Here is a picture of me
approximately 1/500th of a second after I found out exactly what
the little black button on the front of the borrowed Mavica
Camera did.
Here is a picture of me
approximately 1/500th of a second after I found out exactly what
the little black button on the front of the borrowed Mavica
Camera did.
I am the first to admit that this is not a particularly flattering photograph, but it does kind of capture what was a startling moment.
The sweat pouring off me is a result of a brisk walk around the block with our two cattle dogs, (more about them later) then having to do what so very very many men are forced to do. Find something to do while our female partner hogs the shower....
I am 43 years old. I live with my partner Sylvia (also known as "she who is obeyed immediately and without question") at Clifton Beach, a northern beach suburb of Cairns in Far North Queensland Australia.
I used to be a public servant but after 20 years (actually 20 years and two days) the mindless tedium of working in a doomed organisation combined with office politics played at the most pathetic level by lack wits who live under the misapprehension that they actually matter convinced me that it was time to try my hand at something else. I resigned, walked out and have not looked back since.
I have recently noted with interest that the federal government has begun the first steps along the path of putting social welfare delivery to market I predict that if the coalition is returned at the next election (2001) that Centrelink's operations will be privatised soon after. In fact to amuse myself I wrote a treatise on how to do exactly that as part of my university assessment this year (got a D+ too!) It is only long held ideological beliefs that prevent me from dusting it off and sending it to the Liberals as an instruction manual.
I fill my days in now by being a full time university student (Politics and Law) and by working as a computer technician.
In a way, working as a technician is a "return to the fold" for me as for over 20 years computers have been my hobby (and occasional "extra money earner") since I built my first computer (an Altair) in approximately 1981. This first computer led ultimately to an extremely advanced S100 system (if you don't know, don't ask) and in 1982-83. my first foray into mobile computing came when I bought an Osborne 01. This machine was later optioned to include a 300baud modem and a Trantor 5 meg hard drive, which at the time made it worth more than my brand new motorcycle (a Kawasaki GPZ1100) that I also bought in 1983.
As a complete aside, the computer outlasted the bike.
I resisted the temptation of the newfangled IBM Pcs until approximately 1986, after all my trusty S100 had a MS-DOS compatibility card and I could share documents and programs with my Osborne (by now traded in on a new President model, complete with "P" system programming environment).
I did not eventually succumb to the lure of the IBM-PC because of any great improvement in performance, in fact the S100 would run rings around a 4.77Mhz PC, the lure was that I had discovered Bulletin Boards and there was this fantastic non-real-time packet switched network called FidoNet that I wanted to be a part of. and all the software was immediately available for IBM-PCs whereas if I wanted to stick with CP/M I got to write my own.
I became the sysop of the third FidoNet BBS in Queensland (and amongst the first 30 odd in Australia) running "Sun City Opus" 3:640/702 in Townsville.
I ran the BBS for several years until I found my interest waning somewhat in the face of a new way to spend even vaster sums of money, I had discovered aeroplanes. Suffice it to say that in dure course I gained a license to terrorise the skies and proceeded to convert a considerable portion of my spending power into "hours".
Eventually sanity prevailed and like all good addicts I went cold turkey. I have not now flown as pilot in command since my birthday in 1992. I still miss flying terribly and intend to build myself a "gentleman's tourer" as soon as "she" can be persuaded to allow construction to begin downstairs.
I am also a motorcyclist of some 24 years standing. I own a 1978 BMW R100RS and a 1983 Yamaha XT250 (actually due to the assistance of a good friend who owned a motorcycle shop it is more TT than XT).
Somewhere chucked in all this was more than a spot of sailing, mostly in 16' skiffs but also Cobra and "A" class cats.
Email on any of the above topics more than welcome
Email: Tony
Having mentioned "SHE", I thought the world should see what she looks like.
By the way, if ever you want to make a "pocket rocket" out of a BMW use a 1978 short-shaft R65 frame and put a "healthy" R80 engine into it, this little Beemer FLIES!
Hopefully I will be forgiven when she eventually finds this....
Sylvia has her own Email address, click here.
And Finally, a group shot of the whole family, well almost the whole family, the cat "shot through" prior to the shot. All of us have lost some weight since this photo was taken. The other significant thing that has changed is that Sylvia decided that she couldn't bear to part with the Kombi (which was slowly turning into a dangerous rust bucket) and paid a minor princeling's ransom to have it repaired, repainted and re-engined. The Kombi resurrection pages will be added in due course.
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