Friday, March 28, 2008
Oh i love this time of year...
This is most definitely one thing i don't like about living in sydney. Car registration.
In Sth Australia, you have the option to say your registration annually, every 6 months, or every 3 months. Your third party personal injury insurance is included in the registration fee.
But, in Sydney you only have the option of annual payment. The insurance is not included in the fee - you have to source it yourself, as you can't register your car without insurance. And most cars are required to have an annual safety inspection before it can be registered.
This year i recieved a notice explaining that the 'slight increase' (an extra $120) on my third party insurance was due to a new levy! For me, this 'slight increase' equalled a 25% increase! Gotta love it.
Annual Rego in SA is usually somewhere around the $440, whereas my third party insurance (not even including vehicle inspection and the actual registration fee!), well let's just say it wouldn't be covered by the full annual SA Rego....
Here endeth my rant :)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
This morning, walking to the station
I love pea-soup fog in the morning, and today's made me glad that my car is still at the mechanics :) everything feels calm and quiet - you don't quite get that feeling driving through fog on the freeway!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
An Evening with Harry Connick Jr and his Big Band
Last night I went and saw Harry Connick Jr at the Sydney Opera House with some friends. We were the front row in a box next to the stage, which meant that we were about 4 metres from Harry - we were able to hear most of the off-mike banter, which was quite entertaining. He even made a point of speaking to our box and even at one point climbed up onto a speaker to pass some birthday cake to a girl sitting behind us! (It was the birthday of one of the band members). Harry and Lucien (a special guest and a fantastic part of the concert) were at one point running around the stage with no shoes on, and ended up doing a dance which basically consisted of them wiggling their backsides at the audience. Needless to say, it was a fantastic night. I wanted to pack up my bags then and there and head off to New Orleans. And the music! Wow - it was a stage full of pure talent. The 2 hours FLEW by. I could have easily 'coped' with another 2 :)
Is Jesus The Answer?
On Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we held our Easter production, which this year was called 'Is Jesus The Answer?' The production was very different to previous years, with smaller numbers of people involved on-stage. It was a great success, with over 1000 attending on Good Friday and probably just under 1000 on Easter Sunday. There were, as usual, two parts to our production: the Kids production, followed by the 'feature presentation'. The Kids production this year was called 'Choice' and was predominately a dance piece centered around the crucifixion and resurrection on Jesus. It was fantastic! I always love the Kids productions. The second half was the main production, 'Is Jesus The Answer?' which revolved around a character named Chris dealing with consequences to decisions he'd made, and how even when we may have made the wrong decision and done the wrong thing (or in Chris' case, neglected to do the right thing), that Jesus is still the Answer for our lives. The team did an incredible job, and I was proud to be involved.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Yesterday, at work...
I served a customer who was american. So that means one of two things: either he's here on holidays, or he's a student at Hillsong College. It turned out he was here on holidays, and it was his first overseas holiday!
So in the course of conversation, i asked him if he'd done anything exciting while here, and his answer was definitely not what i expected!
His answer? 'I became a Christian!'
Wow! My co-worker and I were buzzed for the rest of the day!
So in the course of conversation, i asked him if he'd done anything exciting while here, and his answer was definitely not what i expected!
His answer? 'I became a Christian!'
Wow! My co-worker and I were buzzed for the rest of the day!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Cadbury?
Is it just me or does anyone else find the cadbury ads with the chocolate people disturbing? I mean, people MADE of chocolate, EATING chocolate bars? Sounds a little wrong to me :)
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Wow! 2 in one day - i'd better pace myself :)
I've been reading a different genre of books lately that i'd love to recommend. They're by Bryan Davis. The series are called 'Dragons in our Midst' and 'Oracles of Fire'. They're a relatively new fantasy series targeted to youth, featuring King Arthur, Merlin, Noah, Enoch, excaliber, and are very strongly rooted in the Christian faith.
I'm not a huge fantasy reader. My reading in this genre has been limited to CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein. But, i've been thoroughly enjoying these books. Yes, they are targeted towards a younger audience, and sometimes that shows in the writing, but i'd encourage you to give them a go.
The plug: these books are in store now at your local WORD Bookstore, or go online at www.word.com.au
I'm not a huge fantasy reader. My reading in this genre has been limited to CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein. But, i've been thoroughly enjoying these books. Yes, they are targeted towards a younger audience, and sometimes that shows in the writing, but i'd encourage you to give them a go.
The plug: these books are in store now at your local WORD Bookstore, or go online at www.word.com.au
A question? Or a soapbox...
I've been wondering about this for a while now - if anyone has any idea, please feel free to comment.
On the news this morning they said that we may be paying upwards of $2/litre for petrol in the near future.
We have also been told that our fuel price is linked to the price of oil, which is listed in US dollars.
So this is where my confusion lies: oil is expensive. But, the US dollar is very weak at the moment, so doesn't that mean that technically we're paying less for it? We've gone from our dollar being worth US 60-70c, to now being worth US 95c.
Does this make sense to anyone? If i'm wrong, please feel free to correct me :)
On the news this morning they said that we may be paying upwards of $2/litre for petrol in the near future.
We have also been told that our fuel price is linked to the price of oil, which is listed in US dollars.
So this is where my confusion lies: oil is expensive. But, the US dollar is very weak at the moment, so doesn't that mean that technically we're paying less for it? We've gone from our dollar being worth US 60-70c, to now being worth US 95c.
Does this make sense to anyone? If i'm wrong, please feel free to correct me :)
