This penguin deadset gets some of the weirdest ideas

NHL but furries: Introducing the Furry Hockey League - see a bunch of furry twitch streamers go "head to head" in computer controlled ice hockey matches.

I've already created 7 of the 13 team captains I need XD

Season 1 coming soon.

I'm still here! But my online presence is shifting further and further to an in person one.

Where to begin???? Well, 2024 went a direction I seriously didn't expect, but I think it was a good year.

January. Mid and I move to a new place with the help of an entire furry community. That was an experience. Thanks everyone!

February. The home theatre gets setup at home, Cue a cinema experience at home, complete with console setup. I get approached by my union asking me if I would be interested in working for them.

March. So I surprisingly get an invite to my sister's wedding. Work starts slipping downhill quickly and I find myself losing my love for the job. A string of stupid management decisions will do that.

April. Haunted by the ghost of 2023, I'm still uneasy. Ultimately I watched as a former friendship went up in flames. Not too fussed by that though.

May. I interview with the union as a formality, Work makes a massive mistake which seals my decision, I'm leaving.

June. I signed the contract and break the news to my colleagues, they are all shocked but unsurprised by the decision.

July. My sister's wedding. She pulls the ultimate "fuck you" on me. My entire family bar me has involvement on her wedding. I start my new job with the union as an official, my very first job is a meeting with my former workplace.

August. I'm finding my feet in new role but loving it.

September. Birthday month, This year I decide to keep my birthday under wraps. I finally get my drivers licence back after 8 years of fighting.

October. I get my first car

November. Work moves me into a new role that suits me to a T. I win and get all my former colleagues travel passes for the transport network here in Sydney.

December. Fun with friends and family. The end of the year has been great. We applied for a lease renewal and are just waiting to hear back.

Hopefully this good run in 2024 continues.

I didn't do one of these for 2022 because I was just too damn busy.

Where to begin???? I'm still happily working with the railways as a Station Manager, that hasn't changed, haha

January. Too much happened for me to really remember, hahaha. Annual leave from work for the first time since 2019 so it gave me time to myself.

February. Came back from annual leave, Applied for a promotion.

March. Had the interview for the promotion, totally bombed it and knew I wasn't getting it. I got elected union delegate and began negotiations for our new contracts.

April. The shitshow of the year...Mid and I were given an eviction notice for the unit we were living in since 2020 as it was sold from under us...30 days to find a new place to live and GTFO. It took a week and we found a new place, but couldn't move in until the end of the month, giving us 5 days to move everything.

May. More contract negotiations, haha.

June. Transferred to a new station to manage, the 2nd busiest on the network. The fun starts here, haha.

July. Time to go to the federal court for the
contract negotiations, I'm shitting bricks the entire time but managed to negotiate the equivalent of a $100 per week after tax pay increase, along with backpay dating from August 2022.

August. everything is settled. Work is tough but manageable. Mid and I are still happy. I found out that I didn't get the promotion...it took that long to get a response. The colleague I thought was a shoe in for it also was unsuccessful, Cue Pingu's revenge by strengthening the union presence and getting a majority unionised workforce

September. Birthday month. Had fun with my workmates for my birthday.

October. Mid and I find out my sister has not invited us to her wedding - my uncle and us are the only three family members who are not invited. I'm gutted but as may sister and I have never really been close, it's kinda understandable. Work is getting tougher and I'm starting to crack.

November. More annual leave. Time to chill out after months of hard work

December. Time for shitshow month number two, we received notification that the new place we have moved to is now going to be sold. Christmas has been cancelled as we are now looking again for a new place to live. Plus side is we have until April to find somewhere...

Is 2024 the year we catch a break? This is starting to do my head in and I'm getting closer to losing it.

Okiedoke, where to start?

2021 Has been a really funny year. At the start of the year, I announced my retirement from competitive field hockey to my teammates after 12 years of competition, I have torn my left rotator cuff too many times to risk stuffing it again, and now with my new job, tearing it will mean time off work as well.

I am going to focus on my ice hockey and view to become a referee when things calm down.

January, I started a new job in the finance industry, a massive change from working in public transport. This went well until June when I was sacked one day before 6 months on the job, so I was unable to challenge with an unfair dismissal claim.

I did a bit of casual work in the meantime to try and keep money coming in.

In September, I rejoined the company that sacked me in 2020, returning to my home in the public transport industry and became a fully trained station master. I am stoked where I am now. The 12 hour shifts can be a slog and dealing with difficult customers (in the words of DIsney - our Treasured Guests) is tough but the large number of days off make this all worthwhile.

I am excited for the future ahead and to see what happens.

Finally! fucking finally!!!

After being stood down by my fire brigade back in March 2017, then a major fight to get back frontline again, it's almost there!

A transfer to the brigade closest to me has almost been approved. Last Saturday was the first time since 2017 that I jumped into a firetruck as part of an active frontline crew!!!!!!

Having friends at my new brigade has made the transfer easier.

All I need now is the transfer to be completed and I'm back...with a new uniform to go with it!

2020...a shitstorm in a cup. And not just because of COVID.

After what seemed to be a positive year really had other plans for me.

March saw my work win a contract in Adelaide, and with a promised transfer revoked at the 11th hour in May, saw me not end up going to Adelaide. It also saw my hockey season canned temporarily and once the season resumed, me choosing not to participate in 2020.

May, Mid and I moved out of home and in together, in my hometown, using the money from the Adelaide move to fund it

July, a former boss approached me to work for him for more money than my previous position...the contract was signed in August for a September start.

August, I resign from my old job, hurting for doing so but looking at the future...

September, I start my new job, and almost instantly get thrown around. 50+ hour weeks became an undesired norm but I accepted it.

October, after a few weeks of me asking for help, I'm sacked for struggling in my position...its a bit hard to do roles you aren't even qualified in, with my requests for redeployment denied. This was the biggest mistake of my life to accept the offer.

Maverick and Mackenzie, the two cats join our family

Not much happened in November except for my boss from the job I resigned from calling me to make sure my spirits are still up.

That, and I finally learned to skate backwards.

December rolls around, and an interview for a new position is a success. Giving me hope for 2021.

Bring on the new year

So...since my last journal, Mid and I have moved in together living back in my hometown, we are waiting until COVID-19 restrictions ease before resuming any sort of planned move to SA.

Along with this, some major changes happened, it gave my fire station ammunition to terminate me because I was still yet to return to full duties and now living away from the fire district. (not sure how I could when they prevented me doing stuff), however I am in the process of moving to my local fire station.

I have resigned from my position with National Parks looking after the penguins again due to the distance.

There's a few little changes in the works but I'll get to them when they happen

2020 has not been my year.

Basically for the past year I have been working my ass off to help my employer win an interstate contract, sometimes putting 60 hours a week of work in.

The other week we received a confirmation that we won that contract. So as you would expect, I've bought myself a little present to celebrate the hard work paying off...except a certain family member has taken exception to this, my grandma.

My grandma, for some reason was quick to tell me off about it and that I'm spending my money on useless crap. She then crossed a line which even now, 9 hours later is still hitting me hard, calling me "useless" and "someone with no hope in life" because when she was my age, she was sending kids to school, and I'm still living with them, despite househunting and working my ass off.

She thinks that because I stopped house hunting for a month while I was waiting on the results that I don't have a direction or path in life. She doesn't know the time and hard work I put in to get to where I am today, and now that I know what I'm doing, trying to make that a reality. She still calls me stupid for even dreaming of moving interstate, despite the fact that I've shown her I do have plans and I wasn't just dreaming of a fantasy goal.

She seems to think that just because I haven't spoken much about the contract stuff that I'm being a lizard and not doing anything.

I'm really starting to second guess everything because she rarely gives me any encouragement when I tell her that I have aspirations and goals.

I thought family was supposed to help you in these times. I didn't even get a congratulations when I told her we won the contract, just a good to know...

I haven't been posting much because I've been busy with work...expect a few posts in the near future, including the unveiling of a new fursona!!!!

Okiedoke. As most of you are aware, my home state of New South Wales is currently getting its ass kicked by bushfires which so far have killed 17 people including a firefighter I knew, and anestimated over 70 million animals have been killed.

I'm wondering if there is an artist willing to commission an idea I've got, in a style similar to my Rescue Penguin by Iluq submission.

I'm wanting to create a bushfire scene with Aussie animals fighting the fire such as a wedge tailed eagle acting as a fire bombing aircraft dropping a bucket of water on the fire.

Contact me if you are interested

Welp, that's a wrap for season 2019 at work. I now have 2 weeks off to recuperate. Apart from spending Christmas with my family, I'm heading to the Snowy Mountains to do some mountain biking to get an adrenaline rush. Mountain biking is a major favourite thing of mine, however I have not been out much because of my shoulder issues. This trip inspired me to get some new mountain bike gear and with it, a new camera to stick on the bike whilst riding.

Being an enduro rider, going to downhill tracks are going to challenge me non stop. I can't wait for this!

Exactly what the title says.

For those who are unaware, New South Wales has over 70 bushfires burning at the moment which has seen several people injured, firefighters included(including one of my workmates).

Tomorrow is expected to be interesting to say the least, every national park in the Sydney area is closed and several hundred schools too.

Tomorrow, Sydney is seeing a Catastrophic fire danger rating for the first time in history, if something does happen tomorrow, it'll be near impossible to stop. To anyone who lives in an area bordering bushland, make sure that your house is well prepared and you are prepared to evacuate. If a fire starts, leave immediately because a Catastrophic bushfire will burn down your house.

Again, stay safe and good luck tomorrow.

Last week, I hit a personal milestone, I made it 2 years without having an epileptic seizure. Three years ago I would not have even thought about getting this far, I was focused on trying to get one month seizure free.

I guess my doctors last ditch efforts really did work!

And I'm not talking about my Sydney Roosters making their second straight Grand Final...

Here in NSW, if you are epileptic, you need to be seizure free for 3 years to initially get your drivers license and then seizure free to retain it. In 2014 I had my first seizure since 2010 which caused me to have a 6 month medical suspension on my licence. Unfortunately that 6 months was eventually extended to 1 year which until 2018, I was never able to get to.

Last week, I received a letter from the NSW RMS Licence Review Unit who told me that I finally had the medical suspension lifted and I could reapply to get my licence back. To say that I'm excited is an understatement however having not driven in 5 years, I'm pretty nervous about it all

Welp, field hockey season is almost over and after a disastrous season, the end can't come quick enough.

This means that to replace it comes the summer winter sport for me, ice skating and everything else with it. After enjoying my skates from last year, I'm looking at getting a new set to complement them and might even get them wrapped in some custom Pingu artwork.

I'm looking at getting another Bauer set....until STX come out with skates to match my stick, I'm not budging. I'm thinking of the Supreme S27 skates, something with a quick release given my current ones need a sharpen to fix the damage to one of the blades (I'm not skilled enough to fix it myself)

Great fun and some good training ahead. Bring on the ice skating meets

The other day, I received a message from my brigade captain that I thought I'd never see, as of the 27th of July, I'll be rostered back to frontline duties with my fire brigade and will have 2 months to prove that I am fit for the 2019-2020 bushfire season - if I want to take part in operational duties for it.

This has been a bloody long road to recovery but I'm happy that I'm near the end of the trail.

So, this is it!

This week, my work has advised a few people that they are invited to apply for an interstate transfer provided they can prove that the transfer will be beneficial to the company.

I was one of those invited, and needless to say, I am in the process of creating my response to show why I should be selected. This is a massive thing for me however in saying that, should I be selected, will be one of the toughest things emotionally leaving my family and basically my whole life in Sydney behind and starting fresh. One of the directors advised me that should I be successful, I could be moving as early as September this year.

I guess I can only wait and see what happens. My boss is encouraging me to go through with it but reminded me not to be overconfident with it and focus on the quality of the pitch.

So, as a halfback, one of my roles is to be a part of the defensive side during a penalty corner or short corner, these are 30 seconds of hell where 5 defenders face off against about 8 attackers. If you have never seen one of these, Google it, you'll be amazed at how dangerous these are.

The typical setup with these corners is to have two defenders run straight at the attacking side and two marking the goalposts to make the goalkeepers job easier. Yesterday in my match, I came within an inch of having my season ended when the attacker took a shot which struck the goalpost at headheight with me. It was so close my ear was ringing for about 5 mins from the impact with the post.

As much as I love the sport, short corners will always scare me, especially because I haven't been so lucky in the past and have been struck in the foot, leg or arm before

In a few weeks is my aunt's wedding. Over recent years I have developed a dislike for dressing formal for the most part.

I can pull off a very good looking smart casual involving my campaign jacket but it's not the right thing to wear on this occasion.

What's crossed my mind is to dress steampunk style, but I'm not sure if it'll be appropriate to do so.

So today I received an email from my hockey club, thanks to some new sponsors and a new kit manufacturer, I am now required to buy a whole new uniform as the old one is redundant...just after I scored a new set of pants and socks.

The plus side is that the sponsors have covered the cost of the replacement jersey meaning I only have to worry about the rest.

Of interest to me is that we are now getting team branded compression wear and a whole new online store with items we've never had

So after 2 years of being on restricted duties with my fire brigade, things have finally gotten better and my brigade has been assisting me through this period...even with the busted shoulder that stuffed me around for over a year.

This Thursday, I'll be wearing part of my operational uniform to conduct an assessment and training to see where I'm at to see if a return to firefighting duties is on the card.

Unfortunately the other half of my operational uniform has suffered from mould damage so this is also being assessed to see if it's salvageable or if it'll be tossed and replaced.

Absolutely cheering here!

I've kept this part quiet for ages. For over 20 years, my hockey club has been fighting with our local council to get a hockey field to house our club after losing our original home, whilst the council did provide us with 2 grass fields which are used for the junior leagues and grass leagues, these aren't sufficient for the level I play which comes under FIH requirements meaning the field needs to be synthetic and water based. In the early 2000s, we almost had a field however it was knocked back by the Sydney Hockey Association due to the post goal area being dangerously short. We fought with the council to have the grass fields partially converted but was again knocked back due to the inability for it to be multipurpose.

A few days ago, our newly formed voice for hockey in my region scored a 2.25 million dollar grant to build a new hockey centre to house my club. The council next to ours immediately gave a green light to rip up a soccer/football field to build an international standard hockey field and upgrade the existing clubhouse to match it. With a bit of luck the field will be operational next year according to the plans.

Well it's no secret that I want to get away from the hustle and bustle that is Sydney and instead move to a quieter place in South Australia along with Mid Wolf...we've both just had enough of the place.

This is a major thing for us - to start a new life in a new place by ourselves and I'm curious for those who have already been in this position before, how did you do it and what did you start off with both possession wise and financially?

I'm initially thinking about a share house but I don't know how well that'd work.

Heads up, I'm not willing to move anywhere unless I have a job lined up waiting for me.

After ages of selling photos through word of mouth...

I now have a website up and running!

I currently have selected photos from my FA Gallery available on it at: https://jake-t.viewbug.com/

It is currently a work in progress and with a bit of luck it will have its own domain name soon.

Strange to think that at the end of this month, It will have been 5 years since my Bathurst "Hell Hole" Fire Deployment.

I still have the fireground map in my possession. That deployment was by far my favourite one, especially with the downtime trip into Bathurst City and doing hotlaps around the Mount Panorama racecourse in a firetruck...mind you we had to dump the water we were carrying in order to make it under the track's weight limit, then managed to set the alarm off at Race Control when we filled the truck back up with water (why you put an alarm on a fire hydrant, I don't know)

Then there was the Wombat incident, the roos following the truck down the fire trail and the film crew following our truck to create a documentary (if you have ever seen "Wildfires: Inside The Inferno" , I make a cameo appearance towards the end of the doco...they cut my interview out of the Australian version)