Catch me if I fall.

I took my two boys for a bushwalk in the Blue Mountains today.We went to this place called Evans lookout. There was a long, steep walk from the top of the valley down into the canyon. Lots of rocks, steep descents and hundreds of steps cut into the stone…

 At the bottom was a quiet little creek where spring water collected and flowed further into the valley. It was cool and shady because of the canopy of trees and looming cliffside.It was very serene. Very peaceful. The boys liked it a lot more than I thought they would.

The View from Evans Lookout

The walk back UP however, was pretty tough. I don’t think they really knew how much harder it would be to climb back out of the valley. There was a lot of gravel and loose rocks and it was very slippery.

I told the boys to stay close together and walk up slowly. First Liam, then Jason, then me.. That way if Liam slipped, Jason could catch him, and if they both slipped, I could catch them both.

The boys said to me” But Dad, what if YOU fall too?” and I said,” Don’t worry about that, I’m your Dad and I’m not going to fall. I’ll always be here to catch you if you fall.”

And I intend to be.

Always.

I’m a MAC, and I’m a PC…

Unless you’ve living in the World WITHOUT Web you’ve probably Seen these…

That’s 15 Ads where Apple tell us how wonderful the Mac is and how terrible the PC and Windows are. Let’s be honest with each other, it’s damn compelling stuff.. Who wants to be that geeky fat guy? Nobody!

Windows devotees, naturally despise this Über cool, jeans wearing punk, with no concept of work and a closet free of neckties and blue suits..

And really there’s no arguing that Macs are WAY sexier than PCs. I use a Macbook Pro in a predominantly Windows based office and the lustful looks elicited from both geeks and newbs alike are VERY satisfying. Let’s face it, that ad is VERY compelling.  Poor old Bill Gates has been taking a pummeling from Steve Jobs’ posse and I must say that it’s funny, VERY funny when Microsoft try to out-cool Apple.

I like Jerry Seinfeld, I watched the series, every episode, and I think it’s a little sad that a man who made me laugh so much is no longer finding new and daring ways to make me laugh some more. Don’t let that make you think that Jerry’s NOT doing anything, OH He’s doing stuff! Just nothing funny… This, my friends, is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s cool ads:

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think we’re likely to see hordes of people camping on the street 72 hours before Microsoft opens it’s new Mega-Store.. Even IF Bill Gates is there personally!

In conclusion, Macs are better.. no.. wait… hang on.. Let me re-read that..

Mac’s are SEXIER. yes without doubt… but is it all about LOOKS? I’m a Mac owner, what’s my experience of really USING this computer like? Well I loved it! Until recently when I crashed.. I tried to recover, I tried VERY VERY hard but I just couldn’t.

I’m an angry computer user when things don’t go my way. I decided to write a blog entry on how frustrated the whole experience made me. In the end, I realised that there were thousands of people olut there, just like me. So I deleted my entry and posted this video instead. This guy is my new hero..it goes on for a bit, but hang in there, it’s worth the wait..

Angry Mac Dude.. stick with it, it starts slow and then he really gets going…

I do hope Steve Jobs gets well soon.

A different sort of Blog entry… What’s the moral of the Story?

This was a bedtime story I told to my kids…

I was trying to create a particular message for them, but so far no-one who has read this has picked up on the message I was trying to send.. Which means either I’m an idiot or you’re an idiot..

What’s it gonna be? What’s the message here?

You are here...

The Island Castaway (no Tom Hanks)

A wealthy and powerful man began to lose his way in the world and decided to take a cruise to find himself. After 11 days at sea, there was a violent storm and the ship capsized, flinging the man into the raging sea. He survived the storm by holding on to a piece of floating debris and eventually was washed up on a small island. The island was very small and though there were enough trees with fruit, fresh water and fish to keep the man alive, after many weeks he began to lose his will to live. He decided at this time to try to put an end to it all.

The next morning 2 strange boxes washed up on the shore. Both were locked and looked difficult to open. The man spent a full day using makeshift tools trying to open the first box. For the whole day, he could not even scratch the outside of the box and eventually as night fell, he conceded that he could not open the box.

The next day he set to work on the second box. It seemed identical to the first, but by the end of the second day, he had managed to peel away just a very small corner of the top of the box. That night he could barely sleep, he was so excited about what he might find in the box.

Three more days passed, each day the man managed to open the box just a little more. Finally, on the end of the fifth day, the man had opened hole large enough to reach inside the box. He reached his hand inside and felt something small and square inside the box. He worked away, into the night and eventually freed the small square object, which happened to be another box, a smaller version of the first two. Since his island ordeal, the man had never felt so alive. Again that night, he barely slept, so excited about what he might find in the small box.

Another week passed, each day the man was able to open the smaller box just a little more.. Finally he had managed to open the small box and inside was a small silver flute. In the coming months the man taught himself slowly and careful to play beautiful music on the flute and after 6 long months on the island he was eventually rescued by a passing fishing ship.

When the ship arrived, the fisherman helped the man aboard and they picked up the first box the man had passed over. They opened the box and inside was a radio beacon, life raft and nautical flares. The man looked at the box and sat down, smiling to play the flute.

BMW R1200GS – The Object of My Desire

On the weekend I happened to be passing through a BMW bike dealership. A friend was looking for Bluetooth hands free for his Nolan bike helmet – which incidentally works very well!

So I’ve been thinking of changing Bikes – right now I ride a BMW F800S (see the pic)

I like my bike, it’s fast and fun but not that comfy for really long rides… I’ve been wanting to do a long trip, so thinking about a new bike. I had my heart set on a Harley-esque Yamaha Cruiser and with this in mind wandered into the BMW dealership.

I get talking with the sales dude about bikes, the kind of bike I want and he’s getting all narky on me.. This is HOW NOT TO SELL.. He’s bagging my choices, telling me what an idiot I am for picking this bike, when clearly the only bike for me is the BMW R 1200 GS. I say – you’re crazy, that bike is too upright, too heavy too this, too that but this guy is persistent.. In the end, through sheer tenacity, he convinces me to test ride one…

This dealership is a second floor shop. The only way OUT of the store on a bike is a STEEP driveway/ramp that feeds directly onto a busy road. So, having now agreed to test ride this monstrosity, I am now sitting astride one of the heaviest, most unwieldy bikes I’ve ever ridden, looking down at the busy road and thinking – BAD IDEA, especially since:

1. They have a swipe of my credit card and if I scratch it – I bought it!

2. This bike is BIG – so the EVERYONE in the showroom has stopped browsing and is now staring at me (and hoping to hell I fall off and make an ASS of myself!)

I gingerly ease this thing into traffic, after I’ve wobbled my way down the driveway of certain doom, thinking that the sooner I drop this thing off, the happier I’ll be. I fully intended to go around the block once and say thanks but no thanks..

BUT something strange happened. As I gathered momentum, this big heavy beast suddenly transformed from a heavy, unbalanced horror to a light and nimble trail bike. It felt like it weighed less than me! (which still makes it pretty heavy, sadly). The round-the-block ride turned into 40 minutes of heaven..

And now, I am totally fixated. Like the One Ring – I MUST HAVE IT!!

AAAAARGH! Stupid Sales Guy – I knew his technique was crap! Dammit.