Fennec

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:28:32 GMT

YAY cold weather, YAY rain and most of all YAY NO DAYLIGHT FREAKING SAVINGS!

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:50:21 GMT

Cross-posted, because I'm lazy and that was a hell of a big effort.

http://community.livejournal.com/motor_furs/959869.html?mode=reply

Oh, and yes. More GT-Rness

http://community.livejournal.com/motor_furs/959477.html

Oh, edit again. I have deemed horses irrelevant. The way I look at it:

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So, if you break it down, a horse takes up say...four cubic metres of space? And weighs anything up to a tonne. Compared to the engine, which takes up one cubic metre of space and produced 300-1200 horsepower. That would take an equivalent of 4800 square metres of solid, interlocking, tesselating horses, weighing up to 1,080,000 kilograms, whereas the engine weighs under 200 kilos, to produce the same tractive effort. Horses are thus, very inefficient. Not only that, they have a top speed of around 45-50 mph (I'm giving them the benefit of a prime racing horse). The car has a top speed of over 200 mph. Once again, it uses more weight and space to go slower. They are also hideously expensive to maintain and purchase. The average cost of owning a horse over its lifetime is $45,000 US. And what does it do to show its gratitude at the end of it? It dies. And you can't even recoup your losses by selling it for glue. The car costs just under half that to purchase, but, assuming you look after it, doesn't cost much more per year to maintain and keep running.

Furthermore, when you break it down to power produced per weight and volume, the horse is even further flummoxed. I'll use a nice, round 400 horsepower output for the engine and 200 kilos for the weight. The engine, therefore, manages to squeeze out two horsepower per kilogram of its weight. The horse manages (Based on one horsepower and 900 kilos) 0.001 recurring for power produced per weight unit. So, for every kilogram of horse, you have .001 horsepower. For every kilogram of engine, you have 2 horsepower. How silly is that. The engine can out-horse the horse with just one kilogram.

Moreso, if you break it down into power produced per litre, the horse is made to look even more ridiculous than a barrel on stilts. Taking up approximately four cubic metres of space gives a whopping displacement of 4,000 litres. (Discounting the volume in the nasal cavities and lungs). This gives a power to litre ratio of .00025. For every litre of horse, it is only producing .00025 horsepower. Ridiculous. The engine, displacing 2.6 litres, producing 400 horsepower gives a power to litre ratio of 153 horsepower per litre. Therefore, the engine is a massive 612,000 times more efficient than the horse when power produced by volume displaced is taken into account.

So, quite clearly, the horse is responsible for global warming. It's been merrily traipsing around the world for thousands of years, slowly heating up our climate with its woefully inefficient ways, then snickering as the innocent car cops all the blame. Now, to forward this to Green Peace and make them see that cars are not inherently as evil and climate-changing as horses.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:30:39 GMT

Good news on the GT-R. Engine is being swapped over currently. Replacement engine has stock turbos (which is good), will get a timing belt change and has some nice little pieces on it. 500cc injectors, instead of the standard 444cc and a Veilside racing tuned ECU (*Drools* It says directly on it 'Track Use Only', so driveability at city speeds should be interesting). All progressing along nicely. Ooh, I even saw it move yesterday. Nomnom. AND FANTASTICALLY, NISMO OR N1 TURBOS. Rated too 500-600 horsepower. Yum.

Reminder for Monday week. Order navel oranges, carrots, orange flowers, orange capsicums and obtain white balloons and wire frame and orange streamers for work.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:43:30 GMT

Good to have the Eunos back, I took it out for a run along Mundaring Weir Road. Feel I kinda owe it that before it gets sold. It handled it pretty well, though I wasn't pressing hard, brakes stood up relatively well and the handling was faultless. The suspension doesn't really like 'round town stuff but once you start to open the taps out on a back road, it seems to cheer up. Nearly ran out of fuel, then found a really good North-South, hill cutting road that gave a few good corners as well as awesome views on the night Skyline. Can't wait to go there in the Skyline.

Reading the Latham Diaries on break at work and it's so good to be doing something semi-intellectual again. After nearly two years of intellectual atrophy and stagnation, it's good to be thinking again. This excerpt is one I found particularly amusing and poignant and suitably enough, the entry was my birthday; 2nd of September, but in 1999.

Thursday, 2 September
The things you do in Parliament House. At midday I went to a meeting of the ALP Status of Women Committee, our frontline femocrat cadres. Now I know how Martin Luther felt, pinning his thesis to the church door. A heretic in their ranks, I advocated an overhaul of the Committee to take account of men's issues. We should call it the Status of Gender Committee, taking into account both genders, a genuinely inclusive approach. After all, the main social indicators now show that men are more disadvantaged than women in life expectancy, school retention rates, university entry to professional careers, youth suicide rates and so forth. We need to address the problem of downwards envy, of angry white men turning against the ALP. Male and female issues should be treated on their merits.

Needless to say, I didn't get very far. If looks could kill. Some of them had technical and historical reasons why my idea was inappropriate. Then Senator Brenda Gibbs, one of the intellectual powerhouses of the Queensland ALP, said what they all thought: 'I knew it would be a mistake to let men onto this Committee. Why did we ever do it?' That would be right, a segregationist approach to the Committee's membership as well as its policies. Ah, Labor, the party of social equity.

But they are not all bad. Give me Senator Rosemary Crowley any day of the week. What a trooper. She told me a story about the American writer Dorothy Parker, who was asked to use the word 'horticulture' in a sentence and replied, 'You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think'. Years ago, Joel's dad and predecessor in Hunter, Eric Fitzgibbon, told me the story of Rose visiting a colleague's electorate and getting into a discussion with some locals about their cars. She floored them by pointing out, 'Listen you blokes, I have had more rubber up my cunt than you've got on those tyres'. Rose for PM.

In the evening, I went to a dinner in the Great Hall to listen to John Anderson open proceedings at Ross Cameron's youth leadership forum (roped in again). It was one of the wackiest speeches I have ever heard. He attacked humanism, the power of reason and rationality, on the basis that he once spoke to a humanist who didn't know whether he believed in positive or negative humanism. He said that 'nineteenth-century European man' experienced a loss of Christian faith and this led to World War I. He's got to be kidding: what he's saying, that religion has never caused any wars? Anderson found his own faith as a young man when he accidentally killed his sister with a misdirected cricket shot to the head. What about those of us that haven't had this experience? He expects us to share his faith, but with none of the background and his obvious, desperate attempt to find meaning in his life after a shocking tragedy. When I hear stories like this, it just convinces me more about the myths of religion and the spurious grounds on which Bible-bashers promote their faith.

Poor old Ando, he should have just played a straight bat and ignored all this pagan idolatry masquerading as religion, all these kiddie-fiddles masquerading as priests. Latham's first law of the church: the greater the degree of fanatacism in so-called faith, the greater degree of escapism, either from addiction (Gambling, drugs or sex) or form personal tragedy. My evidence? I was at a function listening to John Anderson, organised by Ross Cameron. The prosecution rests.

Anderson went on to talk about our 'shared humanity' and how our morality must come from a higher existence, almighty God. If we share our humanity then, surely, our morality must also come from these shared social experiences. That's the problem with these high-horse Christians, they have no language or dialogue about the real-life relations between people. For them, it is entirely functional. The Council of Nicaea sorted it out nearly 1700 years ago and we shoud simply follow its orders. Organised religion: just another form of conservative command and control in our society.

-----

Reading it is so good; there's been some genuinely hard to swallow bits about it and my views on certain political figures, the media and politics in general, have been entirely up-ended. After finishing this, I know I'm going to have to chase down more information upon Keating, the Third Way, Hawke, Whitlam and Blair. Excited to have that feeling of wanting to study again. I just want to make sure that I'm not swaying to a personal, biased viewpoint.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 01:51:55 GMT

Yay, car's back. It's so good to be driving something that handles, has crisp responses in braking, accelerating and turning and sound good. Soooo good to be actually sitting in the car, rather than on top of it and so good to have a small steering wheel with a chunky rim; instead of huge and thin. Fuel economy is an issue though. Already down nearly a quarter of a tank, but that's because the novelty of having a tachometre, an engine that's willing to rev and sounds good hasn't worn off yet. But there's no denying it, it kind of feels like the magic has gone. I had a good drive back from dropping off Flye last night too, but christ, the car feels so slow now. And so much bodyroll after GT-R. So yes, up went the for sale signs and that kind of hurt. But it's on the way to something better.

JM was kind/evil enough to give me a lift out to Midvale on his bike. And well, I'm a bit pressed to think of something in recent memory that I've found more scary and intimidating. It kind of peaked where I climbed on before leaving and just sat there, feeling incredibly vulnerable, realising there's nothing more than two little handles to hold on to to stop myself falling at the same speed when you're entirely encapsulated in a car with seatbelts/harnesses. There's so much more to think about when on a bike too. I've always thought and realised that bikers, when they're not carving up traffic like tools, are mostly far better drivers than people in cars because they have to be so much more aware of everything going on around them. After relaxing slightly, it was kind of enjoyable, but not really as the passenger, not knowing exactly and how much throttle or brake is going to be applied, not to mention the surprisingly abrupt gearchanges. If I was driving and knew what I was going to do, I wouldn't feel so vulnerable. Can see the appeal, but it's not for me. So thankies for the lift Horse, much appreciated.

And it was good to see everyone last night in a casual, relaxed environment. Definitely up for more of that. Now, off to work on Kiel's GT-R. Thinking of it as practice :)

Sicknessss

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:22:37 GMT

GT-R got a respray, free of charge, in the same gunmetal grey colour and it looks and feels sooo sexy now. That bootlip spoiler is gone too, thank goodness. It's just so...gah, I almost want to make out with it. Could have it as early as April too. Here's hoping. Can't wait to get the Eunos back, driving the Excel is cringingly bad. Fuel economy is nice but I'd much rather have no economy and a good driver's car.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:42:10 GMT

Any environmentalist that thinks a kangaroo and a brumby cull is bad is an extremely daft person and needs to learn how an ecosystem properly works. Freaking namby-pamby, do good-ing left wingers that have no stupid freaking view of the real world. What honestly goes on in their head... "iF We hUG eVerYTHing iT'lL AlL bE oK". Step aside and let people who actually know what they're doing just do their freaking job. It's called tough love, you morons; not taking the easy way out. Grr. Just...go to an island somewhere and live in your fantasy world there and protest when someone accidentally stands on an ant and let people who have an idea of reality go about their jobs.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:03:42 GMT

A quick favour to ask at short notice, would anyone be available to take me over to Midvale so I can pick up the Eunos either tomorrow (Unlikely) or Friday (More Likely) at around noon?

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:30:00 GMT

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:44:03 GMT

My Personality


Neuroticism	25
Extraversion	60
Openness to Experience	75
Agreeableness	15
Conscientiousness	88

You are poised, confident, and clear-thinking when stressed, however you feel enraged when things do not go your way. You are sensitive about being treated fairly and feel resentful and bitter if you think you are being cheated. You tend to feel overwhelmed by, and therefore actively avoid, large crowds. You often need privacy and time for yourself. You prefer the security and stability brought by conformity to tradition. You find helping other people genuinely rewarding and are generally willing to assist those who are in need. You find that doing things for others is a form of self-fulfillment rather than self-sacrifice, however you believe that a certain amount of deception in social relationships is necessary. You are guarded in new relationships and less willing to openly reveal the whole truth about yourself. You strive hard to achieve excellence. Your drive to be recognized as successful keeps you on track toward your lofty goals. You often have a strong sense of direction in life, but may sometimes be too single-minded and obsessed with your work.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report.

Cool jewelry stuff.

Wow, pretty accurate.

So yes, I was driving the Excel home from work today and a carful of bogans drove past me on the Freeway and laughed themselves silly. It was like...argh, because I would have done the same thing in their position, but it's not like they had a great car either. In fact, there's would have been worse really; utterly conforming to the stereotype; clapped out VL Commodore, mullets and, of course, Rockingham plates. What really irritates me is that they're kind of laughing at me rightfully, but...gah, I've got three other cars. The Eunos is good, the Celica is fantastic in its own careless way and the GT-R is simply one of the best cars ever built. But I have no way to correct them, so I just have to sit there, grit my teeth and take it.

The Eunos is being fixed next week, thank God. My wrists are starting to hurt from the epically heavy steering in the Excel, and twelve days of straight work with 14 shifts in that time has caught up with me, feeling a little sore. But back to normal from now on. Cleared $700 this week and I should get around the same next week and I had $400 leftover from the loan, so I'm going to have money to get the Eunos ready for sale, change the springs, rego and service. going to enjoy it a little more before I have to sell it. I have to think about the registration and stamp duty on the GT-R as well and I'd like to get it resprayed as well. Kiel and I have decided to go with twin black GT-Rs, with matching colour rims (I'm going to get the same wheels as him if I can, but Rays 037s aren't being produced anymore and GT-Rs need exactly the same rolling diameter and width tyres for ATTESA and HICAS to work, otherwise bang goes the centre diff with the different speed readings in each hub. And monoblock Rays in 17" by 9" wide cost around $500 each :p ). Those wheels are so sexy; monoblock 17" multispoke bronze with just the right profile for the lowering. Very light and very strong. As an interim, I might get the three piece six spoke Volks it has now sprayed bronze. With tints and matching numberplates too. Something along the lines of 5SI4AT1 for Kiel and 5SI4AT2 for me, in slimline aluminium, white on black. The combination doesn't mean anything, just hopefully hard to remember and read on the road.

I'm starting to think May/June is going to be a really, really long time to wait. As I was handing over the cheque, it didn't seem so far away. I have a picture of it on the inside of my locker door at work and the computer. Every lettuce I was trimming today had me thinking 'One lettuce closer to GT-R. Seeing as pretty much every waking thought concerns GT-R, I think it's going to be a long and maddening couple/few months. The car hasn't been registered or complied yet and it needs work to get it done. On the short list for compliance work: Side impact beams need to be welded into the doors, it needs a high-mount brakelight (To be taken straight off after approval), twin calipers on the front brakes need to be taken off (Undecided as to whether these go back on), harness needs to come out (Already got a set to go in anyway), rollcage needs to come out and bolt holes need to be covered (Haven't decided whether I can buy it yet), oil cooler has to come off (Going straight back on after approval), entire engine needs to be changed, turbos need changing, clutch needs to be changed, all extra gauges and ancilliaries need to come out (Boost gauge, speed monitor, exhaust temp sensor and gauge, turbo actuator control, ECU control) and will all be put back in after, fibreglass bonnet needs to come off (And will go straight back on), bootlip spoiler needs to come off (That'll stay off and I'll source another bootlid, as there's holes where the lip spoiler is secured, Bilstein coilovers need to come off and be replaced with standard suspension, same as the Nismo upper and lower control arms, replaced with the standard items and then, all be put back on afterwards. So, to be honest, May would be optimistic. I'd also like to get the oil cooler shifted; as it's right under the sump, about three inches off the road. Which is worrying. Apparently, the coilovers in Kiel's car have a spring rating of around 9kg/mm or so and the Bilsteins in mine are 10 at the front and 8 at the rear, but they don't feel as stiff as his. His oil cooler is located on the left side, behind the bumper, but he's got a sump extension that hangs about an inch off the road; we got airborne over an unexpected dip at 160 or so, but the suspension was so stiff, it didn't scrape when we landed, so theoretically, my cooler would be fine. But even if it is, I don't know how effective it'd be, cooling wise. The bonnet does have an extractor, so it is possible to foresee airflow coming up from the bottom of the engine bay and out the top of the bonnet; but I'd prefer it to be less susceptible to road damage and it'd get more flow behind the bumper anyway (Which has cooling slots anyway). It's definitely worth having; the temperature of the oil in Kiel's GT-R Stays below 75 degrees in normal driving and only touches 90 when thrashing. A friend of ours has a 240SX without a cooler and says his temp runs around 120 in daily driving, so it's definitely worth having. Effectively, the oil is acting as a coolant as well as a lubricant.

It strikes me as somewhat odd and scary; what an impulse this is. An $18,500 impulse that most others wouldn't understand and would think stupid of me. I keep panicking and wondering how I'm going to afford it...but the loan itself isn't going to cost me any more day to day and I should be on salary within the month, which'll make it even easier. My manager at work just stared at me incredulously when I told him I hadn't even driven it yet. There's not any point really, the engine will be entirely different and the brakes will be too. One of the turbos is on the fritz as well, with a lifespan left measured in metres. But at least I got to see my car before I bought it; Kiel paid 20 grand and didn't see it for three months until it made its way out of Japan. Mine still has all its Japanese registration and compliance stickers and so far, I've found 11 yen. All the climate control stuff is in Japanese too. But the aircon will be removed anyway, so that doesn't matter. The interior itself is in fantastic condition, considering it's nearly 20 years old. Nissans from around that age don't have the most durable plastics for our UV ratings, but the car spent all of its life bar six months in Japan, so it hasn't suffered like Australian cars. The interior isn't cut up either, all the extra gauges, boost controller, turbo timer, exhaust temp sensor and ECU stuff is all concealed away and only the boost gauge is drilled into the dash.

The main reason why I want one is the awesome run Kiel and I had up Mundaring Weir Road on that cruise with the R35 GT-R. That was an utterly awesome drive. Because of its voracious appetite for fuel, we'd been held up refilling at one of the stops and got separated from the pack (around 60 cars) and we knew where the next meet point was, but not the route they took; so we went down Mundaring Weir Pass, as I prefer to call it.

That was playing on the stereo, it was 2am on a cold, crisp night with a full moon flashing in between the overhanging foliage; trees packed closely against the roadside. Utterly opening up the taps, the trees and valley echoing to the sounds of RB26 at 9,000 rpm, blow off valve discharging sharply; dropping down into the valley so quickly that ears condensed with the sudden pressure drop. Catching glimpses of the moonlight reflecting and flashing off the still water. Downshifting so sharply, heel-toeing as the car fed into the hairpins, precisely following every minute, millimetre perfect input into the steering wheel; dumping boost and fuel into the exhaust; igniting on each shift, lighting up the roadside foliage briefly; so bright you could have temporarily sworn it was daytime. Powering up, out of the valley; seeing a line of headlights over the hills; they'd taken a different route...arriving at the carpark ahead of everyone else, working out our average speed, engine ticking over in the silence, smell of hard-worked clutch, tyres and brakes...immense heat radiating through the bonnet, engine turning off after a few minutes on the timer...Over 160 k's average. It was just...such an eye opening night; one of those things that'll live with me forever. Hopefully mine, BNR32-000627 can give me such thrills and highs.

One other good thing that came out of going to the bank is I've changed my account details. It's now on a Visa Debit thing so I can buy stuff online (Yay and Nay!) and I can withdraw from any ATM and Eftpos terminal without charges, for only an extra $7 per month. I'm a bit hesitant about the online thing, I've been purposefully avoiding getting a card that I can use online because I'm going to end up buying junk I want but don't need. Especially with a GT-R. Nengun have so much stuff available and I want so much. Down the track (Years), I want to be making around 5-600 horsepower, with a six speed box, twin plate clutch, 2 way LSD at the rear, 1.5 at the front, slotted rotors with six piston Brembo calipers at the front and four at the rear. I want to keep it one brand for everything; Bilstein for suspension, Brembo for brakes, HKS for turbo and intercooler, Nismo for engine and drivetrain. There's probably around 10-12 grand of upgrades I want to do. I want to start out simple, keeping the coilovers and Nismo parts in the suspension, add on some strut braces and sway bars. And see where I go from there. I am really going to have to watch my money; I'll be refilling every two days or so (Basically as often as the Eunos), but a 72 litre tank and, of course, nothing but 98 octane. I may even end up having to take public transport like a sap. But it's worth it. As for insurance, I don't know. Comprehensive will be expensive, and because of the nature of the car it'll have to be Just Car insurance. I don't know if I'll go comp, because if I smash the car it'll be...eh, it's not like just insuring some car that's easily replaced. I'll definitely have third party to cover other cars, but I'm going to be modifying it, so if it breaks down I can't claim that...I'll have to see how it goes.

Can it please be May yet now please?

It all feels a bit surreal...

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:52:55 GMT

Loan Get. GT-R Get. Happyfox Get.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:37:44 GMT

Basics:

Name: Anthony/Tony Haalebos
Nickname: Fennec/Fenny
Fursona: Fennec fox
Date of Birth: 2/9/1987
Birthplace: Brisbane
Current Location: Perth
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Height: Approx 5'10" or so
Heritage: Dutch
Piercings: Nadda
Tattoos: None

Favourite:

Animal: Most animals are fine with me, except freaking rabbits.
Band/Singer: Going through an Incubus and Kidney Thieves phase at the moment.
Song: "Spray on Pants" Kisschasy
Movie: Blues Brothers, Koyaanisqatsi, 300, The Godfather
Disney Movie: Lion King, Aladdin.
Disney Show: Bonkers, Mighty Ducks.
Disney Character: Nosedive
TV show: Have I Got News For You, Nevermind The Buzzcocks, Quite Interesting, Spicks and Specks, Futurama, Legend of Treasure Island...
Color: Blue, garnet
Food: Can't think of such.
Pizza topping: Prawns, bacon.
Ice-Cream Flavor: Vanilla.
Pocky Flavor: Haven't had.
Drink (alcoholic): Blueberry Cruisers and...geh, Cocksucking Cowboys.
Soda: Creaming Soda and Diet Coke
Cookie: Macadamia
Store: EB, Game Traders and K&B Imports.
Clothing Brand: yd
Shoe Brand: Has not.
Season: Winter
Month: July
Convention/Holiday/Festival: Any long weekend.
Flower: Jasmine/dyed Singapore Orchids
Board game: Trivial Pursuit/Monopoly/Scattergories.

This or That:

Sunny or rainy: Rain.
Chocolate or vanilla: Vanilla.
Fruit or veggie: Fruit.
Night or day: Night.
Sour or sweet: Sweet.
Love or money: Love.
Phone or in person: Texting.
Looks or personality: Personality.
Coffee or tea: Coffee, when needed.
Hot or cold: Cold

Your:

Goal for this year: GT-R
Most missed memory: High School and old furmeet days.
Best physical feature: Torso, when wearing only jeans.
First thought waking up: What time is it.
Hypothetical personality disorder: Narcissism.
Preferred type of surgery: Err. Don't need cosmetic, don't want reconstructive. So elective, I guess :p
Sesame street alter ego: Errrr.
Fairytale alter ego: Errr.
Most stupid remark: "Well then, I guess that just makes you a humongous bitch then, doesn't it?" Said to old store manager.
Worst crime: Enough speeding to count as reckless driving.
Greatest ambition: GT-R
Greatest fear: My future.
Darkest secret: It's not really a secret, people I trust enough to know know it.
Favorite subject: Photography/Modern History/Biology.
Strangest received gift: Ford Bathroom Products.
Worst habit: Snide remarks, low tolerance for irritation.

Do You:

Smoke: No.
Drink: Rarely.
Curse: Yes
Shower daily: Yes.
Like thunderstorms: In bed, yes.
Dance in the rain: Naw. Drive in rain.
Sing: I try.
Play an instrument: Clarinet, Saxophone and Flute. Been thinking about buying my own sax.
Get along with your parents: *Snickers*
Wish on stars: Nope.
Believe in fate: Nope.
Believe in love at first sight: Don't really know.

Can You:

Drive: Hell yes.
Sew: I can do emergency stitches if needed.
Cook: Yes.
Speak another language: Enough to get by.
Dance: Hell no.
Sing: Not really.
Touch your nose with your tongue: No.
Whistle: Yus.
Curl your tongue: Yes

Have You Ever:

Been Drunk: Yes.
Been Stoned/High: No, never.
Eaten Sushi: Yes. Nomnom.
Been in Love: Yes
Skipped school: Never.
Made prank calls: Nope.
Sent someone a love letter: Nope.
Stolen something: Nu.
Cried yourself to sleep: Mhmm.

Other Questions:

What annoys you most in a person?: Ignorance, arrogance, condescension, self-pity, laziness, sauce goo crusted around the lid, toast crumbs in the butter, butter contamination in spreads, people who do under the speed limit in the right lane, disappearing socks, tailgaters, every other single car on the road, bananas, wombok, my radio at work, heat, lolcats, lolcat speak, lolcat spelling. That's all I can think of now.
Are you right or left handed?: Ambi.
What is your bedtime?: 11am
Name three things you can't live without: Driving, music, internet.
What is the color of your room?: Beige.
Do you have any siblings?: Two half-sisters.
Do you have any pets?: Used to have cats.
Would you kill someone you hate for a million dollars?: Hell, I'd do it for free.
What is your middle name?: John.
What are your nicknames?: See top.
Are you for or against gay marriage?: Mixed.
What are your thoughts on abortion?: Pro Choice.
Do you have a crush on anyone?: Yus.
Are you afraid of the dark?: Dark is good.
How do you want to die?: Driving.
What is the largest amount of popsicles that you have eaten on one day?: Seven.
Would you take a bullet for the one you love?: Depends how far I had to take it.

Sometimes I wonder how I do it.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:40:40 GMT

It turns out it was the Sunday-Monday shift that screwed me up most, not the 1am finish and the subsequent 8am start. I was up at 7am on Monday, so that's now twenty-five and a half hours on a two hour nap. In that time I've had a foot long subway sandwich (Which I couldn't finish) and a banana. Absolute flat out morning at work, nine and a half-hours without stopping once. And probably the most I've ever lifted too, probably in the vicinity of 5,000 kilos over those hours. And, apart from sore feet due to wearing the wrong shoes, I feel utterly fine. Like I could do it again. Sure, I'm a bit tired but that's nothing unusual. And it's not like this is an irregular thing either, it happens more or less every week. I'd like to know how it's possible to go on for so long like that.

Anyway, the new fridges are in and they look good, barely managed to get enough stock to cover it all but nonetheless, management well pleased again. Only good things going on at work really. Getting irritated at drive-throughs. Usually on the Sunday/Monday shift I'll get McDonald's drive through for a quick breakfast before zonk time, and I have to say that I'm getting really rather frustrated with the people they have operating them. By no means take this as racist, but I would really rather appreciate someone operating the speaker who's fluent in English. I'm getting a little tired of having to speak in loud, slow syllables, pronouncing everything phonetically just to have them still mess up my order when I look in the bag when I get home. Probably happened half a dozen times now. I sure as hell know that if I went to France with my acceptable school boy French 'skills', I wouldn't get a job that's entirely dependent on my ability to converse with strangers. Given the embarrassing feeling for myself, let alone the irritation I'd cause others.

Drove the GT-R again yesterday and fuck it's such a relief to drive a good car again. And it's making yet more power, to a missed solenoid that was duly plugged in. 0-200 k's is now in achieved in around nine seconds. (For your reference Ral, on that short run up to LEEMING SHOPPING CENTRE, that was only about half throttle :p ). The car really is quite hard to keep at the speed limit, especially when it so easily takes off. The problem that faces Kiel now is that he has a car that speeds very easily, that makes 110 feel like 50 and is easily capable of getting away from police, and indeed, even blast through speed cameras so fast they wouldn't recognise him. Bank appointment for mine tomorrowwwww :D

Now snore time

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:47:58 GMT

Meeting with management today. $45,000 a year and promotion is a distinct possibility in the very near future. Most likely to Warwick store, which is where I wanted to go. David said yes to me continuing to live here, appointment at the bank on Wednesday. GT-R is coming. Eee.

The Subject:

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:47:25 GMT

Personal reminder. Working:

10pm - 1am Saturday-Sunday
8am - 2pm Sunday
8am - 12pm Monday
12am - 9:30am Monday-Tuesday.

Have to figure out sleep. But 13 hours of double time and a half and nine and a half time and a half hours never hurt the bank.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 02:28:15 GMT

Interesting day at work today, one of the bakery assistants got dropped off, and while her husband got back in the car, he managed to step on the accelerator as he was climbing back into the car and subsequently went through the limestone wall and ploughed into two other cars. He broke his leg and tore off the best part of most of his skin off his right foot. Yours truly did the bandaging, disinfecting, called the ambulance, police, tow truck and Centre Management. Stressful, icky and bloody. It's irritating how all responsibility for this stuff falls to me.

While I wasn't being responsible person today, I was contemplating GT-R again. There's another one that our importer has and has been sitting around for 10 months or so, with only two months to go before compliance before it has to be crushed. So, 10 grand upfront nets me the car, with the other seven later on. And goddamnit, I'm going to do it, no matter what. So I'm thinking meeting with the bank on Friday for the 10 grand upfront; which gets me ownership and registration once it finishes its compliance modifications. Then sell the Eunos to make up the rest and pay off as much of the outstanding loan as I can. So yes, Eunos up for sale for $8,000 or so, anytime between now and May-ish.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:30:08 GMT

Hey look, due to global warming, climate change and rising sea levels; Venice canals have emptied of water.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/20/2167375.htm

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:41:32 GMT

Looong day at work. More overtime. But good(ish) news. Did such a good job today, when we had a HUGE visit from national supermarket manager, HR representative was so impressed with the job that I did filling and presenting they roped me into a meeting on Thursday, concerning a promotion to management. And they don't even know I can do orders, tickets, pricing and all that. Going to be interesting. Have to see how it goes, but I doubt it'll earn me more money for a long time yet. Now zonk time. So sleepy.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:20:01 GMT

I seem to be on a nostalgia trip of late. Been chasing down and watching Home Improvement, Mad About You, Just Shoot Me, Murphy Brown, Roseanne, Seinfeld and Golden Girls. Good TV times.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:43:00 GMT

Huge delay on the freeway home from work today, turns out a train had hit a person (Whether pushed or jumped I don't know), but if anything, it served the purpose of showing just how long it takes a train to stop. Collision was halfway down the Stirling platform heading South and the train had stopped at least 300 metres further down (Your average car stops from that speed in about 45-50 metres to put it in perspective); so it must have been an express steaming on through at 110 km/h.

I've always quietly pondered the intelligence of having trains thundering through unprotected platforms like that, having sat on the platform many a time as a child and having an express bolt through, most of the time without the required horn on approaching the station. Judging from where the impact was on the train; I'd hazard a guess at someone falling on the tracks, not falling infront of it on purpose, as a suicide. What a horrible way to go. I really hope they introduce some form of barricade or speed limit through the express stations after this. I don't envy the parents that had to explain away the body bag and sheets to their curious children.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:30:15 GMT

Got home yesterday and sat in the Eunos and let it idle for a little while. So sad. The petrol has gone all stale and it could barely start and smelt like rubbish. I miss it so much; the way it revs so easily, so responsive and sounds so good. Don't miss the gearchange and lack of fuel economy though. Want it back now :(

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:30:38 GMT

Blargh. It's been a long time since I've last been this physically exhausted and just so tired. While I thought these midnight starts would make sleeping easier; they've actually done the opposite. Normally, I sleep from around 11:30am to 7pm Monday-Wednesday, then from 12pm through to 2am (If I can make it that far) and then stay awake until around 10pm on Friday so I can have some weekend time during the day. Depending on how succesful that is, I usually wake (at earliest) 5am on Saturday, but usually around 9-10am-ish. Then it's stay awake as long as I can on Saturday (Usually 4am) then sleep as long as I can (Usually 4pm), then work from 6pm Sunday to 3:30am Monday. Then the whole cycle begins again.

For some reason though, I've been unable to stay awake later on the Friday, and going to bed three or four hours earlier on Friday night means, subsequently, I'm waking up three-four hours earlier on the Sunday, at around noon. This means I'm awake 12 hours before doing a ten hour shift. And that's a shift with no time for a break and I've ended up doing overtime on.

This weekend was the worst of the two so far, where I woke up at 10am on Sunday and during that 14 hour pre-work spell, I went down to the garage with Kiel and helped him breed the brakes on one of the Silvias in there and also the clutch on his GT-R. So, a lot of pedal pumping, which I did solely with my left foot. Going to work, I could feel I'd strained my calf and by the time I jumped in the Excel to drive up, it was excruciatingly painful just to depress the clutch. It got worse throughout the shift and when I finally got home, both my feet and my left calf muscle were on the verge of cramping; the tendons were pulling tight and it took ages of massaging to convince them not to cramp. So then I went to sleep, and sure enough; woken up by the heat at 4pm. After I went to sleep at 11:30. I went back out to the lounge room and dozed on the couch in air conditioning until Barnes got home from work half an hour later and proceeded to run a marathon inside the house (Very creaky floors) for whatever the hell reason before he realised I was trying to sleep, at which point he quietened down. Then Kiel came around and they started talking; Barnes eventually left to see his girfriend and, humourously enough, Kiel fell asleep in my computer chair. Finally, some quiet, but no; David (Barnes's Father) came out and proceeded to chain smoke two feet away from me, so no joy there. Was 'up' at 6pm or so, and woke up Kiel, who hilariously fell back asleep three times while I was talking to him. So, in the past 48 hours, I've had a paltry, disturbed six or so hours of sleep, after running 26 hours straight. So.freaking.tired. And my feet and legs are still sore. And irritatingly enough; doing more work and shouldering more responsibility by taking this shift, I'm paid nearly $100 less than what I am normally.

YAYNESS

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:40:52 GMT

I've got Ryuichi Sakamoto and KD Lang music again, for the win. Happiness

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:16:39 GMT

YAY RAIN! In celebration of rain, the Celica managed to pull the longest, smokiest single pegger I've ever seen out of its bag. I was amazed. Fun driving in the wet alone at 2am. Not fun driving in traffic at 11am. Due to just...well, a poor car and bald tyres, even looking at the throttle during a corner incites the rear end to go on a freedom run. Not to mention the two inches or so of water in the footwell. I am irritatingly thoroughly awake at the end of that drive.

Oh yes, amazingly I seemed to have open a file that has apparently been 'downloading' tiny thousands of bits of pieces off a program called 'utorrent' that seemed somehow to have magically melded themselves together to form video-like programs on my hard drive. Home Improvement, with Tim Taylor, is a whole lot funnier than I remember. Mostly because I'm 20 now, not 6.

fennec.phaux@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:20:22 GMT

I HATE MEMES