Fireant

First blood

Tonight was our first game and what a game it was! Team Suss faced an honest and competitive team keen to get on the right foot. Personally i had no expectations as to the outcome of the game. So long we were 'in it', i'd be a happy man....

In it, we were! The first few minutes were marred(sp) by poor passes and teamwork however, what followed was a great effort from all. Team suss's scoring for the season was opened by 'safe hands' tone. Mid-field, a brilliant angle and run was initiated by tone off an inside ball by yours truely. Currently i've forgotten who scored the second try but i'll endevour to find out.

I can't remember all of the game however personal highlights i do remember:

- Setting dennis up on the right wing. Unfortunately there was not enough room for dennis to work with, squeezed beyond the boundary. Dennis played the ball on the 3rd, intelligently took to the right of the play, acting as half, i lured the defenders towards midfield. Openning dennis up somewhat, i launched it in his direction earlier than i usually do - proving 2b a good decision. Dennis nearly broke thru, was trapped but was good enough to think of a pass back infield. Had a clear run to the line but the pass was after the out of bounds.
- Involved in a nice wrap by quek. The middle man on this play, it is always a pleasure to be involved in someone elses initiative.
- Nominated best and fairest on the team. Reflects the fun i had on the field!

I was surprised at how well the girl played in this game. Alex and Sal provided yet another stella performance. Jacqui, the rookie, talked and played solidly and will no doubt improve as the season continues. Ellen(eileen?) played AWESOME! nice quick dumps and got quite alot of ball.

Quek backed up well from his ref duties, Sai played brilliantly at half and as first reciever. Overall a solid performance. Loosing 2-3, its safe to say everyone had good game time and had some fun out there.

Whilst it may seem i take this game too seriously - i should point out that this is one of my passions. I really could talk about this all day! AS a team, what we can work on:

- communication. Talking. Reflects teamwork and desire. Currently lacking from alot of the guys. I really hate to get on the field and tell ppl to talk, but as seen during practice, as soon as i shut up, tries start pouring in. I dream of the day ppl tell me what to do :<

- keeping it SIMPLE. we all know first three runs are to be like a steamtrain on a straight RAIL. but this never occurs..

- Maintaining a line on defence. All tries occur due to a breach in the line.

HARHAR!! I LOVE THIS GAME!

Touch Footy

Ahhh! the season begins tomorrow, the smell of grass and dew on monday nights will be great! This time round 'TEAM Suss' are in the lowest division possible. Not because we only won the last game of the entire season but because we're hoping to have alot more fun just mucking around.

Oh its going to be great, we've added Anthony 'Tone' Armstrong to the lineup, Sai, Ed and Jacqui to the already elite squad. Veterans Quek, Dennis, Alex and I will back up with futher support from Bob, Kevin, Choi and ex-Sydney girls.

Season Prediction

First few games will prove interesting. There will be alot of shoddy footwork, teamplay and movement on our behalf. Just like our first few games, the newbies may feel the pinch of playing 'pro-comp'.

Pre-midseason, tone will still be dropping gimmies, the girls will still ask for more ball. The newbies will understand that they need to run onto the ball.

Midseason to end run we will have our first intercept try, creativity and plays wont work as the initiative will be low but the discipline will be awesome. By now steve leads the league in tries, assists and intercepts and Quek sinbins 4 players in 5 mins whilst refereeing social comp.

End season the team have made the finals an are chugging along like a well oiled machine. Dennis coathangers a fat chick and in the process fractures his collarbone, University exams are up and the team concedes the grandfinal victory.

Mark my words...

On another note menswear staff met up at Adrian's place. Steph, Vicki, Maryn, Nikola, Adrian, his two german exchange sisters, Vicki's friend and I soaked the backyard atmosphere Balgowlah had to offer. PLAyed around with his DJ deck - quite interesting and fun, mixing Zepplin to smooth tunes of Hiphop

Myer - Differing Departments

Menswear

Menswear is an excellent department to be in. The team members are easy going, young and generally looking on the bright side of life. Whilst the products are relevant and known to me, i maintain that the huge number of staff rostered makes the big difference.

Small Appliances

Similar to menswear, Small appliances deals with an interesting array of goods. From hair straightners to toasters, blenders to irons - it is a nice place to be in. The personnel is rather small, the team is cheery, interesting and hospitable.

Tabletops/China/Glass

Out of the three i least enjoy working here. With a teamleader who regularly has issues with an ex-teamleader of bondi, the department is plagued with nitpickiness, poor lighting and poor attitudes. The youngens who work in this department are great people - hardworkers, funny and they certainly easy the overbearing nature of the department.

Drop me a line if ur interested in a product belonging to one of the above departments!

Workplace - Dustmites

For the past 5-6 weeks, i've been battling negligent management at Myer. Working in Myer menswear, i have encountered what seems to be Dustmites.

During my 2+ year tenure in Menswear, i have constantly endured irritations, flare-ups, rash like marks, mosquito like marks during and after work. I have lost countless hours of sleep, been emotionally drained and plunged into testing moments of patience all because of what i strongly believe is due to the workplace at Myer. It took me 1.5 years to speak up about the issue as i was not sure as to where the root source was. Speaking to fellow staff members out of pure frustration, i discovered that i was not alone; nor were menswear staff that were affected.

I have since had a blood test and a skin allergy test. the Skin allergy test results indicate i am allergic to Dust, horse hair, some form of bacteria that grows in moist conditions, and most importantly, i had an outstanding reaction to dustmites. Somewhat relieved to have that documented, i am now waiting on Cathy from Safety services to get back to me about what Coles Myer (CML) will do about the situation. It has been 2 weeks since i've last heard from her, where she promised she would call me the following working day (a monday). Somewhat dissapointed, so far from this experience i have learnt that expressing ones displeasure during negotiations and informative sessions via aggressive and frustrative tonal language is pointless. Not that i've done so, i've been tempted many times but have seen the benifits of a controlled, clear and directive approach.

Basically my tact now is to get written documentation of others experience with dustmites and the management response they recieved.

What have management done about the situation? Well initially - jack all. I spoke to Ros Fletcher, Melinda Siladi and Karen McInnes (store manager) about the whole situation and everytime i have encountered a broom thats more than eager to sweep the situation under the carpet. Ros and Melinda just downplayed my claims that my situation was workplace related. They didn't want to even know about it. They both said that the place was 'regularly' sprayed every 6 mths, so there couldnt be any mites/bugs out the back. And apparently according to them, that was the first they had ever heard of it............... - which is complete rubbish mind you.

Karen McInnes, my store manager that i will bring down like a tonne of bricks will suffer dearly for her negligence and failure to comply to the Workplace policy Myer embodies. All that i have recieved from her have been dismissive, abrupt, non-professional remarks. As she has been away on holidays i decided that it was best to get the ball rolling. I've since spoken to the 'newbie' managers - Wayne, Trent and Megan. They haven't been outstanding in their response, but they have certainly been understanding and professional about the whole incident - for that i commend them.

So basically, i now await a few things. I need to get more written personal encounters, blood test results, documented skin allergy test results and Cathy from Safety services. 3/4 that is out of my hands for the time being.

Do things happen for a reason?

We certainly live in a small world! Just this morning i arrived at the bus stop early. I thought since the Warringah Mall bus is never on time, and being early - i'll go buy a travelten. That done, immediately as i set foot outside the newsagency the bus coasts by. The newsagency is only 15m away from the stop and i begun to wave my hands in an attempt to draw the driver's attention. Failing to do so, flabbergastered and rather uncertain what to do next i decided to walk a short distance to an alternate service.
On my way, a lady who witnessed the situation (and my dejected look :p) calls out after me. Offering a lift, my initial instinct was to politely decline and wait for the following alternate service however; there was an aura about this lady that changed my mind.

Approx 5'4, early 50's, sandy blonde and with a honest appeal about her i calculated that she'd be rather harmless. During the car trip, i enquired what she did as her living and she told me all about her occupation that involved life planning, spiritual, body states and forms of hypnosis! She seemed so happy and relaxed, i couldnt help but be curious as to what made her so....successful!

Arriving at the mall i offered to show her where the American Nail and beauty parlour was (her reason for visiting the mall). I mentioned that i worked at Myer, she chimed in that her daughter worked at Grace Bros... I then told her that i worked in the Menswear department and she told me that her daughter worked in Lords Formal hire! (for those that do not know, the formal hire centre is located in the heart of menswear).

I asked if her daughter's name was Kristy, she was rather stunned. Kristy and i have know each other for 1.5 years, had frequent breaks together. But have never met her mother! :)

Apparently, i have a face that is 'harmless and good natured'. I am relieved.

On top of that bizarre moment, as i was sms'ing kristy - i ran into her in the Medicare centre!! ??! As she lives away from her mother she had no idea about her where abouts.... coincidence? fate? - lol!

On top of that the other unusual event was seeing Stephanie's eyes after she had them examined by an eye specialist. Apparently she had some eye drops to aid the examination, which resulted in her eyes being the most dilated i have ever seen! Just like the eyes of cartoon animals in Disney classics 0_0

MSN's MapPoint

Taken from Extreme Games board:

Route finders are fantastic. They save so much time and effort. Try this to see what I mean:

1. Go to http://mappoint.msn.com/DirectionsFind.aspx

2. In the Start section, select "Norway" from the list box and enter "Haugesund" into the "City" field

3. In the End section, select "Norway" from the list box and enter "Trondheim" into the "City" field

4. Click on "Get Directions" ...

LOL >.<

http://explodingdog.com/

Back, sorta!

Hi i realise it been months since my last post. Here is a highlight reel of what has developed:

~ November: Turned 21 on the 22nd November. Yet to celebrate with a party! Oroton Wallet, Torch and Cash.
~December: Xmas: Cufflinks, Tie, Tieclip, S/S Shirt, L/S Shirt.
~ January: Went on a 6 day holiday with my brother to North Queensland. Had further issues at work involving dustmites. Have since taken the matter to high 'authorities' which has resulted in unprecedented progress.

Had a farewell dinner for Justin and Ruth at Ben's place. Food was well catered for, potato mash thing with chicken and mustardy sauce with champange - excellent. Game of obscene scrabble followed, followed by an outing with Christine and Sara to the city. The Wrathalls came alone - went to Star Bar, tueday night is ladies night - wasn't really happening but had lots of fun dancing!

Currently 4am, believing that this year (05) will be a year of big change. The way things have panned out, the timing of events and their consequences will result in the opportunity for drastic change. Whether it be at university, or at home, even social context, i am willing for change.

Hope to upload some photos from Nth Qld trip as well as misc photos from around the place such as the family BBQ at little Manly beach. Until then, gnite!