(This goal is now complete – see DONE post)

When I arrived back from a recent trip to Europe at the end of July 2007, I commenced goal 129 (avoid the lifts at work for six consecutive months). This I am doing for the exercise benefit, giving I spend most of my day sitting at my desk in front of a computer. If I can avoid the lifts for six months, that should really get me in the habit of avoiding them all the time in future.

I work on the second floor, and we have a six storey car park, so there are quite a few stairs to travel in between.

If I can avoid the lifts until the end of January 2008, the goal shall be achieved.

I have set two allowable lift-using circumstances:

1. If I am with someone else who wishes to use the lift. It would seem very rude to stop mid-conversation to take the stairs while they travel in the lift.

2. If I carrying something above 5kg in weight.

The first step to completing goal 80 (learn to ride a unicycle) is to buy a unicycle. This one pictured is my little blue and yellow beauty. She was purchased for the bargain price of $20 from Lauren at work (thanks Lauren).

I have been told that if I practise for just 15 minutes a day for a couple of weeks, I should be able to ride it well enough to say the goal is completed. Only time will tell if this theory is true.

Month completed: August 2007

WARNING: This post may be considered extremely nerdy by non-Mario fans.

Mario 1 (the original Mario game) came out in 1987. I have finally beaten it 20 years later. This was a sweet victory (although Nat couldn’t quite understand why I was so excited when I defeated the last Bowser).

For those who don’t remember playing this game, there are 8 worlds, and a few warp zones that allow you to skip worlds. You have to defeat the entire game to save the Princess, and then you have to defeat it again in difficult mode in order to say that you have really clocked the whole game.

The main thing that has stopped me from clocking the game over these years is the Hammer Brothers, who constantly throw hammers and are near impossible to beat without mushroom or flower power. I have always considered them my arch-nemisis.

Below is a photo of the screen that shows when you clock the game. If you look closely, you will see a reflection of me in the TV, jumping up and down with excitement after years and years of frustrating effort. You will also noticed I won it with Luigi, who I consider the better of the two Mario brothers, because of his superior jumping ability.

Bad luck Hammer Brothers – I am having the last laugh (albeit a very nerdy laugh).

Month completed: July 2007

Throughout uni life, my sister Mel and I were always asked the same question by every single relative at every single family function.

“How’s uni going?”

It was so consistently asked by all and sundry that we joked that we should get t-shirts that answer the question by saying “Uni’s fine. Thanks for asking.” But we never got around to it.

At the start of 2007, my brother Nicholas had just started uni, and struggling for an idea for a birthday present, I stumbled across a make-it-yourself t-shirt shop. A perfect opportunity to create the t-shirt we had long talked about, organise a birthday present and knock off a goal at the same time.

Below is the finished product, modelled by Nicholas. The smile on his face is most likely because he was thinking ‘This is probably the best birthday present ever.’

Month completed: June 2007

While working at Saab, I set up a relationship between Saab and Greenfleet, which is a not-for-profit organisation that plants trees to help offset the carbon emissions produced by vehicles. Every Saab sold meant more trees get planted.

I was pretty proud of this, as it meant that thousands of trees would be planted, and thousands of tonnes of carbon would be offset.

In May 2007 Greenfleet were approached by a journalist to nominate an individual to feature in an article they were writing on ‘green transport’ and putting back what you take. Amazingly, they nominated me.

You can download the article by clicking on the icon below. It appeared on June 3 2007 in the M-Mag (a magazine that comes with Melbourne’s Sunday Age). If you can’t open the article, leave me a comment and I will email it to you.

I definitely regret getting such a short haircut just days earlier!

Month completed: July 2007

Agatha Christie is one of my favourite authors of all time. For those not sure who she is; she is the queen of crime fiction, and you may recognise the names of her two main crime-solvers Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. In London, a play she wrote called Mousetrap has been running, non-stop, at the same place, for 55 years. It is an amazing record, so much so that it is actually a world record.

So naturally I have wanted to see it for years.

During our trip to London, I dragged Nat along. And I loved it (she fell asleep). The acting was fantastic, and the twist was not foreseen by me. At the end of the show, the actors implore the audience to keep the secret of Mousetrap alive, and not reveal the ending to those yet to enjoy the show.

The only problem was the uncomfortable seat, which seemed to be a theatre original. But this was only a minor concern.

My recommendation – make sure to make a detour to Mousetrap next time you are in the area.

Here I am with crossed arms out the front of the theatre.

Month completed: July 2007

Dia-B Tech is a company I have been watching for a while. They are currently in the early stages of developing drugs that will aid the treatment of Type 1 and 2 diabetes.

Given the increasing levels of obesity around the world (as well as other factors), the number of people worldwide who suffer from diabetes is predicted to increase by 55% by 2025 (from 246 to 380 million). Although I am not a diabetes sufferer myself, I can see the importance of investing in companies that are working on ways to make life for those with diabetes a little bit better.

Dia-B Tech’s mission statement is as follows:

Dia-B’s underlying strategy and objective is the discovery and development of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and treatments for diabetes and diabetes-related diseases.

Their main work at present focuses on a drug that lowers blood glucose levels as well as increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin, meaning the insulin the diabetic needs is able to work harder. You can find out more at their website.

I have bought 15,000 shares. I don’t expect to see much of a return until maybe 2010, and given this is just a speculative purchase, I may lose all my money. But that’s the fun of the stockmarket, isn’t it!

Month completed: May 2007

This was very hard work. I consider myself pretty good at juggling, but never really went non-stop for more than maybe a minute.

It took about two weeks of build-up, slowly increasing my times from five to ten to fifteen minutes. One thing I didn’t cater for was that your back and shoulders get very stiff after about fifteen minutes, and your eyes start to lose focus. The three balls become a blur of colour, and then the sweating starts (I know – gross).

I positioned myself facing a blank white surface, so that no other colours would interfere with the balls, and just ploughed through. This was a very satisfying achievement.

Anyone who thinks they are up for this challenge, I say go for it. But a warning – it is harder than it sounds.

Month completed: July 2007

I tried both delicacies while on a recent trip to France. One was really nice and one was awful.

Nat and I had escargot as an entree when we went to the Moulin Rouge, and I loved it. I even ate the ones on Nat’s plate that she didn’t eat. It was drenched in herb and garlic sauce, so that may have helped.

Frog’s legs were served by Tania, who we stayed with in the south of France. They tasted awful (not because of Tania’s cooking ability!), and it was hard to get the image of a frog out of your head as you ate them. I also found out that to get frog’s legs, the legs are ripped off the poor frog while it is still alive, and it is then just left to die. Even if they tasted good, I wouldn’t eat them again because of that.

My recommendation – order escargot the next time you visit France, but hop away from the frog’s legs.

p.s. As I was searching for a picture to include with this post, I found this funny picture of one little snail making a gallant escape. Enjoy.

Month completed: April 2007

I appeared as a mob member on an episode of 1 v 100, which aired on Channel Nine in June. I did pretty well, getting to question nine and down to about 1 v 25.

The question I bombed out on was this:

What do you apply mascara to?

I was thinking, ‘that’s easy, it’s your face’. But then the following three options appeared.

A. Eyelids B. Eyelashes C. Eyebrows

Not being a user of such a product, my mind went blank. I locked in ‘A. Eyelids’ (feel free to laugh now). But for some reason, every man I have asked the question to since has said the correct answer, which tells me a lot about my lack of a feminine side.

Only one person I have asked gave the same answer as me….my Dad. I guess the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree!