Ugh, it's impossible to get to sleep at the moment. Someone who lives nearby (I can't quite tell who) has a dog which sometimes barks, whimpers, whines and howls all night - so much so that by around midnight it sounds like it's got a sore throat and is even more annoying, while at the same time just upsetting. Not every night though. Presumably the owners aren't at home and the dog just misses them, which means that they don't even know what's going on and aren't doing anything about it.

What makes it worse, though, is that this ruckus causes all the other dogs in the area to join in, so it's not just one lonely dog keeping me up, it's a whole bunch of other dogs that want to know what's going on too. Even though I live under a flight path in an area with pretty noisy birds and can still get at least some sleep normally, I just can't stand this bloody dog.

Argh!

Hi everyone!

Just want to wish anyone who bothers to read this a great 2009 now that it's past midnight here in Sydney. Let's do our best to make it better than 2008 was!

I know I normally put up a picture of the fireworks, but they haven't been uploaded and it's a bit late. When I get an opportunity and can find one, I'll post a link.

From 2009,

LSyd

In case anyone was wondering, if you're going to try moving to another country which doesn't have a relatively open immigration system with your own, expect to be jabbed and prodded by doctors for weeks. It's not much fun being made to pee in cups and stand in front of an x-ray machine looking like you're being held at gunpoint or something. Even if you're only going there for a year.

Fortunately, that's all over for me now. I'd like to thank the nice doctor Danny who kindly put it through Medicare and made the government pay for it despite the fact that if you've got nothing wrong with you they don't want anything to do with it. The system works.

And since it rules, I might as well point everyone in the direction of the song at the top of the Japanese music charts (I've always had a thing for J-Rock). "Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi" by UVERworld. Enjoy.

Might as well do some blogging for a change. Haven't written one for a while, and the months ahead look like they're going to be a bit boring.

We all know what's going on in the US at the moment (and a friendly reminder to eligible US voters - go out and vote or I'll throw rotten cyber-eggs at you, it's not that hard!), but down here we've got "the race that stops the nation". At around 3:00 p.m. today (Tuesday) local time, everyone's going to sneak out of work and head to the nearest bar to watch what is probably the world's most popular horse race. Except for the Victorians, they get the whole day off.

Anyway, I've got $13 on it at the moment. If I win any reasonable amount, beer all around (or for people who don't like beer, Seppelt sparkling chardonnay). Offer does not apply to people who have not reached drinking age wherever they happen to live.

And maybe we'll have two sets of good news by the time I wake up on Wednesday.

First off, happy new year to everyone I haven't already said that to yet!

Just so that people don't start to wonder, I'm going to "sunny" Queensland in the morning (at least, it's sunny most of the time, but not right now when they're expecting cyclones) and will be back on the 14th if all goes well. It sort of defeats the purpose of going to the Gold Coast when it's pouring with rain, but we'll brave the weather regardless.

Maybe I'll head up to Brisbane to see what's going on up there, since it's infinitely better than trying to swim in that kind of weather (and I'll try to avoid that park in Fortitude Valley this time). I could get completely wasted on XXXX beer, which tastes ten times better north of the border. Or perhaps I'll sit around playing my DS and PSP in the hotel room. Such fun, I never would have thought about doing that in Sydney now, would I?

Whatever I end up doing, there is one thing I certainly will do. Bring an umbrella. Anyway, hope you all have fun without me, and I hope I find something worth doing up there.