15 Down 3 to Go

I have survived on my own for 15 days, a feat worthy of some recognition I think. 3 days to go.

Friday was my last day at work before my much anticipated 10 day Rostered Week Off, woohoo! My mind was drfiting into holiday mode toward the end of the day and I failed to drop a passenger off at her requested stop. A quick trip around the block got her back pretty close. I also took a car instead of a bus to my last changeover and had to double back and swap vehicles, holding up the driver I was relieving in the process!

Repetition and boredom are what lead to mistakes usually so I'm always on the lookout for things of interest and keep my camera handy for any such diversions. this will sound lame but I really like capturing interesting number sequences on the odometer when I'm driving, especially if it's "turning the clock" back to zeroes.

This one attracted me recently, as did this ute, obviously decorated by a Lady GaGa fan!

Clearly I needed to finish my shift and get away on my break.

As soon as I finished my last shift I took the train up to Melbourne in order to go to the live show of The Spicks and Spectacular Finale, a Christmas present from Favourite Daughter. The show was excellent and I had a lot of fun. Spicks and Specks has been an iconic program on the ABC, clocking up 277 episodes in 7 years so it was good to be able to see one of their final shows together.

After the show I met up with Favourite Daughter who had just returned from Tassie glowing and recounting stories of her adventures. I think she likes the place. She returned my car (leant to her because the Kombi is not quite ready to pass a roadworthy/get registered) with a couple of minor scratches, one the result of a bloke who backed into her in a car park and then yelled and swore at her as if it was her fault. It wasn't, I've seen the pictures to prove it, but he gave her a hard time; probably to cover his own embarrassment and annoyance. 

A couple of travelling "hippy" friends of hers and Spike, Lee & Sol, came to stay for a few days, wearing their psychadeliic clothes and cooking their vegetarian food. It was nice to have some company and they enjoyed looking around the Bellarine Peninsula. They left yesterday for Apollo Bay and all points west till they get back to Perth and Sol goes back to Uni. Also in pic: Toni and her boyfriend, name unknown.

I took Alan J on a shopping expedition to look for a pair of slippers on Thurs arvo. We weren't successful, slippers being near to extinction in the 21st century it seems, although we got a lead on some that would be available in March! We then had coffee and a bite to eat in Belmont. For my first solo adventure with Mrs Holt Press' Dad it went pretty well. This is a picture from Christmas Day when he joined us for Christmas lunch, the first time he's been to our place at Ocean Grove.

On Boxing Day a few of the Jones clan gathered at Auntie Kath's for afternoon tea, including Brett and Elizabeth over from Perth.

My first couple of days off have been spent drawing while watching sport on TV. Tottenham only managed a draw with Wolves but this morning the NY Giants knocked the Green Bay Packers out of the NFL playoffs.

Mrs HP and Sport Boy will be home on Wednesday and I helped them arrange an early departure from Bruny so they can spend an extra day in Hobart before leaving. I booked a motel room for them near the harbour. They should be able to visit MONA (the Museum of Old and New Art) and look around the city.

 

MONA, set up by a wealthy but unusual philanthropist has only been open about a year and has a reputation as quirky, strange, confronting and even disgusting in places so it should make for interesting viewing.

I think I'll go up to Melbourne on Wednesady morning and spend the day at the Australian Open tennis before going out to pick them up from the airport.

I should also be able to squeeze in a visit to Mum's at Tatong while I've got this time off.

Before I go, a few catch up pics:

Firstly from Josh and Kish's wedding in Bacchus Marsh just before Christmas. They had a hindu ceremony first followed by a more traditional western ceremony later in the day. Sport Boy looked pretty cool for the occasion.

 Another thing I look out for on my travels is public art and unusual houses. This place in Katherine St West Geelong covers both categories!