My life... welcome to it!

Time out!

2008-01-24T23:24:00.001+11:00

I have decided to retire my blog for good this time. Those of you that are interested in still following my life, I will still be blogging on my website at The Bok and Roo.

My new feed can be found here.

Thanks to all you readers out there and especially all the commenters.

DelBoy

It's a girl!!!

2008-01-14T08:56:00.000+11:00

It's a girl!!

Baby Isabel Jorja was born this morning (14/01/08) at 11.50am (AST) at Boxhill Hospital, Melbourne. She is 53cm long and weighed in at a whopping 4.92kg!

She was 2 weeks early and was delivered by Caesarian section. She has blue eyes, chubby cheeks and a pouty little mouth. She has a head of curly dark hair, but that may change after her first bath!

Mum and Dad are ecstatic!

Photos are available to friends on Facebook.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

A Christmas wish from the Royals

2007-12-24T10:17:00.000+11:00

Firstly, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (or Season's Greetings to the non-Christian readers) to all. I will be on holiday from work (and blogging as of midday today. I hope you all have a fantastic holiday season!

And to something a little more interesting: The British Royal Family have caught onto the whole YouTube thing and created the Royal Channel where you can watch various videos including the first ever televised Queen's Christmas speech, the Queen Mother's wedding and, on Christmas Day, the Queen's speech 2007!

According to the Google Blog, she's not the only one to jump on the YouTube bandwagon!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

To dine for

2007-12-14T13:18:00.000+11:00

Inspired by this article, I was wondering how many people out there have tried ‘weird’ food? And I don’t mean sushi or rabbit, I mean things like deep-fried haggis (tried it - Scotland) or chili flavoured ice cream (tried it - Scotland). Below is a list of some of the other unusual things I’ve had and where I tasted them:

· Deep fried Mars bars – Scotland
· Horse meat – France & Italy
· Pigeon – Egypt
· Giraffe – Namibia
· Blesbok - Namibia
· Crocodile – Australia
· Kangaroo – Australia
· Emu – Australia
· Sheep (various bits incl brains, eyes, heart, liver) – South Africa
· Oxtail and bull’s balls – South Africa
· Karoo Oysters (grilled sheep’s liver wrapped in kidney fat) – South Africa
· Black pudding (pig’s blood) – UK

Have you tried anything weird? Leave a note in the comments section.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Rugby's coaching merry-go-round

2007-12-13T14:02:00.000+11:00

A summary of an interesting article on Rugby365:

England: Brian Ashton out, Jake White in?
Wales: Gareth Jenkins out, Eddie Jones in?
Scotland: Frank Hadden, no change.
Ireland: Eddie O'Sullivan, no change.
France: Bernard Laporte out, Marc Lièvremont in.
Italy: Pierre Berbizier out, Nick Mallett in.
Australia: John Connolly out, David Nucifora in?
New Zealand: Graham Henry out, Robbie Deans in?
Argentina: Marcelo Loffreda out, John Connolly in?
South Africa: Jake White out, political puppet in.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Home sweet home

2007-12-11T14:56:00.000+11:00

The feel of the new carpet under your feet and the smell of fresh paint. The echo of empty rooms and the unfamiliar sounds of creaking floorboards. These are all the things that come with a new house.

We finally moved in last weekend. The builder had actually managed to get everything done before settlement. Friday night we hung the curtains (most of them) and moved boxes, Saturday we moved the furniture and put up a washing line and Sunday we put up the letterbox!

We had our first home-cooked meal at our new dining table last night. It was a little weird to have dinner and a coffee and then have nothing to do after that – nope, no TV or Internet at home yet. Not even a telephone for that matter!

The bit that I’m not looking forward to is landscaping the garden. At the moment it looks like the Highveld after a good rain! Grass is creeping up over the deck which is at least 3 feet above the ground!

Looks like my Christmas holiday will be a busy one. At least I can get some sun on my pasty quasi-Pom skin!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Thought for the day

2007-12-07T12:56:00.000+11:00

If we only ever use bath towels after washing ourselves, why do they get dirty?

Chat soon,
DelBoy

NORAD tracks Santa

2007-12-05T08:27:00.000+11:00

A little known fact, but it's true! The North American Aerospace Defence Command has been tracking Santa since 1955!

Check out the article on Google's blog as well as the NORAD website!

You will even be able to download Santa's complete route on Google Maps on Christmas Eve!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Delays!

2007-12-04T12:47:00.000+11:00

We haven’t moved yet! The settlement date was meant to be yesterday (3 December) but it was put off until tomorrow ‘cos our ‘friend’, the builder, hasn’t finished yet! All he had to do in the 5 weeks since we signed the contracts was install the oven, hob and range hood (which an electrician does anyway!), the door handles on some of the bedroom doors and cupboards and cut off a strip of wood on the decking which was longer than the rest. He managed to cut the piece of wood shorter!

So, now we’re in limbo! We went to inspect on Saturday only to discover some other issues. Leaking gutters, badly fitted cupboard doors and chipped shelves inside the cupboard.

We’re almost completely packed to move when last night we receive an email from the agent saying that the jobs won’t be done before Friday! Well, Mr Builder Man. Don’t think you’re getting any money before you finish your work. ‘Cos I know it will be even harder to get you to fix things once the cash is in your wallet!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

PS: I just got a phone call from the solicitor. Settlement has now been moved to Friday!!

Engaged!

2007-11-30T13:17:00.000+11:00

Did I forget to mention that last weekend was our engagement party? Well, it was! Although we got engaged in July in Canada (at this very spot), we held off until now to have the party in the sun with our friends around.

It was great to catch up with DeVill & family (who flew in from Papua New Guinea for the weekend), Dazzler (who was over from London) and Matt The Pom (who was very sunburnt after a morning soccer tournament - they never learn!).

Do I even need to mention that it got messy and I ended up wearing my Saffa flag (proudly!) in an almost all Aussie crowd? Didn't think so.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Melbourne lunch

2007-11-28T16:28:00.000+11:00

Today I went for lunch with Col and Dazzler at a small Italian place on Little Collins Street called Benito’s. I thought I’d write about it ‘cos the food was amazing!

Firstly, we had to sit at the counter ‘cos we hadn’t booked a table and the place was full – at 12.30pm! We didn’t have time for starters, so went straight onto our mains. The guys had lasagna, which was huge! I ordered the pappardelle with chicken livers and red onion. It was delicious! The pasta was cooked to perfection - al dente!

The service was a little slow, but considering how busy it was and how good the company was, it didn’t matter.

I was looking forward to an espresso (apparently Benito’s make the perfect coffee too) but we ran out of time and I had to rush back to the office.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Art Smart

2007-11-23T16:23:00.000+11:00

The company I work for sponsored the catering for the graduation at the VCA on Wednesday night and I had the dubious honour of attending the event as a guest.

Although I’m no lover of it, I do appreciate good art and I can tell you now, a lot of it wasn’t! It was just weirdo students showing off stuff that pretended to be modern art. There was some great stuff on exhibit too. Some of the traditional Aboriginal art was fantastic as were some of the photos and sculptures, but obviously I’m not intellectual enough to understand that a stage with a speaker under each of the four corners and a sound effect moving from one speaker to the next is art! Especially when I can have one just like it installed in my (new) house by the student for a mere $2500! A bargain compared to some of the other crap the students were trying to hawk to pay off their massive study loans!

At least the food was great and the booze was free. The graduation exhibition runs from 22 November 2007 until 1 December 2007 from 10am until 5pm for those that are interested.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

The Corporate Catering game

2007-11-16T13:30:00.000+11:00

Working in the catering industry is almost as much fun as working in the pub game. In the pub we dealt with drunks, hooligans and your common d!%#head, in catering its your ignorant or arrogant personal assistant who doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to know. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against them. They’re only doing what the boss demands from them.

Try these on for size:
1. At 9.42am a certain government office in the city rings us up to ask if we can cater for 100 people for morning tea to be delivered at 10am. That morning! It takes 15 minutes just to drive to their end of town!
2. All cakes and quiches, etc are delivered cut into an even number of slices (for obvious reasons). Try telling a PA that 13 is not an even number when her boss has told her to cater for 13 people!
3. Chicken is not vegetarian! Neither is tuna!
4. If you email us at 9pm the night before, you will not get your 7am breakfast delivered to you.
5. If we don’t call you to confirm your order, it probably means we never actually received it in the first place!
6. Yes, we are based in the Melbourne CBD and no, we cannot deliver to Sydney, Brisbane, Perth or Geelong for that matter. (Well, we could, but considering the charge to Dandenong – 35km away – is $80, beware of the delivery fee to Sydney!)
7. No, we can’t deliver 1 sandwich and a cup of coffee to your office. Not even for a delivery fee!

Oh the joys! And then people wonder why I look forward to the weekend so much!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Blogger theme maker

2007-11-12T16:54:00.000+11:00

For those of you looking for Blogger themes (Isi), here is something a little more interesting. It is a theme maker for Blogger. It doesn't work with the 'new' Blogger templates (except if you know what you are doing), but is great for spicing up your blog if you still use classic blogger.

http://psyc.horm.org/

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Mountain bike video

2007-11-10T00:21:00.000+11:00

A 10 minute helmet cam video of our ride last weekend. There is sound too, so if you're in the office, turn down the volume!

King Parrot Trail from delboy

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Long weekend!

2007-11-07T16:10:00.000+11:00

Warning - long post!

To say that we had heavy rain over the weekend is a euphemism. We had flash flooding, gale-force winds and even a death! Luckily we were snug in our little wooden cabin on the side of a hill. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We arrived at King Parrot Cottages on Saturday morning to find about 40 –50 wild King Parrots ‘grazing’ away on our ‘front’ lawn. Their bright colours are quite startling. We started to unpack and so did the skies. By mid-afternoon everything was soaked and my brother-in-law and I had gone through our first 6 pack of beer. We started the BBQ (under cover) around 6pm and then played cards into the night.

The rain got worse. All night we thought that the wind was going to rip the roof off and the rain was going to wash us down the hill!

The next morning it was still raining. By 11am there was nothing better to do than crack open our first beer and a pack of cards. But by 1pm, the sun started to shine through – barely. We made a deal that if it had stopped raining by 3pm, we would take our bikes out for a ride.

At 4.30pm we came limping back into the cabin – cold, wet and very muddy! We showered with our gear on to get the worst off and the snuggled up to our beers in front of the open fireplace.

By this time the ladies were a little unhappy with us, so we took them into ‘town’ for dinner at the local pub. The food was delicious and so was the atmosphere. Being a Sunday night though, most of the food was sold out – like the homemade apple and pecan pie!

Monday’s weather was perfect! We took a drive down to Lorne on the Great Ocean Road for a walk along the beach. We had a picnic in the sun and played ball with the kids for a bit. We then drove up to the Erskine Falls, which are apparently the most visited falls in Victoria.

By the time we got back to the cabin, I realized that I had caught a bit of sun. Which meant that we needed some much-needed medicine – JD and coke.

Tuesday was a nice lazy start with a hot breakfast and a slow drive home. The long way round ‘cos of the fallen trees and flooded roads.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

TFI Friday - Long weekend!

2007-11-02T15:29:00.000+11:00

As the weekend approaches and the sun breaks through the clouds, people around Melbourne are starting to smile. It’s a 4-day long-weekend for most and the forecasted rainy weather seems to have moved on.

The reason for the weekend: Melbourne Racing Carnival! It’s a week of horse racing that starts tomorrow and ends next Sunday. The public holiday is Tuesday, but most people, including myself, have taken Monday off too.

And I am really looking forward to this weekend ‘cos we are heading south with my brother-in-law and his family to the Otway National Park. We have hired a cabin in the forest and we are packing our mountain bikes too. The Otways are quite a well know MTB area with loads of forest tracks and MTB paths. And after the past few days of rain, there should be tons of mud too!

I promise loads of photos and a possible short video when I get back next week.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Beer goggles

2007-11-01T16:35:00.000+11:00

I’ve just been reading an article in an Aussie food magazine about this ‘new’ idea of linking good/boutique beers with certain foods like you would drink certain wines with certain dishes.

HELLO!! They’ve been doing that in the UK for a couple of years now!

On the forefront of this breakthrough idea is a restaurant in Sydney called Balzac that is, funnily enough, owned by an Englishman and his wife.

The Aussies drink an average of 95 litres of beer per capita in a year and only 27 litres of wine in the same time. No wonder restaurants are trying to push their beer sales. My question to you is “have any of you tried to experiment different beers with different foods?”

Through my experiences as a pub manager, I doubt it. Most people use beer to quench their thirst or fill their right hand while watching the big game on a Saturday afternoon!

But do yourself a favour and try it. It basically works the same as wine. Try a lighter beer with white meat and fish and a darker ale with red meats. You can even have beer with your dessert instead of a sweet dessert wine. Go on, try it. Below are some of my recommendations:

Seafood - IPA (Indian Pale Ale)
Oxtail - Amber Ale
Seafood pasta - Pilsner (Peroni)
Spicey Oriental food - Tiger, Kirin
Bread & Butter pudding - Hoegaarden Grand Cru
Chocolate desserts - Westmalle Dubbel

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Time is money!

2007-10-30T15:39:00.000+11:00

OK, I know time is money, but this is absolutely ridiculous! And lazy!

I know that people type short abbreviations when texting on their mobiles, but I’ve noticed that people are starting to do it on emails too.

Clients (not mates or family) are signing their emails with rgrds instead of regards and today I even received knd rgrds! Wow, you saved a whole 3 letters! Vowels to be exact, poor fellas!

Where will it end?

Chat soon,
DelBoy

TFI Friday

2007-10-26T12:19:00.000+10:00

It’s Friday once again. A crazy busy week at work which just flew by in a complete blur.
Last night I finally got to see Transformers (The Movie). At the Melbourne IMAX which was eye-popping! I went with my sister-in-law who had never been to an IMAX theatre before. She was shell-shocked, not only by the size, but also by the 12 000 Watt sound system. After the 2-½ hour movie, my head was spinning.

Being the start of the weekend, we have all sorts of plans depending on the weather. Tomorrow we are catching up with friends for a braai. Ja, we actually found a butcher who makes real boerewors Now I just have to find some Castle Lager and we’ll be laughing. And yes, we’ll probably watch The Game again.

We are also going to check out our new home tomorrow. We need to measure up for curtains and furniture and things so that we will have everything ready when we move in. And you are invited to the house-warming party of course!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

More Rugby Kudos

2007-10-25T22:18:00.000+10:00

More congratulations to the Boks.

World Champions: Bokke
IRB ranking: Number 1 in the world (finally)
Team of the year: Springboks
Coach of the year: Jake White
Player of the year: Bryan “Jet Shoes” Habana

Chat soon,
DelBoy

A day in the sun

2007-10-22T12:34:00.000+10:00

After a really early start (4am) to watch my beloved Boks lift the William Webb Ellis at the 2007 Rugby World Cup and then driving my in-laws to the airport, we decided that yesterday was just the day for a picnic.

The temperature was forecasted at 34 degrees C (it finally stopped climbing at 36!), so we packed our picnic baskets, loaded our bikes into Az’s Jeep and headed for Lysterfield, venue of the 2006 Commonwealth Games MTB race.

There weren’t many people around when we arrived at 11am, but by the time we got back from our 1-hour ride it was packed. The ride was good – a 4km climb up a firebreak then another 4.5km of singletrack through a bluegum forest with log obstacles and deep ruts. If I weren’t so unfit, I would have had a second go at it! Unfortunately, I didn’t take my helmet cam with me, so no video this time.

After a picnic lunch and a splash in Lysterfield Lake, we headed home to crash out in front of the TV.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

PS: I did say that if South Africa lifted the World Cup I would tell everyone if our baby was a boy or a girl. So, for those of you that don’t yet know, it is a … little girl!

Bokke, Bokke, Bokke!

2007-10-21T08:30:00.000+10:00

Thank you and congratulations guys!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

TFI Friday

2007-10-19T18:54:00.000+10:00

Another week passes by and another weekend is upon us. It'll be the first weekend in a long while that we won't be out house-hunting, but instead we'll be window-shopping to furnish the new place. I don't mind that though, 'cos one of the things we'll be shopping for is a plasma TV.

Weekend also means the finals of the Rugby World Cup! And we all know who the favourites are. Not that that means a thing - we seen enough upsets to know that we need to be very careful ("we" being the Bokke, of course). I mean, England in the final? That alone is an upset!

It also looks like summer may finally be arriving in Melbourne with predicted temperatures of 25 and 31 degrees C for Saturday and Sunday. Might have to drag the old mountain bike out again...

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Rugby Patriotism

2007-10-16T20:27:00.001+10:00

Most of you have probably seen it by now, but I couldn't resist!

Chat soon,
DelBoy