Sikamikanico Blogs

Move Over - It's My Turn Now Hello, it's Xander here. I've been complaining to Mummy that she never lets me post; after all this blog is supposed to belong to both of us! So she agreed, on the condition that I promise not to rite lik eths, because it really annoys her. I agreed, of course - I'm a very literate cat! Some may say that when I sit on Mummy's lap whilst she's reading, I'm just staring at the book with a glazed look in my eyes - but I'm thinking about the symbolism. Don't you get a blank look when you think about symbolism? Anyway, you wouldn't believe the weekend I had. You see, it's been very hot this summer and though I am practically perfect in every way, somehow I picked up fleas. Mummy tried to get me with this awful white stuff she called "flea powder", but I was having none of it - that stuff really ruins the glossiness of my black fur! However, the fleas were seriously crimping my style, and Mum got tired of my

As I mentioned, I'm not going to write about work here for awhile. Partly because I feel like my job is taking over my life, but also because I want to get back to my old territory of disjointed political rants. Of all of the Howard government ministers, Peter Costello can usually be relied on to put his foot in his mouth slightly less often than most of the others. He's not immune the poorly thought-out speech though. In an address last night, costello opnied that Muslim immigrants should embrace Australian values before being granted citizenship; dual citizens would be stripped of Australian citizenship if they failed to comply. Costello stated that Australia has one system of law ( Aboriginal tribal law notwithstanding) and values, and those who don't like it should leave. Which brings me to my two points: What the hell are Australian values anyway? Who decides? Alot of what is perceived as the Australian ethos is based on outmoded concepts anyway, the "outback me

I haven't been posting here much lately, and I feel strangely guilty, like I've been neglecting a child! There's a good reason though - I've been setting up a photo gallery. Here it is so far. There aren't many photos up yet, because it took me so long to get the HTML right in the tepmlate - but I'll be adding photos old and new into galleries over the coming weeks, so keep checking back! All right, now that you've had a look, I'm curious to know what readers think - should I change the look of the Pod to something similar to the gallery? I've always been rather precious about not changing my template here, but if I'm honest, this place is just screaming for a makeover. I'm just nervous because it took so long setting up that template for a new blog - imagine how long it would take for an existing blog like this (a huge exisitng blog like this) - and what if something went wrong and I lost everything? Still, I'm willing to give it a tr

For reasons which will become apparent in my next few posts, I'm going to be taking a short break from posting about work related issues. And I can't think of a better way to say Sayonara to all that, than to point you towards the Dilbert Blog's advice for new graduates . I couldn't have put it better myself.

Well, the winner of the 90s competition, randomly selected from all those who left an answer, is (drumroll, please!) BSE. A copy of the Stone Temple Pilots Thank You will be on its way...as soon as I have a postal address (I was hoping the winner would be a Novocastrian! I'm stingy that way). Today I amazed myself. I took the Bather's Way walk to the Bogie Hole. Let me unhesitatingly recommend you to do so, if you ever visit Newcastle; it's gorgeous, with stunning ocean views. However, when I got to the Bogie Hole itself, well, I had no idea that access was only down a set of crumbling stone steps that end two feet short of the ground, and that the whole thing is under a overhanging cliff. Now I'm claustrophobic as well as being petrified of heights, so for me this was hell. I had intended to take photos, but I'm sorry, all I wanted to do was get out of there. But the thing is, the Bogie Hole was constructed by convict labour early in the 19th century to be the pe

What a week it's been - and there's still another day to go! I'd half-planned to go to Sydney this weekend - art galleries, shopping, etc - but all I can see myself actually doing is watching DVDs whilst wrapped up in a doona. On Monday I had my first official work performance review. Naturally, I was wetting myself slightly worried, but it actually turned out fine. Okay, scrap the false modesty - it was outstanding. I received especial raves for my superb organisational organisation skills and systems knowledge. My rating is very high, so I can expect a nice little payrise in the next pay cycle! *Bows* So the bad news I was expecting turned out very well, but unfortunately on Monday I also received some pretty bad news I wasn't expecting at all. However, I determined that I wouldn't let it get me down, and I might have suceeded, had it not been for... Tuesday - VD wasn't a very good day. I know I'm one of the bloggers Omni was referring to - the women

Although it would make me feel much better, I'm not going to whinge about being single on Valentines day. I'm going to reflect on the fact that there is one gorgeous guy who thinks I'm the most wonderful woman on Earth, makes me feel utterly adored every time I see him, and never looks at other women, leaves the toilet seat up, comes home late, or buys me cricket DVDs for my birthday. Yep... (Click on the picture to see other funny anti-valentines!)

Okay, I'm a Nineties tragic, so to celebrate my 400th post, here's some Nineties music trivia questions for you to sink your rollers into. Please leave answers in the comments, and I'll post the answers to each question as I receive them. Please - no cheating! There's not much I can do about it, but you'll feel like a cheap fraud. And yes, there is a prize! I'll draw one name from all the readers who submit a correct answer, and the winner will be sent a greatest hits CD from a big Nineties band (it's a suprise so far...)* Hey Girls, Hey Boys, Superstar DJs, Here We Go! 1. In 1999, which song did Triple J listeners vote the best Australian song of the Nineties? You Am I - Berlin Chair. Rex was listening :) 2. Faith No More drew criticism from animal rights groups for their treatment of which animal in the flim clip for Epic ? A Fish. Well done Skye. 3. In which US state did Jeff Buckley die? Tennesee - thanks Kitekat. 4. True or false: These were actual ly

(And make mine a double) Normally I wait until Friday to have whine, but although we've only reached Thursday, I just can't wait any longer. Here's why... I'm exhausted. Work is really getting to me. I mean, I know everyone says that they're a martyr doing the jobs of several people, but it is literally true in my case; this is our busiest time of year, and in years gone by, there's been five or six employees to do the jobs I'm now trying to handle on my own. It's pretty stressful, because I like to be good at what I do, and I just don't have the resources to do a good job at the moment. Then again, I might be tired because last night Xander decided that the most confortable place for him to sleep was horizontally across my pillow. And as you can probably imagine, an eight-kilo cat takes up a lot of room in a single bed. But it was easier to leave him be than try to argue with him at 4am, so I spent the night curled in the foetal position at the fo

Best laid plans really are worth the half-written blog posts the server crashes on. On Saturday morning I rose bright and early, planning to go into Newcastle and take photos of the Bathers Way, newly re-opened after the removal of the Rather Large Rock, which crashed onto the roadway in 2002, and which it took Newcastle City Council three years to remove. Actually, it didn't take that long; they spent three years talking about removing it, finally decided on a plan to demolish it and remove the pieces, only to have it fall to bits when first grazed by a bulldozer when the engineers finally showed up. But I digress. Full of enthusiasm, I flung open the curtians on Saturday, looking forward to taking the joycam, getting some beautiful pictures of the Bogey Hole and the cliff above the ocean, and posting them here (of course!)...only to discover that it was raining. This was not good. It certainly didn't make me happy. As I've said, I've been feeling shallow and work-obs

I didn't think it was possible. But finally, after over 20 years... I have found the Lost Song!!! The genesis of the story: when I was very little and we lived in Sydney in the early 1980s, we always seemed to go on long car journeys on the weekend, and so I heard an awful lot of radio. There was one song in particular I was very fond of, that got alot of air play at the time. I didn't know anything about it, other than it was a lush, piano-heavy piece. I didn't know any of the words (I was barely more than a toddler at the time) and apparently my father didn't have it on any of his records (no CDs in 1982!). Eventually, it dropped off regular radio play, and I forgot all about it for twenty years. But it must have remained in some corner of my sub-concious. Fast forward to early 2003...I'd been to lunch with a couple of co workers, and in the car on the way back to the office, the song came on the radio. I recognised it straight away, but unfortunatley they were ch

Well, I've put in several years in the cubicle trenches now, and I've acquired quite a bit of knowledge along the way. I'd like to join a mentoring program for those who are just starting their "stuck in a carpeted box for hours on end" lives. Not many people can survive thirty years hard time in a cubicle, but I have plenty of strategies to share on how to make those thirty years fly by like twenty nine. Actually, maybe I should write them all up into a book, so people will have to pay for my wisdom. But because you've taken the trouble to come here, I'm going to share with you the best work avoidance/boss pacification maneuver I've developed so far. It goes a little something like this: Bring a large jar of hard candy into work (it has to be hard candy, as it takes longer to consume) and present it to your boss, placing it prominently on his* desk. Use an excuse like Xmas or his birthday if you have to. If you don't want to look like a suck-up, j