Windows LIve Messenger

I'm writing this as i wait for windows live messenger to download. Its at 33%. I have had a few issues with the latest versions of messenger. At first i installed it and my contacts wouldn't show up at all even thought they were still there, so i removed it and reinstalled the older 2008 version. Just yesterday i thought i would upgrade to 2009 and it was looking good until it came to trying some of the features out. It would crash my computer making me restart at least 10 times in an hour. It is now at 82%, come on, download a little faster. At the end of writing this sentence it is at 93%.
Ok so the plan is to go back to version 2008 until i feel calm down enough to upgrade.

Los Angeles Zoo

Been a very long time for me to go to a Zoo, so long in fact i don't remember it. I was roughly 5 or 6 at the time. So to get a chance to go to a zoo would be a chance i would take. Looking at the LA Zoo Website
there are lots of animals to look at. In particular the tigers, elephants, Lions, bears, zebra, giraffe, rhinoceros and Hippopotamus are the animals i want to catch a glimpse at.

Adult ticket prices are $12, parking is free and the zoo is open from 10am to 5pm and i am not allowed to feed the animals otherwise i can be evicted from the zoo.

Griffith Park

Items of interest in Griffith Park are

• Los Angeles Zoo
• Museum of American West
• Griffith Park Observatory
• Greek Theater
• The Hollywood sign
• the bronze bust of James Dean
• the Bird Sanctuary

Hollywood

So we have all heard of Hollywood and all know the famous Hollywood sign. Yeah i definitely want to see it. Other items of interest are Mann's Chinese Theater, even just to say i've seen it, same with Fredrick's Egytptian Theater. Then there are the Boulevards, Hollywood and Sunset. A walk down Hollywood boulevard would be nice spotting some of the famous "Movie Star "stars"". Mulholland Drive is a road that is often talked about so hopefully i get a chance to take a drive down it.

Some of the Movie Star stars i'd like to see are
1724 Vine St - Lauren Bacall
1719 Vine St - James Dean
1637 Vine St - Frank Sinatra
1610 Vine St - Cary Grant
6801 Hollywood Blvd - Matt Damon
6777 Hollywood Blvd - Elvis Presley
6322 Hollywood Blvd - Humphrey Bogart
6329 Hollywood Blvd - Grace Kelly
6336 Hollywood Blvd - Liz Taylor
6506 Hollywood Blvd - Alfred Hitchcock
6519 Hollywood Blvd - Dean Martin

Toasted Spagetthi Sandwiches

These are a nice treat on cold winter days. Yum. Tin Spagheti ( how ever you spell it) toasted.

Map of LA

This is for my own benefit so i can get the layout of LA itself, all its suburbs.

Planning a trip

Went to the library today and borrowed some books to do some reading. Ones a National Geographic book on Los Angeles and the other is a Lonely Planet on California. I will have to read through to find some areas i want to wander and go adventuring. I want to take lots of photos so looking for things that are photo worthy.

In the Garden

My first day off in a while so i decided to just chill. I went and purchased some seedlings, Brussels Sprouts, Garlic, Cauliflower, Broccoli and Strawberries. I had prepared the garden a few weeks earlier with lime and dug out all the weeds and hadn't taken the time to plant anything. Deciding its better late then never, i went to Bunnings Warehouse and bought some. I stuck them in the ground all except the strawberries which i am going to put in a pot. Here is the outcome. I also happened to find some Spring Onions in the compost heap that dad had thrown out in summer. They are now growing quite nicely. :-)

Rendered Pise

Here is the Pise wall partly rendered Now...

More Pise

After we opened up the damaged area, we applied a waterproof cement coat to Pise. This helps hold the Pise together and also helps to slow down the drying of our renders as the dry earth walls sucks the moisture out of our renders too quickly which can lead to cracking. It also gives us some more time to work.



After the cement waterproof coat, we applied a cement splash/dash coat. It is thrown onto the wall which gives something for our render to stick to. It allows the wall to be uniform enough for us to work on. Instead of having sections of wall all different kind of surfaces, it makes the wall one kind of surface. The mixture for the material is made strong which helps make it stick. You can see how it is splattered onto the wall.

Pise

Because i have been working i have been slacking so i am going to combine the two.
This is the Pise House i have been working on. Pise is rammed earth and is a building technique that has been around many many years. You can see the render that has been applied is pretty rough and the clients wanted us to straighten the wall.





We then had to take off any damaged areas of render which then exposed the pise (rammed earth) underneath.

Work Tools

Today i had an emphasis on work tools.
Here is a float that i made myself, i shaved the handle myself and just used liquid nails to glue it together. I used an old cedar cupboard that was no good anymore and a pine handle. A float is used to flatten the wall out and to make the surface uniform.


This is a store bought one. Pretty much similar, just the price difference.

Song of the Day

The Supremes - Reflections
Through the mirror of my mind
Time after time
I see reflections of you and me

Reflections of
The way life used to be
Reflections of
The love you took from me

Oh, I'm all alone now
No love to shield me
Trapped in a world
That's a distorted reality

Hapiness you took from me
And left me alone
With only memories

Through the mirror of my mind
Through these tears that I'm crying
Reflects a hurt I can't control
'Cause although you're gone
I keep holding on
To the happy times
Oh, when you were mine

As I peer through the window
Of lost time
Looking over my yesterdays
And all the love I gave all in vain
(All the love) All the love
That I've waisted
(All the tears) All the tears
That I've tasted
All in vain

Through the hollow of my tears
I see a dream that's lost
From the hurt
That you have caused

Everywhere I turn
Seems like everything I see
Reflects the love that used to be

In you I put
All my faith and trust
Right before my eyes
My world has turned to dust

After all the nights
I sat alone and wept
Just a handful of promisses
Are all that's left of
loving you

Reflections of
The way life used to be
Reflections of
The love you took from me

In you I put
All my faith and trust
Right before my eyes
My world has turned to dust...

Hello

I've been slacking of late on my blog, i haven't spent much time on it. If you must know, i have been working hard. A few projects have come in, so i have been putting in the hard yards to earn something good.
Hopefully a holiday to LA is on the cards and i'll be having a look around LA town. I will start to plan my trip soon, seeing where i want to go, what i want to see. I will do that on here.
Sitting here, my bum has gone numb from sitting in the same spot for so long. At the moment i am fascinated with Extreme Friend Stock, a game on facebook which is similar to Friend stock but one slight difference, its Xtreme.

Song of the Day

Sandie Shaw - There's always something there to remind me

Out my Window

Here I am parked out the front of Centro Albury early in the morning. This is the CBD, with the main street just ahead at those traffic lights. Target shopping center is to my right, Kmart and Coles Supermarket is to my left there. That's my mother walking away, going in to do some early morning shopping.

Song of the Day

Rod Stewart - Sailing

I am sailing, I am sailing,
home again 'cross the sea.
I am sailing, stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.

I am flying, I am flying,
like a bird 'cross the sky.
I am flying, passing high clouds,
to be with you, to be free.

Can you hear me, can you hear me
through the dark night, far away,
I am dying, forever trying,
to be with you, who can say.

Can you hear me, can you hear me,
through the dark night far away.
I am dying, forever trying,
to be with you, who can say.

We are sailing, we are sailing,
home again 'cross the sea.
We are sailing stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.

Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free.
Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free,
Oh Lord.

Snip Snip...

Today i was working on my trailer wiring, as some of my lights aren't working on it. I found some that had been damaged so was in the middle of fixing wires. I had to cut some to be able to repair them, as i was doing so, i had a memory of when i was younger.

Working in the garage, i was setting up some lights and switches to be used in the garage. I wanted a fixed light that i could flick on and off when i needed and wanted it to be "real professional". I found an old extension cord and ran it from the laundry out into the shed. I ran it through support beams out of the way and it was looking good. I found my light i wanted to install, the standard light socket you find in most houses, so i wanted to hard wire it into the extension lead.

My next step was to position the light in its place to give it the best light for the whole garage. Having, found the position, it was looking good. Next step was to cut the extension lead and to wire it into the light. So i find my pliers and snip the extension lead. Zzzzzzz. Sparks fly as i cut into the wire. Smoke sizzles from the pliers. I stand there shocked at what i just did. I had just cut into a live power lead. How did i do such a thing. I had plugged it into the power point to test it out and believing i had turned it off and unplugged it, believed it was safe to cut. Boy was i wrong.

I still stood there shocked having not believed what i just did, when my sister comes outside, "Aaron, the television isn't working". Yes, thank you the person who invented electricity safety kill switches. If it hadn't short circuited, i would have been definitely zapped. I learnt a wonderful lesson that day, double check things especially when playing with dangerous objects. I haven't really attacked any electrical wires since that day. Cutting the trailers wires today brang back this one moment in my life.

As for my light, i did finish it off, and it served its purpose for a few days, until i stopped using the garage. I still have the pliers that i used to cut them, they have a nice little chip in the metal from where the electricity fried it to remind me of the stupidity of that day.

Out my window

This is looking out my window of the F150 just off the main street of Albury at dusk, around 5.30pm. I was playing with the night landscape option on my camera. That is where i bought my fish, K9 Catfish. My fishies home, now living at my house.

I want to swim with the fishes...

I like to sit and watch fish swim around, going about there business. Watching fish is peaceful to me, i can sit and just get lost in there movements without a thought or care in the world, just watching the fish play. I enjoy the way they dart around, quick and agile, zipping here and there. One second here, the next there. I love big fish and small fish alike. I find nothing more beautiful then a big school of fish, swimming together in unison.
A flick of the tail can provide so much power to rip it through the water but also do it so elegantly too. Colors and Shapes are another thing i like about fish. You can get them in so many shapes and sizes. All different patterns on a fish, some fat, some skinny. They can glow, they can look cute and can look menacing.
As for my fish tank, i want to slowly put my fish tank together. I want to make a little theme in the tank, choosing a color to style it with for the stones and buildings etc. I want to make it my own little world. There are so many options out there with fish ornaments to make it look interesting. I can play around with the fish tank backgrounds too. My first theme i want to play with is a castle theme. A castle in the French riviera should keep me occupied. Lots of green grass, blue sky and old style stone castles. Almost a picture perfect little world for myself. Oui Oui.
Also, being born March 6, i am a Pisces, therefore i am a fish. ;-)


French Riviera Castle Example

Out my Window...

This is on my way to pick up my mum. This is just coming off the freeway and is slightly down hill. From the car it looked a pretty good view. The camera kind of ruins the view but was still an interesting image. I need to clean the windscreen lol. Theres a little dot on the screen. hehe. Not much cloud in the sky, just that one right in the center of the photo. I love the jet streak in the top right hand side. And i like to think about what is out over those hills in the distance. Theres a world out there with all wonderful possibilities. Go forth and look out over those hills.

Waiting

Waiting can be some of the hardest things you do in life. I hate to wait. Even if its just for the kettle. I like to think of myself as a patient person but there are some things that irk me. Waiting for the light to go green, waiting for something in the mail, waiting for people when i would be rather doing something else, waiting on the phone to customer service to get matters fixed. Yes thats what i'm doing right now. I am mastering the art of patience.

C is For...

This is my new camera box for my new camera that i bought yesterday. Yay. Now i can take some more photos. This photo was taken with my new camera. I have been using my 2.0 megapixel phone camera which has done the job for me so far, but it was time to get serious somewhat and actually use a camera. Hopefully you'll soon see some really cool photos!!!

• Cary Grant- An actor that i find very entertaining. He stars in some of my favorite movies of all time such as "To Catch a thief", "North by Northwest" and just recently i watched "Only Angels have wings"


• Catholic - I was born and raised a Catholic.


• Christopher - This is my father and also my middle name that i was given.
  
  
• Chocolate - What else is needed to be said. yeah Chocolate. Yummy!!
  


• Cintia - A truly wonderful friend. There should be more people like you.
  


• Creativity - Everybody needs creativity. Its like living outside the box. It makes the world a wonderful place.
  


• Cricket - This sport was an addiction for me as a child. I was never without a thought of cricket and when i would get to play next. I was nearly always out playing and practicing.
  


• Cycling - This is now my sport of choice. Its a sport that can be done alone or as a group. For the time restricted person, you can get out on your own and still be part of an amazing culture of bicylce riding.


• Computers - where would i be without computers. I definitely wouldn't have met you without computers.
  

Strange thought of the day...

I leave my hair conditioner in my hair for a while like the instructions suggest. I wonder if it would be bad to leave the conditioner in, forgetting to rinse it out. And then drying your hair with conditioner still through your hair. It probably does nothing, just makes a mess of your towels.

What the???

I woke up this morning to have dew on my truck window but with a perfect circle cut into the dew. I have no idea how it got there. There was nothing sitting on my windscreen that i know of. Freaky is it not???

Coming in to land

Another Day

Looking out my window of the F150. This is the sun rising beyond the tree. Once again there is dew on the bonnet of the truck.



This is Virgin Blue taking off from Albury Airport heading to Sydney early this morning.

B is for...

This is a picture of my Blundstone Boots box. hehehe 3 b's in a row. These are my work boots that i wear a fair amount of time. They are fairly good boots to wear and are fairly comfortable even after wearing them for hours.

• Barry- My last name, the name i will most likely have for the rest of my life.
• Batman - I have a pretty strong fascination for Batman. I enjoy watching movies and love anything to do with him. Swoosh. Bam. Clash.
  
• Bo - My first ever dog that i remember. Jack Russel cross fox terrier i think he was. He unfortunately passed away in a sad situation. I had my first car accident when i went to look for Bo when he went missing. I knocked down our backyard fence. He came back himself after a day but happened to be covered in mud. We think he got caught in a drain and spent all his energy trying to get out. He passed away that day.
  
• Blink 182 - My favorite band as i was growing up, the rebellious nature and comedic style of music fascinated me and helped me get through my younger years.
• Blue- My favorite color of all, i love all shades of blue. If you look at my portfolio site. Its blue
  
• Box - Thinking outside the box is a must, its where the plain turns into something exciting
• Bridget - A sweet sweet girl that i enjoy talking to alot
• Bugs Bunny - A wonderful cartoon that has kept me fascinated for years. Still very entertaining even after all these years.
  
• Boobs - I'm definitely a boobs man, hehehe
• Bike - I love to ride a bicycle, it lets me feel free and also keeps me fit. I love the feeling of free falling down a hill. I love the feeling of accomplishment of a hard tough ride. I love the air in my face. I love the burning in my legs. I love the speed. Yeah. I enjoy riding bikes.
• Blog - At the moment i am enjoying blogging. Its a lot of fun to share things that i find interesting. I will eventually share lots more of my thoughts.
  

Looking out my window

Different views that i will show you out my window. This is how i see the world everyday as i go about my everyday life.



This is my highway that bypasses my city of Albury Wodonga. This is the bonnet/hood of my 1989 F150. As you can see the end of my wiper blade is bent out. LOL. Check out the blue sky, not a cloud and the dead grass, very Australian.

Still looking out my F150 window. This time at a Coles Supermarket in Lavington. I am parked in a carpark, where they have shade cloth for cover. I thought it would make an interesting photograph. You can see the dew on the bonnet/hood as it is early morning.

Still feeling Nostalgic

I was thinking about Thomas The Tank Engine with Ringo Starr as narrator and i happened to remember other television shows i loved as a child.

Joshua Jones
It was about Joshua, a feller who lived on a boat and he would go up and down a canal.


Fireman Sam
I would watch this along with other animated shows similar such as postman pat and joshua jones as above.


The animals of farthing wood

Flashback

Today i had a flash back to the Coca Cola ads i would see on tv as a child. It's quite funny what sticks with you after so many years. Over 10 years ago now, i still remember these polar bears on tv. Advertising does work. It gets the message across.



I grew up with cartoons as a child, i spent the majority of my time in front of the tv watching cartoon shows or playing Nintendo, the original one, the NES!!! Cartoons i remember watching are Rugrats, Aaah Real Monsters, Smurfs, Hey Arnold, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam, Raggy Dolls, Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime, Ninja Turtles, Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry and Yogi Bear. These were pretty much my favorites. I'm sure there is a lot more but the old memory is starting to fail me LOL.
I even followed my cartoon addiction by drawing a bit. I even created a little character called Marvin that got into a lot of mischief. I will have to find the drawings and scan them and put them on here. They were a lot of fun.

Funny Photos

Richard Simmons on Whose Line Is it anyway

Even though ive watched it millions of time, it still is freaking hilarious

Tangambalanga

Today i traveled to a small town roughly 20 km south East of Albury/Wodonga called Tangambalanga. It has a population of roughly 440 people. The name comes from the Aboriginal Pallangaganmiddah Tribe's word (Tan-gam-bool-am) for the white clawed lobster, the Murray Crayfish.

A Murray Crayfish

A is for.....

This is going to be a project of mine where i will Alphabetize things that are important to me. If you follow along, hopefully you will learn things about me. I will be photographing the letters of the alphabet with things that also mean something to me. I will try to be as creative as possible.



This is my drink bottle. It is important to me as it was a gift from my sister and i use it a lot to keep myself hydrated in my day to day activities and even on the bike.

• Aaron - Obviously i am important to myself
• Aramis - My choice of after shave
• Albury - The town that i have spent most of my life around
• Australia - The incredible country that i have grown up in and feel so lucky to be here compared to so many other unlucky countries
• Art - a fun interest of mine, i enjoy looking at art, i like designing and enjoy others who get enjoyment from it
• Avanti - The brand of my road bike that i ride which has kept me interested in riding
• Alister - My oldest friend, we went to primary school together
• Alfred Hitchcock - A director that i have been following with a passion of late because of his wonderful movies
• Arousal - I love to be aroused either through sight, sound, touch, taste or smelling or even better, all 5 at once. I am very lucky to have all my senses and don't take it for granted. Stop to smell a rose, touch it, look at it and if you're daring, give it a lick. Arousal keeps me feeling alive.