the pub… and whaddya know? They used to see each other when Jason lived in Melbourne! How small a world? Not even six inches of separation? Anyway, the upshot of all of this was that Andy decided to venture out after all so we said we'd have a beer at the Barracks. I went off to meet Jason and it was great to see him. Looking very muscly. Good to catch up on what all the guys back in the UK have been up to. Jase was heading off to Arq and so around half past midnight I hit the Barracks. Andy was already there so we had a couple of beers and carried on the evening’s conversations. We decided to leave and Andy very kindly asked if I’d like to go home with him. Let me think about that for a second… er, yes! So very soon we were in sunny Marrickville. Andy’s got a great place and he put on some good chill out music and off we went. Actually we were still minkering and at one point I was knocked in directions I didn’t even know existed! Thank you Andy. And so to bed…

Up Sunday morning. Eventually. You know the score. Fun. Oh, and Andy… not sure of the derivation of ‘le petit mort’ – it doesn’t seem to be from one single source, and the other French word is sauterelle. Just thought I’d finish that off for completeness… We showered and stuff and headed out to brekky at the Chocolate Dog in Newtown. Had lovely food with a very nice man. It’s nice to meet someone sexy and yet down to earth too… hopefully I’ll get chance to get to know Andy some more. After brekky Andy kindly dropped me back here where I just chilled a while. Eventually though it was time for the Green Park and the Palace. The Green Park was weird – not overly busy but with people I didn’t know. I had one drink and retreated to the Palace… where almost everyone I know was! It was fun. From there to the Shift for a couple more beers, then takeaway Indian food before collapsing into a small coma.

Slept badly but managed to get to the gym for 7am for part two of the new program. Into work a bit late and decided we’d focus on putting in an application for apartment number 4 from Saturday. So we did. Garry’s gone to see it this afternoon so fingers crossed… Right back to work.. more in a bit.


Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Doh. Just to let you know, I edited a previously started post and so the big post underneath is dated 9 October, when in fact it should be the 16 October. Forgive me.

Wednesday, October 09, 2002

Hmm. The Wednesday after the long weekend that was and I’ve not blogged a jot. Actually that’s not true… I blogged a brief intro to the next entry about a week ago but have just been too busy to get round to it. Naughty Davie. OK – where were we? Friday before the long weekend. Not sure I can remember that far back at my age…

Friday night ended up out for beers with Garry, Ant and Michael (his Michael - it seems that everyone has one these days except me) at the Oxford, the Beresford and then the Barracks. Not a late night - perhaps just as well. Up Saturday for Video Hits - that after a nice long sleep. What did I do through the day? Not much. Went and got my haircut and hated it, which really pissed me off. Why do hairdressers never listen? I’d intended to get something military to match the Sleaze outfit but it was not to be. I came home and went over to Rich and Russ’s with Adrian and had coffee. Lazy day really. Home and cut my hair myself, and then Garry finished me off. Food and then over to R’n’R’s again for pre-Sleaze drinks. Fun! Then about 15 or so of use headed down to the party. Was it good? It was OK… I’ve had better parties. The music was ok when we arrived and for the first couple of hours. After that though it was dire – both in the Hordern and the Dome. Me and Rich and Russ spent most of the evening together, walking between places trying to find some good music. Nothing major to report – the usual suspects were there. Michael was floating around but didn’t see him much. Had a brief snog with the lovely Andy Palmer – yum. Oh, and the lovely Daniel too. Anyway, by about 6.20am we were over it and so off we went. I nipped home and grabbed stuff and went back to R’n’R’s to shower. Adrian met us there and we hit the Barracks at about 8.20am. Again it was OK. Music was much better but it was just thin on the ground. Where did everyone go? Who knows? The Shift was empty apparently. Maybe everyone was just saving themselves for the Gay Games parties coming up. Anyway, more flirting with Andy P but it became obvious he’s not really interested, though he was very trashed. Anyway, hoping to get to know him better as he’s a nice bloke. Also the funniest thing was that this bloke came up to me and said I had a fantastic body. Yeah right. Look at the size of him! Maybe he wanted me to say something along the lines of ‘Oh, but yours is so much better!’. I don’t know. All I do know I was so flabbergasted that I just said thanks and walked off! We finally stumbled out of there around 1.40pm and went to R’n’R’s for tea. In the end we decided we should all sleep before Queer Nation…

And so I went home and showered and hit the Green Park! Anthony and Michael were there and then Daniel. We flirted a bit and he decided to try and join us at QN… I toddled off to R’n’R’s and with Adrian we got a cab down to Home. Still like the venue. Music was OK. I was just too knackered, having not slept since Fri night. I lasted about 2 hours, then took myself to the top floor to the small dancefloor and danced up against a wall in case I fell over. The music was fun up there – particularly in the retro half hour when we got Dee-Lite, Salt and Pepa and Bob Sinclar. Fab. Eventually joined the others to leave around 6.30am. They partied on at the Shift; I fell into a small coma.

Up around 1pm maybe? Oh I dunno. Coffee with the crowd in the afternoon and the beers with Garry and Michael (Adrian’s) later. Bed.

Last week through the week was a bit of a non-event. Work’s been really busy which was great. Kept me from lapsing back into holiday mode. Had dinner at R’n’R’s with Triple F Steve on Tuesday and then gymmed Wed/Thu/Fri. Friday night was also dinner at R’n’R’s – Adrian and Michael, David and Jayson, Steve and Anthony and John. Fun. 7 of those (including me!) have booked to fly to Brisbane mid-November for Brisbane Sleaze. Great – not done a party up there so should be fun. Also Virgin Blue were doing return flights for $138 (under 50 of your English pounds) so that settled it. Also Jayson’s DJ-ing so it’ll be a blast. Drinks afterwards at the Beresford and Barracks were also a bit of a giraffe, though Michael was getting a bit flirty. Bless him.

Saturday. Woke relatively early at 8.30am and by 9am was breakfasting with R’n’R, Adrian and Tim. Fun. Watched the world go by and then did a bit of tidying and stuff and then we decided to go to Bondi and do the walk to Bronte – for the first time since I lived there I think! Lovely day too. Back and briefly to Adrian’s to wish him and Fred luck for the house sale… though as it turned out it didn’t sell. Never mind. Then to the movies to see Goldmember – very funny. A bit too much toilet humour in parts, but some genuine laugh out loud bits and great cameos. Intended to gym, but after that it was too late. Home. Garry and I decided to go to Newtown for a change, and so we had a beer or two in the Oxford (with Mat and Pank) and off we toddled. Upon walking in the Newtown there was a guy who’s been checking me out at the gym… and Garry walked straight up to him and said hi! As it turned out I’d actually met him once too, through Gary (Max and Gary). Andrew was with some mates also going to the Imperial and so we kind of all melded into one group. Fun. Imperial was great – different people, nice mix, trashy music. Perfect. Lots of flirting with Andrew and mates. We lasted until coming back to Oxford St around 3.30am and hitting the Oxford. I left Garry there and hit the Phoenix. Very quiet… however I did manage to amuse myself somehow until 8am…

Adrian rang at midday wanting brekky. Ugh. I dragged myself up (no, I don’t mean.. oh, you know!) and hit the Milk Bar. On to R’n’R’s and hung out a while but decided I should have a bit of a sleep before the Green Park. Busy. Full of sexy men. Lots of fun. On to the Palace. Also fun. Michael was there. Oh really. Dave from Bad Dog was DJ-ing so we had a bit of a snog… and then as if by magic Andrew appeared. Of course it turned out that R’n’R know him. Oh really. Russ and Rich went home and we hit the Shift with Triple F Steve for one. In bed by around 11pm.

Managed to get up for my 7am appointment with Liz. Not sure how. Started to develop a new gym program – a body part a day. Means I have to go minimum 4 times a week – ideally 5. That’s going to test my mettle. Excited though, as people are starting to notice the change in my body shape. Yay. Work again busy this week. Nice dinner Monday night and slob. Dinner at R’n’R’s last night after gym again. Bumped into Andrew again there… we’re having dinner tonight! Meant to be having dinner with Dave tomorrow too… we’ll see.

So, finally I’m up to date again. Yippee. Quiet times until the Games. Haven’t heard from Jason H – hoping he’s still going to be in town this weekend. More news as it happens. Oh, and trying to break the lease on the apartment to move out – am fed up of having the prospect of a leaky roof every time it rains, and I think we can get somewhere with a dishwasher and laundry and balcony and so on, so why not? Watch this space and keep fingers crossed.

Friday, October 04, 2002

Yay. 2 hours until the long weekend. Can hardly wait. Also, can hardly keep my eyes open. ‘Oh really? ‘ I hear you ask. Really. It all started after dinner…

Home after work with every intention of going to the gym. However there was a lovely homeless man asleep in our doorway. If I’d have opened the door he’d have fallen flat on his back and I didn’t fancy tackling the ire of a freshly wakened itinerant. So I bolted for coffee instead, and by the time I’d done that with R’n’R and looked in HUM for some CDs he’d gone. Adrian very kindly took us to Rockerfellers for food, which was great and then we hit the Oxford for a beer and joined Mat and Garry. Rod and Tony were there, and also a very cute Arab-looking guy… and most of you reading this know of my penchant for the old Islamabaddy-Daddy… One by one people left, including the sexy man. I decided to have one last drink in the Shift before bed as it was still only about 10.15pm. Got my drink, scanned the room as you do… and who should be there but Islamabaddy-Daddy!. Yeeesssss. So, copped a bit of eye contact over a vodka or two until he came over and said hi. They were on the way to the Barracks and he wanted to know if it would be busy. I said that I thought not but wasn't sure as it was a long weekend etc. Turns out he's American, an artist, and over here on a work related
tour. Just here over the weekend. So he said OK, if it's crap I'll be back. Oh. Really. As he left, Pete (Garry's ex) arrived, so we had another vodka or two and a chat and then as if by magic Islamabaddy-Yankee-Doodle-Daddy appeared. I chatted to Pete a bit more and then said "Bugger this I'm off to talk to him' and did so. His name's Steve. So we chatted a bit more - he asked me if Pete was my boyf, I said no, he said 'Would you like to come to my hotel room?'.

The sprinter's blocks are probably still on the floor at the Oxford.

Very nice. So I got home around 1am. Tired now. Fun though. Ooh mummy. We had Lisa Simpson walking up and down Oxford Street tooting on the saxophone almost all the way through the night. I'm so tired. Also I have another small stye on my eye this morning - the same eye that started the whole thing last time. I've put some of the antibiotic cream on from the last thing and am crossing my fingers. That's just what I need - an eye infection for Sleaze weekend :o( Mind you, compared to Russ's arm it's
nothing really so I shouldn't complain!

Today's dragged a bit but only 30 minutes to go. Going to Cabaret tonight with Michael and some girlfriends of his. Should be interesting. Am looking forward to the show at least, and I think we're eating after. Then sleep. No, really. Gotta save myself for tomorrow.

One final thing - Garry and I have often joked, when singing One Day In Your Life and I'm Outta Love, that it would be great to appear in drag on Stars in Their Eyes and proclaim 'Tonight Matthew I'm going to be... Manastacia'. Well last night Garry came up with one better... Tranny-stacia! Trantastic.

Thursday, October 03, 2002

OK, following on from the last post but one.. grrr. I left you with me and Garry in Newtown shopping for clothes. Garry actually bought a cheap wig which looks very bizarre let me tell you! We pottered around some more though finally headed home after another beer in the Bank. I decided to hit the gym, then had a lazy dinner watching the Bill. Russ had taken his brand new bike out for a test ride in the early evening and as it was dusk he failed to see the chain across the cycle path. Ouch. One broken arm later... get well soon matey. I was still in mischevious mood, so after showering and all that, and a brief trip to R'n'R's I hit the Oxford around 11pm. Chatted to Tall Darren for a while and then was on the way to the Shift when I met up with Pank and crowd. We decided (wrongly as it turned out) to go straight to the Pheonix and so there we were, us and the tumbleweed. It actually didn't get that busy all night, but finally around 1.30am it at least reached critical mass. The music was pretty good and I managed to work the room. If you know what I mean. I made a move around 6am, but was spotted heading back to my place around 8am by Rich, who'd just dropped Russ off at the hospital again.

Rich called as I was showering pre-bed, so I decided to eschew sleep and we did tea at Battuta. Russ joined us and the we had more tea at theirs before going out for brekky proper at the MilkBar. I finally decided I should sleep at least a little and did so before getting ready and hitting Tony's at Bondi. Pete joined us there for a beer and then we hit Bad Dog at Waverley Bowling Club. Weird. We had a few beers as it was still mid-afternoon and chatted to mates assorted - Patrick and George, Deano and the Michael formerly known as mine, David Bassett and Gary... and then at around 5pm Rich's smiley face popped up in the crowd. They'd been up earlier and managed to get a last minute ticket on the door. Marvellous. And so the minkering commenced. Boy did it. The music was fantastic - the highlight for me being the two tracks off Felix da Housecat that they played. One of the best nights in a while - had snogs with sexy men and just had a ball. Too soon it ended at 10pm but the crowd had to continue on, so we hit the Pheonix. More fun. I'd kind of hooked up with Dave the DJ at the Palace by that point and he joined Rich and I as we popped up to Arq 'just to see'. Mistake really, and so Rich left and Dave and I went back to the Pheonix for one last beer before retiring to my place around 2.30am. But not until they'd played Love Action :o)

Monday morning was a bit of a rude awakening and I think my total of sleep Fri-Sat-Sun was something like 9-0-4. Erk. Into work for a very quiet day - sweats and almost falling alseep at the PC were the order of the afternoon - not a good look! Somehow managed to get through it though, and the evening was very quiet – telly and nice food. Tuesday did the gym after work and Wednesday too. Coffee Tuesday night with R’n’R. Went for a walk Wednesday night – about as rock ‘n’ roll as I could get! Dinner tonight with Adrian and R’n’R. Maybe slip in a quiet beer afterwards…
Bugger. There was so much more of that last post, and I think I must have published instead of posting and publishing. Bugger, bugger, bugger. I mean so much more. Sulking now. Bugger.
Thursday arvo. Struth! Sorry, just getting into the Australian way - now that I'm an Aussie citizen! It's kind of official - I've had my letter telling me it's all been approved, but I'm still awaiting the date for the ceremony where I have to pledge my allegiance to all things antipodean. Weird. More news on that nearer the time. That news arrived Friday afternoon, which in a fantastic segue was where I left you...

So. Home and to the gym as you do. Or at least as I've been doing of late. Home and food and then joined Garry and Ant at the Oxford before shuffling down to the Barracks as you do. Several beers later I stopped briefly in the Barracks before falling homewards around 1am. Slept in until 10.30am Saturday - the longest in a while. Garry woke and we had tea before we worked out that for some reason Video Hits wasn't on - disaster! Also Mother Hubbard had been visiting, so we ended up at Gogo's for a bacon and egg sarnie. Yum. Ended up hitting Newtown with Garry and had a quick beer with Ant and (his) Michael on arrival. Shopped around a bit looking for some 70s clothes for Garry for a work do.

Tuesday, October 01, 2002

OK, let's see if that's got my comments fixed... yippee!!
Lots to report. When I'm at home. Currently in a training session which is a bit dull. I'm 37½ today. Happy half birthday to me. And I need to fix my comments, I know. Laters...