Mayhem-Online

Archive for the ‘Books & Manga’ Category

About two years ago I posted some information and feedback on my own experiences with online shopping, mainly in the area of buying anime, manga and japanese music. I thought I’d update that by posting up further information and feedback on my current experiences as well as comment on what I’d recommended back then.

The stores I still use today that were listed in that particular post are cdjapan; HobbyLink Japan; Tamarket and Animaxis.  Stores that I haven’t used in a while that were listed are YesAsia, Akadot Retail, Anime Anytime and Anime Power. The last two (Anime Anytime and Anime Power) I don’t believe are still operating, or at least have not updated for a significant amount of time. There’s only one new store that I visit and have added to my shopping list and that is AnimeWorks (Australian site). I’ll go into further details about it later. Read the rest of this entry »

I guess blogs shouldn’t be about depressing things all the time lol but it can’t be helped. I had a nice trip on the weekend – went to the ground, have you been there? Its probably my second biggest trip in two years – luckily I saw different sights this time around as it happened in the backyard instead of out the front door. I have this massively huge bruise that covers my knee and then goes down to almost halfway down my shin. It happened on Saturday morning so you can understand what type of a weekend I had Stupidly, yesterday I spent most of it sitting when I should have had the leg elevated and straight, I ended up with not only a swollen knee by the late evening, but also a swollen ankle. I guess I should have stayed at home today but what’s the point? Its a bruised knee its not a broken one, painful though it may be. I’ve currently got my recycle box upside down under the desk with my leg rested across it lol, though it may be a little too high I think, especially for the way I’m sitting (hunched over because I’m tired).

Today’s a fairly quiet day. Its the beginning of the school holidays here so we’re not likely to get many calls for the next couple of weeks. My boss is away today too so it makes it even quieter. I like it though I started feeling ill on my way in. Unfortunately I’ve put that down to work-illness. Lately its been getting worse, stress and the strain of the relationships of people around here and their attitudes towards everyone else. I’m getting sick of it and its also making me sick. My boss wants me to put in the paperwork for a performance management – however the only reason he wants it is because he told his boss that all of ours are done, its got nothing to do with listening to me and my needs or giving me support in areas I can improve in. We’re also at the point where things are going to change here because of a new separate department that’s been created and a number of our sections will be moving to it. Because of that, and some other changes, there’s the possibility we can make changes to our structure ourselves. But the problem is that the ones at the top only want to make themselves higher (salary wise) but with less responsibilities. And as for the ‘working bees’ below, well they wave it aside and say “We’ll work that out later”. I’m hoping that the Executive Director makes his own decision not based on what my boss or the other manager’s say. There is one manager on the floor who actually reports to my boss, or so she should based on the original structure, but instead she’s running the entire section! She has no clue as to what half of us do, including the small group I am a part of, but she’s already made decisions on how we should be working in the future.  One of my co-workers has been pissed off with both our boss and the other managers attitudes towards these changes and how they don’t look anywhere below their own levels. He’s prepared to walk out and go into another job – and considering he’s highly sought after, I don’t blame him for leaving if he does go. I would like to as well but to where? Not a lot around at the moment that I’m interested in (jobs) and I’m hoping to see what happens with changes before I do anything.

(Gah! It doesn’t matter how I sit or where I stick my leg its still painful!! ;__;)

Anyway in other news:

• I did get the new hot water system installed. My credit union were kind enough to give me the money though they gave it to me as an overdraft instead of adding it onto my home loan. That’s a real pain because I get hit more with fees on the overdraft than I do on the home loan. But at least we have hot water!
• I started reading a new book called “Hidden Empire” by Kevin J Anderson. He wrote The Jedi Academy trilogy for the extended Star Wars universe. I was going to read “The Twisted Citadel” which was the second book of the Darkglass Mountain trilogy, but I was kind of pissed off with the characters and not terribly fond of the story by the time I finished the first book “The Serpent Bride” lol. This is a change from Fantasy to Sci-Fi and its a nice change I guess. So far the book is okay though it seems like this entire book is dedicated to the setting for the rest of the saga (there are seven books in total) as not a lot has happened and I’m almost half way through it.
• Ended up downloading a lot of TV series as I either miss the night they’re aired, or they change the timeslot on me. Easier to download and catch up. Also it means I can view any series that is about to air here usually before it airs! Caught up on CSI last night as I’d missed the past two weeks (and the episode last night too). Also downloaded that Sanctuary – 8 webisodes which make up the ‘pilot’ episode. The series is supposed to begin airing or has begun airing, I’m not sure which, but its kind of weird seeing Amanda “Samantha Carter” Tapping in such a different role and with a british accent.
• Have been behind with watching anime. I was behind with updating Animay for a while since I focused on getting RBM up and running. Vampire Knight was pretty popular when I was screencapping it but the first series is over now so will be looking towards a new series (maybe). Seasons 2 of Vampire Knight as well as Season 2 of Gundam 00 both air in October.

That’s really about it for now. ReBoot Mayhem is up and running using Joomla! to run the site. Its really great and I’m pleased with it though my only problem is that the theme I have doesn’t run too well on IE, it comes up okay but there are some odd things it seems to do. Regardless, its a constant work in progress but at least I’m updating a little more than I was before.

At the moment I’m completely stressed out. It was only just over 6 months ago that I added onto my current home loan in order to get a new kitchen. The reason was not just to have a new one but because the one that existed was crap. The cupboards were okay the benchtop was so-so but the stove was useless and we had no overhead cupboards and the sink was too big for such a small kitchen. So I managed to get quite a bit of money in order to put a new kitchen in, get rid of the crappy carpet (in most parts of the house) and put down fake timber flooring, put in a screendoor on the back of the house and various other things to fix things up.

Now my gas hotwater heater has given out. In order for the house to be so ‘cheap’ the builders and developers only get the cheapest materials. Hence why the door handles are falling off, the painting done outside is poorly done and the gas hotwater system only lasts for four years. We’ve been in the house for six.

By the time I got home last night I was feeling ill, tired and pretty miserable. The plumber had been and although he didn’t charge us for looking at the problem, we knew money would have to be paid when he said the system was shot (figure of speech meaning its broken). Rang up the gas company that we pay our gas bills to, but they don’t have a gas shop so to speak, they just get money from us and give us discounts. I’m regretting moving from Origin. Origin had their own Origin Energy Shop where you could buy heaters, hot water systems, gas stoves etc but at the time we were offered to go over to this new company, we never actually thought we’d needed something like that until now. I guess when you’re renting most of your life, you don’t really realise how much maintenance you’ve got to pay for until its actually broken. So we contacted the GasWorks company and they were happy to do a payment thing where we get it installed and then make payments until its completely paid off – however they wanted a substantial downpayment and they also wanted to look at my bank account. Not something I trust them with though I’m guessing its to see whether or not we can actually make the repayments. The other negative against them is that they’re charging more for their unit than the plumber/gas fitter was. He was good too, however he will only take cash for his job.

So I’m off to the bank this morning to see if I can beg and plead for them to loan me the money for a new system. After which I intend to spend no money on anything other than necessary items (food, toiletries, bills, clothes on occasion) for at least the next six months. If I can do that, stick to it and get used to it then I can probably extend it for a lot longer in order to get some money in behind me for such emergency situations.

At the moment we’re not doing the water-savings-efficiency thing – boiling water to create a rather shallow bath to wash in, then boiling more water to wash our hair in the sink and then again to do the dishes, but its (hopefully) only going to be for a short period of time until I can secure some money.. I am really hoping the bank will be favourable…

Oh and yes I changed the look of the site once again. The previous one was cool but I didn’t really like it that much (its coolness wore off lol). And I’m reading again as you can see from the book links in the sidebar. I’m a fan of David Gemmell (too bad he is no longer around to write more great books), though only after reading “Echoes of a Great Song”. Loved his style. Not sure that I’m that keen on Sara Douglass but the book is growing on me slowly.