Ho Ho Ho Merry Xmas

And a Happy New Year.

Hope to catch you all safe and sound in the new year for more fun.

Part of the Public Transport Service - Kind of

A while ago I commented on the very average taxi service in Melbourne compared to Brisbane. Well today I have a follow up post.

As I type I should be in a different office. Attending a meeting that started over 30 minutes ago via a cab that was booked yesterday. So what happened?

I and some of my colleagues just spent 45 minutes waiting for a taxi. Calls were made every 10 minutes to find out what happened. Apparently taxi services cannot guarentee a cab can be available even though it was booked a day in advance. WTF?

How Xmas Lights Should be Done

If you are going to do something you may as well do it to the extreme:



It picks up about half way through.

I did not have sex with Tiger Woods

Just to make sure everyone is clear on that!

I find it interesting that the sexual exploits of a golfer make such huge headlines around the globe. But really:


I highly doubt that "Celeb Smut is Real News".

Is This Thing On?

Last Friday was my company's Xmas Party. Don't even try and call it an 'End of Year Function' to try and be PC. Call it what it is.. or in this case what it should have been.

Things had changed this year in comparison to the previous functions:

1. Stand up party with buffet and finger food vs sit down meal;
2. A venue that seperated people rather than a large room combining them; and
3. bad accoustics

I can understand the first 2 points are due to a combination of financials and room availability. The last one is beyond me.

Every year during the xmas party the state manager or one of the senior managers gets up and does a brief presentation on how the year has gone, thanks a few people, draws the winning tickets for the fundraising raffle and wishes everyone a merry xmas. That's it. 5 minutes. Then back to it.


At a more formal sit down dinner this is achieved easily as everyone is about to sit down to the main meal. It is also quite obvious if there are groups of people not sitting and they tend to shut up as well. In comparison at a Cocktail style party where everyone is standing and:

a) 80% of the people are drunker than the state manager;
b) 60% of the people are taller than the state manager; and
c) 92% of the people don't give a shit;

then it becomes a little bit more problematic. Imagine 300 odd people who had been ushered from another area, all standing around talking amongst themselves while a short man with a microphone tries to talk over them. Not much respect commanded or given.

It was very strange seeing a man laughing at his own jokes when he was the only one who could hear them. A man who had prepared notes on a few things that no one heard.

It truely a level of management.

That aside it was a reasonable night. Food was ok, beer was ok, room was ok. None of which were outstanding but serviceable. After the drinks finished at midnight a large number ventured to a nearby club where the latest I heard anyone got home was 5:30am. My time was 2:30am.

A Long Day in Brisbane

Saturday was a long and enjoyable day for me.

The festivites started at around 10:40am at Melbourne airport and ended at around 3am Sunday morning at the Treasury Casino in Brisbane.

The reason for the trip was a Gentlemen's Trip Away coinciding with the Melbourne Victory playing Brisbane Roar on Saturday evening.

Some things I have learnt:

1. Brisbane has weather that is very condusive to drinking a lot;
2. A casino at 3am is a strange creature;
3. Vodka and Coke is a refreshing change;
4. Beer before noon is allowed; and
5. Apparently it rained in Melbourne.

So a few thanks have to be said to:

a) Ming the fabulous BlackJack dealer who turned my $100 into $200 in 10 minutes;
b) the 3 gentlemen who joined me on the trip and organised most of it;
c) The Caxton Hotel for somehow being able to be a sports bar and nightclub;
d) The casino bouncers for breaking a punters wrist just so the crowd at 3am had something to watch; and
e) My liver for still functioning today.

And if you are wondering the standard of cabs was excellent. And there were plenty of them still driving around at 3am compared to what happens in Melbourne.

Brisbane Taxi vs Melbourne Taxi

I have a theory. Yes another one. As you may have read previously I have some concerns with Melbourne's Taxi services.

On the weekend I was in Brisbane for a family function and had the pleasure of a few trips in the local taxi services.


What I found were professional drivers who:

• did not speak on mobile phones while driving;


• had spotless clean cabs inside and out;


• knew where they were going;


• spoke very good english; and


• were polite to the point of offering to carry luggage to and from the sidewalk at the airport and destination.

I discussed all of the above with a couple of the drivers and they could not believe that a driver would not keep up a standard as they did.

My thoughts on the taxi services in Brisbane will be confirmed in a couple of weeks when I am up there again.