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Well i thought it was about time to bring back the blog as thing are about to get interesting again.  So whats changing?  Well in January i asked Kelly to marry me and she said yes   We have now decided that it is time to move back to Australia, more specifically Melbourne.  So we have packed up our appartment, and shipped 14 boxes of stuff home!

We are now living in a studio in Shepherds Bush/Acton until we leave.  Last Tuesday I resigned and will be finishing up on June 30th and leaving on the 2nd July for a months travel.  Then it is back to London overnight and off to Australia.  We fly into Brisbane and see family etc before heading to Melbourne to start the job hunt.  To say i am excited is an understatement!!!

So keep an eye on the blog because i plan to do regular updates.

Tonight we head off to Oktoberfest in Munich! I honestly can’t wait. I have heard nothing but good things about it so should be great. Camera is charged and good to go Kelly was lucky enough to get us access to a tent through her company for the Friday afternoon/evening which is great. It means we can avoid all the queues (in theory).

As well as Kel and I going, we are also going to meet up with some of the guys i used to work with at TLC over there. One of them is German and has the full leather shorts German kit going on! Personally i won’t be dressed up like that, no matter how many beers are consumed!!

I have previously been to Munich and love the city but never during Oktoberfest so it should definitely show the city in a different way. I would imagine it would turn into a bit of a party city.

Woohooo Munich again

Since breaking the blogging drought I have been getting spammed heavily with comments! Guess which post has been generating the most?

Suit – belt = fail!! When will the poms realise!!!!

So whats been happening? Well quiet a lot since my last rant about bike theft. So lets get to the details!

Holidays:
- Paris
- Amsterdam
- Dublin
- Prague
- Bath

Day trips:
- Oxford
- Stonehenge
- Brighton

Work:
I have acquired a new job in Egham as a Senior Developer (ASP.net) for a small web company called Fantastic Thinking, which obviously means I have left TLC. It was sad to say bye to some of the people but will keep in touch with them socially anyway. My leaving gift from the guys I worked with (and Kelly) was a Wii and Wii Fit. SCORE!!

Visitors:
We have had Kelly’s mum staying with us a while now and also her best friend came and visited.

Other highlights:
- Bought a BMW 525i
- Converted my old XBOX into a media centre and it is awesome (geeky I know)

into being decent and getting a job as they do into be theiving scum then the world would be a wonderful place.

Well about 18 months ago i had my bike stolen from me as most of you know. After that i decided to pick up another bike for weekends and commuting (around £600 worth). I recently moved and had to start locking it up outside. I locked it up last night when I got home from work and this morning it was gone including all locks. It was the third time I have had it outside my new house. Now when i say locked it up i don’t mean a dodgy combination lock it was 2 hardcore D-Locks and a cable. As well as all this i had the saddle off it as well. I think it was an organised hit on the bikes in the shed as there seemed to be a lot less bikes. So now it is off to contents insurance to see if they will pay up. Little concerned as it was outside but i do have the “away from home” option that covers your items when they are not in your house. So heres hoping!

My theory is if these people put as much effort into getting jobs or doing training to get a decent job rather than working out how to get through 3 locks, they would be able to afford to buy one like I did!!! Why can’t these people respect peoples posessions!! Overly simplistic yes, but really don’t **** with another man bicycle

Anyway thats it for me. No more bikes!

</rant> thanks for reading. Made me feel a little bit better.

Actually this it the THIRD bike i have had stolen in 18 months.  My bike in Australia was stolen from my sisters security cage at her appartement last year.  I think it is a sign that I am not meant to have a bike I mean i am unlucky enough to have one stolen when i am not even in the country.  Such is life……

This articlecame to my attention in the news over the weekend. As if we didn’t have enough to contend with in London with the tube, buses, constant threat of terrorism and say the english (ok some of these may be exaggerations, you choose which) now we have a radioactive man running loose in the city.  Great something else to watch out for, although to be honest he is probably more normal and smells better than your average tube passenger!

It give me great pleasure to introduce my new nephew, Damon James Amaral. He was born on the 29th January 2009 at 2:10PM. He weighed in at 3.2kgs and 49cm long. Big Congratulations to Marion and Tiago. Well done guys! Look forward to seeing more pictures as they come. Both Marion and Damon are doing well.

I have been in Australia for 5 weeks relaxing with family and friends over Christmas. I must say it was absolutely fantastic to be back home. It would seem that I have got some killer jet lag this time. This is the first time I have ever experienced it and it is very NOT cool! I broke my own rule, stay awake all day and go bed at like 8pm in the country you have just landed in. I got in at 5 and got home by 8 and thought I would have 2 hours sleep. I slept through my alarm and woke at 2 and since then I have been waking at strange times. Usually going to bed at 8 and waking at 10! Then eventually get back to sleep at about 12-1 then wake at 6am. Needless to say I am still very tired.

All I can say is thank god I was over in Australia 5 weeks! On a side note I got a text message this morning at 1:30am that woke me up telling me I was going to be an Uncle today so I am guessing my sister has gone into labor, so I am waiting for any news! Best of luck Marion and Tiago!