VolaciousNet

To cut a very long story short, I’m driving around a brand new Holden Commodore SV6 whilst I put the Subaru in to get its hail damage repaired (from over 18 months ago!).

Hire cars should NOT be this fun! Ohhhh I better be careful… I can see a speeding fine hovering around…

Blatantly stolen from RealEuphoria

Whilst procrastinating from cleaning, I’ve decided that my blogroll is getting a touch outdated. What blogs I used to read a long time ago, many have dried up with infrequent posts, and I’m realising that there are a lot of people out there, starting blogs, with probably some great content, I just haven’t found them yet! So on my hunt, I stumbled across TJ, a fellow Aussie, and I’m going to blatantly steal his meme (which of course he stole from elsewhere, as memes go!)

It’s a “manliness” meme, but judging from the questions I think it is more “gentleman” than “manly”. I’ve never really been accused of being overly effeminate (although I have my moments!), so I’m curious to know how I go. The idea is to bold the things you can do, and see what your score is out of 25. Here goes

1. Change a flat tire
2. Tie a bow tie – Bow tie yes, but long time ago. I can tie a Windsor and half Windsor fluently, does that count?
3. Carve a turkey – Yep. My roasts are famous
4. Open a bottle of champagne – Oh come on, who can’t do that?
5. Change the oil in a car – I’ve done it before, but I’m going to say no to this one. I like to put my car in for servicing every now and then, and they do it for me there. Much easier for them!
6. If asked, you know the name of a good barber – Well, yes, but I think we call them “hairdressers” now. Even shops that are male-only don’t tend to call themselves barbers anymore.
7. Have a tailor who knows your measurements – I’d have to say, no. I’m not really the kind to buy tailor-made suits just yet… maybe later when I’m all rich and powerful (**dreams**)
8. Tie a bowline, clove hitch, and a square knot – Yes, and use them regularly (get your mind out of the gutter!)
9. Chop wood – Yes.
10. Shoot a rifle – Yes. I used to be able to hit a dinner plate from 800 metres without a scope. A scope makes things sooo much easier though!
11. Make a dry martini – Yes. Although I still prefer scotch…
12. Keep a checkbook balanced – Well technically I can, but I don’t use cheques and if I did, I’m sure I’d be too lazy and not bother to fill in the left hand bits. So I’ll say no here.
13. BBQ – I agree with TJ, this is a genetics thing. There is a BBQ gene on the Y chromosome somewhere! I love having a good BBQ, and my old BBQ used to have several hot and cold areas that took quite a lot of knowledge to harness!
14. Lay a fire – Yep… I love building a good fire, but Adam gets upset when I pour kerosene all over it! He thinks that is cheating…
15. Change a fuse – Aye. I think I would banned from being an Electrical Engineer if I didn’t know how to change the fuses that I seem to keep blowing…
16. Polish shoes – Yep. 6 years as an Air Force Cadet helped that. Bit of spit, wrist action…. you get the idea! *grins*
17. The ability to read stock quotes in the business section – Yeah, although at the moment I try and avoid it, it’s not a pretty sight out there!
18. Keep score at a cricket game (TJ’s version said “baseball” game, so I’ve converted it for us Aussies)
19. Jump-start a car – A necessity after owning a 1982 Ford Laser
20. Know how to throw a punch – No. I’d be terrible in a fight. I prefer the cold and calulating vindications
21. Own a tuxedo – Nope. Not a full-on tux.
22. Know how to judge a new wine – I don’t know here… I’ll say yes because I think I have a fairly decent idea, but I’m always learning new subtleties about wine.
23. Do your own taxes at least once in your life – Always have. Thank God for E-Tax!
24. Know how to play poker – I love poker! Give me 4 mates, a bottle of Johnny Black and a deck of cards anyday!
25. Carry a handkerchief – No, can’t say I do. Kleenex at work, hankies just end up all manky. Ewww!

So there we have it, 19 out of 25!

Whilst I have the floor, has anyone else discovered some new Aussie blogs that I might not know about?

Meanwhile, the House Vs. Glider debate is still going strong… so far there are a lot of sensible people telling me that a house would make both Adam and I a lot happier and more secure, but a lot of far more fun people saying that gliders are just plain cool and I should get a shiny one. Naturally, ever glider pilot I know has told me there should be no decision involved. Damn it, people, couldn’t you see from the pictures on my post that I am clearly biased in what I want? I HATE PICKET FENCES!!!!! And look up what Volacious means! I’m going to have to find a compromise I’m sure…

It’s come to another dilemma. I went up to the gliding club last weekend, had a few flights with the instructor to make sure I wasn’t dangerous (I haven’t flown since December last year!), and then went for a beat around the sky in a single-seater on Sunday, weak lift, but enough to give me the height to aerobat the aircraft around and make me feel giddy again J Ahhh, it’s nice to be back in the air! I’ve got a fair bit of practice to do before the Junior Nationals this year… but then again as long as I don’t come last, I’ll be happy!

Anyway, last weekend it came up that the club is selling one of its aircraft, a Glasflugel Libelle,for a very cheap rate, as long as it was sold to club members. If I were to be looking at a 1/3 share in it, the cost would be $4k, a bargain for anyone wanting to buy an airworthy aircraft. I’m sorely, sorely tempted to go for it… I’ve always liked the Libelle, it’s a nimble little aircraft, and if flown properly can be quite competitive. I’ve always wanted my own lil’ fleet of aircraft… what a perfect way to start it!

Also, Adam and I have been looking at our current situation, and we’ve decided that we don’t like the house we’re in now. To us, it’s nothing more than 4 walls, cold tiles, and a tacky kitchen. There’s no character, nothing to make it a “home”, like where we were at our previous place up the road. Frankly, I’m sick of renting. I can’t change things in this house, I can’t put in my own “touches” or even repaint a really really ugly wall. So, we’ve looked at our finances, and now since our debt is all but gone, we are in a position to be saving for our first house.

Considering the prices of houses in Sydney, being able to afford your first house is next to impossible. Half a mil, easy, if you want a bit of land with a freestanding house. Mind you, that freestanding house would not even be very liveable, it would need a lot of work done. However, I don’t mind that part… as I said, I reckon I could do a pretty good job if I was allowed to do up a house. Rip up the ugly carpet and put down parquetry (temporarily until get the money for floorboards), rip out the 60’s lamps and put in halogen downlights, add a feature wall, it’s not difficult people! We will have to get a house because a) we have the monster and wouldn’t give him up for the world, and b) the land is worth the most. Apartments age and get tackier, and have an upper limit on price as they get older. Houses don’t have to be worth anything more than the land they’re on 

SO, here’s the dilemma. If I buy the glider, houses will be delayed as the deposit will take a fair whack longer to save up for. BUT, having a glider would be sooooooooo cool! The start of my fleet! If I go for the house, I will miss a great opportunity for a cheap glider and something I’ve really really wanted.

So you, my readers, must decide for me
Will it be:

House?

OR

Glider?

I can bet that many of my readers have already reeled after seeing the picture I’ve attached to this post. Get used to it. I’ve decided to get political!

It’s no secret that I am very happy now that Malcolm Turnbull has taken the reigns of the Liberal Party. Many of my readers will know that I used to be a card-carrying Young Liberal, and that in the last few years I’ve become very disenfranchised with the Liberal Party, and in fact dismissive of all politics in Australia due to the ineptitude of Labor and the extremely conservative social platform that the Liberals had taken.

I’m not about to go justifying myself as a gay Liberal supporter again, I’ve done that before in many previous posts, and the foundations of that reasoning haven’t changed. I’ve been keeping an eye on the internal struggle between the left (colloquially known as “wets”) and right factions of the party, curious to know who would eventually get the upper hand. I’ve given up on the NSW Liberals… the infiltration of Hill$ong into their ranks is not about to pass soon. Then again, with the maladroit performance of NSW Labor, even I may be thinking the Libs are the lesser of the two evils there…

Nonetheless, Malcolm has always been a true advocate of what it means to be Libertarian, which is the closest political identity that I could align myself to. He has the charisma and the experience to win an election, something that Brendan Nelson lacked, which is why so many people are tipping him as the next PM. Even the gays should happy it would seem… I don’t think Malcolm would dare upset them in the next election or he may never win back his seat of Wentworth! It seems as though the wets (small-l liberals in the Liberal Party) are finally regaining strength.

I knew it would only be a matter of time. A new generation is coming through, “Johnny’s Cronies” have all departed to the back bench or beyond, and the new generation is far more socially aware. Whilst on that note, many of my readers would be curious to know how many gay people I know who are active in the Liberal Party. The short answer is “lots”.

I’m not going to sit here and say that the Libs will be Australia’s saviour… far from it. I do think there is hope though. From what I have read, heard, and talked to people about, it would seem that Australians are crying out for a “socially progressive yet fiscally responsible” Government, something that neither side of our bipartisan candidates seem to understand. I’m hoping this is a step in the right direction.

—POLL—
I’ve created a poll on my website. It’s simple… Do you think Malcolm Turnbull will be PM in 2010. I’ll be very interested to see the results and read your responses
(can’t embed poll here, but easy to vote, right sidebar of my site.)

It’s almost criminal that I’m back at work now. Our little weekend away was absolutely perfect, even the weather decided to clear up by the end.

We must have visited about 20 different wineries, and bought WAAAAAY too much wine on the way. We decided not to go back to the same wineries that we had visited before, which didn’t matter as there were heaps of good wineries tucked away awaiting our discovery. The apartment we were staying at was beautiful, with a BBQ out on the balcony that we put to good use. In fact, we put a lot of the apartment to good use… **blushes**. All of this was topped off by a beautiful drive back via Peat’s Ridge, where I was able to give the Subaru a good stretch through all the bends. That being said, I could only go so fast as I had the Governor beside me, digging his fingernails into my arm every time I gunned it around a corner. Plus, we had 3 cases of wine in the back

All that being said, I think the most valuable part of the weekend was that it gave Adam and I a good chance to unwind and rediscover that little bit of romance that often gets lost along the course of our daily grind. We have such fun chatting about random topics, engaging in fun arguments about nothing, and cherishing the special things that brought us together in the first place. I hope we have lots more weekends like that one