luckycanuck

This afternoon Ginger Harpist (whom I picked up from the airport after her trip to France yesterday) said she was impressed at how proactive I was being.

It has certainly been one of those weeks.

I enrolled to get a qualification in personal training, I made a trip to Bunnings and bought the elements of homemade workout equipment. Some pvc pipe became a slosh pipe, which, when filled with water isn't heavy, but is extraordinarily tough to keep steady.
( Home gym pics )
Today I visited Bridgestone and they are delivering a tractor tire right to my backyard tomorrow. I have got plenty of things to do with all this. I also bought an interval timer this morning, for the first time ever making a purchase on eBay.

YW: 5 slosh pipe squat and press, slosh pipe walk around the backyard, 10 Bulgarian sandbag around the world, drag both tires and sandbag back and forth across the yard - 10 rounds - 21:31.

TW: Overhead slosh pipe walk 20m, 10 sandbag around the world, 20 sandbag weighted pushups, 10 sandbag flip up and squat, 20 walking lunges w sandbag - 5 rounds - 14:45. Also slosh pipe practice. Bicep curls, deadlifts, squats,100 shoulder presses.

My arms are buzzing. That is the best adjective I can think of. There is a lot of improving grip strength and a lot of work put on to the little stabilising muscles you never knew you had.

I made an appointment with the bank to talk about my banking needs now that I am setting up an ABN and doing some freelance work. Now I have to get an ABN and maybe register a business name or two. I've thought about one name for the political consulting and one for the training.

There was finally a response from the mental health policy job I interviewed for. Again, they didn't go with me, and again it was because they felt my experience was too political. That annoyed me. I have been perfectly professional in the past, and have on many occasions written briefs and speeches that I did not agree with. I told them so in both interviews, but they still thought I didn't have enough experience in an apolitical environment. There is not a single public service job in which that excuse could be applied, so I am annoyed at the thought that it may well be applied again. I'm going to speak to some other agencies and reconnect with others who already know me.

Aside from that, it has been a good week.

Oh yes, and here is the poster for the next Rugger Bugger show.
( GLADIATOR! )

I was right back into working out yesterday. I sustained some pretty impressive bruises and scrapes from rugby over the weekend (Minxyminou can attest to that) and running on the pavement hurt a little bit but running on the treadmill was fine.

YW: Run 400m, 21 kettlebell swings, 12 pullups. 16 minutes to do 3 rounds (and rest the remainder), 12 minutes to do 2 rounds (and rest the remainder), then one final round. My (approx) times: 10:10, 6:40, 2:57.

I also got the idea of making workout t-shirts for Helga and Coffee Snob who have both been coming to me for workout advice. The slogan on a dark grey t-shirt in pink letters in a militaristic font is "Strong is the new skinny." I did the design myself with a company that does customised t-shirts, and made one for myself too. Mine is black, with the words MOLWN LABE in blood red letters. A nice Spartan reference for me.

I went to the psychologist first thing this morning. First I told her that I was leaving work, and we talked for a while before getting to the crux of the session. Part of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is accepting that you will have negative feelings, and trying not to dwell on them when doing so can't change them. I've noticed that even if I leave work, I still feel a sense of detachment from a lot of people and the kind of things that they do and worry about and value. People, even people I have nothing to do with and no reason to take notice of, seem to set me off on a grumpy path. When seeing perfectly ordinary people just minding their own business on the walk back to my car, I managed to feel annoyed by them for silly and petty reasons. Additionally, I don't seem to fit anywhere. (I reckon there is a post in this in itself, but that's for another day.) The idea when I get these feelings of detachment and annoyance and alienation is not to internalise them, but to not let them take over and to see them as separate from me.

She also reminded me that my sense that other people fit into things (like my parents and sister fitting into their careers and their personal relationships) much better than I may not be as true as I think, on accout of me seeing my insides and others outsides. I generally come off as pretty together from the outside, but most people who don't know me that deeply don't sense the frustration and pointlessness that I get at times. It could be that many of the people I see as having everything sorted are not as together as I think, but they still manage to get along.

Finally, I got a letter yesterday from CoS stating that next Friday 12 August will be my last day on the job.
( Click to read about Luckycanuck getting "fired" )

Rugby last weekend was short lived. I was fine during the warm up provided that there was no contact and I didn't have to change direction. Because those things rarely happen in rugby. They wanted me to start at Number 8 but I said I would probably be better off on the bench. They did put me on mid way through the second half and in my first ruck my ankle got knocked (not turned or twisted but just bumped) and I foud myself limping to follow the play. I did get thrown the ball and suddenly felt no pain as I ran it forward into contact. Getting up, however, I felt all sore again and realised that I was going to have little impact on the game like that in addition to needlessly risking myself. We were up by three tries late in the game anyway and an injury could have put me out for the season if it went wrong. I did, however, enjoy the fact that I am one game closer to making 100 appearances for the Convicts.

I drove a teammate with a broken hand (that I may have broken in the first ruck where I knocked my ankle) to hospital before going on to the next game. Both our teams wound up winning in solid displays, and I told some of my teammates that I was looking for work, possibly in Sydney.

It was nice to have a whole day in Canberra for the end of the weekend and I spent a fair amount of it at the gym in a pretty intense workout.

SunW: The Filthy Fifties: 50 shoulder press, 50 kettlebell swings, 50 calorie row, 50 bicep curls, 50 dynamic pushups, 50 toes to bar, 50 bench jumps, 50 pullups, 50 dips, 50 burpees.

I was reminded during the workout that I like girls. Also, I am always impressed by girls who lift. I think not enough of them do. One of my fellow patrons and I had a conversation about borrowing Crossfit workout principles into creating our own taxing and brutal workouts.

On Monday I picked up Coffee Snob from the airport which made me late for work, and also picked out a fabric and a design for my next new suit. Apparently they are going to narrow the lapels by about half an inch because that is the fashion now. Fine. I wouldn't have known but I'm happy to go along with that. Shopping for suits is much easier when this is all I have to do. The tailor remembered me and was pleased that I had given him referrals.

Then it was another full on day at the gym, but not before I prevented a woman from disrobing in the mens changing room. Somehow a woman got almost to the point of taking her shirt off before I asked "are you sure you're in the right place?"

YW: 5 rounds of: Row 400m, 30 seconds L-hang (which was VERY hard), 30 kettlebell swings. Then I practiced my form on squats a bit, then did 50 burpees (I have decided to do 50 burpees in every workout in the hopes of improving at them) and 10 heavy bag getups.

When I got home dinner was on. This is becoming a regular Monday evening thing it would seem. Roxy had made a very nice stirfry and we all ate together. I think I would be quite happy if we continued doing so. I contributed som chocolate I had around and I also made the tea and did a bunch of dishes while they watched Masterchef.

But mostly in a good way.

I had solid workouts on Saturday and Sunday.

SatW: Farmer's walk stairs 20kg each hand, pullups, 24kg kettlebell swings, 32kg SDHP, burpees, situps, leg raises. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. The farmer's walk was really tough and I can still feel the soreness now.

SunW: Run total 9km to and from the gym. Bench jumps, pushups, situps - 20,19,18...1

My legs are still sore. I've done harder workouts but this was the most consistent effort I'd come up with since coming back from overseas. I had three tough workouts in as many days, which was good as I kind of wanted to smack myself around. Virtually nobody spoke ot me the whole time, which was also good.

I also went into work on both days of the weekend. I did some work preparing and printing off letters for W to sign and giving him the impression that I'm on top of things, but it was also a relief to be able to shut myself into a place with no people. Dealing with people has been taxing since Friday. Earlier today someone came into my office to introduce herself and I could barely look her in the eye. Aspie stress has been close to the surface at all times.

But it hasn't been all bad. As much as dealing with anyone new was likely to be tough, I finally got to visit Cupcake Goddess at her new pad and meet her new guy. The following day I was there to take a photo of her at the beginning of a 5k run and another one of her powering through the finish line with her shoulders ahead of her hips. Well done CG!

I had some happy drinks with Helga and Alleluia before they went off to girly drinks (which I was mercifully spared) and settled in for a quiet night. I did hear Roxy come home and she settled into her room before I could get up. It turned out that she had just arrived home in a taxi after spending six hours in hospital after being hit by a car and knocked off her bike. She is ok with a black eye, one stitch in her chin, and some scrapes on her cheek, but nothing that won't heal.

Apparently she had been trying to contact one of us for a lift, and while I was home and would have been more than happy to pick her up, somehow she didn't have my number. I really felt bad about that. I hadn't done anything wrong, but the idea that one of the girls I live with spent six hours alone in hospital before having to take a taxi home bothered me.

That meant that a few minutes after midnight when Alleluia rang asking if my earlier offer to pick her up if excessive drinking had been done was still valid, my answer was a firm yes. I drove a friend of hers home and swung through Macca's for so she could get some late night sustenance before getting her home without her having to resort to taking a taxi driven by a stranger. She was very pleased.

So I found myself getting all stressed about having to deal with other people. (I also went shopping for shoes to a discount warehouse that was closing forever and lasted about ten increasingly stressed minutes surrounded by legions of people scavenging for deals that frankly weren't all that good before leaving with a shellshocked look on my face.) Dealing with my friends, however, was easy.

My fancy dress night last night consisted of me wearing my "My Name Is Inigo Montoya..." t-shirt and a sword I picked up late yesterday afternoon. It was a good night and plenty of the nerds there were delighted and squeeful about my shirt. The low point of the evening was when someone tried to steal my sword. A mini wrestle followed and my sword snapped in two. Fine, it was a $2 sword from a discount shop and I didn't really need it, but it still pissed me off and I had to go off on my own to cool down and avoid an aspie snap.

Today I knocked on some doors for the campaign. Plenty of people home and plenty of positive receptions. I do like doorknocking, at least in little bits. It was a day off for me (Canberra Day, which is about the lamest name for a holiday, but who's complaining) but it was ok spending part of it pounding the pavement. I've done very little on this campaign and I feel as though this counts as me being a part of things.

I'm on my old laptop, but I picked up a new one yesterday that I've not yet set up. I wanted to get one before the end of the tax year and was able to find one with a great deal. Under $500 and it has 4 times the memory of my current one. It was about time. But I always feel odd about buying new things when I already have versions of the same. What do I do with the old one, when I also tend to get sentimental about objects from time to time.

YW: 100 chest contractions and 100 pushups mixed together. Also a bunch of other stuff.

TW: Appetiser: 15-1 up and down dumbell shoulder presses and bicep curls. Main course: 30 situps, farmer's walk 3 flights of stairs - 5 rounds. Dessert: Row 10 calories, 10 pullups - 5 rounds sprinted. Coffee: 10 heavy bag get ups.

Helga came home today and showed me all her shopping (except for the bras.) She also decided to strike back against my "manification" of our DVD collection by bringing home "Eat. Pray. Love." which we are watching now. And yet my manliness is undiminished. I guess I just don't mind given the right company. And as a return, she has expressed an interest in watching The Godfather.

The NSW state election is two weeks from today so I went to Jerrabomberra to help the local candidate at the local markets. We had a good turn out (certainly better than the Labor incumbent) and a good reception. One of my Labor friends from touch rugby was there at the stall next to ours. One of my colleagues mentioned that he had been "a total prick" for the whole campaign which struck me as very odd. I certainly disagree with him on plenty of things, but in my experience he has been a perfectly pleasant guy. I'm pretty sure this colleague of mine viewed everything he did through a pair of "he's a total prick" coloured glasses.

"Can you believe he's standing there talking to voters and criticising our party? What a prick!"

"Look at him just drinking a coffee without a care in the world. Wanker!"

"Oh great! Now he's breathing oxygen and metabolising food into energy. The gall of that asshole! Really!"

I've had about enough exposure to this mindset.

Afterwards I stopped by JB Hi-fi to have a look, and wound up spending $100. I got the cheapest digital camera they had (which will still do everything I want) as the one I got in Canada got a cracked view screen within a week of me buying it (by which time I was back in Australia and couldn't do anything about it. Yes, this is another reason I get cheap tech stuff. The same thing could have happened to a mega expensive camera.) I'll also claim it on my taxes as I need a camera for work.

I also decided that as the man of the house it was my duty to man up our DVD collection, so I got The Godfather Part II, 300, and Se7en. That should counnterbalance some of the chick flicks on the shelves.

bakerypenguin is coming over shortly to watch The Godfather, which somehow she has never seen.

YW: 21 burpees, 21 knees to elbows, run 400m, 15 burpees, 15 knees to elbows, run 400m, 9 burpees, 9 knees to elbows, run 400m. Knees to elbows are tough, especially when you are doing a lot of them. Then some other stuff as "dessert."

TW: Burpees, clean and press 20kg left, clean and press 20kg right, 32kg kettlebell swings, 35kg SDHP, pullups, situps. 7 rounds of 7. The 7*7*7 workouts are always tough, especially with the transitions.

Also there was some very nice eye candy at the gym today. I actually told her so (in a non sleazy way) and she laughed in a comfortable way.

A visit to the beach was made today. The water has been really quite warm. The weather has been warm this week, but the water is often quite cold even when it's summer. Today it was wonderful, and the waves were breaking just enough to enable me to bodysurf a little bit.

On one visit to the beach this week I came across a man in his 80s who thought I was a pommy, but I told him I was half Canadian half Australian and that my father had grown up just up the street. He responded "oh he must have known the Luckycanucks (not my actual family name)." It turns out that about 50 years ago my grandfather hired him for a job, and he had been inside the Collaroy Castle long before my father left Australia and even longer before I was even born.

The view from the Collaroy Castle probably didn't look quite like this back then, but the good parts of it certainly did.

I also had an interesting dream that involved me getting married... to

minxyminou. It was at least twenty years in the future, for whatever reason the two of us were single at the same time, and in our late fifties it seemed like a good idea.

I went shopping today after returning the digital set top box I got earlier in the week. It works but we only got some of the new digital channels and in the process we lost a number of channels we once had. They tested the unit at the shop and apparently it's an antenna problem. We will need to bring someone in to look at it, and that will have to be done another time, probably by someone else. It would be hard for me to arrange from Canberra.

I did pick up some DVDs. I've never collected many, but I saw some that I couldn't pass up. One was of a very clever TV show from New Zealand called Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby which is quite un-PC, and I also got The Godfather, which I am watching tonight.

I went to the gym too, and did a nice Crossfit workout. It was good to get back to the gym for a workout that involves something other than rowing or walking absurdly long distances. I hadn't been at it for quite some time.

TW: Deadlifts, pullups, thrusters 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Then I was hoping to do some chest presses, but for some reason I felt a crick in my back on one of my ribs which made them very difficult to do. So I did a set of arm smashers and 100 bicep curls in large sets.

I went down to Bondi yesterday to help out Mitzi with my awesome digging skills. This, of course, enabled me to sing a bit of Sixteen Tons (though I suspect we didn't actually dig that much dirt.)

After our work we went to the beach and had some very nice sushi within view of the sea. I was reminded of what some eastern suburbs stereotypes look like. There were a lot of people with expensive cars and clothes and sunglasses and shoes and haircuts and plastic surgery sitting around looking fashionable and rich. Some day I may have a lot of money, but I can pretty much guarantee that I will never have an interest in being as visibly affluent as some of these guys.

While I was in the city I decided to see if anyone else was around. I wound up popping over to visit a friend for a coffee, which turned into dinner, which turned into me staying in Potts Point for the night and shopping in the morning, though nothing was bought. I couldn't find anything I liked.

Good news, my legs feel almost good as new again. No more soreness in the muscles and only a little ache in my left ankle.

I bought a new camera today. Man technology is getting cheap! Just like me.

I also swung by my old university and went up to the history department. My MA thesis supervisor is now the department head and he was recently in Australia studying cattle ranches in the Northern Territory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as compared to the same experience in Canada. (Can you see why I decided a career in academia was probably not for me?) I may be seeing him if he comes to Canberra and introducing him to one of our Senators who knows more about cattle in the Northern Territory than anyone else I know.

An e-mail arrived today from America. It was from a guy who is part of a consultancy that uses data and demographics at a far more sophisticated and detailed level than I do. They have data goes way beyond the census and includes consumer information. I don't know how they get it, but it is far beyond what I do and it does interest me. These guys have helped target political campaigns just like I do, and have applied their analysis in commercial areas too. I've done pretty well starting up a demographic project on my own time with no support and part of me wondered if the fact that I have done similar work to them on such an independent basis would possibly be a window of opportunity in career terms.

I've gone on about having slightly itchy feet, but the idea of moving overseas again and starting over from nothing like I have done so many times before is really a non-starter for me. But if had set up opportunity to move into (even for just a few months) I think the experience would be great, and would mean I had reached a solid five on the list of countries I've lived in. I always preferred my holidays to be working holidays anyway.

Well, this is all just an idea now. It may not be practical, but even the idea of it has put me in a good mood.

I'm off to dinner with some high school friends tonight whom I've not seen in years. Hooray for Facebook!

Today we visited the organisers of our tour, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, (where I decided that there is no reason to change the way Australians vote after finding out a bit more about the ramshackle system whereby one Congressional District can have as many voting systems as it has counties within it's boundaries) the Editorial Board of the Oakland Tribune, and the office of 77 year old Senator Dianne Feinstein, who has over seven times as many staff as W has (but then again, she represents a state with 37 million people) but viturally none of whom can do anything political. The political work here seems to be done largely by professional political campaigners. I seem to have a lot of questions I didn't know I had.

Afterwards I managed to withdraw some cash from the card they gave me, and found my way into Macy's, where I bought two pairs of jeans that were identical except for the colour. America seems to have more jeans made for people who don't have bodies normally found on the singers of emo bands. And they were cheap, and I got an additional 10% off using a card from the hotel... because I'm a bit cheap too.

Afterwards I avoided dinner with the others who went to Fisherman's Wharf (I went in 2008) and felt I would rather have my last night in San Francisco on my own. Instead, I went to Zeitgeist to finish my tour of minxyminou suggestions. It was interesting and I switched to a much better beer (Downtown Brown, a micorbrewery beer of which there seem to be many) but there was more of an insufferable hipster mood. Change for my $4.50 beer from a $10 bill was given as five singles rather than a five, so I could easily tip the usual amount. It's much easier when they make it simple to tip. Afterwards there was dinner at a Mexican place that I spotted in 2008 but didn't eat at. There was a long queue and a lot of good food to be had. I've had more Mexican food here in three days than in the previous five years combined.

Pictures now.

( Cut for space. )

Whether or not I put my weekend with the house to myself to good use may be questioned, but there were some good results.

( Cut for video and photos )

Back to work tomorrow.

It is Sunday evening and I am in the Collaroy Castle with no need to get up at 5:00am to drive to Canberra as I used to do at times.

A lot of physical work has been done though.

YW: Pushups. 5 minxyminou pushups (that is, pushups with the added weight of a minxyminou) and later while watching the rugby, ten pushups for every point the Wallabies scored. It was looking good until the All Blacks snuck two late tries and converted them both to make up a 13 point gap and win by ten pushups. Why oh why does Matt Giteau hate the idea of me doing pushups? I did point out earlier in the day that pushups can be a way to celebrate or to blow off stress. I did celebratory pushups on election night and last week at a stressful point in the office, I did 20 pushups whilst wearing a suit.

TW: Chest and Legs - 20 thrusters to start. 100 openers, 100 closers, 50 bench press (with a bit of waiting before I did a set at 90kg without a spotter) 50 incline press, 200 leg presses, long sweat in sauna.

Tomorrow I will be hard at it again.

I looked at the prospect of getting more memory installed in my laptop but it seemed impractical. I've got 1GB now and they could have only moved it up to 2.5 at a cost that would have paid for most of a whole new computer. I can stumble through for a bit longer. My philosophy is to get the models they are phasing out. They are functional enough for my purposes and considerably cheaper than the top of the line models that are guaranteed to be obsolete in three months.

I'm willing to admit I lack some technological cred. I don't get excited about gadgets. I've never felt I must have the latest anything. I'm fine with all that, but for some reason I still feel the need to defend my tech choices.

But didn't do as much as I planned. Not to worry. It was still good to have a quieter Saturday.

On my to do list was getting a new phone, buying rugby boots, having my car battery fully charged after it went dead when it was unused for a month, and going to the gym.

The battery idea was shelved until the week. That would probably require an appointment. I was all set to replace my mobile phone (it works but the screen is going and I can get a new one whilst renewing my contract) but the plan I thought I was able to get wasn't exactly what I thought so I reckon a bit of further research is not a bad idea.

The end of the season is a bad time to buy boots it seems. I've got one game next week before the end of the season and I think my old boots will hold on. They had plenty of soccer boots but nothing at a reasonable price with the screw in metal studs that I need. (Oh yes, I have scary looking boots!) I'll have a look during the summer.

The gym was the only thing that really happened, and even that wasn't to plan.

TW: Crossfit WOD: 7 SDHP at the start of ever minute then bench jumps for the remainder of the minute. Continue until 200 box jumps were done. Actually I only made it to 100 box jumps. The SDHP was giving my lower back grief and I had to stop (though I did enjoy it.) I tried a few other things including a few bench presses and ring pullups and I've done a few pushups at home this evening. I still feel a crick in my lower back, which I hope will go away.

Tonight I am caring for Malice who is a bit crook, so I have been making tea and I'm keeping her company. I am also currently burning some incense that I bought at a market on the walk home from the gym. A packet of 8 sticks was 10 cents, so I got heaps of different types. Even myrrh. You know, in case the Virgin Mary comes by with the Baby Jesus and I'm fresh out of frankincense.

I had every intention of going to the gym on Friday, but after work I just couldn't seem to rouse myself to go. Instead I went home and watched the calm and composed Dutch defeated a Brazilian team that got panicky and frazzled when things didn't go their way.

On Saturday, I had every intention of having a big session at the gym or possibly throwing a Mt Ainslie run in for good measure. The fact that I slept until the afternoon put an end to that plan. Instead, the first thing I ate that day was the scones made by my ex-Mormon housemate. With everyone home, we managed to clear out a lot of space in the fridge, mostly bottles of things that were almost empty and had been there for God only knows how long. Again, the new Chez Canuck is working out well.

I spent the evening with bakerypenguin and her friends watching Up (which was not as good as I had hoped) wrestling with two dogs, watching the final episode of The Pacific, and the Germany-Argentina match which the one quarter of me that is ethnically German was glad to see ended in a 4-0 victory.

It's been a good weekend for games. Plenty of talent on display which I like and can appreciate, and very little of the petulance or the diving or dissent that makes me dislike the game.

Today I did manage to get to the gym, though not before running the vacuum through the house like I was asked and a trip to Brand Depot where I got some cheap work shoes (that will stay at work) and some work shirts and a tie at Trade Secret.

There were some new things tried at the gym today.

TW: 10 power cleans (new and interesting), 10 standing corner presses (new, wedging a heavy bar in the corner and loading it up with weight and pressing it towards the corner to work the chest and arms, one arm at a time) - 5 rounds. 10 deadlifts and 10 high box jumps (like about hip height) - 5 rounds. 10 pullups (with emphasis on going all the way down and all the way up), 10 dips, 10 marine pushups - 5 rounds. 50 burpees.

I finally made it to the gym. Hooray! And I tried some new things there. Double Hooray!!

Tomorrow I have a shadow cabinet brief to write. I've left this kind of late, but I am confident it will work out fine.

And it's bulletproof. (Well probably not literally, but you never know.)

My suit arrived from Hong Kong this morning. Two weeks ago I was measured, and today I have a custom made suit that fits perfectly.

I can now retire my old blue suit that has seen better days (and that is an inch narrower across the shoulders and bigger in the waist.)

This kind of shopping I don't mind.

I am very pleased to hold Aurora Energy, an Australian company pumping oil in Texas. It's now up about 75% from when I bought it less than two months ago, and there seems to be plenty of upside left.

Nexbis, on the other hand, dropped again today. I bought it nearly a year ago, and as of yesterday I had lost about 75% of my money. It fell again with the announcement that they didn't get a $1 million contract in Vietnam. The market tore $15 million out of the share price, which I think was an overreaction. Also, the company if sold off piece by piece might well be worth more than the market value of all the shares, so I'm looking at getting in cheap to take advantage of the current conditions. It's a frustrating, and some would say rubbish company, but I don't think it's as rubbish as the market is treating it today.

I'm also looking at Jindalee Resources, which recently declared that it will be paying a huge dividend (about 44% from a sale of a subsidiary to a Chinese outfit) in less than a month. Another one to keep an eye on.

Tomorrow I'm going to a 30th birthday that will have an 80s fancy dress theme. I considered a number of options on this. I could wear my grey suit and be Rain Man (I'm an excellent driver. We're counting cards. Gotta fly Qantas. Qantas never crashed.) I could put some red on my forehead and go as Gorbachev. Or I could work on my Austrian accent and go as the Terminator. I'm leaning towards that at the moment.

My impending job interview (for a job I may not taking if offered) and the overall search seems to have inspired a desire to look professional. Today that manifested itself by be being fitted for a suit. There is an father/son team who travel around and take your measurements and your choice of fabric and your requests of what you like in a suit, and then the suit is custom made in Hong Kong. So today I spent about $5000 on a suit. (Hong Kong $ that is.) It will be posted to me soon. It's worth it. I got a suit from them last year and I've been very happy with it, in that it fits perfectly and makes me feel that much more bulletproof. (That kevlar wool is wonderful stuff!)

TW: 20 pull ups, 30 dips, 40 sit ups, 50 pushups, run 1km as fast as possible, 50 pushups, 40 sit ups, 30 dips, 20 pull ups. Then 20 dumbbell swings just to round things up. Bulletproof!

After the gym I went to the RUC (where the sound was off during the Sea Eagles-Eels match) and had a bit of wine and a steak with Dr Daz and two friends of his who are also navy officers. Overall it was fine, but towards the end one of them was pontificating about how the navy has a better culture than the army and I went into screen saver mode as she spoke. There was even some rocking. I recovered pretty quickly though. Sometimes if I know what's going on or I can remove myself from the source of aspie stress, I'm fine in the blink of an eye.
Dr Daz is better from the collision between his face and the back of my head, though his nose is being reset on Friday.

I got a very good response on the snarky e-mail I sent Friday regarding the sound at the rugby. Apparently they turned the sound on about 60 seconds after I left. Still, the fact that there was even a question was surprising to me.

Saturday I slept off much of the last week and then went to the gym. I've not had a good workout for a while and I wanted to get back to the gym with a vengeance.

YW: AMRAP 10 dumbbell swings, 10 handstand pushups for 10 minutes. Then deadlifts and shoulder presses, 40-10, 30-20, 20-30, 10-40. I was getting very lightheaded towards the end. I hadn't eaten for a whle and think my blood sugar was low. One of the trainers said I looked like hell. Perhaps he was right.

I spent the rest of the evening visiting

bakerypenguin and watching a documentary on an insane Dutch man who ran a marathon wearing only shorts and sandals in -16 degrees in Finland. He seemed a very unpleasant person, and his wife was about the most tolerant person I've ever seen.

I shopped on Sunday. The shake up in my career prospects has inspired me to look professional, so I picked up some new whirts for work, but true to type, I got things that I can get away with not ironing. Because I am a lazy man. Also the fact that I got them considerably cheaper than I would have at Myer or David Jones by going to Trade Secret is a bit of a bonus for me. I find it very satisfying to think that I have gotten a bargain. Ripping off the retail industry (in a legal way) is fun.

TW: I was more prepared today, and had a big session. Floor wipers, push ups, bench jumps with a 10kg medicine ball, pull ups - sets of 30, 20, 20, 20, 10. Then row 400m, 40 leg presses - 5 rounds.

I was just floating around on an endorphin high afterwards and had a good long sweat in the sauna. I'm back!

Perhaps the beard I have grown over the last week (on account of the stitches) has had a Samsonesque impact on me. Does anyone have any Philistines they need someone to slay?

Tonight dinner (an enormous chicken parmagiana and a lovely Matilda Bay dark lager at the Durham which generally has a diverse and varying range of beers) was had with Gundachick who is now unemployed. There was career talk aplenty. I'm feeling much more confident about my prospects than I was when we last spoke.

Jeans were bought today. I managed to find a pair that fit well in the waist, and were loose enough in the legs and elsewhere to accommodate the rest of my frame. And the odd thing was it was in Harris Scarfe. A discount retail place selling jeans for under $30. So I now own jeans and I didn't have to fund the international cartel of denim artisans who think jeans should be worn by people with skinny chicken legs who look like the singer in a lame emo band. I would have bought two pairs, but they only had one in my size. Still, HOORAY!

I had though about going to the gym, but after sleeping in and shopping and picking up some fruit and veg (I really need to expand my Lent cooking repetiore) I still felt some leftover fatigue. I did, however, walk into Kingston to view the Skyfire fireworks and to have the last veggie burger at Brodburger. There was a 30 minute wait for burgers at the little red caravan, but it was worth it.

Renaissance Priest was there with his wife and in laws and we watched the sky above the lake being lit up, some local ducks paddling away in a panic, and some local underage bogan teenagers getting drunk.

Tomorrow perhaps I will run.

Current Music: Paris Je T'Aime on SBS

I was shopping for Christmas gifts yesterday. I find it hard to buy gifts at times. I don't want to buy something generic and meaningless, but I think I managed to find something good for my nieces. I wanted to get them something they couldn't get in Canada and something that was undeniably from me.

And so...

The two on the bottom are for my nieces. Aged 4 and 6, they will fit into these for a while as they are size 8. I am pretty sure they will be the only ones they know with Brumbies gear, and the rugby angle means they will know it came from me. Now I wonder if I should put numbers on them. I did that when Julie, my eldest niece, was about a month old. I put the number zero on the back of a very small England football top.

Oh yes, the other two are for

bakerypenguin to give to burgeoning Canberra rugby fans. It's never too early to get them following the right sport.

The set top box has been returned and the money refunded. There may have been a simple explanation but I couldn't be bothered working it out to be frank. I told dad when he rang that a new TV would eventually be needed and he agreed.

Cupcake Goddess plied me with baked goods to fortify me for my drive back to Canberra. She bakes very well. She said she would do some baking for the people I've invited to the Collaroy Castle next weekend. She also invited me to spend Christmas with her family so I won't be a Christmas orphan. We will likely be volunteering at the Wayside Chapel in King's Cross though, which will be good. I had been thinking about that.

I went into church for the evening Eucharist at St John's Reid. There were about seven or eight there. Nothing superfluous. I seem to be doing much better with services when they are small and stripped down of anything I tend to find annoying. Message from the sermon, if you are a tax collector, be a tax collector. But be an ethical tax collector. It's not about chaning what you do, as much as doing what you do better.

I was up early, and made my way to church for the first time in a while. There was a sermon on the Kingdom of God compared to the Kingdom that was the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Judea. Basically the idea is that the Kingdomis not one based on conquest or armies or power as it was conventionally understood at the time, but a Kingdom based on love that is headed by a King who lives amongst ordinary people to demonstrate just what it's like. It was a good sermon and I was glad to get back to church, but I didn't stay long.

Then it was off to work to write a speech that will be delivered at some point in the coming week. Then it was off to the gym with Coffee Snob and her boyfriend who was visiting from Melbourne. The sauna was ridiculously cool. It was barely over room temperature.

TW: Core - 100 medicine ball crunch throws, 100 medicine ball drops, 100 reverse crunches, 100 back raises, 100 left twists, 100 right twists, 2 ab centuries. I'm already a bit sore from the exertion, and my arms ache a bit from yesterday's arm curls.

Then it was off home to drop off my gear and to have a bit of a snack, then off to the factory outlet shops in Fyshwick. Shopping decisions are not easy for me to make, but I'm ok when shopping alone with plenty of time. At some point I will need new shoes for work and the gym and could use some new work shirts. I considered a pair of RM Williams boots as I have before (given that I work for the Nats) but I'm not sure they are really for me. They were a bit of a pain to get on. In the end I think both my work shoes and workout shoes will last a bit longer, and I prefer to make these decisions after having had time to think about them.

After this I had a drink and a bit of dinner and a bit of chat with the Advertiser.

Overall it was a long and busy day, but one that was nearly devoid of stress. I felt active and purposeful. Hooray!

Oh, and I cut my hair this weekend so now it feels all short and cool.

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luckycanuck

June 2012

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Entries tagged with shopping

The proactive week

It's officially time to move on

Keep occupied with something...

A weekend spent beating myself up

Broken swords and contributing to the cultural edification of Chez Canuck

Apparently everyone from a different political background is incapable of doing anything positive

Obscure connections and a wedding

I just popped down to the eastern suburbs to dig a few holes

I won't move again unless I have a good reason...

The tour begins, and photos.

Luckycanuck on the Rampage

Who doesn't love a bit of good clean sweat?

I planned to do a lot today...

Look how little I have accomplished

My new suit is made of awesome

Bulletproof

Luckycanuck grows a beard

The Last of the Weary

They don't get those in Canada

A Busy Day Which Is Somehow Relaxing