international nut of pastry - I think this lines mostly filler.

One of the magpies at work has been named Frank, and if you've read other posts you'll know that I've been feeding him some mince every-so-often.

This morning, soon after I showed up at work Frank was wandering around near the office. A flock of galahs have shown up and I think he knows he's outnumbered. At last count there was at least 20 of them. I don't know if they would attack or intimidate him, but their numbers probably make him weary.

Anyway, I had brought him some mince to feed him, so I did.

Anyone happen to remember the magpie that was hanging around the office at work? Well, I decided to try and feed him. Of course, I wasn't content with just throwing minced meat for him to collect, I had to see if he'd take the food from my hand - and he did.

I've yet to get a photo of him taking food from anyone's hand, but even without food he's starting to let me get awfully close before he walks off a bit.

I'll keep trying to get a photo or video of him taking the food, but in the mean time here's a video of the "warble" they make. Which on it's own is very cool.

This was the email signature from an email received by someone at work..

IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the assistance of the individual addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low cognitive interpretation of insinuation. If you have received this email in error, please shred or julienne, add 1/4 a cup of jalapenos, 2 Potatoes, 1 radish and place in a moderate oven for 40 minutes. Garnish with caramelised onions and let stand for 15 minutes before serving with a light Red. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is not authorised (either explicitly or implicitly) and indicates a complete absence of useful purpose on your behalf. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this email, although I feel the yapping Schnauzer next door would look good as a slipper. Those with an irrational fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is ... hidden ... revealed by ... this warning ..., so just ignore that Alert Notice from Symantec. However, by hanging several nubs of garlic around your neck and on your computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you or your pets. If you fwd this message to at least 10 people a small child in Ethiopia will be none the wiser.

For someone who is used to getting paid weekly, when the public holidays cause you to get two pays at once it's odd feeling of "oooh! A raise!" but it lasts only for a moment.

I don't understand easter. How did we go from crucifiction to chocolate eggs and bunnies?

You someone please disconnect the reversing buzzer on the digging machine in the next yard over. It's "working" for two days now. I think your hole is dug by now!

I've started running. No, not because someone is chasing me. I thought it would be a good way to kill time and (hopefully) weight. But that story is for another time..

Around 4:20 today, it was getting ominously dark. So dark, that I figured "hey, I better leave now and I'll beat the rain!" Yeah, stupid idea. I got about 100m away from the office and down the road when all-fucking-hell broke loose and I was out in this monsoonal rain unable to avoid getting soaked, even though I had an umbrella. But an umbrella does little good when the rain is changing direction as often as a whore changes lipstick.

Almost to the bus stop, and it's still pouring down like it's the end of the world. Storm drains aren't coping with the influx of water so there's huge puddles to step over to get to the footpaths. Now, this is when I actually looked around for a moment for shelter. But the industrial buildings all around me left no place to hide and with lightning crashing disturbingly close to me, I figured it best not to stay still. Sure, I wouldn't get struck by lightning but you still don't stand around soaking up water for no good reason. As I get closer to an intersection I realise two things. One; my socks are soaked and there's actually water in my boots (wtf?!) and two; the traffic lights at the intersection are out. Which explains why I "felt" the last lightning strike - because I was only a few dozen meters from it!

As I get to the bus shelter, I huddle in back corner where the rain wasn't coming and take stock of the damage. Pants, soaked. Shoes, carrying water. Torso is relatively dry, but my backpack if soaked through. I think it's time to invest in a water proof back for times like these.

Now, in less wet news... I've signed up to last.fm for shits and giggles. So now you can all invade my privacy and see just what music I listen to on a daily basis. I guess when I've used it for a few weeks, I'll put a up a permanent chart showing the top tracks or something. Yeah, maybe.

I've still got a few more weeks of temporary employment. The official end date is Friday 2 March, but it might go longer if they don't make up their mind about which technical officer they're going to employ. Also... Hooray for flexi-hours - I have Friday off.

Today, I started a mission that I hope to accomplish. I want my name removed from the mailing lists for credit card applications. The almost continuous stream of the half-filed out credit card application forms to countless banks and financial institutions must come to an end, at least for me. First on the chopping block is St. George. Next will be whatever one shows up next.

Finding the phone number for St George's head office was easier than I though, and asking to speak to someone in marketing about their current marketing campaign, I was put through to someone who has, as yet, not returned my call. Tomorrow, I will call their customer relations phone number and I hope I can actually speak to someone this time.

Now to lighten the mood, attached (yes, you can all attach files now ) is a PDF of a realestate.com.au page that I was linked to last week. It shows a property available for rent... Only the "property" is a goat, owned by Borat.

Been awhile since I wrote any words that appeared here, not sure why that is... I suppose I felt the odd photo that I put online would be enough. But every so often you've just got to rant.

Poker has pretty much been down hill since I came 4th. The week after, I didn't place. The week after that I came 9th, and the last two weeks now I've not placed. I guess my luck has run out as I'm not really doing anything wrong with my playing style - cards just aren't coming my way. I'm not sure if I need a break from poker, or if I need to somehow play more. A break would hurt my standings at the venue. But when you're continuing to get only 10 points just for showing up, you aren't going to make it far up the ladder.

I took a sickie today. Not the "great Aussie tradition" one either. I was genuinely sick. Got a doctors certificate, prescription meds, the usual. But I digress (I what?)...

For a very long time, I didn't have a job and I got entirely too used to it in many ways. Today I realised how easy I had it when I got sick. What I mean by this is that when I got a bad cold, it wouldn't bother me to be out of action for days at a time. Sure, I'd get meds when needed and hate the feeling of being unwell. But now days, I've had about 3-4 individual sick days this year, each time I've gone back to work feeling better though not totally recovered.

I bring this up because despite my general feeling of unwell, I fully intend on going to work tomorrow. Even though I'll probably just want to sleep for most of the day, just like today - though I did force myself to go for a walk and not get as much sleep as I could/should have.

No real point to this post, I guess. Just a noticing a difference to "this time last year".

The exhibition that I submitted some photos to opened today, and both photos I submitted were on display - I'm quite proud about that, even if it seems like every photo that was submitted was being shown. I say that because there was a photo of a Batman Returns DVD. w. t. f.

The two photos I submitted are; this one and this one.

On Thursday I got a call about a job interview, not with the employer but with a group that screens and puts forwards eligible applicants. Well, that interview went well and on Monday I have an interview with the actual employer. The job is for a traineeship at Camden Council, working in the offices for the sustainable environment department. It is a traineeship, which means there's no guarantee that there'll be a job for me at the end of that period but at least it's something to occupy my days and bring me a larger bank balance.

I looked into it, and unfortunately I'll need to catch a bus to Campbelltown, then to Camden as there's no bus that goes directly from where I live to Camden. Oh well. I might replace my iPod with a video one to pass the hour travelling time that there'll be everyday.