Dave's journey to the land of Oz

just !!!

A week of highs and lows. A week to remember.

Began with me picking up A and C from the airport ended with me going to an open air classical music concert yesterday evening and today the national day of mourning for those lost in the bushfire.

Well here I sit listening to Chain Reactions - the steps cover, accompanied by the washing machine going full pelt in the background accompanied by a grumbling stomach. 'tis 9 in the evening on a Sunday and no work tomorrow - yippeeeee.

So what has been happening? Good question. Well today has been a rather quiet one - bit of housework, repotting plants, going to gym, tidying and reading a couple more chapters of Loves Executioner. Also caught up with J for lunch - were inside watching the rain and cloud pass.

And yesterday was the hottest day on record - 47. something - was full on. Spent most of the day indoors - was too much - and was mega windy too. Went out to get the papers at lunchtime - boiling. Went to the petrol station and felt like staying there for the rest of the day - their air con was the biz.

Watched fair amount of coverage of the bush fires as well yesterday and today - horrific. 76 dead so far - and rising constantly - some of the stories are just full on - people being found in charred cars and in their houses, whole communities wiped out - kingslake and another town marysville have basically become ash - full on. What is even worse is that they think some of the fires were started by fire bugs - all it takes is a cigarette butt carelessly thrown into the scrub and 200 hectares goes up in smoke.

Thankfully the temperatures dropped about 15 degrees between 5 and 6 which was handy as went to see Zanadont with the posse. good fun even though the theatre's air con had conked out - poor actors were sweating buckets.

Grumbling stomach needs addressing - more soon!

Hey there any blog delayed addition to my online world.

Well what I week it has been with a record broken here in Melbourne - the first time the temperature has exceeded 40 degrees for three days in row.

Thankfully is much cooler now - well 9pm and is about 26 degrees.

Was full on though - make more exciting my the lack of air con in the apartment and the lack of breeze. Had the humidifier on and that got through litres of water - sadly - making it more humid. Woke up three times on Wed night covered in sweat and had to have showers to cool down. Even the internal walls were warm!

Sat was a busy day - booked onto an art deco tour of west melbourne. Was given by a guy who runs the art deco society - lots of interesting facts and history. Not sure would do another one though - $42 for 2 and a half hours.

J birthday in the evening which was good fun and the cake was a complete success - that is the cake Dr DF and I choose from David Jones Thurs evening.

Anyhow getting the munchines so will sign off here and add bit more over the next few days

Star date log - or whatever they say on star trek - Thursday 15 January 2009...

I guess there must be some kind of club somewhere, a club for those who live – or who have lived – in 38°C. I was reacquainted Tuesday with this club. Oh what joy!

Would not have been so bad if was not feeling so ill – flippin bug. Ended up spending the day with all the windows closed, curtains drawn and blinds down. Felt bizarre - like I had become allergic to light.

Managed to keep in fairly cool inside – occasionally I would put my hand outside over the balcony – soon to retract as it was covered in a warm coating of "hot".

Still one of the things about being ill is that you get to do stuff you might never get round to - such as watching DVDs! Watched the Man of the Year with Robin Williams and Laura Dern - excellent film. Yesterday saw Castaway with Tom Hanks - another superb film - what excellent choice I have in films - tee hee.

Other useful stuff I got sorted included posting letter to wonderful Telstra about my rather large bill - how could I download 30Gb of stuff over the net in one month????? Also changed the rego on my car windscreen - kinda good timing as the one on display was over a week out of date. Also managed to sort out info for 07/08 tax return and did check on rental payments for Barrow Road which seemed to indicate a hiccup in cashflow - however a quick evening e-mail over to uk seemed to indicate all was good.

Thankfully the weather has been a bit more temperate over the last few days - in fact today in kinda chilly - but in a blissful way. Max today is expected to be 23°C.

So what else to report - well am kinda excited with the Joan Rivers tickets -front row seats. And noted in the paper today tickets for Howard Jones in Feb - bring it on.

Been off work since Tuesday - had a horrible bunged up feeling, accompanied by tight chest and knackered feeling. Went to docs this morning, have a secondary infection - got to use an inhaler twice in the morning and twice in the evening - yippee. Signed off for the rest of the week too. Ah well.

Found four jobs over weekend and a couple more last night - started on them yesterday - need to make some more progress over next couple of days.

Actually thinking about it better sign off here and crack on with 'em!

So is finally here - 2008 is sooo over. Old new. Too many yesterdays.

2009 is all buff and fruity - grief what am I on.

Has been pretty good so far - given only on Day 3. New Years itself was pretty ok - had to go into work but got a fair bit done and left around 2ish.

Evening was initially spent at J's quaffing champers and nibbling on various nibbles being handed round. Then was off to xchange - oh my goodness what an experience - was good fun but oh the alcohol!

Last till about 2 and then admitted defeat and trundled home.

Thurs caught up with L - we had a goodish lunch at TGI Fridays which was one of the few places open midday and then got a coffee at Sienna further on down the road. A good catch up over three hours and a bit of reflection and putting the world to right

Recharged batteries for a bit and then went over to DTD to pick him up and head off to Chadstone to see Australia film. And what a film - all 17 hours of it!! Anyhow we each managed to wangle an "Australia" tin out of it so all good methinks. Was pretty cool as well as only took 20 mins to get down there and plenty free parking too.

Yesterday was in work - only four of us in total - pretty full on quiet - still was real good as managed to get much more done on paper which was well chuffed with. Most done now - just routemap and revisions/ comments to feed in.

Also walked in to work in the morning which was good.

Weather has been a bit up and down over the past few days - this morning was warm and sunny but it clouded over at lunchtime. Tomorrow is expected to be 28 degrees C - bring it on!

Well it had to happen. Life has been so manic over the past few months and now am paying for it. Weekend was a bit of a write-off especially Saturday as spent most of it in bed asleep. Went for a career plan review meeting on Friday but felt exhausted and apparently appeared exhausted as D ended the meeting early.

Also feel like am battling a nasty cold. Quite a few people on the train have colds and I guess it will only be a matter of time before I succumb to the dreaded lurgi even though it is summer.

I guess I can give some credit to Qantas for being such good customer service that kept me awake the whole journey from Singapore to Melbourne - how I wish I had asked to be moved.

The following weekend was enjoyable though especially the Sunday walk from Bronte to Bondi. And Sting at the Opera House was good fun.

Work has, as always, been full on. Can't wait till it is all finished - on the final leg - paper done and out to consultation over next few days and then to Steering Committee on 19 Dec.

Quick update from a bubbling UK
Sat 8 Nov – landed early in the morning, shopping at Boots and M&S
Sun 9 Nov – Wisely with Andrew
Mon 10 Nov – dentist, what else?
Tues 11 Nov – lunch with work colleagues, travelled up to see mother after picking up hire car – got upgrade, Saatchi Gallery
Wed 12 Nov – Thurston show and then to plush b&b
Thurs 13 Nov – day in Cromer
Fri 14 Nov – left b&b and headed home via Blickling Hall
Sat 15 Nov – Skegness and then Sutton
Sun 16 Nov – ordered mattresses and chaise longue
Mon 17 Nov - Boston inc Waterstones and Costa Coffee
Tues 18 Nov – Gibraltar Point and then other place on coast for cheapo blackberry and apple pie – say wind farm
Wed 19 Nov – back to London via Helpston – stopped off to see what had happened
Thurs 20 Nov – hygienist, Diane performance measurement then imperial war museum and Anne
Fri 21 Nov – day with Andrew
Sat 22 Nov – fly back to oz

Well here I am again. What a month it has been!

Project is now very much back on track thank goodness - the end of getting up at 6.30 and into work at 7.30, the end of ten hour days and then end of walking up in the middle of the night with my brain whirring away. It has been quite a full on experience but I am glad to have had the chance to challenge myself in a way. I keep thinking it would be nice to take up a bit of a humdrum job for a while - that was the initial thinking when I cam over five years but it never turned out like that and looks like it is just not meant to be.

So how as life been over the past month?

Well very good really. Walked into work for the first time which was very enjoyable. Took me just over an hour - was very enjoyable especially as was a clear blue sky and the sun in full show. Walked along toorak road and then via the tan/ botanical gardens and then round via fed square.

Went to the beach last weekend which was very relaxing. Now a regular at yoga on a weekly basis and gonna try out pilates on sunday.

Apartment is practically sorted - went to bunnings last weekend too and bought a couple of chairs and a table for the balcony and some plants including jasmine for a bit of fragrance and colour.

Flight is booked for trip to uk 8 nov for a couple of weeks - amazing how quickly time has passed - looking forward to meeting up with people in london.

Got skype on laptop and been making a few calls which is cool - just need to get a headset or phone to sort out quality issue.

Well better head off and get some food - more soon!

Cripes have forgotten how long it has been since last blogged away. Apologies have been rather busy over the past few weeks.

So what has been happening recently. Well it has been pretty much work work work. To be honest it has partly been because the project on which I am working is one of the most fascinating tasks I have been involved in. The project involves looking at such topics as urban and social planning, family and community resilience and service provision effectiveness.

The main approaches I have been using has been an intensive use of google - feeding odds and sods into a thinkpiece which is now some 150 pages long - I need to cut it down to 30 pages which should be doable as their is some repitition in there. I am also working my way through various meetings with people inside and outside the department. This is quite a complex task as there is no one focus point for the various activities going on in the growth areas and it is a highly political topic - one of the premier's top for priorities. And it gets a fair amount of coverage in the media. In addition, the solution I need to come up with has to be accepted and owned by all nine or so program areas and also by the six regions. Was in work at 7.30am this morning and often leave office at 6 or after.

So apart from the job, life has been fairly quiet mainly as the weather is still a bit grim. Went to see Paul Weller in concert on Thurs. Was good fun - he did not play too many of the Jam hits - Eton Rifles was in there as was A town called malice. Most of the other tracks were from his solo career - which most of the packed audience were not aware of.

Looking forward to forthcoming concerts - Goldfrapp and Sting lined up with a possible Kylie in December!

Went down to Philip Island on Sat which was good. Had a bit of a struggle to find where actually wanted to be which was Cape Woolamai which as I founded is actually on the island. However when I set off I had not realised this and ended up in Hasting where I had a decent brekkie and then to Wonthaggi where I had a lightbulb moment when I went into the tourist office to ask where I should be. Luckily the distances involved where not insuperable (hope that is that right word!).

Flip me I feel old - just noticed the Queensland State Treasurer is soon to be 32 and the Tasmanian Premier is 40 years old!

So where am I? Oh yes. Making good progress also on sorting out boxes and have now got quite an impressive set up in term of mini library. Could be a bit more rigorous on the housework front but I guess there will be plenty of time to dust in spring. Then again, reading the paper today is the first day of Spring - oh lordy me.

Looking forward to a couple of weekend's time when got a long weekend up in Queensland - got a beachfront apartment so looking forward to a bit of chillout time.

Beginning to run out of steam so will sign off here and hope will not leave it so long till me next up date.

Hasta leugo!