Team Australia new recruits: update 05/07/17

Hello and good day to everyone. Well yesterday was Independence Day in the US and because I take US holidays I also got the day off.  

Normally I would sneak in some pool time to work on maintaining my off-whiteness. However, there’s a new sign up in the lift saying that the pool is closed for painting for a week. Being Panama, my money’s on it being out of action for at least two.

 

My other big plan for the day was to buy a vacuum cleaner. I know you’re all dying to find out how this story panned out given my rant about how stupid brooms are the other day.  

Ta-da! Here it is.    

I know. I’m a rubbish photographer. I bet if @markfitzgerald took this photo it would look totally amazing.  

Crappy photo aside, my purchase came in at US$38 and it’s glorious. I vacuumed the whole apartment and did not work myself up into a state of annoyance once. Happy days!

I was also pleased that unlike my last cheap vacuum cleaner, this one didn’t overheat and cut out after three minutes. Luckily back in Brisbane my flat was pretty small so I could usually take the three minute vacuum challenge and win. 

Righto, enough chit chat. Time for business.

We’re half way through steemwars now. If you haven’t participated you’ve got four days left. A new topic is posted daily by @sirknight so get involved. It’s fun and there’s some great posts coming out. At the very least go read them and upvote the ones you like.  

Existing Team Australia members, please go here and follow everyone that’s been added since you last checked. 

Don't forget to check out @centerlink, who is busy putting Aussie-battler tax dollars to work in the form of dole payments for posts, as well as showcasing Australia's most worthy dole recipients.

Also check out the awesome Minnow Support Project. Details on how to join are here and here. You're really missing out if you're not part of it. 

Finally, I am keeping a list of people who apply to Team Australia in order that I receive them. However, I am starting to miss the odd comment or not respond since I'm now dealing with applications coming through on five of these posts. If I haven't responded to you within 24 hours (to allow for the timezone difference), feel free to DM me in Discord or steemit chat. I'm not deliberately ignoring anyone I promise. I definitely get the DMs and you'll know for sure that I've seen your application.

Candiate 1 

Name and bio

@imrob is from Perth where he lives with his wife and Lambo-loving four year old son. @imrob tends to be a private person since he cannot publicly share his thoughts, findings and views, without fear of judgement in his business life. He is therefore excited to find steemit, which supports the crazies, the weirdos, the geniuses, and the world-bridgers.  

@imrob will be sharing his personal story in more detail, including some exciting news that he expects to unfold over the coming 6­–8 weeks. He is an entrepreneur, investor, risk-taker, and student of the Native American flute. @imrob is requesting some feedback on his two initial tracks so head to his page if you would like to help him out with that. 

Fun fact

"I play bagpipes and bass guitar and am allergic to vodka!" 

I like bagpipes. They remind me of living in Scotland.   

Candidate 2

Name and bio

I like how @back2basics gets straight down to business in the opening line of his intro: I just turned 40, I’m fat, and I lost my well-paying job over a year ago. There’s no beating around the bush with this guy. 

After admitting that he wallowed in self-pity for a while, he’s now on a mission to reinvent himself and get back to doing things he enjoys. Apart from the above mentioned, er… attributes, @back2basics is also a father, photographer, fermenter of foods and beverages, adventurer, and DIY guy. Oh, and he’s from Perth too.  

@back2basics intends to share the new things he learns and some of his many adventures on steemit. I have to admit, I particularly like the story that goes with his photo (below) taken in north-west Australia. In a nutshell he found out post-dip that crocodiles also like to swim there.  

Fun Fact

“I love brewing my own beer. I’ve been known to drink bars dry in my youth in Eastern Europe.” 

I had a green thumb mate in London who also brewed his own beers. One day we were in his back yard and he was pointing out edible plants. The combination of his brew and some peppery leaf I tried tasted amazing. So much so that he somehow turned that into a beer and named it after me. 

Candidate 3

Name and bio

@artisanloaf is @bulleth’s British mate who would like to offer his services as a roaming ambassador for Team Australia. This year he is mostly travelling through South America but says one of the happiest times of his life was when he was in Australia. He loved the beaches, BBQs, beer and bourbon. Hmm… all that alliteration reminds me of when I lived in Adelaide. When I told some guy I was a Queenslander he responded with “Tits, tans and tattoos!” Ah Adelaide. I miss you. 

Anyway. @artisanloaf went from washing dishes in 2005, to being an investor, speculator and small business owner. In 2015 he joined the volunteer website SoylentNews as an editor. Since then he’s published over 1500 user submissions and contributed numerous articles of his own. He hopes that steemit will be an even bigger and better platform for those who want to share their ideas without fear of censorship. 

Fun fact 

“I never did figure out how to order a decent sized beer in an Aussie bar. But, I did know enough not to drink fosters.” 

It’s still funny that everyone overseas thinks that’s what we drink when in actual fact “Australians don’t give a XXXX about Fosters”. 

Candidate 4

Name and bio

@plumey is from Darwin. He’s been wanting to start a blog for a while since he has travelled around much of Australia and has many unique stories that he wants to share. Some of his topics of interest include the outback, wildlife and nature, culture, lifestyle, Aussie slang, and adventure travel. 

@plumey has already written one crazy story about the NT’s Independence Day – July 1 if you don’t know – where it is legal to buy and set off fireworks for 24 hours. Last year the fire department received 280 calls and the hospitals put on extra staff to treat all the idiots that injured themselves. The whole things sounds totally mental, and yet not unexpected for the NT. 

Fun fact 

“My wife and I have a 20 acre bush block at a place called Bynoe Harbour. We're building a small house where we are going to live away from the ‘real world’. It's totally off the grid – we run on solar power and rainwater tanks. So far we've built the whole thing by ourselves, with help from friends. The best thing is there is almost no Government control – no Council, no rates, no building codes. Luckily, we do have a pub just up the road.” 

This story proves that no matter how remote you are in Australia, there’s always a pub nearby. 

Candidate 5

Name and bio

@bushblock is the story and adventure of the purchase of a 35 acre property with the goal of becoming more independent and self-sufficient. The property is located on the Sunshine Coast and @bushblock are in the process of building a shipping container house, creating gardens, and raising animals. 

@bushblock runs a YouTube channel by the same name. The channel started three years ago and has almost 3500 subscribers. It has an impressive 164 videos documenting their journey to date.  

Fun Fact  

“I am still stuck in the 80s. I build old school arcade machines and pinball machines. I listen to 80s music but with the advantage of having access to the internet, which obviously was not around in the 80s.” 

Those games were fun and there’s nothing wrong with 80s music. I went to Bon Jovi a couple of years ago and it was full of Gen Xers who would have been happy if they’d just played Living on Prayer on repeat for two hours. 

Candidate 6

Name and bio

@bmj and his family moved from South Africa to Perth eight years ago and we have been blown away by how beautiful Australia is and how supportive and generous Australians are. He does not regret the move and hopes to apply for citizenship soon, saying it will be an honour to be an Australian citizen. 

@bmj is an IT professional who enjoys watching how digital technology is evolving and enhancing the way we work and play. He is also looking at ways he can leverage the latest technologies and machine learning concepts into useful tools to streamline production efficiency. Outside of the IT and crypto, @bmj coaches his eldest son's basketball team, and enjoys a good glass of wine – so look out for his occasional reviews.   

Fun fact

“I have broken two bones in my lifetime; my leg when I was five years old, falling out of a cupboard playing hide and seek, and my finger trying to intercept a pass while coaching basketball.” 

This isn't a fun fact. Broken bones hurt a lot and are a major inconvenience.

 

@sirknight, please add these new members to Team Australia.

The rules for joining Team Australia

If you’re not yet a member and want to be, this is what you need to do:

1. Follow all the existing members @teamaustralia.
2. Vote here for our resident steemit witness @ausbitbank.
3. Comment below or DM me on steemit chat or Discord that you want to join.
4. Link your introduction post so I can find out a bit about you. If you’re new to steemit you'll have to write one so use the introduceyourself tag to help boost your following.
5. If it’s not mentioned in your introductory post, tell me which city and country you’re in, cos let's face it, a lot of us live in Australia's fourth largest city - London.  
6. If you’re not Aussie tell me why you should be a teamaustralia ambassador. 
7. Tell me a fun fact about yourself. This can be anything. For example, maybe you run a successful business, or you have eight kids and three dogs, or you rode your bike across Amercia, or you won the blue ribbon for javelin throwing at sports day back in high school, or Toadie came into the pub you work at one day and you served him a beer, or, maybe you can fit 55 maltesers in your mouth like Ed Sheeran can. It doesn’t matter what it is, I want a fun fact about you!

Once I receive this information I will try my best to write a good introductory paragraph about you for the official Team Australia membership updates. So the better your information is, the better I can make you sound. Where relevant, please use the teamaustralia and australia tags to promote your work. I will try and post weekly updates unless there is a lot of interest, in which case I will try and post sooner.