Testing, testing, get ready for Agile living!

So, i have been back in Melbourne since September and not much has happened, in the line of work and that sort of thing.

There is more to life than work, and i have been doing other things, like swimming, cycling, reading and being engaged in my surroundings, i haven't been playing PlayStation and watching TV, i have been out and about, living social and now it's left me a bit drained.

What makes you who you are, is what you do outside your job

That's what a New Zealander told me many years ago, and it's something I've always remembered too.

Whats your moment?

Somehow, i never feel bored, i read a while back as you get older, you should have more interests, so by the time you retire, you don't hit a wall when you stop working, your other interests carry you on, you have more time to do all the hobbies, interests that you have.

This is how i feel, maybe I'm ready for retirement?

So, after putting the message out to the universe

Give me the job i want or else I'm fucking off out of here for the winter!

 I get a call for an interview, and another interview, so i should have 2 interviews on Monday, after that, i will be either working in my career in software testing again or milking bulls in Northern NSW, something has to give and give it will and soon!

Feeling Agile?

It's funny that Agile is a term that has been adopted by the IT industry to enable the large companies get a jump on the small companies that have been quick to make decisions, large companies would take a month of meetings and discussions (all very democratic stuff, no Christians getting fed to lions, which seems a bit boring? Lions get hungry too, yea know?)

So, it's all Agile testing, Agile framework and methodology now get ready for Agile living, maybe i should copyright it?

Ideas

Whats the point in getting ideas if you don't act on them? So, i got the idea over the weekend, my friend Gerrard made a few calls, i was talking to some chick by Byron bay, she is telling me to come hang out with her, i could be living in a Wig Wam and Woofing on a farm.

I might have been an Indian chief in my past life? If i was i will be totallty at home!

All hail Chief Agile

What happened last weekend you might say? Well, i was doing practical stuff, in the country, sleeping under the stars, cooking, washing dishes, lighting camp fires and keeping them going, and being an all round helper monkey, i was immersed in nature and it felt good?

I like howling at the moon, and this woofing business could be the thing for me, not much point on being in Melbourne, when your toes are cold, when they could be nice and warm up north.

This could be my new CV in a few months

Flights to the Gold Coast are $50, i have a mate in South port, i could go to Dreamworld again all too easily, and Byron Bay is down the road, too easy! I have somewhere to store my stuff for a few months and i could be helping people and making a difference.

The guy i met last weekend Marty, i going to build a house i had an idea for, so it might make sense for me to go alone and witness his mistakes and try and moth repeat them myself?

Time can be a mother*ucker, who am i to argue, it was here before me?

Time will tell and i'm not going to waste too much of it since i'm never going to get it back!

A sequence of events that makes sense...

Let me tell you a sequence of events that makes sense, after spending a long weekend in a place called Lancefield

Last Monday, i got a phone call in the Library from a recruitment agency, so i went to some unoccupied book shelves, to take the call, and i spotted a book, a little one and it was full of some inspirational quotes, so i grabbed it.

I did buy this Video and CD set at a very impressionable age 

Later that night I'm having a bit of a read, feeling a bit worse for wear from binging on the weekend, the after purging, not the kind of balanced life i hope to live, it's ok if you like Metallica, but then you get old and you like other kind of music as well?

I was thinking, should i use my free comedy ticket? The next page of the little book said

'Go to a comedy club'

So i went, i invited someone who lives around the corner from the club too, but no joy there, i was flying solo.

So i get there, and as per always, they ask you to fill out a form at the table and you get 4 free passes, so after noting that the bar people have better things to do, other than read these things people are writing on the forms.

I filled out form = 4 free tickets, so i collected a few more, made up details, lots of funny stuff too!
I hope that who ever had to read my compositions thought it was funny, after all it was the comedy festival, should life be all work and no play?

And after all, i like writing, it was very entertaining for me!
So, i go in with a free double pass, i come out with 24 passes, so one of the people i invite was Gerrard Da Urban farmer.

The next night, Gerrard calls me, i call him on Skype, i call over for dinner.
Friday, I'm passing his door, after i tell him to get all his crap off the foot path, Gerrard blurts out

'Do you want to come to the country?'

Of course i did, and before i knew it, I'm on my way to a place called Lancefield (never heard of the place) and we spend the weekend sleeping under the stars, camp fires and fantastic times.

One of the things i did on the last day included bare foot bush walking up to the top of a hill, to sit on a rock and quietly contemplate the scenery, i was told it was well worth doing...so i did it!

Lets cut to Oscar Wilde, in the novel 'Oscar Wilde and the nest of vipers' only to frame our mind on contemplation

You are on form this morning i remarked, it was the bath Robert -  and the Savoy bath salts, scented with Jasmine and bitter almonds for 30 minutes as dawn broke i lay foaming, fragrant water - and i did nothing but contemplate my toes

'I envy you', i said, feeling the rough stubble of my chin and cheeks
'You should admire me' Robert, in the opinion of society, contemplation is the gravest thing of which any citizen can be guilty, in the opinion of the highest culture it is the proper occupation of man, i am hoping the fruits of my contemplation will be the resolution of my case

I got given an Oscar Wilde book too by a woman starting a magazine and is looking for writers, interesting? I am interested!!

The resolution of my case, as i sat up on the hill was to start taking full responsibility for my life, and to only drink socially and responsibly from here on in.

And the funny thing is, i checked out my horoscope on Saturday to see what Johnathon Cainer had to say about the world and here's what he said for me

PISCES

Black holes. What are they? Shortcuts from one part of the universe to another? Or quagmires into which you have fallen, you will never emerge? Let us leave those various hypotheses well alone - for they, in turn are vortices's. They absorb our energy, time and attention yet rarely leave us any the wiser. So, too do personal conflicts and inexplicable emotional needs. don't be tempted to get drawn further into a situation that you should really steer clear of. If you cant see the answer, leave the question alone.

I did think it was like a black hole, i was in all week (Tequila and lots of wine, being the fuel for the fire) but i was being transported to another universe, like a short cut? How funny, it ties in with stuff i realised and learnt at Confest too

Tons of stories to come, all will be explained, except the inexplicable

 

Blogging keeps me sane, in the membrane

A doo doo, a da da da

I went to a writing meet up group the other night, I've been meaning to go for a while, I've been practicing my writing, through my blogging for quite some years, much like someone that's been running for years, has never entered a race and has a niggling feeling, maybe i should line up at the starting line and see how i go?

Yes folks, it would appear all i sometimes need to do is put one word in front of another, to paint a pretty picture with words, i am painting my mind and since I've never really had a problem with words (not including listening to other peoples words) it's one of my greatest joys and it's cheap too!

Windows of my mind

What do i do? Well, i go to my local library, maybe with an idea for a story and i put on some DJ mix, like this one by Derrick Carter (he's one of the godfathers of the Chicago house scene) and get typing away, it pretty much writes it's self, it comes out of me!

Now, the only thing to remember is to not to think, just let it come, some people call it 'No mind', rappers call it 'flow', I'm going to side with the rappers, but both are the same and I've always seen my self as a bit of an out law

Flow


No Mind, if you dont mind

10 Rappers in flow

So, it starts off as an idea, a little splash of water, and before i know it it's a Tsunami of words, coming at you, since i publish it on line, spelling muistakes and all, it's not produced, that's how i was thinking at the time, i might think different an hour later, but that doesn't matter, it's not important.

Spelling mistakes are cool, they add a hidden depth, almost like a finger print to what people do and, i read last year, some Professor, probably in a cape(not related to Batman) said as long as people interpertate the word correctly, it doesn't matter how you spell it, i agree.

This changes everything, who the Fu*k wants to read Jane Austin anyways? Isn't it funny that the guy that sell's more book than anyone else in Australia is Semi Literat, you might know him as Chopper Read?

Hey School teachers, Jane is DEAD!!

When i was in school, i thought i wrote some pretty good stuff, i had lots of other kids laughing with my stories, but for some reason that wasn't as important as Jane Austin grammar?

I never had (and i still don't) that grammer, and neither do i want it or need it to tell the stories, to the people that search out and read my stuff, it's not important now, it wasn't important then, but it's a pity i didn't get any encouragement?

Trainspotting

Along comes Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh and all of a sudden I'm thinking

He would have gotten a D minus for that, oh but that's the kind of writing people can relate to

 School will ruin you people, maybe it's it's a good gob i never paid much attention?

My inspiration for starting to write was Learnado Da Vinci's 'Stream writing'

I can look back at how i do these posts over the years and i can see how i have changed, developed maybe, it's something, to me, maybe I'm cataloguing my life, i some sense?

It's been a lot of little things over 5 years, which has been a big thing, it's given me perspective, more than a tattoo could do (but tattoo's are cool too!)

The best thing about it would be that some many other people all oer the world check it out too and they get a kick out of it too, some people have told me my blog posts inspire them, gives them a laugh, one guy i know was depressed and he got a laugh off them, and sometime that all you need to keep you going.

Perspective, i met a guy from Ireland with 'Perspective' tattooed on his forearm, to remind him to see his life not in one day, but in entirety, he wasn't interested in blogging, but i think writing has kept me sane over the years.

Good one Barbie!

I googled something about North Carlton the other day and i got my own blog, not bad.

On Physiologist told me once

If everyone blogged like you, we would be out of business

 Had a good day at work?

It gives me 'Job satification' to boot, i feel like i have had a good day at the office when i do this, the people that get it lie it too, i can see the stats, they are all over the world, it's now about 1700 per month, i don't get paid, maybe the google advertising is up to 50 cents, but it doesn't matter, i like it, it's my thing.

You see, A doo doo, a da da da, do it!!

Carlton North, the more i learn about you, the more i love you

So, on Saturday last i was wheeling through my neighbourhood of Carlton North, i dont know many neighbours and it's not exactly 'da hood', and i spotted some locals, and they were looking very enthuastic.

On closer inspection it turned out to be the local historic society and they were spreading the love, through knowledge and tours, i was all ears, this was the hope i was looking for, and it was pretty much on my doorstep

So yesterday i went on 2 walking tours of Carlton North and the funny thing i learnt was, there are other's other there that share my enthuasim for the area, most of these enthuaists had grey hair, beige clothes, there was no Nirvana t-shirts, but i guess you cant always win and some enthuasim is better than nothing.

What i didn't see

 Some interesting things i learnt on the tours were:

• Curtain square used to be a blue stone quarry
• The Lee st school used to be a low security prison, originall built for 60 prisoners, which housed 360 prisoners
• The Lee St prison later became a Asylum while the Asylum in Arrarat was being built
• The Lee St, Asylum burns down and they turn it into a school (a prison for small people)
• The streets around the park on Rathdown st were the first in Australia to have 'traffic easing' measures to protect little people going to school, some didn't like it, it took 3 years for this idea to be copied throughout the land.

• Back in the 60's, when the car was god, people kept crashing into the front of shop veranda's, the council would be notified and then they would come out and take the veranda's out! Cars were king!
• Outside restaurant dining was against the law until the 1970's
• Some of the houses were built next to factories/places of work, that were around the corner, business owners were literally right next door from their business.

Got milk?

• Every area had a creamery, so the locals could get their billy of milk, some areas had more than one creamery, and as you can imagine, walking in you best Sunday shoes wasn't a good idea, any day.

• Princess park was a human waste dumping ground, it used to be called 'Smell-bourne', one Colingwood supporter pointed out it got so bad, they put the Carlton football team pitch there, boom!!

Carlton's number 1 supporter

• When bodies were removed from the Vic Markets ground during it's construction, they were planting the tree line avenue in Royal parade, rather than bring the bodies up to the Melbourne grave yard, they got chucked in the newly dug holes for the tree line avenue

Robert Hoddle

• One of the early heroes of Melbourne was Robert Hoddle, he wanted Melbourne to look great, he laid out the plan for Carlton, north and South, St Kilda road, Royal parade.
• Robert Hoddle, left Australia in disgrace after being sacked by the property speculators, they weren't making as much money as they would have liked, he loved this place so much, he came back, with his head between his knees

Robert Hoddle laid out Melbourne's wide streets in 1837

• Before he got the sack by Melbourne's property speculators, he did lay out the city grid, Carlton, royal parade and St Kilda road among other things, he wanted Melbourne to be beautiful

Rathdown st, cable tram

• There used to be a tram, on Rathdown st, running down the centre, the building that housed the steam engine that pulled the tram is still at the top of the street
• Rathdown st used to be an 8 lane highway, to cross the street was to take your life in your hands

Traffic Islands, trees in the middle of the street!

• It was so bad they had to put traffic islands in as a to break up the crossing
• There were so many accidents on the Rathdown st highway, tow trucks were parked there waiting for a job
• Locals were paid to tip off the panel beaters of crashes on Rathdown st and the prospect of work
  

And bike paths too!!

• Carlton North has some Californian, Howard Lawson style bungalows, but not developed by Howard Lawson up on Pidgin st.
• The Avenue on Pidgin st was specified by John Pidgin, palm trees at the side
• The st that runs up the side of the Cemetery up to Sydney road used to be a goats path
• Aboriginals have been in Carlton for 40,000 years
• Aboriginals were run off the land, to make way for sheep
• If the aboriginals came past boundary road, they were captured and taken far far away north and released there
• Aboriginals got a good look at how the white prisoners were being treated by their fellow countrymen and took the hint to stay out of the way
• The road the side of the Cemetery by Princess park that runs up to Sydney road was originally a goats path

I met a guy that told me how himself and his brother used to like squealing the tires of his dads car around the corner from a bookie that was operation in the lane way, beside a pub, if they were taking bets inside the pub, the publican could lose his licence, so after the squealing of tires, the bookies bag was thrown over the fence, he told me it was a wonder he wasn't beaten up

• People dug for gold in Royal park
• It was the Unions that saved North Carlton, for a house to be demolished, they first needed to turn off the gas, the unions refused to do so
• It was intended to build commission flats as per Carlton, the whole way up North Carlton and that would put an end to slum anti social behaviour
• Some TV personality i think from 'Hey hey its Saturday' bought a house and was told he couldn't paint it, he had to keep the original finish, which wasn't to be painted so he sold it in a fit, much to the relief of local residents
• When Princess hill was initially being developed,you had to submit the plans for the houses you wanted to build, before you could buy the land the plans had to be approved.
• Princess hill was considered the bush, some business relocated their workshops there and were built before any of the houses that you can see in the area.

And that's what i learnt on the walking tour's last Sunday.

Confest 2012 came and went, 3rd time luck for me

So, i had no idea it was time to make my 3rd pilgrimage to Confest, until someone said

'It's Easter next week, what are you doing?' 

Confest being the logical answer to that answer, every time, so i knew what i was doing and i knew where i had to go to do it.

And to be quite honest, i thought i had another few weeks, but it was Wednesday, i had 2 days to get there before it started on the Friday, so i thought I'd make a move and get organised and send out some messages to the universe, via the one stop shop Gumtree.com.au.

So, on Wednesday at 11.30am outside the library, i called the first guy, a German called Sigfried, he was leaving that day, after all. How early, is too early?

Sigfried said

'I am leaving in 1 hour'

Location, location, location, WTF? 

Trains, tides, sun rises and sun sets wait for no man, Sigfried can be added to this list too. It was be there or be square, i was going to be there.

So i go my skates on, got back packed my bags in much haste, made lunch, take away and i got the tram to Ceres in East Brunswick and before long we were travelling through Coburg and it was Confest here we come, phone off, goodbye outside outside world, Hip hip hurrah!!

My biggest (worst case scenario) was packing for when it's cold at night in a tent, once i had everything for that scenario, what else do you need?

A van passed us as we got close to confest, about 30 seconds Victoria's finest pulled them over and searched their van for narcotics, why couldn't they go and buy their own drugs instead of searching people's cars, seems a bit desperate?

I took this as a good sign, maybe the gods were smiling down on me?

So, each time i have been to Confest has been very distinct, this time as i walked around, i seemed to know a few people here and there, more there than here, how the French would say déjà vu?

Whats the easiest way to get what you want?
Easiest way, i'd say is by helping other people, as i walked around i helped people put up their tents and what ever issue i was thinking about was resolved, no more problems, i solved some people's problems, they solved mine, is this the secret to life? It was certainly seeming like that was the case?

Workshops

Some of the highlights were the following workshops:

• Creative writing (i wrote what could be the start of a novel)
• Bodily energy fields ( i was told my piercing on my neck is blocking my energy, good because i think it blocks my crazy energy

And of course there was plenty of river swimming, in what seemed like my own private river

One of the workshops mentioned a book called 'The official guide to success' by Tom Hopkins which might be worth a read?

• When you try, your saying you cant do what ever you are doing, just be...
• Confidence comes when you don't have to think
• When i comes to relationships, one of the most important things to understand is the other persons culture
• What ever you think in a situation, that's the way you are
• Ask yourself in any situation,What's the best thing i can do now?' 

It was really interesting to hear some people talk, it's the most eclectic gathering you can go to in Australia
I heard one guy say how you have to separate your self from your issues, culture, feelings, who you think you are and put it to one side
And what left, will be pure love can emerge from yourself, your true being can emerge,Interesting point.

Dont forget to wash behind youre ears!!

And then there was the mud pit, sauna, i go almost every day, but how often do you get to go naked and then there was the rumors of naked people, getting up to all kinds of hanky panky, i understand the hanky, but where does all the panky come into the equation, and is the answer = 1.....Abraham Lincon?

Anyway, Confest was the medicine, yet again, it's the cure for what ails yea! Every time and i wasn't sure if i was suffering from anything, but i came back super chilled out, maybe a bad case of the munchies for 6 days and about 2 kilos heavier.

The best thing has to be, after sleeping in a tent for 6 nights, sleeping in my bed is only heaven, oh, what joy!!

Come away with me??

The last night of the festival, i saw a chick with a sign 'Take me to Byron bay', i wasn't going to do one, but i was egged on, so i did one too and before i knew it, a Sri Lankan called 'Missa' tapped me on the shoulder and told me that he was going back the next day at 2pm, and he was there exactly on time, it was too good to be true and before long i was riding in style to home sweet home.

Oh life!!

p.s.

There was plenty of panky and hanky (but not in that order, but you wont read about it here, maybe one day I'll pen a 'Mills and Boon' novel, of maybe i wont, or maybe you'll have to ask me?

Finding hope...continued

So as a little continuation of the last story, it got me thinking about things that were discovered by accident, off the top of my head i can think of the following:

• Viagra: Developed in Cork as a heart treatment drug, until they tried to figure out why all the guys outside were walking around with mad erections after breathing the extract fumes
• Australia
• Dynamite 
• Corn flakes  

• Penicillin , This was the huge difference between world war 1 and World war 2, it saved countless lives) Published reports credit Fleming as saying: 

  "One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on Sept. 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I guess that was exactly what I did."

I couldn't have said it better myself, thats the exact point i want to make, you dont get what you want, you get what you need

Ice cream cones (Popsicles too!)

Some more accidental discoveries here and some more here

Lose one thing, find other things, found hope, love?

So, it's been a bit of a big few weeks since i last typed out a few words here, I'm still not working, this might be good or bad, i just cant seem to figure it out?

You might read this blog for pleasure, i write it for therapy. It helps me make sense of my life. People get a kick out of it all over the world, when i get around to reading it, maybe i will too?
The site stats tell me there are 1700 people like you checking out my words per month, so maybe that's hope too? For you and me.

I do lots of 'things' that i enjoy and don't cost money, cycling, reading, swimming, i can now swim continious freestyle for 1 hour, about 3kms, this is a huge achievement for me people!

I don't need much money because i don't spend too much money. Either what I'm doing is right or wrong, but either way there is hope and maybe that's worth singing and dancing about?

So, as a continuation from this story about Paddys day, i called into some Op shops looking for swimming shorts that i lost and picked up a:

• Sleeping bag
• Tarp to cover my bikes when it rains
• New Speedos for swimming (nice) and other new shorts

So it seemed to me how i was finding what i really needed from looking for what i wanted?

Alchemy circle

I was in a bar called 'The Alchemist' on Brunswick st recently, while doing my business in the toilet, some reading material posted to the walls caught my attention and it seemed very relevant to my life.

It seems like the early Alchemy scientist's while (motivated by greed, of course) discovered important chemical techniques while trying to unlock the secret of Alchemy, they didn't discover the secret, but mankind has benefited from these discoveries. Studies of alchemy also influenced Isaac Newton's theory of gravity

Maybe all this will lead to a job, sooner or later, would a sexual favour be too much to ask?

So i passed a garage sale on Saturday, and one of the items i got was a gym bag, the exact one i lost, and it was brand new too, boom, i'm back in business, plus:

• A new big tea pot
• 2 good new jackets
• A picnic set
• Books
• A very nice well fitting shirt

A few hundreds dollars of stuff, all for $40.

The tighter fitting shirts fit so well, i have decided to ditch all my old shirts and move down in size with more better fitting shirts, the old shirts are at the op shops waiting for you if you are a size large, so don't wait too long!!

It's almost like i was meant to find a new vision of the bag i lost and i was supposed to get switched on to the idea of getting rid of large clothes, by trying out the well fitting shirt, because that's exactly what i have been thinking and doing.

Later in the day on Sunday, i met a woman in Albert park, i told her i was having a great day and life was fantastic, she told me if i found a 15k diamond on Fitzroy st, in St Kilda it's hers.

Now that she has kids, a diamond is only an object, but an object worth a lot of money none the less, it was her grand mother's, before having kids, losing the diamond would have killed her.
But now the kids are more important and thats interesting to hear, especially since she experienced it!

Bounce like tigger, dont lose your bounce kids!




I told her sometimes it's good to see how quickly you can bounce back from something, there is always a silver lining in the cloud, it pays to be annoyingly optimistic and roll with the punches and come back with the knock out punch?

Boom!!!