Today I wandered into Centrelink to find out if I had any government benefits coming my way. There’s a myriad of schemes – parenting allowance, child care allowance, rent assistance, family payment, to help families make ends meet. I pay quite huge amounts of taxes, and wondered if given my recent change in circumstances any ... [More]
Have you ever encountered something that seemed really scary at first, then seemed to go okay for a while, then bounced back to be even more scary and crazy than you ever expected? Well my separation is turning out like that. I advise you to sit down if you’re not already doing so. Okay, so ... [More]
On Friday night I met up with a few ex-work buddies for a drinkie at PJ O’Brien’s. We had a merry old chat about the good ol’ days when we worked together. After a couple of hours some went on to a show, and the three of us remaining decided to move to another Irish ... [More]
At this point, not much to report on the domestic front, at least not to the general public (that would be you). What I will say is that since moving out and living alone, I’m quite proud to say that I managed to resist for two weeks before eating at McDonalds! Alas, last night I ... [More]
I’m getting a handle on the whole kitchen thing. Yesterday I (gasp) bought some kitchenware. Okay, so it was only at K-Mart, not House or anything, but I’m starting to fill the gaps in the equipment list, so I can at least feed myself. And feed myself I did, for tonight I wasn’t out and ... [More]
Well, there we go. I’ve moved. Not very far, but far enough that it involved most of Sunday packing up my belongings, lifting them onto Peter’s truck, and shipping them into the new place. It’s also involved most of Monday trying to work out where the hell everything is and trying not to be too ... [More]
Letter in today’s Age: It’s true, honest: I tried to ask my insurance broker about it, but they weren’t answering their phones on Thursday when I got the letter, and they haven’t replied to my e-mail yet (maybe their computer stopped working this year?) (See: 5/1/2000: Daniel the crank)
I’m amazed and thankful at the amount of supportive feedback I got after announcing to the world that my wife and I are splitting up. And a little surprised nobody mailed to say I was a complete bastard for moving out of home. A few people probably went a tad overboard in suggesting solutions to ... [More]
Last night’s weather forecast. Sure, the weather man looks cool – he’s probably got shorts on. And for you people outside the civilised world who don’t use Celsius, do some maths: It’s hot. (Picture: ABC TV news) To any freezing northern hemisphere-type-people who might be reading: Just a quick note to say… when you look ... [More]
On Saturday I took a look at a flat just down the street. One bedroom, and at the rock bottom price of $105 a week. Okay, so I really want two bedrooms, one for use as a home-office, but the location and price seemed pretty good. At least, the location seemed pretty good, and for ... [More]
Well, my wife and I are looking at a trial separation. There, that got your attention, didn’t it. A bit of soap like this should bump up the page hits on my diary. We’re still on good terms, but the unresolved issues have been piling up for a while. So now we’re working out the ... [More]
Before he baldly went where no man has gone before – Patrick Stewart with hair, in "Clavdivs" We’ve been having a bit of a video history lesson in the last few days. We’re slowly but surely working our way through the mammoth epic "I, Claudius", better known to anyone who’s seen it as "Clavdivs". It’s ... [More]