{"id":418,"date":"2016-09-29T08:35:13","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T22:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/?p=418"},"modified":"2016-09-29T08:38:13","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T22:38:13","slug":"the-price-you-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/?p=418","title":{"rendered":"The Price You Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Price You Pay\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 29.3.2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am a Scorpion<\/p>\n

Human Nature is a funny thing.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean the five piece boy band from Miller \u2013 they\u2019re just a bunch of crooners and are rarely ever funny, if at all.<\/p>\n

I mean the natural behaviour of people.<\/p>\n

I think it is extremely hard to change your natural way of being.<\/p>\n

If you had an innate sense of justice and fair play in games and sports as a kid \u2013 I believe there is a good chance you will display that characteristic throughout your life.<\/p>\n

If you can justify to yourself that cheating on your partner is acceptable on one occasion \u2013 there is a strong likelihood you will do it again sometime.<\/p>\n

If you like to gamble and play games of chance \u2013then you probably always will.<\/p>\n

I think that is why you get so may repeat offenders in court and gaol \u2013 they are naturally d1ckheads who can\u2019t help themselves.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s impossible to change \u2013 if there is enough incentive, anything is possible. And for me personally, the thought of sharing a dingy cell with Bubba, leader of the hairy-unwashed, is incentive enough to stay out of gaol (if ever I was likely to go there).<\/p>\n

Through my own decisions, I have spent quite a lot of time living on my own (I was gonna say \u2018by my own hand\u2019 \u2013 but that just sounds gross and misleading).<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mind my own company and I\u2019m confident I can take care of myself under any circumstance \u2013 so I find this type of life easy. Make all your own decisions, answerable to no one \u2013 when your decisions blow up in your face, as they often do, well \u2013 you cop it on the chin and try to learn from it.<\/p>\n

On your own, you are able to change plans at any stage \u2013 go home, stay late, blow all your cash in a single boozy night of drinking, gambling and bullsh1tting. This is all great fun at different times \u2013 though you will pay for the last one with a lingering hangover from the grog. And often what is even worse \u2013 enduring the psychological torture of trying to accept your own stupidity for blowing a fistful of cash on nothing!<\/p>\n

Despite all this \u2013 you can justify pretty much anything to yourself in quite a short time and life goes on.<\/p>\n

I have at times been accused of being a cold hearted b@stard \u2013 that I don\u2019t care about anyone, however, that is not the case \u2013 in fact, I am probably the opposite.<\/p>\n

There is the old story about the scorpion and the frog, which always appealed to me. If you are unfamiliar with it, it goes something like this:<\/p>\n

\u2018There is a frog and a scorpion sitting on the side of a river and the scorpion says \u201cHey Frog \u2013 how about you let me climb on your back and you can swim us both across the river?\u201d<\/p>\n

The frog says \u201cNo way Scorpion \u2013 you\u2019re a scorpion and you\u2019ll sting me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the scorpion counters \u201cBut if I stung you Frog \u2013 then we would both drown, that would be crazy!\u201d<\/p>\n

The frog considers this for a while before telling the scorpion to climb on his back \u2013 he then starts swimming them both across the river.<\/p>\n

Halfway across, the scorpion stings the frog and before they both drown \u2013 the frog says \u2018Why the hell did you do that? Now we\u2019ll both die!\u2019<\/p>\n

And the scorpion replies simply \u2013 \u201cI am a scorpion \u2013 it\u2019s in my nature\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

And your nature is something that\u2019s hard to change.<\/p>\n

So it may come as a surprise that I actually have a very caring nature \u2013 which is not always good \u2013 but its blo0dy hard to change!<\/p>\n

I still clearly remember in primary school, cracking some blonde kid in the head for picking on my little sister during the day (I recall he punched her during the lunch break) \u2013 so I jacked his jaw as we walked home from school that day. (I think she appreciated it that one time).<\/p>\n

Fast forward fifteen years – we all used to frequent Mounties on weekends and drink way too much and party way too hard for a life conducive to longevity!<\/p>\n

I started out with school mates from my year and then mates of mates and a bunch of girls etc. It was great fun \u2013 I didn\u2019t miss a Friday night at Mounties for about 12 years! (Nor did I pass a solid sh1t for about 8 years due to drinking \u2013 but that\u2019s another story!).<\/p>\n

The oldies would give me a lift to the Club – I\u2019d drink all night, get plastered and then walk home. We\u2019re talking BKM here \u2013 Before the Kebab Man ever thought of pitching his steamy little van at Gamac\u2019s spare parts on Elizabeth Drive.<\/p>\n

So we all had great fun every week \u2013 at a cheap venue, close to home.<\/p>\n

Then my sister started coming to Mounties \u2013 I hated it!<\/p>\n

I loved my sister \u2013 just hated when she\u2019d come out with me.<\/p>\n

I was never able to ignore the feeling of responsibility and need to protect her.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d be having a ball and some half drunk dick would come sniffing around. Some I knew, many I didn\u2019t – though they all had one thing in common -I didn\u2019t like any of them and I made it quite clear!<\/p>\n

So I\u2019d chase them away, she\u2019d get the sh1ts \u2013 even though I was pointing out their inadequacies, and then soon enough – no one was having fun.<\/p>\n

I did the same thing with my female cousins too \u2013 for some reason, no matter how hard I tried to point it out \u2013 they just couldn\u2019t see that all these blokes were d1ckheads and were not to be given any attention.<\/p>\n

You see – I knew what those drunken young bucks were like \u2013 hell, I was one of them! (And I guess when I look back now \u2013 the girls had a fair idea what they were like too!).<\/p>\n

An early event in our lives also instilled in me an unfortunate commitment to look after my older brother too.<\/p>\n

This started one weekend in our teens, when the Oldies went away and a few of us ripped into cheap scotch whiskey (and not enough coke).<\/p>\n

My big Bro leading the way \u2013 squeezing the sides of the plastic coke bottle (half full of scotch), to get his fair share, as he guzzled each mouthful. We were all blind drunk and running amok \u2013 as young idiots do on the turps and everyone had a great night, until the inevitable.<\/p>\n

He could well have gone the same way as Bon Scott that night \u2013 passed out and vomiting like a defective bubbler. But I rolled him over and cleaned him up as best I could.<\/p>\n

Incidentally \u2013 he still hasn\u2019t touched scotch since that night thirty something years ago!<\/p>\n

Following that episode he has rarely required my supervision \u2013 though occasionally he needs someone to let him know the tank is approaching overflow. He goes hard whooping and hollering until CLANG!! It\u2019s like he\u2019s been hit in the head with a skillet \u2013 the eyes and face drop, the colour disappears and it seems like someone has removed a great bony rack from across his normally square shoulders. Then he\u2019s in Sh1tsville will all kind of demons for the next three days!<\/p>\n

Another thing which has always affected me far more than it should \u2013 and in fact continues to right up to this day – if a couple are arguing at the table, I find it puts a downer on everything. Even though I tell myself it has nothing to do with me \u2013 and they\u2019ll be over it shortly \u2013 I feel cr@p until everyone is friends again.<\/p>\n

I am not a fan of needless drama.<\/p>\n

An old mate and his girlfriend used to argue every Saturday night \u2013 and make up shortly thereafter \u2013 it didn\u2019t seem to bother them at all, yet put a downer on me.<\/p>\n

(Except the time she stormed out of Terrigal pub with the car keys at closing time and left us standing around with no transport or money to get home \u2013 that didn\u2019t put a downer on me \u2013 that one actually sh1t me to tears! Leave him behind \u2013 not me, FFS!)<\/p>\n

As I said, I always knew that I\u2019d be okay out on the town \u2013 was never worried about that. There were certainly times that I woke up with no idea where I was \u2013 mostly I was at home with no recollection of having travelled there.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I\u2019d wake up in the back of a cab heading somewhere obscure \u2013 only to re-assess and have them take me home to where I actually lived.<\/p>\n

Occasionally, in my creative brilliance, I would decide to pay someone a surprise visit during the early hours of the morning.<\/p>\n

Like the time I was returning from a wedding at The Croatian Club \u2013 had my mate drive straight past my house and drop me off at my Uncle Bill\u2019s at Bradbury at around 2am instead. Thought it\u2019d be a nice surprise for him.<\/p>\n

Indeed it was \u2013 when he came out the back yard at 7:30am and found me snoring, sprawled across a park bench on his back verandah!<\/p>\n

(And then had to get my old man to come and pick me up later that arvo \u2013 after my joy filled visit!).<\/p>\n

Then there was the time I decided to walk to my mate Nik\u2019s place near the old Livo cemetery \u2013 straight from Alexander\u2019s nightclub in Macquarie Street.<\/p>\n

I knocked on his door at 3am and some bloke answered \u2013 he says \u2018Who are you?\u2019<\/p>\n

I said \u2018I\u2019m Steve. I\u2019m a mate of Nik\u2019s. Who are you?\u2019<\/p>\n

He said \u2018I\u2019m Sam \u2013 I\u2019m a mate of Nik\u2019s too\u2019<\/p>\n

Well \u2013 can I come in?<\/p>\n

It turned out that Nik wasn\u2019t home \u2013 but I stayed there anyway.<\/p>\n

So when the Mounties crew eventually began to disperse \u2013 and or even worse, marry each other \u2013 I packed my car and headed to Darwin.<\/p>\n

While Darwin is physically a harsh place to live \u2013 high humidity, massive storms, 7m+ tides, crocs, stingers, death adders etc, it is actually quite stress free.<\/p>\n

The people are relaxed and mostly friendly (though often more than a little eccentric), the laws are relaxed (unless you\u2019re a re-offending pr1ck), and the whole vibe is more reggae than rock.<\/p>\n

They say NT stands for Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Not Tuesday, Not Thursday \u2013 it\u2019s an appealing and relaxed attitude \u2013 until you need to get something done!<\/p>\n

Anyhow, while I was up there I had lots of fun with lots of friends and heaps and heaps of drinks with very few real worries.<\/p>\n

My family were all three to four thousand kilometres away and a few would visit every now and then \u2013 but for the main part, I just did my own thing.<\/p>\n

After I got serious and built a five bedroom house \u2013 followed shortly thereafter by a wage cut, I found myself all but tied down to 50 May Street, Parap Grove.<\/p>\n

\"no50\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So my house became the party house with all sorts of boys and girls coming round and drinking and smoking and laughing etc.<\/p>\n

I built a bar \u2013 people used to come round, leave thirty bucks on the bench and then drink from my bar. I made no money but got enough to replenish the stocks. Some stayed over, some didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a>
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I began to specialise in certain drinks on genuine party nights \u2013 like Margaritas and some kind of Mango Midori white rum spectacular that I\u2019d whip up from mango pulp, pineapple juice, Midori, vodka, gin, barcardi, cointreau etc .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019d also barbecue a special blend of marinated king prawns and cook up Oysters Kilpatrick\/Mornay in the oven. Though I was put to shame with the Kilpatrick one night when a qualified chef joined us for drinks and offered to take over the molluscs while I tended the prawns!
\n\"img_1299\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I spent a hundred and fifty bucks to purchase a blender powerful enough to rip through Ice \u2013 just to make Margaritas. And since we were drinking Margaritas, we ended up having Mexican nights \u2013 with bandanas, pinata\u2019s, a bit of Raul Malo and the Mavericks (Okay – Cuban Tex\/Mex music is the closest I had to a Mariachi Band) \u2013 but the dozen or so tequila crazed party goers didn\u2019t seem to mind.<\/p>\n

Some strange things happened \u2013 getting the hair-clippers out for a spontaneous haircut was not uncommon \u2013 though the trick one chick followed it up with one night, sure was! (I haven\u2019t used the clippers since!).<\/p>\n

\"img_1255\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had doctors, lawyers, chefs, strippers, journalists, political advisors, a marine biologist \u2013 and a whole bunch of normal folk there at one stage or another.<\/p>\n

The time eventually came though, for me to move back to the fambam.<\/p>\n

The brother had been on the Gold Coast for fifteen years or so and my sister was moving up with her family \u2013 and I\u2019d always intended moving there one day myself, so that\u2019s what we did.<\/p>\n

Now our \u201cDo\u2019s\u201d consist mostly of the family all sitting around someone\u2019s backyard entertainment area, drinking beer and wine and generally taking the p1ss out of each other.<\/p>\n

\"bigfambamselfie\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Though, I do still try to keep my hand in the game, by having the occasional bender with the locals at the Jacobs Well Tavern.<\/p>\n

It took me about twenty years to feel comfortable enough to finally hand over the reins to their respective partners \u2013 and both chose exceedingly well in the end.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s up to my old mate Johnny now to look after my sister \u2013 though I am as fiercely loyal to him now as I ever was to her and I\u2019d back his any play to the hilt, any time!<\/p>\n

And I am quite happy to let my Bro\u2019s beautiful wife Candy clean up his mess after his occasional summer blowout!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not get started on the young nieces now!!!<\/p>\n

Being close to loved ones though, comes at a price.<\/p>\n

The currency for that familiarity is stress.<\/p>\n

All of a sudden you are made aware of everyone\u2019s life issues, such as health concerns, study, employment, money, and relationship problems.<\/p>\n

With the physical closeness, comes responsibility \u2013 things I\u2019d been all but immune to living in the Top End.<\/p>\n

Mostly, I didn\u2019t even hear about these problems \u2013 much less need to personally address them and seek a resolution.<\/p>\n

These situations become increasingly frequent, especially with aging parents in the mix \u2013 and at certain times, seem like a never-ending merry-go-round of hospitals, specialists and general checkups. Tension building at every turn.<\/p>\n

It makes the Northern Territory resort-style living appear all the more appealing.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0for those tempted by the Siren’s lure of the easy life, keep this in mind: though the Lone Wolf walks a fun and careless path, roaming his domain at will and howling at the moon \u2013 surely on the cold, dark night, when it is he who is lame – he pines in earnest for his long lost pack….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Price You Pay\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 29.3.2016 I am a Scorpion Human Nature is a funny thing. I don\u2019t mean the five piece boy band from Miller \u2013 they\u2019re just a bunch of crooners and are rarely ever funny, if at all. I mean the natural behaviour of people. I think it is extremely hard to change … Continue reading The Price You Pay<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5K3B8-6K","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=418"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":429,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewallaby.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}