Older...

Birthdays have a habit of creeping up on ya and then slapping ya about the head! "Time flies" does not really encompass how quickly the years can pass you by.

I remember the biggies! Hanging out to turn 18 so that I could legally walk into the pub and order a beer. The key word being legally! One of the hassles of being the hairiest bastard under 18 meant that I was the go to bloke when it came to walking into the bottle shop to buy the slab. Back in the day there was none of this drinking wine or spirits stuff, it was beer, beer, and more beer.

Turning 21 seems to be a biggie too but I am not quite sure why in the Australian sense I am not sure that I could do anything more than I could when I was 20!

Then there is turning 30...that generally is a WTF moment when you reflect on WTF have I done since turning 18?

As I approach the next big milestone of 40 (still a few years away yet though) I still get the sense that it is going to be another of those WTF moments.

Hence, the point of this post. I just had a birthday a couple of days or so ago and some things crystallized in my mind! I have been employed in the same place for the last five years and my salary no up up (well not at the same speed of my work being up up) and I am still position-wise treading water.

What does this mean? It means that I am thinking of pulling the Indonesian plug and heading back to my own country and taking the path less traveled.

A career change that will need some re-skilling and a little bit more education. I have said many times in posts on this blog and on other peoples' blogs that I am one of those expats that could be earning a lot more working back in my own land than on these here shores! I chose to be here and have enjoyed being here most of the time :) (not always miserable -- treespotter wherever you are)...

The reflection for me revolves around a number of points...I am comfortable in Indonesia and enjoy living here but not so much so that I am prepared to just tread water for the next 40 or 50 years! A change is as good as a holiday and I need a holiday!

The other thing that happened (probably worthy of an individual post) is that some low life coward poisoned my dog. I had two dogs, one which was poisoned in December and died, so it is probably the same low life numb nuts that poisoned my dog this time. This time I was a little luckier, as I was home and was able to call the vet a little bit sooner. My dog is a house and yard dog that only gets outside of the fence on a leash and usually late at night when there are less people around...Don't get me wrong on this point people bait dogs in Australia too but not generally in front yards!

I guess this means I will be having the big 4 - 0 WTF moment back in Australia somewhere rather than in this neck of the woods.

The beauty of the Internet means that I will still be blogging here at this blog location but will be somewhere else in the world doing it!

So, Happy Birthday to me!

Why was he born so beautiful, why was he born at all?