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Well it was only just about a week ago i posted another book review. This one i smashed through pretty quickly (its not that thick) because of late shifts and also getting totally engrossed in it.

Mission: Blacklist #1

The book is Mission: Blacklist #1 by Eric Maddox. To give a bit of explanation before i go into the review a bit, Blacklist #1 is Saddam Hussein. During the 2003 Iraq Invasion the “Blacklist” was set up with a list of people who the Allies (US, UK & Aus) wanted to capture. On top of that list was obviously going to be Saddam himself. It also included other family members etc.

This book covers the story of how Saddam was found just prior to his capture in Tikrit. It follows along with the 6 month deployment of Eric Maddox the US Army Interragator as he slowly but surely plotted his way through the town of Tikrit with how each person seemed to be involved with Saddam in some form or fashion. It looked at who were his body guards etc and slowly but surely looked into this picture as they formed a nice big flow chart essentially of who was in charge of who etc.

After 6 months of interrogating etc it was as though they were never going to find him, but in the off chance they actually seemed to catch him. He was hidden in a “spider hole” under the ground near a house in a town just outside Tikrit. Totally crazy. The book was just totally engrossing, following the process of going through all the people, following the body guard links.

I highly recommend it and it is a good insight into something that wasn’t to widely put out about the Iraq War (at least that i remember). This is the last of my Ekka books essentially and im stepping away from the War for the moment and going into something totally different, but that book will remain a mystery till the next review.

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So finished off the latest book last night and in the new fashion, here is my 2nd review.

Extreme Risk

The book, Extreme Risk is written by Major Chris Hunter. An Ex British Army ATO (Ammunition Technical Officer), essentially what in other Countries is called an EOD technician or Explosive Ordinance Disposal or a crazy bastard who diffuses bombs for a living. This was a really interesting book to me. After hearing so much over the last few years about “IED this, IED that” (Improvised Explosive Device), it was good to read about some real life experiences with it. But the bit that really was interesting to me was Northern Ireland. I had really actually forgotten about that conflict and it was good to actually read some stuff and bring back some memories of when it wasn’t all about Al Queda but what you heard on the news was more about the IRA etc.

A very interesting read, each chapter started with a quote about life and this really had me wanting to scribble some down. Here are a few of my favourites:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined” – Henry David Thoreau
“He who sedulously attends, pointedly asks, calmly speaks, coolly answers and ceseas when he has no more to say is in possession of some of the best requisites of man” – Johann Casper Lavater
“Patience is the companion of wisdom” – St Augustine
“The first step to knowledge is to know that we are ignorant” – Lord David Cecil
“Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts” – Charles Dickens
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood” – Marie Curie

I really liked this book and was captivated by it. Totally don’t regret this purchase at all, another one of those $5 books i came across. Turns out that he also wrote another book on his time in Iraq so that one goes into the Amazon wishlist, for future purchases. Definately recommend this book if you are after a bit of perspective on a different kind of aspect of some of the conflicts around the world. A look at the world of someone who spends his time being methodical and also very very logical. Who looks at problems and tries to work out what is wrong.

Something that is quoted a number of times in this book always seems to stick in my head. “Absence of the normal & presence of the abnormal.” If something doesn’t look right, it most likely isnt! Good words to live by.

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I have been putting this post back now for a few weeks since I’ve been so busy doing other stuff but all of my trip is now good to go. I have finalised all the hotel plans (hell a last minute hotel change today) and you will see below a full itinerary now with links to hotels in each location.

So here it is… the final itinerary…

5th July 2011 – Last Day at Work
6th July 2011 – Prep, pack, get ready to leave
7th July 2011 – Goodbye Australia.
Brisbane to Auckland to Los Angeles to Vancouver (yes thats all in one day. Leaving at 12pm arriving into vancouver same day at 9pm… hello JETLAG!)
Brisbane to Auckland – Air New Zealand – NZ136 – 1225/1725 – Boeing 777-200ER – Business Premier
Auckland to Los Angeles – Air New Zealand – NZ2 2130/1445 – Boeing 777-300ER – Business Premier (New Aircraft for airline, new type for me)
Los Angeles to Vancouver – Air Canada – AC557 1855/2136 – Embraer 190 – Executive Class (New Type, New Airline, New Airport)
8th July 2011 – Vancouver – Meet Up with Brad – Vancouver Hotel – Sandman Hotel Vancouver City Centre
9th July 2011 – Tour Begins – Contiki Canada & The Rockies with Calgary Stampede – Link to tour here
21st July 2011 – Tour Finishes – Vancouver – Vancouver Hotel – Sandman Hotel Vancouver City Centre
22nd July 2011 – Vancouver
23rd July 2011 – Amtrak Cascades – Vancouver to Seattle – 0640/1105 – Seattle Hotel – Holiday Inn Express Seattle City Centre
24th July 2011 – Seattle
25th July 2011 – Seattle
26th July 2011 – Seattle
27th July 2011 – Pick Up Car start driving south – Overnight Portland Oregon – Portland Hotel – La Quinta Inn & Suites Portland NW
28th July 2011 – Portland to Roseburg – Roseburg Hotel – Holiday Inn Express Roseburg
29th July 2011 – Roseburg to San Francisco – San Francisco Hotel – Holiday Inn Golden Gateway
30th July 2011 – San Francisco
31st July 2011 – San Francisco
1st August 2011 – San Francisco
2nd August 2011 – San Fransisco – Plane Spotting Day – SFO Airport Hotel – Millwood Inn & Suites
3rd August 2011 – San Fransisco to New York City – Farewell to Brad this morning
San Fransisco to Chicago O’Hare – United Airlines – UA972 1010/1625 -Boeing 767-300 – Business Class – (International Configuration Aircraft, 2 New Airports)
Chicago O’Hare to New York City La Guardia – UA692 1730/2046 – Airbus A319 – First Class – (New Airports)
New York City Hotel – Element New York Time Square West
4th August 2011 – New York City
5th August 2011 – Morning New York City – Birthday – Evening Flight – New York City to Zurich
New York City John F Kennedy – Zurich – Swiss Airlines – LX17 1800/0805+1 – Airbus A330-300 – Business Class (New Airline, New Airport)
6th August 2011 – Zurich to Paris
Zurich – Paris Charles De Gaulle – Swiss Airlines – LX634 0905/1020 – Airbus A320 – Business Class (New Airports)
Meet up with Yena – Explore Paris – Paris Hotel – Paris Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees
7th August 2011 – Paris to Bayeux – Train – Explore Bayeux – Bayeux Hotel – Château Hôtel de Bellefontaine
8th August to 10th August 2011 – Explore Normandy Region – WW2 Invasion Tours – Overlord Tours – Neptune Tour (2 Days), 101st Airborne Tour (1 Day)
11th August 2011 – Bayeux to Paris – Train – Explore Paris – Paris Hotel – Paris Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees
12th August 2011 – Explore Paris
13th August 2011 – Farewell to Yena – Paris to Berlin
Paris Charles De Gaulle to Berlin Tegel – Lufthansa – LH3241 0930/1105 – Boeing 737-500 – Business Class (New Airline, New Aircraft, New Airport)
Berlin Hotel – Hotel Pullman Berlin Schweizerhof
14th August 2011 – Berlin
15th August 2011 – Berlin
16th August 2011 – Berlin to London
Berlin Tegel – London Heathrow – BMI – BD842 1105/1200 – Airbus A319 – Business Premium – (New Airline, New Airports)
London Hotel – Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London
17th August 2011 – London
18th August 2011 – London
19th August 2011 – London
20th August 2011 – Explore London Morning – Evening Flight – London to Tokyo
London Heathrow – Tokyo Narita – ANA – NH202 1935/1520+1 – Boeing 777-300ER – Business Class (New Product, New Airline)
21st August 2011 – Arrive Tokyo – Narita Express to Shinjiku – Tokyo Hotel – Hyatt Regency Tokyo
22nd August 2011 – Tokyo
23rd August 2011 – Tokyo
24th August 2011 – Tokyo
25th August 2011 – Tokyo to Yokohama to Kyoto
Morning Shinkansen to Yokohama, explore city, Late Afternoon Shinkansen to Kyoto – Kyoto Hotel – Citadines Kyoto Karasuma Gojo
26th August 2011 – Kyoto
27th August 2011 – Kyoto to Osaka – Morning Shinkansen from Kyoto to Osaka – Osaka Hotel – Comfort Hotel Osaka Shinsaibashi
28th August 2011 – Osaka
29th August 2011 – Osaka to Hiroshima – Morning Shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima – Hiroshima Hotel – ANA Crowne Plaza Hiroshima
30th August 2011 – Hiroshima
31st August 2011 – Hiroshima to Narita – Morning Shinkansen from Hiroshima back to Tokyo (pretty sure ill need to change trains along the way), then NEX from Tokyo to Narita. Explore Narita, Plane Spotting, Exploring the Temple – Narita Hotel – Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport hotel
1st September 2011 – Tokyo to Hong Kong
Tokyo Narita to Seoul Incheon – Asiana Airlines – OZ103 1530/1810 – Boeing 777-200 – Business Class (New Airline, New Airport, New Aircraft)
Seoul Incheon to Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok – Asiana Airlines – OZ723 1945/2230 – Airbus A330-300 – Business Class (New Airport)
Hong Kong Hotel – Novotel Hong Kong Nathan Road
2nd September 2011 – Hong Kong
3rd September 2011 – Hong Kong
4th September 2011 – Hong Kong
5th September 2011 – Hong Kong
6th September 2011 – Hong Kong to Singapore
Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok to Singapore Changi – Singapore Airlines – SQ861 1540/1920 – Airbus A380-800 – Business Class (New Airport, New Airline, New Aircraft, Bucket List)
Meet Up with Cat – Singapore Hotel – Royal Plaza on Scots Singapore Hotel
7th September 2011 – Singapore
8th September 2011 – Singapore
9th September 2011 – Singapore
10th September 2011 – Singapore to Brisbane (Home) – Fly Home with Cat
Singapore Changi to Brisbane – Singapore Airlines – SQ245 0955/1930 – Airbus A330-300 – Business Class (New Product)
11th September 2011 – Rest
12th September 2011 – Back to Work

So there you have it ladies & gents. My epic trip… i cant wait!

by ·Comments Off on Riding….

Ok well most people i know, know that I don’t know how to ride a bike. As shown in the ACA interview, its something I want to conquer. Well It has begun. The big challenge for me this year. Learning to ride a bike.

Last sunday I bought my first ever helmet. It was a bit daunting as I had no idea what to do, for something so simple to. I mean its just a bike helmet. Thousands are sold world wide every day. But I had no idea what I was doing and just decided to grab what looked like a good colour, had the right standards things, and also was pretty cheap. You may now probably think “why buy something cheap to protect your head” well my thoughts at the moment are. I may not enjoy riding a bike, if I am not going to buy one, why would i need a decent expensive helmet when the plain cheap ones do the same thing. Because if I do enjoy it, then I will buy a bike and a decent helmet worth every cent. But till that time, I will just use what I have.

On Tuesday I had my first lesson with Andy. Yeah i’m back doing PT but this time only 30 mins a week and I am paying for this time. But it was good. I am slowly getting used to it. I have not yet started to pedal or anything, just slowly getting my balance on the bike, one little step at a time! I did a bit more this morning and some more tomorrow morning after i do some weights. The more I do the longer I spend, the better it will be!

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Reflect

So as you can see… its completed! After only a few weeks worth of work by both me & my dad (he liked to do stuff without telling me like the painting etc).. Its all done 😀 We spent today and yesterday finishing it off. Getting the last little pieces done. I am sure that if we had of worked solidly it could of been done in one weekend but would not look as good as it would not of had time to dry etc.

But its all done now. It sits proudly in the corner flicking photo to photo. Its exceptionally clear and of such a decent size that it looks good. And what is good is that if my parents want to put on a dvd, they can. The frame was and has been for them the whole time. If i make one for myself I intend on trying the laptop variant I have seen so much of on the internet.

But to be honest. I am really happy with this thing. Total cost of parts was only about $70. Considering brand new 15″ models cost about $200 or more and this is 24″ that can’t be beat!

For all the photos check out the below gallery.

What is my next project… well that one starts in a few weeks time!

Projects

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So i thought since I am reading so much, I might as well do some book reviews. So each time I finish a book now. I am going to share my thoughts on it to the world.

Spoken from the Front

First up is the book i finished Thursday night. It is “Spoken from the Front” It is a collection of letters, diary entries, emails and interviews from British Soldiers stationed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. It has been edited by Andy McNab but its written pretty much by the Soldiers themselves. It is a very wide range of soldiers, including medics, doctors, pilots, military police and of course general infantry soldiers.

It was a good collection of really heartfelt stories in my opinion. some good laughs as well with some very twisted emails from a Defence Press agent sending emails home. I really did like it as it gave a good insight into the way the soldiers etc really think in the war zone. The book is more about the people than about the war itself and that to me is a good way of looking at things. Reading about the people who make the sacrifices to go over there and do it, rather than about the war itself and have the book become and almost political nature as some of them do these days.

I picked this one up at the Ekka on the cheap so it only cost me $5 but i think it was good value. Not sure what else to say about this one, a good read if you want a more light hearted, personal read about the war in Afghanistan from a very varied perspective.

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One of the websites that i visit on a several daily basis (Overclockers Australia Forums) has a pretty active food section. People like to get in and share their food recipes and triumphs etc. There was one thing that piqued my interest. The Sponge Cake thread. I have always been afraid and yet mystified by sponge cakes. I have always loved how light and fluffy the cake is and how a simple cake can just be one of the most wonderful tastes.

Someone ended up posting a recipe for a CWA sponge cake. I thought to myself “i should try that sometime.” My dad’s birthday was fast approaching and I asked him if he minded if I took a stab at making a sponge for his birthday. My dad loves sponge cake. He always prefers the Sponge cakes you get from Woolworths (fake cream and all) and thats probably where I get my love of sponge cake from. So I thought to myself, I will make it from scratch for him. And I will also go all out, make the jam from scratch, and the icing. I wanted it to look like an old school sponge, kinda like this. I was really looking forward to this but in case it didn’t turn out I bought my dad a back up cake. I did not want him to go cakeless on his birthday. And in case it didn’t fail, it was cheap the back up cake so could be chucked/donated if necessary. Here it is, in all of its fake cakey goodness
The Back Up Cake

This Morning was cake baking day. Since I don’t go out running or anything on Sunday mornings meant I could make my dad breakfast (and my mum to lest I never hear the end of the complaints from not doing it!) I would then have an empty kitchen to do what I need to do (and swear as much as possible if I need to). And so it began. I will put all the recipes right at the bottom.

First off you can see all of the ingrediants (just like one of my fav food websites Pioneer Woman does. The Cast of Characters
Cake Cast of Characters
Pretty easy cake to. No flour, no butter. Cornflour, Castor Sugar, Eggs, Bi Carb, Cream of Tartar & Vanilla. Considering sponges have this lore of how difficult they are, I was looking at this thinking “wow… and this is meant to be scary”, I would soon find out why.

First thing after measuring out what I needed I greased and floured the two tins
Greased & Floured Cake Tins
I then set about beating up the Eggs & Sugar. Now this was meant to go on for 10 mins. So i set up the stand mixer.
Beating Eggs & Sugar - Attempt 1
So while this was going, I went to work triple sifting the dry ingrediants and getting that out of the way ready so that this could quickly be folded together and into the oven. But then disaster struck. The mixer was doing its job but was totally inadequate to the job. It just did not do anything good at all. So It was into the trash they went, stand mixer shoved out of the way and I pulled out the stab mixer with whisk attachment.
Beating Eggs & Sugar - Attempt 2 - Part 1
But again disaster struck. About half way in, the bowl was just getting way to full and going everywhere! So I had to get a bigger bowl. Stop the clock, grab a bigger bowl and restart the clock.
Beating Eggs & Sugar - Attempt 2 - Part 2
With that done it was time to mix the wet & dry together, into the Tins & into the oven. quick and easy. All up if it had not of been for the stuff up, a cake finished in half an hour with no real effort!
Into the Oven they go
With the cakes in the oven I quickly tidied up and got started on the jam. This time I wasn’t going by any recipes, I was making it up as I went along.
Rasberry Jam Cast of Characters
Another cast of Characters. Rasberries, Lemon Juice & Agave Nectar. Why agave and not sugar, I was trying to be a little bit healthier and not use any sugar. The less sugar the better I guess. We will see how it turns out in the long run. I made some of this about a month back (using different fruit) and it lasted pretty good with the Agave.
Rasberries in the pot
Shove it all in the pot, turn on the heat and let it go. Simple as!
Rasberries Cooking Down with Lemon & Agave
15 mins after going in, timer goes off, out come the cakes!
Cakes are out of the Oven
With the cakes out, it was back to the jam.
Jam Cooking Away
Then seriously after like 1 minute out i was slowly getting sad. I thought I had failed as this happened
After 1 minute out... already starting to sink :(
I just let them sit for about 10 mins, turned them out onto a clean tea towel and walked away, thats right walk away (Alton Brown reference there, most of you wont get it)
After about 10 minutes, out of the pan onto a Clean Tea Towel
I got back to focusing on the jam, wondering if it was going to set, was it going to be ok, the usual cooking panics
Jam Cooking Away
After a good 20 mins of cooking time, It was pretty cooked down and looked good, So I pulled the jam off the stove, placed it into a lovely sexy black plastic tray and into the Fridge to help it set.
Jam in a container ready to set...
I then left the house to go off and run errands and while I was out, I heard an ad for a Harvey Norman’s sale. I was tempted to go and buy a new stand mixer, one of the nice shiny ones. Ideally I would love a kitchenaid. Its the ones you see in every cooking show (Alton Brown’s has Flames!) and I wanted one so badly, but it cost $800! So not gonna happen. But There are some good more budgety models. Harvey Norman would do me one for $285.. down from $350… thats tempting. But I had to run off to the airport, so was going to come back. Then seeing as I was making good time to the airport (which is a whole other story) I stopped off at Good Guys, same mixer, retailing for $350… negotiations look good.. lets see if i have to pull the “harvey norman are offering it for less line” the conversation went like this.

Store Clerk: Can I help you with Something?
Me: Yeah, what kinda price can you do on this mixer?
Store Clerk: How you paying, cash or credit
Me: Credit card, I want the points
Store Clerk: What kinda card?
Me: Amex
Store Clerk: can’t discount on amex, but if you have a visa or mastercard I can do a price
Me: Yeah i can do that (was hoping the payments to my mastercard had cleared but they didn’t)
Store Clerk: Types away at computer, comes back $245
Me: Really? $245?
Store Clerk: Yeah
Me: What colours you got
Store Clerk: White…. looks at other box Or White
Me: Thinks Ok I’ll take it

I mean seriously $105 off the retail price! I was freaking HAPPY! So here she is in all her pretty, shiny glory.
My New Toy.. Kenwood Patissiere Mixer

So back to the baking. With new mixer ready to go, I was going to decorate this cake, old school styles. Kinda. Now some of you may know that I have IBS, and one of the triggers is Cream. I can’t eat cream. And after a cake request from a friend (which will be shown to the blog in a few weeks time) I was hunting round for a “non dairy” topping that was used in another recipe that I needed. Now it looks like cream, whips like cream but its not diary, so why not give it a try in the lead up to the other cake to see how it turns out. Dad was ok with trying it so went ahead with it. It’s called Rich’n Smooth. Similar to “Cool Whip” in the states.
Rich'n Smooth Non Dairy Cream Topping
All you do is shove it in the bowl and start to whip it like you would cream. That’s it… simple as!
Rich'n Smooth in the Mixer
Unfortunately it whipped up a lot more than i expected but hey, what can you do!
"Cream" whipped ready for the cake
Cake Assemble (I have to stop with the sad references, this one to the Avengers… u know Avengers Assemble… ok I will stop now). First Up. Jam onto the bottom layer of the cake. With the cake tops facing In so that the bottom and top are totally flat and level.
Jam on the Bottom Cake Layer
Then the “Cream” goes on next… nice thick layer (got player to spare)
"Cream" now adorning the Bottom layer
And then on goes the other half of the cake.
Top Layer on... almost done!
Wow… its coming together! It looks almost complete, now for some old school icing. When my dad worked for a company called “William Brooks Publishing” they printed some really old school cook books. I am talking old school, hell it was targeted for School Age kids learning to cook in the 70s. So there is some old school stuff in there (even a recipe for making a cup of coffee). I figured, old school cook book is bound to have an old school icing recipe. None of this fondant icing as you would see on all the cake shows (although I do love watching Ace of Cakes). Recipe found time to make. Not content with plain icing.. i chose yellow. Cause i can…

Another Cast of Characters. Icing Sugar, Butter, Water, Vanilla & Food Colouring
Icing Cast of Characters
Pretty simple recipe. sift icing sugar into mixer bowl (hell you could do it without the mixer but i wanna play with my new toy). Beat in the butter, add in the vanilla and a touch of water to form a paste. Add in some food colouring. ice your cake. how easy can you get!
Sifted Icing Sugar in the Bowl
Icing Sugar in Bowl…. Check
Icing mixing Away
Butter, Water & Vanilla in bowl… mix away… Check
Food Colouring Added
Food Colouring Added… Check
Time to finish this cake off. Spreading some of the icing on the top. Not to much to start with so that it doesn’t go to far over the sides, I want it to look pretty.
Icing onto the Cake
And here it is… the finished Cake:
Finished Cake
But heres a better Look
Finished Cake Close Up

So there you have it. Now to wait for dinner so that I can have my cake (and eat it to! hello weekly treat, although I did lick the icing bowl a little bit.. ok maybe the cream to 😉 )

Now for the recipes so you can try it yourself!

Corn Flour Sponge Sandwhich (CWA)

Ingrediants:
* 4 eggs
* ½ cup castor sugar
* 1 cup ‘Fielders’ Cornflour (i used homebrand)
* pinch salt
* 1 teas. cream of tartar
* ½ teas. bicarb soda
* vanilla

Method:
1. Preheat Oven to 180C
2. Grease 2 x 20cm deep-sided sponge tins, dust with flour.
3. Sift cornflour, bicarb. soda, & cream of tartar three times.
4. Beat eggs & sugar together for 10 minutes. (if using a stand mixer, make sure to have a whisk not beater attached)
5. Fold in sifted ingredients.
6. Divide mixture evenly between tins.
7. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.
8. Turn out onto clean tea towel.
9. When cold, join together with raspberry jam.

Butter Icing
Day to Day Cookery – pg190

Ingrediants:
* 1 Cup Icing Sugar
* 2 Tablespoons Butter – Softened
* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
* 1-2 Tablespoons Water or Milk

Method
1. Sift Icing Sugar into a Bowl
2. Work in softened butter with a wooden spoon (I used the mixer)
3. Add sufficient Water (or milk) to make a smooth paste
4. Add Vanilla & Beat Well
5. Add Food Colouring if desired

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Well this weekend has been a very productive weekend. I have spent most of the time at home, but unlike last weekend where I just chilled out and did nothing, this weekend was spent being productive. Managed to get quite a bit done on the “Reflect” project. Reflect is going to be a 24 inch digital photo frame that I am giving to my parents as a gift, but the thing is, I am building it from scratch and trying to use as much stuff as i can either find or scrounge and keeping costs to absolute minimum. So far all I have had to pay for has been the framing edging (as you will see in the photos below. All the other materials have been scrounged from around the house (and some even swapped for some beer with people my dad knows). Total outlay for this project shouldnt be more than $60 or $70. I do have to buy some PC parts (being mouse, keyboard & wireless dongle) and thats where the big chunk of $$$ is going to come from.

But my dad has been helping me, guiding me on what I need to do and how to do it. But he did try and jump ahead of me by doing the major carpentary work on the box itself, which I wasn’t to happy about, but hey… what can you do.

Today also there was a new project that began, called Operation Spring Clean. Yesterday I bought a new tv after having endless problems with my Media Player & the old TV (incompatibility as the Old TV wasnt Full HD, and the Media Player wanted Full HD to work. So what do I do… I buy a new one. to be honest though, I have been looking at new tvs for months now, but every time I just dont get one, I never make up my mind. So I pulled my finger out and just did it. Picked up a Hisense 42″ LCD Full HD for $850. Very happy with it, looks awesome 😀 Would probably look better with a Blu Ray but hey, next time. Only one problem though… The size of the TV meant rearranging a lot of things to make it and the peripherals fit. It was also covering up the inspire project and that dog just wont hunt!

So Operation Spring Clean began, It meant moving up stuff in my room and cleaning up a lot of the cupboards so I could rearrange some stuff for storage. It needs to be done some time. I got most of it done (so that I can make my room habitable till tuesday) but the rest of it will be done on Tuesday afternoon, after I pick up some more storage boxes for some other stuff. (might get rid of the bowling ball in my cupboard to).

Photos so far….

Projects

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So I have come to realise over the last week that it is the little things in life that tend to make me happy. These small things, may not seem like much but when you put them all together, it makes me a happy chappy. After a week of missing some of these little things that I have grown accustomed to, i won’t be taking them for granted anymore I tell you that.

Some of the little things, that make me happy…

* A Nice, Yellow, Large Banana – It may sound silly, But I do enjoy starting the day with a Banana on my breakfast. I love the taste, the texture (even if they are a little bit over ripe) but after a week of tiny little bananas thanks to limited stocks and the shops (stupid panic buying but i won’t rant on about that) I have come to appreciate them more!.
* Music – So the gym has had no power the last few mornings, and its wierd how much you kinda forget that music usually plays in some instances in the background but you never realise just how much you miss it till its gone. Also I left my ipod at home yesterday so had a daily commute without music, wow… felt so bored even for the 10-15 mins each way.
* A Hot Shower – As above, no power at the gym the last few days, so this morning was my first hot shower this week, o my god, how good! I guess I always took it for granted, but a hot shower in the morning, after a work out is fantastic. It helps relax the muscles and helps relax me into the day.
* A moment to breath and relax – We live in a pretty fast paced world these days. Everyone seems to want things RIGHT NOW DAMMIT!, and it means that especially at work, people are not prepared to wait even a few minutes they want it now, and they want it done yesterday. So with calls on hold it feels like you don’t get a chance to even breath, you get rushed, your heart rate increases. The chances you get where you can stop for a minute, take a deep breath, calm down, and just switch off, even for 1 minute, make me happy. Hell I’ve been running round the house this morning getting stuff done quickly before i go to work in 9 minutes (shit 9 minutes!) but when i get to the train this morning, I’ll have 25 mins on the train, music in, book out, to chill out, relax and some quiet time before the world becomes crazy.

And with that… back to a crazy world…

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So with a big Round the World trip on the horizon (less than 6 months to go) I sat down and thought, what are all those things I want to do while on this trip. All the things you look at a big trip and think… i wanna do this, see that, see this, do that.

So here it is. My Round the World Bucket list (also now as the RTWBL). It is in a pretty random order as I just wrote it down as it came to my head. If you wanna suggest things go right ahead, Im happy to add things if i haven’t already done it.

1. Drink a glass of French Champagne in France
2. Drink a glass of champagne on a long haul flight
3. Run through Central Park
4. Pastrami on Rye at Katz’s Deli in New York City
5. In n Out Burger Run at LAX (if i have time during my transit)
6. Drive a Car in the USA
7. Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge
8. Ride a Bullet Train in Japan
9. Hot Dog from a Cart
10. Food from a Truck in Portland
11. Sushi for Breakfast at Fish Markets in Tokyo
12. Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
13. Visit Borough Market
14. Fly on the Upper Deck of the A380
15. Visit Hiroshima
16. Visit Normandy
17. Ride a Train on 3 different Contients
18. Sit in a Backwards Facing Airline Seat
19. Plane Spotting in San Francisco, Vancouver & Narita
20. Catch a Flying Fish in Seattle
21. Visit Alcatraz
22. Touch the Berlin Wall
23. Ride a Cable Car in San Francisco
24. Go Hiking in the Rockies
25. Ride a Bike
26. Go White Water Rafting in Canada
27. Visit a Location where Macgyver was filmed
28. Eat at a Celebrities Restaurant
29. Eat Chicken Rice in Singapore
30. Buy Clothes at a Store in New York City
31. Visit Macys
32. Go to the Rodeo in Canada
33. Glass of Wine in Napa Valley
34. Visit a brewery
35. Visit a temple
36. Visit a Cathedral
37. See the Mona Lisa
38. Make New Friends
39. Go Airline Lounge Hopping
40. Try to meet a Flyertalker
41. Do something Crazy
42. Go to a Baseball Game
43. Eat a Voodoo Doughnut
44. Visit the UN
45. Walk to the Top of the Eifel Tower