In Jail

With The Kids

I Like This Car

Haircuts

The kiddies got their school haircuts tonight. It was an experience.

Hayz sat in the chair like the regal princess she knows she is. She was pleased as punch with the attention she was getting and sucked up every minute of it. In all she had maybe 1.5 inches of length removed but the ends were a bit frazzled from the accumulated sun, sand and suncream of the last 6 weeks. She looks much better.

LGR was a funny one. Initially he was going to shave his head but in the end decided to go for a short back and sides with a bit of length on top. Halfway through the cut the dresser brushed the hair on top of his head to the side. I have never seen a radiant, glowing and thoroughly golden head of hair in my life. The dresser told LGR that women paid a lot of money for hair that thick and with that colour. "So?" was his unimpressed reply.

It's shorter now - and he looks 2-3 years older.

Amazed

It's been almost 3 years since we got our 'big black beast' - which means the lease is nearly up. We've done a bit of research on the replacement vehicle and have come up with a shortlist of 3.5 vehicles - Toyota Kluger, Mazda CX-9 and Ford Territory. The half is a Holden Sportswagon - just in case none of the others measure up. After yesterday it's more like a 3/4 option ....

We drove the Kluger first. When I booked my test I requested an AWD Grande. It's about as close as you can get to a 4WD without being one. Turned up and they didn't have one - despite assuring me during the week they did. Great start ....

Not a bad drive. Quite nice in fact. Responsive motor, good handling dynamics, quiet and quite light feeling. A few bad things about - namely I can't get the options I want in the combination I want. As an example I like the Grande but hate the faux wood finishings and don't want SatNav. If I drop down a level I can't get the sunroof, keyless entry and power tailgate (which is very heavy). Not sure what to do here but quite a nice ride.

Next driven was a Territory Ghia. Soft and comfortable ride - slighly more corner roll than the Kluger and much harder to get moving. Not great but not horrible. We checked a bit closer. The 3rd row of seats are a joke - the floor is literally 2 inches lower than the seat meaning LGR had his knees around his ears. To layout the floor flat is a lot of work. I can't see us getting one of these.

While in the dealership the kids spotted a beautiful black FPV Falcon. I saw it too - but Mrs J has made any notions of getting that one disappear. So much for our democratic voting system (which, if you are interested gives one car vote to each kid and two votes to the adults. Clearly someone was outvoted but it turns out there's some unwritten veto right built into the system).

But the surprise of the day was the Mazda CX-9. You all know where I live so I won't say which dealer it was but during the week I spoke to them and made a booking. Turned up yesterday and was told there was no booking, and they wouldn't have made a booking because they were having a sale. I asked if I could test one anyway and they said no test drive unless I was going to buy on the spot. They were too busy to take people for tests. I looked around and there were at least 3 staff lounging around doing nothing .... I told them that was cool and I'd find another dealer. So we left. They chased us out the door with a bit of 'Come back. We'll see what we can do." - while still denying we'd made previous arrangements.

So, a salesman came over, said he'd be with us in a few minutes and then went to speak to someone else. After 10 minutes we got sick of the whole thing and left. An hour later this dude called and asked if I'd like to arrange a drive.

Not with you guys. Not a chance.

I'm stunned that a car dealership wouldn't find time for me to drive one of their cars - particularly when they are making a push to bring people into the dealership to sell cars.

That's enough about that.

We wandered up the road and had a speccy look at the Sportswagon. Mrs J was impressed - to the extent where we are prolly going back on Tuesday for a drive of an SV6 and an SS .... Always wanted an SS :-)

Still no luck on the HSV though :-(

I Win!!!

Yesterday I moaned about my occasionally negative and self defeating behaviours.

Today I can report I have overcome them - if only for 24 hours :-) Gotta start somewhere.

I'm not sure what the difference is - I'm probably more tired than yesterday thanks to another early start (which caused me to make a mistake at work which could have been quite bad but, luckily, was not). I was in the same mental and physical situation as yesterday but today it seemed easy to make the better decision. Maybe I was prepared better for the decision making process?

Either way I'm celebrating with a lovely pot of Mexican Spiced Chai Tea from my new best mates - The Kenyan Tea Company. My Dad alerted me to them just after Christmas with some of the best tea I have ever had - and now I have my own little stash and am enjoying them. Last night it was some straight Chai and it was delicious.

It may have caused me to have some weird dreams though. I dreamt that I had a pet penguin and he was wearing pyjamas.

Why?

There are certain behaviours I repeat which are not good for me, and I wish I could control myself. Maybe the shame I am currently feeling at my atrocious lunch (which is sitting very heavily in my belly) is a sign that I am becoming more aware and am moving towards a point where my self policing and self talk becomes more effective.

Enough of that though. Early start this morning - but I forgot to set my alarm. I woke up 25 minutes later than I planned and said "Oh gosh darn it." I jumped out of bed, dressed and was only 10 minutes late to work (not that it matters much at 04:00).

The funny part is forgetting my alarm was set for my normal wake up time and not turning it off. Poor Mrs Jones :-(

12 Years

Today was the 12 anniversary of my marriage to Mrs Jones. Seems like a long time, but while looking through the wedding pics (didn't have enough $$ for a video) it seemed so recent. The kids loved it - Hayley picked out the most bizarre and inappropriate things to comment (people's shoes, bulges and ties flying sideways in the wind) and Loch thought it was pretty good of the Opera House to be blue for us!!

It wasn't a bad day. We got a bit of a sleep-in (about 07:15) and got up to go for a run. I decided to check movie times before I left to get a plan for the day - only to discover the only session of 'Fantastic Fox' was on at 09:30. A bit of a hurry but we made into the cinema just as the movie started. Not a bad flick but Lochie has some issues with the representation of the rat and the liberties taken with the plot by the movie guys ....

After the movie we meandered for a bit and had lunch at Panarotti's. Again. It never gets old and I'll keep going back. After lunch it was home for some chores (the grass finally got mown) and a minor Chinese feast - all cooked from scratch - including the sauces. The Mongolian Beef was very impressive.

And then there was dessert. We ate the last bits of our wedding cake with the kids, and flicked through the pics.

Not a bad day at all. Apart from the chores :-)