It's unusual for me to be posting but Daryl thinks I should. I walked out of my job on Wednesday. I've been very disappointed by how things have turned out, I'll explain. When I went for my interview John (my now ex boss) explained that for the past few years they had had people running the branch … read more

A few days ago I wrote about how I'd seen the light in terms of work and lifestyle after reading 'The Four-Hour Work Week' by Tim Ferriss. In part 2, before I go on to describe some of the ways that I can generate passive income - the first step towards achieving the dream lifestyle - I'm going to … read more

Our first set of visitors from the UK have been confirmed. Rachelle's sister is coming over with her daughter in November, and my Mum and Dad have booked their flights for next March. We're really looking forward to having the chance to show people around so they can see exactly why we've moved … read more

It was raining constantly over the weekend which meant any plans we might have had were thrown right out of the window, although it was quite nice not to have to do anything, especially after last weekend's exertions. It at least gave me the opportunity to make some good progress on my first … read more

When we got back from the Ekka on Saturday, our next door neighbours - George and Julie - invited us round for what we thought would be a couple of quiet beers. This was about 3pm. Little did we know, we'd end up getting absolutely arseholed and wouldn't end up leaving until midnight. George's … read more

On Saturday we had our first experience of 'The Ekka'. The Ekka is an annual 10-day event formally known as the Royal Queensland Show. It was originally called the Brisbane Exhibition but what with the aussie habit of shortening any words over 5 letters it's now known as the Ekka. We presumed that … read more

The fist step is complete. We’ve now living in the location to have the dream lifestyle. The next step is to actually have the dream lifestyle. For the last few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of research into the different ways I can use the Internet to make money. I’m not talking about a bit of … read more

I've just read this news story on BBC Sport about comments made by FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner. I was so incensed it drove me to writing a strongly worded complaint to FIFA calling for his immediate resignation. What do you think, should we finance a 'hit' on him? Complain here read more

Just to let you all know, Mum the Jack Vetriano picture and figurine both arrived unharmed. Phil the music box you gave Lauren did too, "The Mum's"! my framed photo also arrived safely and is now on my desk at work! It's these little things Daryl forgets to mention. There were however some … read more

I think we're starting to come out of Winter as it's been slowly warming up this week, rising to a high of 29 degrees today. At lunchtime I went out and sat in the gardens of a Cathedral across from where I work and basked in the sun. I only lasted for about 20 minutes though. Boy was it hot! The … read more

Our stuff finally cleared customs and arrived at our house yesterday, two weeks after arriving in Brisbane. Unfortunately we were one of the unlucky ones and we got levied for an inspection fee by Customs, which cost us $270. They didn't do a very good job though because on opening our boxes we … read more

HSBC's half year results show that the banks are having to pay a lot more out than previously thought: Britain's banks face £1bn bill from charges revolt | Special report | Guardian Unlimited Business If you haven't already claimed back your unfair charges, like we did, you've probably missed the … read more

The banks must be tired of paying out to those of us (in our thousands) that have reclaimed bank charges, as they're finally accepting a test case in the courts. Having worked for banks and knowing a little about their operations, I doubt very much that they'll be able to prove that they can justify … read more

Two examples, in my view, of business stupidity: 1) The project I'm engaged on at work now has, get this, 5 project managers. There is: 1 x Principle Project Manager 1 x Project Manager 1 x Project Manager - Quality Control 1 x Project Manager - Risk, Issues and Finance 1 x Project Manager … read more

Liverpool today unveiled the design for the new stadium, scheduled to open in 2010. The design is an upgrade on the initial plans as the new owner's would like to be able to increase capacity above 75,000, subject to the plans being approved by Liverpool council. It was always a nightmare getting … read more

I had a meeting on the 32nd floor at work today. It's a bit distracting when you have a view like this... Taken with my Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot Camera phone read more

I should read the local papers more often, as when I went out for lunch today I had no clue why roadblocks had been set up and why police were milling everywhere. I soon discovered the reason why when I came round the corner to St Stephen's Cathedral. It was the funeral for Brett Irwin - the police … read more

The USS Kitty Hawk is in Brisbane this weekend - on one of the stops on her final Pacific Tour before she returns to be de-commissioned next year. Even though the ship wasn't having an Open Day, we drove down to take a look. Because the Kitty Hawk is a SuperCarrier, it's too big to make it up river … read more

Another great tool from Martin Lewis' site. First he helped us find cheap flights. Then he helped us make cheap international calls. Now here's a great resource to help you get the most foreign currency for your pound. It's not much use to us anymore but bear it in mind if you ever come to visit us … read more

Genius - http://blog.viddler.com/cdevroe/wine-cork/ read more