Last Day

Last Day
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Still relaxed though.
Sad to be leaving so soon.
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Eumundi is Beautiful

Eumundi is Beautiful
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

I love it up here.
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New Ring

New Ring
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Ooh! New ring.
Unfortunately, it's silver plated. But I like it!
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Coffee Today.

Coffee Today.
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

No interesting food posts today.
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Roundabouts

Multi-lane roundabouts freak me out a little.
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Fantastic Breakfast

Fantastic Breakfast
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

At Lazuli Blue in Noosa.
Holy shit.
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Bad Mix

Bad Mix
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Lilly tells me that this tastes like shit. I'm not suprised.
I'm having an awesome night. I look forward to the rest of the trip.
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What The Fuck Is This?

What The Fuck Is This?
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

A giant bladder nipple udder type thing in the corner of our room at Koala Backpackers in Noosa.
The room isn't water-proof apparently.
They're giving us a free jug of beer for it though, so we're not really upset.
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Fucking Beautiful

Fucking Beautiful
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Noosa is fucking gorgeous. I just wish I had sunglasses. And swimmers. Darn.
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Noosa Beach

Noosa Beach
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Despite the floods, the weather is still pretty darn good. Warm and humid.
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Delayed

Delayed
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Yargh. The flight is delayed.
Meanwhile, there is a man with his hand up a cow's vag on the TV. Fun!
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A Quick Breakfast

A Quick Breakfast
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Grabbing a quick breakfast before boarding. Decided on Subway. Tasty and good value.
Yum.
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Checking In

Checking In
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Ooh! Things are getting along. Now I just need breakfast.
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At Home...

Man. I miss working.
Staying at home is soooo boring. I've applied for a few jobs, but even that is boring.
Gads.
Well, there's only one way to fix the boredom, and unfortunately that's be boring and apply for jobs.
Snore.
At least a quick holiday to Qld this weekend will be nice.
Although.
Drat.
Maybe I'll contact the Wilderness Society about my tax receipt so I can have some fun doing my tax. That'll be fun...

Waiting for Leanne

Waiting for Leanne
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Up at the shops, and I'm cold.
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Simon X?

static_x-21
Originally uploaded by Future Breed.

Don't you think Wayne Static from Static-X looks a fair bit like me?
I came across a photo of him on my front Flickr page, and started looking at the other photos, and became a little scared.

Gollum

Gollum
Originally uploaded by Maciej Freudenheim.

Hahaha.
My Precious...

Tristan's 24th Party Photos

I've just finished uploading photos from Tristan's 24th Birthday Bash.
Funny that I call it "Tristan's" when it was actually on Belinda's 24th Birthday, but because Belinda had her party the night before, this year I give Tristan the rights to the 11th August.
I ramble.
Just look at the darn photos...

New Photos!

There are HEAPS of new photos to be seen at the Simon & Leanne's Super Fun Happy Times group - GO CHECK 'EM OUT!

There's some oldies:

There's some newbies (some stoned...shh):

And then there's just some plain beautiful ones:

Wardens Love It

Doin a job for Safe Installations this morning. We stopped at a petrol station and I noticed a gaol warden get out of a Rodeo with the number plates AN-11-LY
Ha ha. That's how wardens like it!
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Bus Took Forever.

Am heading into the city to have lunch with Lilly (despite it now being incredibly late), to give Josh his guitar cable that Ben bought him, and has been sitting in my room since Black Sabbath, and to fix the bond cheque and deposit it into my account.
I arrived at the bus stop 4 minutes after the bus was due, and the next bus was 25 minutes away. I wasted that time using my phone's Internet connection. As is typical, the next bus was 10 minutes late. Why couldn't the first bus have been that late?
I've not heard from the Perth job yet (but didn't expect to). I'm still not 100% on the work roster though, so I'm applying for other jobs as I wait. There are some interesting ones going. I'll keep you all informed as things come up.
Meanwhile, I'm hungry.

Listening to: Opeth - Still Life (album)
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Unemployment Rules.

Details later...
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Details here:
Yeah man. You heard me. Unemployment rules.
Leanne took Monday off and we decided to go on a picnic at West Head. It was absolutely fucking beautiful. We picked a little out-of-the-way track and followed it to a beautiful little rocky outcrop, and had our lunch there. Then we followed the path out to a beautiful lookout. Pictures soon.
So yes. I am grateful that Scott The Cock fired me. I have also applied for a job in Perth (wish me luck). If that fails, then there are still very many jobs to apply for.
But for the moment, I'm happy to not have to worry about getting Premier Illawarra finished. I'm happy to not worry about if all the Section Points are in the correct locations.
I'm happy to have all the time in the world to unwind and spend with my girl.
Unemployment rules, if only for the moment.

The Sea Washes it Green

The Sea Washes it Green
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

And a lovely day at the beach it was...

Glorious Sunshine

Glorious Sunshine
Originally uploaded by Carafaele

Its beautiful day today and im driving to the beach.

Goodbye Winter

Goodbye Winter
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

What a beautiful day!
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Happy Birthday Tristan!

Happy Birthday Tristan!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Dirty McHorny McWhackWhack!
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Pie!

Pie!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Out for Tristan & Belinda's Birthday. Pie, mash, peas and gravy for dinner. Fuck yeah.
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I Am Thinking of Getting A New Tattoo

My tattoo will be of the Luckdragon Falkor from book(/movie) The Neverending Story.

(This is what I dreamt some nights ago, and what I may or may not have discussed with Simon before having said dream.)

It will wrap around my upper thigh
And he and I shall fly
Every evening upon the shores
Of my dreams

Wonderful & Awesome

Oh, look here - why is this child pointing at his nose?
And what are those dark little dots from?

Aha!
I think I have the answer...

Tasty Breakfast

Tasty Breakfast
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Flicking through photos on my phone, and came across this sucker from the weekend. I love fried breakfasts. I want one now.
Yum.
Aside from that, had an awesome time with Ben; the concert was awesome, and the beach today (see below) was beautiful.
On my way home now.
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Best Place in The World

Best Place in The World
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

To get stoned...
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So much better than Ozzy

So much better than Ozzy
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Yeah, you heard me. Black Sabbath rock. And Ozzy is no match for Dio.
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Dio! Time To Go!

Dio! Time To Go!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Waiting for the Newcastle train to depart (15 minutes).
I'm due in at Broadmeadow at 4:15pm. Will meet Ben there. Will find a pub. Will have a few beverages. Will grab dinner. Will see Black Sabbath. Will have a good night. Will head back down tomorrow night. Will see you all on the weekend.
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...and stay out!

Wow.
I mentioned earlier that I entered into an argument with my manager about hours being worked up.
Well, I called my recruitment agency Monday morning complaining, and asking if I had any legal standing to demand pay for the hours I worked. I also asked them to remain discreet.
Come 4pm, my manager walks over and asks if he can talk to me outside.
He tells me that my recruitment agency called, and that he has decided it is in our best interests for me to not come to work anymore.
Officially fucking fired.
What a fucking child. I dob on him and he retaliates by firing me.
What a fucking cock.
I guess I shall recall the full story here.
So.
We are contracted for 80 hour fortnights. Last fortnight I had to stay back and extra 5 hours because of meetings running overtime and having to get stuff prepared for meetings.
These extra hours were able to be "saved up" to go toward the APEC summit compulsory day off in September. Not really a problem.
Except on the Monday I was sick, so I figured that these extra hours should go toward that day instead. I figure it's within my rights to get paid for hours that I have worked.
So I hand in my timesheet last Friday, and my manager says that he won't sign the timesheet with 77 hours on it - that I have to resubmit it with only 72 hours on it.
He tells me this during morning tea. I say that it's illegal, and that I will call the recruitment agency about my rights.
He leaves shortly after to go back to his desk.
I decide to go tell him that I didn't want to butt heads over it, and find him emailing the recruitment agency telling them that I will be calling soon. Fucker.
I decide that it wasn't worth arguing with him about the timesheet and yield; I resubmit the 72 hour timesheet.
After leaving work, I decide that I have a fucking right to get paid for what I have worked, and call my recruitment agency and tell them about his bullying and illegal policy.
Unfortunately, Maria (she who is in charge of TC) wasn't in, so I talked to Amy about it. She agreed, and even said that she knows what my manager is like. She left a note for Maria to call me on Monday morning.
Come Monday, she hadn't yet called. I called her. She was like "Oh, I was meant to call you!" Yes you were, Maria. Why didn't you?
So I talked with her about it, and she was fucking useless. She asked if I wanted to jeopardise my job over it. This shouldn't jeopardise my job, but I said yes - that I was sick of the mis-management.
She said she'd have to talk to her manager about it, and would call me back.
Come 4pm, my manager walks over and asks if he can talk to me outside...
Fuckwit.
So I pack up my stuff, send a goodbye, fuck you email, and head over to the pub with Josh and Leanne for a pint of Old.
So, there you go.
I'm going to visit my recruitment agent, find out what exactly happened. I'm also going to call workplace relations to find out if it was legal a) to pay like that or b) to fire me like that.
Fuckers.
So. I'm now a free man... restricted only by what meagre money I have paid off of my credit card and by what money I have coming to me.
I am applying for jobs this week, although I didn't today because I was down at Newport, and won't tomorrow, as I'm heading up to Newcastle for the Black Sabbath concert.
Wish me luck.

Facebook

You may or may not have noticed that I started a Facebook account on Friday.
I did this out of boredom. I thought it would give me something to do while I wait for work at TC. I'm not sure I should have.
I don't use MySpace anymore, and I'm probably not going to use Facebook - certainly not to the degree to which it is meant to be used.
It's a great website, full of really good, techy features, so why won't I use it?
I just can't be fucked checking it.
I like my Blog. I write, people read. I get all the personalisation that I want, and I don't have to respond to anything but the occasional comment.
But with Social Networks I have to check it all the time, I have to respond to messages, pokes, invitations, comments, wall markings, and friend requests, and I've been accused of ignoring people when I don't (I might add that if you're reading this, relax; I'm not talking about you).
Facebook is clearly better than MySpace - in terms of features, interface, bandwidth consumption, cleanliness, open API (and the subsequent applications it spawns), ability to use feeds, no friend ranking, the list goes on and on. It's a great product and a great idea.
But I just don't sit online anymore.
I'm not going to sit in front of Facebook and browse. I'm not going to trawl through profile pages and send a virtual puppy to someone whose status reads "feeling down."
I'm not going to spend hours customising my page, deciding what song best describes how I feel at the moment, or what text colour reflects me as a person (I already did that on my blog, haha). I'm not going to create lists of my favourite things, so people can decide if they want to be my friend or not. I'm not going to spend hours uploading and tagging photos for yet another site (I already have Flickr for that, thank you), and I'm not going to spend the time looking at your profiles, either.
I just don't do that anymore.
My virtual life has shrunk to a lone Blog (ok, ok, there's Flickr and Jaiku, too...). I really don't use the Internet like I used to.
So I'm considering deleting both my MySpace and my Facebook account - I will save you all the trouble of poking me, writing something on my wall, or tagging my/your photos. If you need to contact me; email is good, phone is better.
If you needed to resort to a social networking site to contact me (because you don't have my phone number or email address), chances are that I probably don't miss you, and won't want to catch up with you for coffee.
If you want to find me on a social network, how about the pub? I like the pub, and I don't have to worry about typos there.
That is all.

Yet Another Weekend Up At The Hunter

What is it now? 5 weeks in a row? I don't know... but I've been up at The Hunter every weekend for while now. I suppose it's good that I get use out of it before it sells... if it sells.
But it was good weekend.
Mike, Leanne & I went up for a smoke.
We were on clouds, we became planes, we flew through the air and across the hills, waving at the little people...
Indeed. Fun.
We ate too much, though.
Altogether too much.
I need to start eating better. And probably exercising, too.
This shall happen this week.

I am seeing Black Sabbath with Ben this Wednesday. We're seeing it in Newcastle (Bogan HO!), and as such, I've taken the following day off of work. It's funny; I hate work, but I hate taking days off work because we don't get paid for them. I actually entered into a bit of an argument about not being able to work up hours for days off with my manager on Friday. I'm trying to find out if what they are doing is legal. The lady at my recruitment agency isn't very helpful, though.
Sigh.

Hunter Valley Madness

Hunter Valley Madness
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Mike, Leanne & I at Bimbadeen Lookout, in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia.
Havin an awesome weekend.
TO THE WINERIES!
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Coming Weekend

Wednesday night saw the birth of the idea of going up to the Hunter with Leanne, Mickey, and Ross and smoking some green.
Turns out Ross can't make it.
Leanne has now been offered to work tomorrow (Saturday) at double-time. So she is seriously considering that offer.
Mike and I will still head up tonight, though.
So, if Leanne decides not to come up tonight, we will meet her at Morrisett after work. This also means we will have Yummy Thai (that's actually the name of the restaurant) for dinner, which will be nice.
Mum is mega-stressed at the moment, and she will be coming up, too - so that'll be nice. I said I'd shout her dinner.
So. Yet another weekend spent up at The Hunter.
Sorry guys.

It's been some time since I posted about dogs...

Рэд
Originally uploaded by maxmorev

You know... I don't even like dogs that much. I like them, yes, but I'm not crazy about them.
I hardly ever think of dogs, or dream about them.

Most of my dreams are about whales, or about bears in the ocean.

Whales suspended on wire frames above the middle of the ocean, swimming with whales in watery-roads on the way to Mickey's house, whales beached, whales stored dead/netted and cramped in a corrugated iron warehouse over the ocean... I dream about whales a freaking lot. I think they're my dream-spirit-animals.

Bears in the ocean or underwater are the thing I dream about second most-often. Bears living underwater, huge bears swimming at zoos like whales, bears attacking from the shallows, bears swimming in circles....

I very rarely dream of dogs.
But tonight I think I shall probably dream of this very creepy photo.

Coffee

Coffee fucks me up.
That is all.
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Manson

Prick your finger it is done
The Moon has now eclipsed the Sun
The Angel has spread it's wings
The time has come for better things

This used to be a favourite line of mine. Listening to Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar, and thought I'd write it down somewhere. It's off of the song Cryptorchid.