My weekend is over again! I have to do 6 straight days so that I can get the following 4 off for my trip around Scotland with Georgie Hale. Anyway, I thought I would leave you with a few pics from the weekend. I don’t know why, but I like them all. I might have to bug Chris into helping me make a “feature photo” page. Hopefully I will be back mid-week, but if not, I will see you all in 10 days.

Phil & I have pretty much always gotten on. Even when we fought as kids, we still enjoyed each others company more often than not. Now that he is married & with a kid, he has continued to evolve & grow into an awsome guy. Well, since I know he reads this site, I don’t want to talk him up too much. All I will do is post the pic he sent to me in response to my “wish you were here” postcard.

Another week done. Wednesday was a 14 hour day, but now it is just history. Next week will be a killer, cause I am doing six days straight, but at the end of it I get 4 days of travelling with my mate Georgie Hale! Good times!!!
In other news, I want to know peoples opinions. Should I consider buying a fisheye lens?
Man, how short is this post!

Well my weekend is over again. Back to work tomorrow, which means that there will most likely not be any posts for the next four days. That said, the guy who owns the cafe says that he is going to reboot the wifi just before he leaves each day, so that if I am lucky it will still be running at night when I come down & I can sit on the front step & type! Oh yeah, this is an awesome cafe. Pictures of it will have to come next week!
In other news, I promised I would cook ANZAC biscuits for the waiters at the Radisson, thinking that I would just have to buy all the ingredients. It also appears I have to but a baking tray, mixing bowl, measuring cups, big spoon, and a table spoon! The cost of domesticity! There will be more than one set of cookies coming out of this! Boy I love exclamation marks!

First off, thanks to all of you who said some nice stuff in the comments about the last blog. Don’t worry too much. On the balance of things I am still having an awesome time over here. I think everyone goes through tough days & stuff & that just puts the joy of the rest of it into contrast!
On to my Story.
To tell this story properly, one that I should have told at least a week ago, you have to come back with me a huge 8 years! back in those days it was only “posers” who used mobile phones in public, being asked for ID at a club was a major embarrassment rather than a compliment, and Tim still had to ask his parents for permission before he could take the car out for the night.
I remember those times really well. Jeans, approximately 15 sizes too large (but at that time, at least they covered my underwear) adorning my legs, “AKIRA” T-shirt declaring that I was casual, but somehow cool because I knew the name of a Japanese cartoon, and a smile on my face, because I was almost 21 years old, and in three years out of school, so I was obviously much more cool than those dorky 1st years…
At this time I would also have been smiling because I had a lovely girl on my arm. For the sake of this exercise we will call her Allison. Actually, her real name is actually Allison, but I have always loved the term “for the sake of this exercise” and refuse to give up any opportunity I have to use it during any kind of verbal, or written correspondence.
Sorry… where was I? Oh yeah, so Allison & I dated for about three months, and then as was the fashion in those days, we broke up. Of course, I think I was pretty immature about how I went about this whole process, the result of which was that within three months of that time, I had little or no idea where Allison was, and what she was doing.
Cut to 8 years later.
In the intervening time Tim has convinced himself that he is obviously more cool than those 3rd year “kids” hanging out in pubs, he has gained some scars, done some travel, enjoyed some study & eventually found himself typing in an awesome cafe near the centre of Edinburgh. Allison has moved back to the state of New York, where she had done a “gap year” after school, received a ring that most probably had one or several diamonds on it, and followed that up shortly after by receiving and giving a gold band, then settled down to a life of matrimonial bliss in the US of A.
So one day, Allison, who works recruiting & selling people to other people (for jobs, that is, not slavery) is at work, doing some research for a jeweler looking for someone who might be good at working with gold. In her search for “Gold Smiths” whose website should happen to pop up? None other than your old mate Timmy G! Plucking up the courage, she decides to find out if this is actually the guy she knew almost a decade ago. A couple of emails later, we have both recovered a new OS friend and answered one of those late night “I wonder whatever happened to…..” questions.
I still stand amazed at the ability to keep my mates at home up to date on my movements here, so it is no wonder that I am almost floored at the coolness of being able to “run into” an old friend despite being on different continents. The coincidence certainly brought a smile to my face.

I am not entirely sure when I became such a chirpy character. I really am just an upbeat kind of dude. When I am around people I just like to smile and as often as possible I try to make any interactions I have with people as pleasant as possible.
Some people have voiced the question of whether or not I just put it on for them? Am I really ALWAYS happy? The answer is no. When all the people are gone and it is just me and my thoughts (OK, and probably a beer) I sometimes feel sad. It isn�t that I am trying to hide it from anybody all the time, but it just appears that I am more inclined toward depression when I am by my lonesome
Why am I bringing this up? It certainly appears to be a contrast to my usual posts. Well I guess I have had a rough couple of days. I wont get into it, but it is a little tough. Three cheers to the medium where I can share the feelings that I might have in my quiet hours, that might otherwise escape me when the day hits full swing.
In other news…
Welcome to my parents who are now online. Go visit Tahlee.com. I can’t be bothered making a link

The mass of humanity just boggles the mind sometimes. Everyone is going somewhere, everyone has been somewhere. Thousands upon thousands of destinations, some that I have shared, some that I will never experience. What a treasure of experience and information that lies inside the mind of each and every person that you pass on the street.
The smelly man who keeps bumping me as we stand like sardines in the bus could be thinking about his childhood in countryside Russia, winters which saw temperatures colder than I will ever experience or even imagine, and a poverty that I probably wouldn’t want to imagine. The lady in line infront of me at the bottle shop might still remember the day that man landed on the moon, the guy who served me my bagel could have been abused as a child, and the stranger I walk by on the street may walk by my brother in 1,5,10 or 50 years time in Australia or maybe some other continent, and neither of them will appreciate the coincidence.
This is why I have decided that I need to learn how to take pictures of people. Suddenly I see the appeal so much more. It doesn’t have to be a shot of your mates, or even someone you know. How cool is it to be able to capture an image of a life that you will never know and to be conected to experiences you can’t imagine. I may never know where my subjects are going or where they have been, but they are destined to be remembered in a small way, and maybe only for a small time in the archives of my photos & maybe the archives of my mind, and that will do me just fine.
Now to be completely random, here is a picture of the top of a salt cellar.

Reading: About Luther & how he brought the reformation
Wondering: If the rain will stop. The source of some frustration
Listening: To some Aussie tunes. Some songs by Powderfinger
Questioning: If I farted now, would it dissipate or linger?
Eating: A small bagel on which is draped some Parma Ham
Drinking: As much vitamin C as I Possibly can.
Feeling: A little crook right now, I think I have the flu
Debating: If there�s more constructive things that I, right now, could do.
Pondering: What new experience I�ll find around the bend.
Betting: That you�re now hoping this inane post will end.

So I walked a block & a half back to pick up my power cord. Here are a couple of pics.

I count at least 4 ripples from my skipping stone…

A church at Glen Coe

I love my R.M. Williams belt!