Give Those Glasses to the Baliff... And those...
Opening my PO Box on a lazy Thursday evening...
Vodafone
Colonial
Commonwealth
Sheriff
Oh shit.
My mind was in panic mode, trying to search the memory for anything remotely illegal.
Results 1-10 of about 11,300. Search took 0.28 seconds. Thank you, come again.
I look around the empty room, just to make sure it was empty. I open the letter and have found that I'm on call for Jury Duty for the next year.
Thank God.
I let out a sigh of relief and make a personal promise to minimise dodgy activities. At least until when J gets back from China.
The Bible Code
Mario's bad habit #24: Spending too much time reading in the toilet
The last time I read a book my Mum had recommended, I was instantly hooked. I finished reading it within a night, then went about searching for every other book the author had published. I'm not so sure whether it's a wise idea to publicise that I have read every one of Sidney Sheldon's books. A lot of toilet time was spent on getting lost in a whirlwind world of Paris weekends and Swiss Alps retreats. Thank God I've flushed nearly all those notions down the drain.
I'm now deep into a book called The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin. Basically, it's about a code that a computer has managed to extract from the Bible written in Ancient Hebrew. Apparently it's a book of prophecy, with the main claim that the world is now in the End of Days stage, and that the apocalypse will be in 2006, caused by an atomic holocaust. The book is littered with the Ancient Hebrew script, with highlights of prophecies they have managed to decipher. The author reveals that it is quite detailed - names of current world leaders, specific place names and dates surrounding events had been foretold in the Bible code. As an example, the September 11 attacks were apparently encoded.
My mind has been uneasy with all these ideas churning in my head. There's 99% of me that is sceptical, and 1% willing to believe. The next major event prophecised states that Yasser Arafat will be assasinated by an Arab.
Until this day comes, I refuse to believe any of the prophecies.
But when it does, I better make use of my time before 2006 comes around.
Mario's bad habit #24: Spending too much time reading in the toilet
The last time I read a book my Mum had recommended, I was instantly hooked. I finished reading it within a night, then went about searching for every other book the author had published. I'm not so sure whether it's a wise idea to publicise that I have read every one of Sidney Sheldon's books. A lot of toilet time was spent on getting lost in a whirlwind world of Paris weekends and Swiss Alps retreats. Thank God I've flushed nearly all those notions down the drain.
I'm now deep into a book called The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin. Basically, it's about a code that a computer has managed to extract from the Bible written in Ancient Hebrew. Apparently it's a book of prophecy, with the main claim that the world is now in the End of Days stage, and that the apocalypse will be in 2006, caused by an atomic holocaust. The book is littered with the Ancient Hebrew script, with highlights of prophecies they have managed to decipher. The author reveals that it is quite detailed - names of current world leaders, specific place names and dates surrounding events had been foretold in the Bible code. As an example, the September 11 attacks were apparently encoded.
My mind has been uneasy with all these ideas churning in my head. There's 99% of me that is sceptical, and 1% willing to believe. The next major event prophecised states that Yasser Arafat will be assasinated by an Arab.
Until this day comes, I refuse to believe any of the prophecies.
But when it does, I better make use of my time before 2006 comes around.
Never Ending Story
It's 5:00PM.
I'm engrossed in an article on anti-american movements, sipping away on a tasteless Green Iced Tea, slowly melting into the summer afternoon. Someone sits on the table opposite mine and proceeds to twiddle with his mobile phone. He takes a long, heavy drag on his cigarette.
He concentrated all his efforts on the trail of smoke he exhaled, ensuring that the rings were perfect. After ordering a latte, he spots friends passing by and invites them to join him. They converse.
Hey, how are you guys?
Not too bad.
Guess what, I bought a new car!
Oh really, what is it?
An Astra convertible! Hey how about I pick you guys up on Friday after work, we'll go cruise Bondi, have coffee outside the Ritz Carlton with the TOP DOWN!
Ok, cool.
I bought it within half an hour and the dealer loved me, you know what he told me?
What...
He said he wished that every customer was just like me.
Err...
I didn't even test drive it. I bought it last Friday and test drove it on Saturday. It cost me $55,000. My supervisor was like spewing. Only the managing director drives a more expensive car than me now. I have the second most expensive car at work.
Why that car? I mean for that money you could have bought something else.
Well I wanted to stay away from the street racer image, because it's not cool enough. This is cool, with class and chicks love it. It's...
An Astra convertible drives by outside the cafe, and he is quick to point it out.
See! Look at it! It's got the red leather and black exterior. That's the colour scheme I wanted because all the other colours and schemes go out of fashion, but black is classy all the time, never goes out of fashion. Oh and by the way I told C I bought a new car and we got into an ugly argument.
What happened...
Well, he just bought a SECOND-HAND WRX and he told me my car was a chick car. So I told him, look - I'll pull chicks in my new car and you'll pull guys from Bankstown. He got so offended.
And then...
I said - ok, we'll see who has to go to the smash repairers first, who spends more on insurance or who is first into a service. I can buy two of your cars with mine. And mine's brand new!
The pair didn't know what to say. A minute of uneasy silence blanketed their mute conversation.
Ok. Well, we'll catch you later. Call us on Friday ok?
Ok. Bye. I'll come by as soon as it's delivered. I'll pick you guys up in my new car ok?
They had already drifted off into the peak hour rush at the station. With a satisfied face, he pulls out another cigarette. He browsed through a Holden catalogue, just to remind himself that he just bought a new car, and this is what it looks like.
With the silence I continued reading the paper. By the last drag of his cigarette, he was again busily fiddling with his phone. He calls three different people and the story is repeated.
I try to turn my attention to other things but I'm somewhat drawn to the story. I had more than a slight inkling to go over there and talk to him, and it's not because I'm interested in cars (I am), but more so because I couldn't stand his arrogance. I restrain myself, knowing that it would just be hypocritical - arrogant in my part in believing that my opinion was superior - and pointless.
I leave the cafe and start walking towards my car. I feel somewhat disappointed, but I'm not exactly sure at what. I pause to look around me, at the people pouring out of the station and the traffic going by. A fake Louis Vuitton bag here, an overpriced Marcs shirt there and an old BMW churning out music so loud it could raise the dead.
As I stand on the escalator I am left wondering how and why do material goods empower humans, when it is ultimately futile. I resigned to a comfortable notion that that is just the way the world is.
I get into my car and slot in a CD. Perhaps Mos Def said it best - The harder you flash, the harder you get flashed on.
It's 5:00PM.
I'm engrossed in an article on anti-american movements, sipping away on a tasteless Green Iced Tea, slowly melting into the summer afternoon. Someone sits on the table opposite mine and proceeds to twiddle with his mobile phone. He takes a long, heavy drag on his cigarette.
He concentrated all his efforts on the trail of smoke he exhaled, ensuring that the rings were perfect. After ordering a latte, he spots friends passing by and invites them to join him. They converse.
Hey, how are you guys?
Not too bad.
Guess what, I bought a new car!
Oh really, what is it?
An Astra convertible! Hey how about I pick you guys up on Friday after work, we'll go cruise Bondi, have coffee outside the Ritz Carlton with the TOP DOWN!
Ok, cool.
I bought it within half an hour and the dealer loved me, you know what he told me?
What...
He said he wished that every customer was just like me.
Err...
I didn't even test drive it. I bought it last Friday and test drove it on Saturday. It cost me $55,000. My supervisor was like spewing. Only the managing director drives a more expensive car than me now. I have the second most expensive car at work.
Why that car? I mean for that money you could have bought something else.
Well I wanted to stay away from the street racer image, because it's not cool enough. This is cool, with class and chicks love it. It's...
An Astra convertible drives by outside the cafe, and he is quick to point it out.
See! Look at it! It's got the red leather and black exterior. That's the colour scheme I wanted because all the other colours and schemes go out of fashion, but black is classy all the time, never goes out of fashion. Oh and by the way I told C I bought a new car and we got into an ugly argument.
What happened...
Well, he just bought a SECOND-HAND WRX and he told me my car was a chick car. So I told him, look - I'll pull chicks in my new car and you'll pull guys from Bankstown. He got so offended.
And then...
I said - ok, we'll see who has to go to the smash repairers first, who spends more on insurance or who is first into a service. I can buy two of your cars with mine. And mine's brand new!
The pair didn't know what to say. A minute of uneasy silence blanketed their mute conversation.
Ok. Well, we'll catch you later. Call us on Friday ok?
Ok. Bye. I'll come by as soon as it's delivered. I'll pick you guys up in my new car ok?
They had already drifted off into the peak hour rush at the station. With a satisfied face, he pulls out another cigarette. He browsed through a Holden catalogue, just to remind himself that he just bought a new car, and this is what it looks like.
With the silence I continued reading the paper. By the last drag of his cigarette, he was again busily fiddling with his phone. He calls three different people and the story is repeated.
I try to turn my attention to other things but I'm somewhat drawn to the story. I had more than a slight inkling to go over there and talk to him, and it's not because I'm interested in cars (I am), but more so because I couldn't stand his arrogance. I restrain myself, knowing that it would just be hypocritical - arrogant in my part in believing that my opinion was superior - and pointless.
I leave the cafe and start walking towards my car. I feel somewhat disappointed, but I'm not exactly sure at what. I pause to look around me, at the people pouring out of the station and the traffic going by. A fake Louis Vuitton bag here, an overpriced Marcs shirt there and an old BMW churning out music so loud it could raise the dead.
As I stand on the escalator I am left wondering how and why do material goods empower humans, when it is ultimately futile. I resigned to a comfortable notion that that is just the way the world is.
I get into my car and slot in a CD. Perhaps Mos Def said it best - The harder you flash, the harder you get flashed on.
Fences and Windows
I found this passage quite interesting, it's from a book called Fences and Windows by Naomi Klein.
Capitalizing on Terror
And so, on September 11, America woke up in the middle of a war only to find out that the war had been going on for years - but no one told them. They were hearing about OJ instead of the devestating effects of economic sanctions on Iraqi children. They were hearing about Monica instead of the fallout from the bombing of that pharmaceutical factory. They were learning about Survivor instead of the role the CIA had played in financing the Mujahedeen warriors. "Here's the rub," writes the Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, "America is at war against people it doesn't know, because they don't appear much on TV."
I found this passage quite interesting, it's from a book called Fences and Windows by Naomi Klein.
Capitalizing on Terror
And so, on September 11, America woke up in the middle of a war only to find out that the war had been going on for years - but no one told them. They were hearing about OJ instead of the devestating effects of economic sanctions on Iraqi children. They were hearing about Monica instead of the fallout from the bombing of that pharmaceutical factory. They were learning about Survivor instead of the role the CIA had played in financing the Mujahedeen warriors. "Here's the rub," writes the Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, "America is at war against people it doesn't know, because they don't appear much on TV."
Tale of the Half Pizza
Sometime last week, when the fridge was barren and the pantry empty, the mind was willing and the flesh was weak. And the parents were out of town.
9481 1111
Thirty-five minutes later…
That’s $20.95
Here you go
Cheers
I rushed back inside as the smell of barbecue chicken consumed my hungry mind. I lifted the lid to find three slices of pizza had been eaten(!). Stunned, I turned to the phone and grabbed a slice to eat for the 15-second wait.
Hi, I’d just received my order and there were only five slices
Sorry?
I think your driver might have been hungry, I’d like to speak to the manager…
OK. She’ll call you back in five minutes
Thanks
Five minutes later…
Hi
Hello is this Mr A?
Yes
What can I do for you, Sir?
I’d like a replacement pizza delivered, my pizza only came with five slices, I…
Um, our pizzas come in eight slices, Sir
Err… I know that (you fucking idiot) why do you think I’m making a complaint?
Well, let me talk to the driver…
And what, make me wait another half an hour? I want that delivered now! What kind of terrible service is this, making people wait for half an hour and give them a half -eaten pizza…
Ok, Sir someone will be there in ten minutes
Thank you
I settle back in front of the TV, finishing what was left of the half pizza.
This blog was proudly brought to you by John Gray’s – How to get what you want and want what you have. And the number 5.
Sometime last week, when the fridge was barren and the pantry empty, the mind was willing and the flesh was weak. And the parents were out of town.
9481 1111
Thirty-five minutes later…
That’s $20.95
Here you go
Cheers
I rushed back inside as the smell of barbecue chicken consumed my hungry mind. I lifted the lid to find three slices of pizza had been eaten(!). Stunned, I turned to the phone and grabbed a slice to eat for the 15-second wait.
Hi, I’d just received my order and there were only five slices
Sorry?
I think your driver might have been hungry, I’d like to speak to the manager…
OK. She’ll call you back in five minutes
Thanks
Five minutes later…
Hi
Hello is this Mr A?
Yes
What can I do for you, Sir?
I’d like a replacement pizza delivered, my pizza only came with five slices, I…
Um, our pizzas come in eight slices, Sir
Err… I know that (you fucking idiot) why do you think I’m making a complaint?
Well, let me talk to the driver…
And what, make me wait another half an hour? I want that delivered now! What kind of terrible service is this, making people wait for half an hour and give them a half -eaten pizza…
Ok, Sir someone will be there in ten minutes
Thank you
I settle back in front of the TV, finishing what was left of the half pizza.
This blog was proudly brought to you by John Gray’s – How to get what you want and want what you have. And the number 5.
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