Big update

I've been hiding out, and recovering, as opposed to "getting over" the loss of our baby. Maybe it was nature's way of saying that it wasn't the kid's time, and that perhaps something was wrong with the pregnancy. Who the fuck knows. It still hurts.

My life has changed a lot this year. I'm happy, and I'm a lot busier than I once was. I no longer have a lot of spare time on my hands, or even a reasonable amount. That bothers me, but it's something that will in time be ironed out.

A typical day these days sees me wake at 5:30am, head out the door at 6:55am, and take two trains, arriving at one of my two work locations almost on the dot of 8:30am. I work, and I enjoy it, and I'm for the most part in an environment in which I'm allowed and encouraged to develop myself further. It's nice, and certainly a lot more social than in my previous station.

I get home at around 6:30pm, and after a quick chore or two, cook dinner, and by the time I've eaten, or occasionally having bathed my lad, it's 9pm and my bedtime.

Yeah.. I go to bed at 9pm. A biiiig change. No more 3am's, and no more late mornings. I can't stay in bed past 7am on a weekend now, even if given the opportunity. I'm wide awake, and restless.

Weekends are a bit of a struggle. There's just not enough time to do as much as I'd like. I want more time.

My ongoing RMIT studies - are a necessary pain. I don't particularly feel that I.T people are all that logical, or reasonable. Hence programming languages and instructions are as cold and irrational as an ice cube inserted into one's pee hole. Sure, the instructions might make sense to someone with a less than bureaucratic grasp of conversation and communication on a human level, but it's not for the likes of I.

My wife and I need to get out and about. We need to meet some people. Melbourne is a great city, but outside of work, it's very hard to meet people and make friends, unless you spend time either in a social group, club, or are a bar fly. Since I don't go to pubs here, and haven't one anywhere near me, that last option isn't too likely, and I have yet to figure out if I'm a club joining guy, especially after all of the annoyance the Wilderness Society and their constant bombardments caused.

Anyway..

Positives.

1. Last fortnight I went to a book launch for Dr. Jennifer Jones' "Black Authors, White Editors." I was surprised though. The author, whom I had previously spoken with, ended up calling upon me to do the launching! There's a story behind that, but one probably too tedious to anyone not interested in genealogy and my historical ties and obsessions.

2. My bread is improving. It looks great, tastes great, is multi grain, brown, isn't made via the use of a bread maker - and the damn crumbling/fragility problem is getting a lot better (am open to suggestions however).

3. A scan today. Fingers crossed.

4. I think in a brainstorm today that I may have nailed the narrative flow of my book. An issue which had kept me from tackling even a since sentence for a considerable amount of time.

5. I'm well on the track of two fraudulent characters, whom I aim to publicly humiliate for the use of my grandfather's name (more on this when prodded perhaps).

6. I didn't get swine flu from the kid who had it at my work. Yay!

Book book book

I'm behind in my reading. I've a pile of books that I've purchased or have been blessed with temporarily that I am due to read but simply haven't had the time as yet to look through. This of course hasn't stopped me going on another book buying spree or two recently.

My nature is that of a compulsive collector. I don't gamble, drink heavily and I don't smoke. My vice has always been the need to go on a spree in search of... something. Giving it some thought, there has always been one thing or another that I've been in search of. With that particular something ranging as my tastes and interests have developed over the years. When I was 5 it was lollies. In 6th grade it was footy cards. At the age of 13 it was comic books. 15 and it was tattoo magazines. Right now it's books.

Not only am I collector, but I'm a hoarder. I have every football and basketball card, comic book, tattoo magazine, CD, DVD, film and gig poster, records, computer magazine, beer bottles, book and genealogical scrap of data I've ever collected - save for those I sold in my late teens in an effort to buy even more collectables. Oh, and the wardrobe worth of material that I palmed off onto my brother safe in the knowledge that he's just as bad in this pursuit as I am.

My collectable obsessions are broken up into sub sections quite easily. All of my collections relate to some of my major interests: art, team sports, technology and history. As such, the above can be seen in the last couple of hauls I've picked up when exploring Melbourne by foot and via Amazon and Ebay, only some of which I've read so far:

True Blue - The History of the NSW Rugby League
HOW Magazine - October 2008
British History - 1815-1906
Earthship - Volume I
Earthship Volume II
Moving the Goal Posts (Souths book)
Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology
The History Today Companion to British History
The Emigrant's Friend (A facsimile of an 1848 guide to the British colonies of Australia)
Whitlam on Australia's Constitution
Wired - The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi
Nowhere People (Koori history)
The Other Side of the Frontier (Koori history)
Mapping History - World Religions
The Master (Rugby League)
Krakatoa - The Day the World Exploded
Rum Rebellion (History)
For God's Sake, send the Trackers (Koori history)
Rough Guide - The Universe
Darwin Awards II

..and whatever other crap I can't remember!