buy me more - love you more

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things -
Why it's hard to buy gifts for friends

apparently, the more you know someone, the harder it is to buy presents for them. the december edition of the journal of consumer research suggests that familiarity is a killer.
reading this article got me to thinking about my recent birthday.
there seems to be an increasing trend of less gift giving. even by those considered to be a part of the extreme inner circle.
maybe its harder. i dont think so. i think its just laziness on behalf of my males who think they can get away with a smile and a wink.

i made a list .. those i would have expected something from and how they did;

mom.
usual behaviour - something i have lusted after before the day and then flowers/card/song on the day.
this year - check.
present provided before birthday, song on day.

dad.
usual behaviour - perhaps a card. phone call.
this year - check.
no card but phone call received.

brother ewi.
usual behaviour - phone call or text. present arrives sometime (he lives in london so time factor added in).
this year - check.
text (so i called him) and present in the mail.

brother jazel.
usual behaviour - phone call or text. sometimes a card.
this year - check-ish.
simple text. no response to my response. christmas present decreasing in size daily.

man i am dating
usual behaviour - phone call. also has previously provided wonderful presents i may or may not have hinted at. received birthday present that took a lot of thought and was personally tailored to his current object of enjoyment ('65 impala).
this year - FAIL.
phone call in the morning. good. turned up to evening drinks. good. no present. apparently he got me what i asked for. seems that was nothing.


best friend - sarah
usual behaviour - text, email, phone call.
this year - check +
phone call, text and present. very very good. gets extra large present for christmas.

friend - nell
usual behaviour - (bearing in mind we are new-ish friends) - phone call, in person greeting, present.
this year - check ++
early present, greeting in person, bottle of veuve clicquot. gets extra large present for christmas.

moral of this story.
yes, how much i love you is based on what you buy me for my birthday.

i always get what i want

you can go a long way with a smile. you can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun.

i've been thinking about how i usually (lets not be totally fat headed) get what i want.
and its not always through asking straight out. and i dont bully everyone into giving into my wishes.

its just somehow, i usually end up with pretty much exactly what i wanted.

staring out of windows

'i finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it'
-- rita mae brown

i have a new job.

well not a new new job.

i have been in my new job for about 6 months now. but i was in my old job 5 and a half years.
so you can see why this one is new.
not only is it new, but if my old job had a stress and responsibility level of 6 then this one is about a 0. a big fat round zero.
and its not for lack of trying. but hey - i am a contractor now. and its not really my responsibility to find the work - just to do it when it comes in.
the money is good, although some days i am really tempted to call in sick and race off all over the country spending my squillions on doing really cool things, and a lot of shopping!

speaking of doing really cool things .......
i learnt to dive. yes, me.
the original whale. oh yea.
at one stage (my near heaviest) i was 147kg. i say near heaviest as i stopped weighing myself after that. but i seem to remember buying another pair of trousers. a larger pair.
my friend nell. shes the greatest. shes been instrumental in getting me off the couch and out of the house this year. and guess what. now i weigh 95kgs. and i'm closer to my goal than my starting weight. go me!
so anyways, back to the cool stuff. we went to fiji. for a week. and it was warm and sunny.
i was petrified. actually of more than just the diving. but i did it. and it was amazing. we wanted to go back about a month later. but we were too scared to ask our bosses straight out for more time off (shes a contractor too - for the same company). and the bloody fijian military thought they might kick up a stink and it looked like they were going to have a coup.

so the moral of this story?
dont work for a huge corporate and get paid like a minion.
leave. become self employed. make loads of money.
and travel the world freaking yourself out and doing things you never thought you would.

believe me, its more fun than staring out a window.