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    Movie Night…


    2016 - 10.28

    I’ve devoted today to writing, online store maintenance and gaming.

    Movie Night tonight with Jamie. We’re having a “B Grade” horror night watching “Harbinger Down” followed by “B Grade” Science Fiction effort “Ice Pirates”.

    Of Zombies & Rebellions…


    2016 - 10.22

    Boardgames played at Andrew’s today.

    1. Pandemic
    2. Star Wars Rebellion.
    3. Dead of winter.
    4. Zombie Dice

    An excellent day had by all I believe. PC repairs were swift & successful. Star Wars Rebellion ended up with Rebel Scum being allowed to live to fight another day, the world was consumed by 2 Pandemics, and a couple of Zombie infestations. Overall a fairly successful gaming day, with much fun had by all.

    Spirits Lifting…


    2016 - 10.22

    I have a Boardgaming session at Andrew’s today. Boardgames to hopefully be played today:

    1. Pandemic
    2. Star Wars Rebellion.
    3. Dead of winter.
    4. Zombie Dice

    Some of these will hurt like hell I think. I cut my finger (pinky) while making breakfast this morning and it’s stuffing my typing right up. I keep ending up hitting the “caps lock” without noticing because I can’t feel as well with the band-aids on my finger.

    It seems we will be doing PC repairs before hand though. Damned Windows. Why can’t they just give in to the ease which is Apple? 🙂

    Community: A Group of People Living in the Same Place or having a Particular Characteristic in Common…


    2016 - 10.18

    It seems that more & more the only aspects of Commonality between all the members of Australian Communities come down to living in the same place and a shared fear of unemployment. It’s hard to feel part of a community with which my values are so disparate. A Community which values people so little, and money so much. Most people don’t ask for much, but this “Community” offers so little these days.

    Play It Safe…


    2016 - 10.09

    Today I decided to heed the weather warnings and stayed close to home. I went around the corner to Chris’ house and we played Mansions of Madness Version 2. That was very entertaining, funny even, very enjoyable overall. The new mechanic of working with an application as the “Keeper” seems to work very well. Chris enjoyed it as well and even thinks his wife (Gabi) will enjoy it next time.

    I would say my only disappointment about the game is the fact that upon release there are only 4 adventures included with the application initially. According to reviewers on the internet, there are several “endings” for each adventure. Additionally I’m sure that when you have the expansions included from either version one or two, that gives it even more replay ability. Let’s hope that Fantasy Flight Games add some more adventures soon. I thoroughly recommend it.

    The Value of Friends…


    2016 - 10.03

    Yesterday I spent in Geelong catching up with friends, it’s been a while, since I’ve caught up with Stephen & Julie and the first time I’ve met their son Connor. Depression isn’t the sort of condition that promotes making effort to visit people or friends under normal circumstances, but when they’ve lived 1000km or more away, it’s just not going to happen. Even keeping online contact is difficult. However it’s good to have then closer now, even if it’s still a 100km. At least that’s only an hour’s drive now.

    I think they’re new home is awesome and I’m sure once they actually have some time to settle in properly, it’s going to be even better. I’m sure both their son and the Furbag will have an absolutely splendid time in the warmer weather coming up. I really enjoyed the visit, and am looking forward to another one in a fortnight’s time for a family gathering in celebration of Connor’s first birthday.

    Indecisive…


    2016 - 10.02

    I hit the hay early last night, about 19:00 actually and slept twelve hours! The plan for today was going to be go to Geelong to catch up with some friends, but seems Stephen got called into work so I’ve discussed going next weekend instead.

    (Update) Plans changed again, decided I’ll still go down and catch up with Julie and Conner. Sometimes its just necessary to get up and go out when dealing with impending Depression and go and do something for others. So I’m packing gear in the car and heading off despite the look of the weather. Worst case scenario, there’s plenty of food in the bowls and I’ll deal with cranky Furbags tomorrow if I have to stay over in Geelong.

    Struggling…


    2016 - 09.28

    I must say I’ve been struggling the last few weeks. It seems the constant Black to Red to Red to Black to Red to Red to Red to Black etc of the finances since losing the last lot of part time work has been wearing me down. I’ve noticed quite a few things slipping, and the last one has been the sleeping cycle. I can feel my depressive levels increasing and this has been borne out by the monitoring I’ve been doing over the last 18 months.

    I need to pull several things in together and prevent another dive into where I was around June 2015. It’s not the lack of money that’s hurting, it’s the increasing pressure of the services that I can’t really change anymore. I’ve actually managed to decrease my electricity and gas costs over the last six months compared to last year which is pretty amazing considering it’s been colder (I think) for the most part of this winter compared to last. My food budget is well under what most households would be even accounting for my lack of partner & children. Don’t think you can do much better than $60 / week for groceries. Vegetarianism may help a bit, but I’ve already been keeping a fine line on the grocery budget over the last year.

    I wasn’t deluding myself thinking I was going to be self sufficient with Shards of Arcadia by now, I’d been counting on part-time work to keep me afloat while still building the business. However without that being enough to meet the outgoings over the last twelve months, it’s been a slow slide. I really can’t last another six months of this “income”. Anybody who thinks that living on $530 a fortnight is a holiday is clearly out of touch with the reality of the cost of living in Australian Society. I know I’m not the only one, I’ve watched several friends lose their roles too, and there’s no guarantees of work for any of us anymore.

    Anyway I’m not wanting to be morbid, just needing to express this and move on. I’ve made a personal commitment to myself to really put in some yards by way of holding my days together. So now I have a monthly commitment to a post every day on this site until at least the end of October.

    I feel somehow that I’ve sold my soul and not in a good way by signing up to a number of “paid survey” sites to try and scrape up some cash. I have to say I’ve been pumping away at them and feel suitably “dirty”. Oh well, a new personal low.

    On a positive note the Furbags will have food until at least the end of the year! I still have friends, I’m warm and have a roof over my head. It’s a good thing I’m a man of simple needs.

    The Great Railways of Life…


    2016 - 01.11

    One of the Greatest things I value in friends is the willingness to be honest with you even when they know it’s not what you want to hear. They have your best interests at heart, and want to help you do your best, experience the best and be the best that you can be. Really what more can you ask from a friend other than come for the ride!

    I picture the Journey of Life like a Train Ride where you travel along and can enjoy the scenery along the way to your destination. You can also involve yourself with those around you generally (although not always) in a pleasant and enjoyable fashion. At various points there are Stations (interludes) where you can change your Journey, pick a different Train on a different track to a different destination. At Stations you can do that Randomly or in an Orderly fashion, but generally in safety. Of course you’re free to jump from the Train at any point along the journey, betweens stations, albeit this is not recommended, and extremely risky. I generally don’t ask my friends to join me in such adventures, I think these escapades are best left for solo “flight”. It’s not to say that you won’t survive such a tumble, but choosing your landing site and the speed of the train at which you decided to bail out is recommended.

    If you wish you can continue on the same train until the end of the track. Inevitably this means you either pick a different destination or you’re dead.

    Man the Store Front…


    2015 - 11.07

    Well finally got the new Photography Online Shop “Live” this morning after a few day of testing, mostly by others on my behalf. That’s the beauty of having a network of friends who will provide feedback when you ask for it. Most often it’s helpful and constructive. Anyway most of the suggestions were very helpful and quite a few of them were put into effect.

    I’m happy with how the site’s come up in the end, and it gave me a project this week. I was experiencing a mild bout of Depression over this week. This allowed me to have a focal point with something important and enjoyable to me. Over the next few weeks I’m going to have to get some serious shooting in to add even more content. I also have to update the stock sites with some more stock art too.

    I’ve been very surprised and pleased with the support from friends in helping with the testing. I think that’s enabled a much better opening site and I’m very grateful. It’s good to be able to access such things, now that I’m not experience severe and extended periods of Depression.

    I’ve been officially employed again for almost a month and although I’ve had only one pay so far, I’m pleased to be back at work (part-time) four days a week. Much better than five, and I can really get to like this working week.

    Life is pretty good currently.