I started driving the cab at 4.00pm on Saturday so by 4.00am I was ready to knock off. My last fare for the night came through, destination Millbrook. Not knowing where Millbrook was I asked the customers, a young couple, who replied a little nervously, out the back of Yallingup. A long ride. We set off, via an ATM to get enough money to pay the fare, and when we reached the area they directed me up a succession of dirt tracks, heading towards a chalet high on the hill. Then came the unexpected news ,"oh, there's a tree across the track here, you've got to go around it". Fair enough I thought! Wrong! The detour was sloped and slippery and sure enough I got the cab bogged! Not deeply but just enough for the wheels to spin on the wet surface and refuse to grip.
Hmmm!
I turned off the meter and we got out and attempted to dig it out and put some tree branches under the wheels to gain some traction. No luck. So one of the customers, the girl, set off up the hill to awaken their friends in the chalet and bring back help in the shape of a car and a rope. We hooked it up and tried pulling the cab out, with limited success. We managed to extricate it from it's most bogged position but could not drag it up the slope and back onto the track. A second, bigger car was sought but it was not successful either, managing to snap the rope instead.
By this time my absence from Busselton was causing concern and one of the other drivers called to see where I was.
When I described my predicament he said "no worries, I'll bring my rope and come and pull you out." The battery is flat too I confessed. "No worries, I've got a battery pack". When I mentioned the tree across the track he became even more enthusiastic, "I'll bring my chainsaw too"!
A man for all seasons!
With help on the way I sent the customers on their way to bed and awaited my rescuer.
He duly arrived, sized up the situation, and set about the task. A small tree was impeding the path so he reached for his chain saw, eyes filled with glee! Sadly for him he couldn't get it started. "Must be out of fuel" He whipped out a fuel can and filled the tank then resumed his efforts to get it started. No good. Meanwhile I managed to break the offending branch off with my hands and cleared the path. He quietly put the chain saw away and set about tying the rope, complete with a "perfect bowline".
Once charged the cab duly started. Next came the pulling phase. It came out pretty easily and we were soon back on the road, heading for home, some two hours after leaving town in the first place.
I got home at 6.30.
My next dilemma was that I'd arranged to meet a bloke at 8.30 to try and get The Heir's car going, it having been stuck at work for a week when he couldn't get it started.
I knew if I went to bed at 6.30 there was Buckley's chance of me waking up and getting to Broadwater by 8.30. So I bravely decided to stay up, and parked in front of the computer and web surfed as my eyes fought a desperate battle to close.
Finally 8.30 loomed but I knew I wasn't safe to drive in such a state of tiredness so I reluctantly awoke Mrs Holt Press and asked her to drive me to Broadwater. She readily agreed and we set off. John met us there and with a vastly superior mechanical knowledge than I, and an impressive array of tools with which to do the job, he set about working out what was wrong with the car. Spark plugs? OK Fuel supply? OK Battery? Not OK. Out came his mega battery pack; a few minutes later the car was sufficiently recharged to burst into life, and we were able to drive it home. Good job.
By then I'd got my second wind so we decided to go to the markets then out for breakfast at Samovar, both of which were very enjoyable.
We got home about 11.00 and I went to bed at last.
The only problem was, I was due on roster at the gallery at 1.00!
The two hours sleep seemed to last about 15 minutes!
I managed to drag myself out of bed and down to the gallery where Mrs Holt Press had preceded me to hold the fort until I was conscious enough to relieve her.
The gallery was mercifully quiet all afternoon and I passed the time working on some small paintings and listening to the footy.
From there it was a relatively short hop to the point where I set the scene on the blog on Sunday night.
There is more to the story but I figure that by Tuesday night, the abridged version will have to suffice.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sorry Josephine
Nor tonight either!
I've already had a 3 hour pre-bed nap and am going back to bed now.
The story is worth waiting for! Maybe tomorrow night!
I'm getting my monthly testosterone injection tomorrow, perhaps that will help!
I've already had a 3 hour pre-bed nap and am going back to bed now.
The story is worth waiting for! Maybe tomorrow night!
I'm getting my monthly testosterone injection tomorrow, perhaps that will help!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Not tonight Josepjhine
What have a 14 hour taxi shift, two stranded cars, breakfast at Samovar, a rostered shift at the gallery and two hours sleep got in common? They are all part of the reason why I'm about to go to bed earlier than I have since I was in grade 1!
For explanations come back tomorrow, by when hopefully I'll have recovered sufficiently to blog more expansively.
Good night.
For explanations come back tomorrow, by when hopefully I'll have recovered sufficiently to blog more expansively.
Good night.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Oh Dear!!!
It's half time in Friday night football and Geelong are getting "smooshed" as Sport Boy would say! I'm so glad I swapped my cab shift until tomorrow night so I could stay home and watch the footy!! The worst part is that it's Collingwood, the most hated team in football, that is doing the smooshing! The Cats are 51 points down at half time having only kicked three goals so far, by far our worst performance of the season.
I can't see the Cats getting out of this one!
Backtracking to Yesterday.
The day started in unusual fashion, with a student protest at school. They went on strike to voice their unhappiness that the teacher's dispute has not been resolved and as a consequence they are going to miss out on going to Country Week. Country Week is just about the biggest event of their whole school lives and they're starting to realise it's not going to happen. As Country Week manager I encouraged them several weeks ago to get political, yesterday they finally sparked into action. Alas I think it will be too little too late to change things.
After that I went to Bunbury to attend a Childwise workshop on Child Sexual Abuse. Interestingly, one of the biggest news stories of the day is the closure of a photography exhibition in Sydney which contained several nude pictures of a 13 year old girl. The police are laying charges against the photographer who is one of Australia's most highly regarded artists. It's a shame he couldn't work out for himself the difference between art and pornographic exploitation of children.
In this country 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused and 1 in 6 boys. Those are chilling and damning figures.
At 12 o'clock I picked up Mrs Holt Press from the train station after her 10 days in Victoria visiting her parents. We returned home to Busselton after she forced me to stop at Spotlight first!
While I was there I at least availed myself of the opportunity to buy a frypan as a gift for my secret friend at work, this week being secret friend week. My surprises and gifts to an unsuspecting Ian included some lolly snakes, a can of soup, a packet of pink M&Ms for Breast Cancer, the fry pan, and a Leunig cartoon book, all accompanied by art cards I bought in Fremantle a couple of months ago.
My secret friend gave me chocolate, toasted sandwiches and today a footy magazine. It's a good fun activity to build staff morale and camaraderie.
Footy Update:
The Cats have kicked the first goal of the 2nd half!
And the 2nd!
And the third!
A good start but there's along way to go!
Last night I ran a quiz night for the BPW group at the Esplanade Hotel. They had plenty of people and everything went well, people seemed to enjoy themselves and there were no dramas or mistakes. Using the laptop and projector for the questions works really well and as one punter said afterwards, makes the whole thing more professional. The winners were a group of kids and adults from school; two of the boys are coming on the footy trip to Melbourne and two of them went on Rypen with The Hair last weekend so I'm getting to know them a lot more.
Footy Result:
Things did not get any better for Geelong, they ended up losing by 86 points!! A shellacking!!!
Having won 27 of our last 28 games I can't complain, we were "due" for a loss, but I'd have preferred it to be closer and not to Collingwood!!
Not surprisingly I had a message from Warren celebrating the Magpies win, thankfully it went through to voice mail!
Sport Boy's team have a bye tomorrow but The Hair is playing at 9 o'clock, it will be good to be able to watch him play as I don't see their team very often due to coaching duties with the 11's.
I'm driving the taxi from 4 tomorrow arvo.
I can't see the Cats getting out of this one!
Backtracking to Yesterday.
The day started in unusual fashion, with a student protest at school. They went on strike to voice their unhappiness that the teacher's dispute has not been resolved and as a consequence they are going to miss out on going to Country Week. Country Week is just about the biggest event of their whole school lives and they're starting to realise it's not going to happen. As Country Week manager I encouraged them several weeks ago to get political, yesterday they finally sparked into action. Alas I think it will be too little too late to change things.
After that I went to Bunbury to attend a Childwise workshop on Child Sexual Abuse. Interestingly, one of the biggest news stories of the day is the closure of a photography exhibition in Sydney which contained several nude pictures of a 13 year old girl. The police are laying charges against the photographer who is one of Australia's most highly regarded artists. It's a shame he couldn't work out for himself the difference between art and pornographic exploitation of children.
In this country 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused and 1 in 6 boys. Those are chilling and damning figures.
At 12 o'clock I picked up Mrs Holt Press from the train station after her 10 days in Victoria visiting her parents. We returned home to Busselton after she forced me to stop at Spotlight first!
While I was there I at least availed myself of the opportunity to buy a frypan as a gift for my secret friend at work, this week being secret friend week. My surprises and gifts to an unsuspecting Ian included some lolly snakes, a can of soup, a packet of pink M&Ms for Breast Cancer, the fry pan, and a Leunig cartoon book, all accompanied by art cards I bought in Fremantle a couple of months ago.
My secret friend gave me chocolate, toasted sandwiches and today a footy magazine. It's a good fun activity to build staff morale and camaraderie.
Footy Update:
The Cats have kicked the first goal of the 2nd half!
And the 2nd!
And the third!
A good start but there's along way to go!
Last night I ran a quiz night for the BPW group at the Esplanade Hotel. They had plenty of people and everything went well, people seemed to enjoy themselves and there were no dramas or mistakes. Using the laptop and projector for the questions works really well and as one punter said afterwards, makes the whole thing more professional. The winners were a group of kids and adults from school; two of the boys are coming on the footy trip to Melbourne and two of them went on Rypen with The Hair last weekend so I'm getting to know them a lot more.
Footy Result:
Things did not get any better for Geelong, they ended up losing by 86 points!! A shellacking!!!
Having won 27 of our last 28 games I can't complain, we were "due" for a loss, but I'd have preferred it to be closer and not to Collingwood!!
Not surprisingly I had a message from Warren celebrating the Magpies win, thankfully it went through to voice mail!
Sport Boy's team have a bye tomorrow but The Hair is playing at 9 o'clock, it will be good to be able to watch him play as I don't see their team very often due to coaching duties with the 11's.
I'm driving the taxi from 4 tomorrow arvo.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Faith Hope Love
Mrs Holt Press will be home tomorrow night, sort of. She arrives around midnight so will spend one more night in Perth before coming home Thursday. We'll all be pleased to see her. the BIG CLEAN UP is on tomorrow!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Growth Spurt?
Sadly despite the early bed time, The Hair was not well this morning and didn't make it to school!
Sport Boy made it but had to war his sports shorts because I managed to not put his school shorts in the dryer with the rest of his uniform. He also put his jumper on backwards. When I pointed this out to him e said, "I thought it felt a bit strange".
I cooked Italian Chicken and rice for dinner. Sport Boy then had dessert. 10 minutes later he asked me to make him some eggs! "I'm still hungry Dad" said he to my qizzical look!
After the eggs he asked for more food! "Do you think my growth spurt as kicked in?" he queried!
He ate an apple. Still hungry!! I tried to send him o bed but his hunger was still not placated apparently so I gave him the last two cream biscuits before finally banishing him to the bedroom.
Mrs Holt Press rang tonight to check on us. Apart from The Hair who sounded like death warmed up I assured her we were all fine. She'll be home in a couple of days and we all know what that means! I've got two days to get the house clean and tidy! I'm sure we've got a vaccum cleaner somewhere.
I spent the evening in front of the tv watching 4 Corners and Enough Rope with the laptop in my lap preparing for a quiz night I'm running for a local Business Women's Group on Thursday night. Having it on the computer as a powerpoint file makes the job way easier, I just copied the quiz from last week and used it as my starting point, kept similar themes and topics, just changed the questions. I got 50 questions done tonight, the fastest prep time ever.
Sport Boy made it but had to war his sports shorts because I managed to not put his school shorts in the dryer with the rest of his uniform. He also put his jumper on backwards. When I pointed this out to him e said, "I thought it felt a bit strange".
I cooked Italian Chicken and rice for dinner. Sport Boy then had dessert. 10 minutes later he asked me to make him some eggs! "I'm still hungry Dad" said he to my qizzical look!
After the eggs he asked for more food! "Do you think my growth spurt as kicked in?" he queried!
He ate an apple. Still hungry!! I tried to send him o bed but his hunger was still not placated apparently so I gave him the last two cream biscuits before finally banishing him to the bedroom.
Mrs Holt Press rang tonight to check on us. Apart from The Hair who sounded like death warmed up I assured her we were all fine. She'll be home in a couple of days and we all know what that means! I've got two days to get the house clean and tidy! I'm sure we've got a vaccum cleaner somewhere.
I spent the evening in front of the tv watching 4 Corners and Enough Rope with the laptop in my lap preparing for a quiz night I'm running for a local Business Women's Group on Thursday night. Having it on the computer as a powerpoint file makes the job way easier, I just copied the quiz from last week and used it as my starting point, kept similar themes and topics, just changed the questions. I got 50 questions done tonight, the fastest prep time ever.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sunday
I finished cleaning the gutters today. They appeared not to have been cleaned for several years.
The stuff I cleaned out, leaf litter and sludge, looked like it would make good mulch so I threw it on the "garden". Regular readers will know that the word garden does not often appear on this blog! For good reason!
Having cleaned the gutters I then did something I've been putting off for even more years! Some time in the distant past I bought 4 rolls of gutter guard. We brought it down from Perth when we moved 4 years ago. So today, I put it in the gutters! Theoretically this means that the same level of debris will not build up in the gutters again. We'll see!
While I was in "work" mode I decided to move some of the contents of the old shed back into the old shed! I hadn't wanted to but there have been delays on finishing the new shed and the stuff piled up in the patio was getting annoying, not to mention wet when it rained.
I'm hesitating on laying the concrete floor in the new shed, partly because I don't know what I'm doing, and partly due to the cost. I got a quote yesterday on the concrete, for $400. Too many bills at the moment to do it right now.
On the plus side, I've sold my second painting for the week, "Faith Hope Love" through the gallery at Dunsborough.
Then I settled down to watch the footy and see Fremantle snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for the third successive game!!!!!
The Hair came home from his weekend at Rypen raving about how good it was and how much fun he had. I've sent him to bed early so that there's at least half a chance he won't be too tired to go to school tomorrow morning!
Mum and Walter called in this morning to pick up thr trailer. They've been helping clean out Walter's daughter's house in Bunbury and stayed at the Geographe Resort where The Heir works last night. I called in for a much needed haircut last night.
The stuff I cleaned out, leaf litter and sludge, looked like it would make good mulch so I threw it on the "garden". Regular readers will know that the word garden does not often appear on this blog! For good reason!
Having cleaned the gutters I then did something I've been putting off for even more years! Some time in the distant past I bought 4 rolls of gutter guard. We brought it down from Perth when we moved 4 years ago. So today, I put it in the gutters! Theoretically this means that the same level of debris will not build up in the gutters again. We'll see!
While I was in "work" mode I decided to move some of the contents of the old shed back into the old shed! I hadn't wanted to but there have been delays on finishing the new shed and the stuff piled up in the patio was getting annoying, not to mention wet when it rained.
I'm hesitating on laying the concrete floor in the new shed, partly because I don't know what I'm doing, and partly due to the cost. I got a quote yesterday on the concrete, for $400. Too many bills at the moment to do it right now.
On the plus side, I've sold my second painting for the week, "Faith Hope Love" through the gallery at Dunsborough.
Then I settled down to watch the footy and see Fremantle snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for the third successive game!!!!!
The Hair came home from his weekend at Rypen raving about how good it was and how much fun he had. I've sent him to bed early so that there's at least half a chance he won't be too tired to go to school tomorrow morning!
Mum and Walter called in this morning to pick up thr trailer. They've been helping clean out Walter's daughter's house in Bunbury and stayed at the Geographe Resort where The Heir works last night. I called in for a much needed haircut last night.
1-0 at Half Time in the Cup Final
Sport Boy is asleep, he only lasted about 10 minutes before the exertions of the day and the comfort of the sofa lulled him into unconsciousness.
Goal in the Cup Final
1-0 to Portsmouth, Kanu scored from what looked like nothing. Shame cause Cardiff have been playing well.
FA Cup Final Report
Cardiff have been playing better and creating more chances in the first 25 minutes but Portsmouth just missed the best chance so far.
0-0 after 25 minutes
0-0 after 25 minutes
Soccer Saturday
After minimal sleep I dragged myself out of bed in time to drive to Capel for the soccer game which kicked off at 9.30. Within 5 minutes of the start we were 4-0 in front and Sport Boy had scored a hat trick!!! It continued to be that sort of game with the final score being 18-0!!! Despite the one-sided nature of the game the other team didn't give up or become despondant.
Later in the afternoon he went down to Margaret River with the other kids for the third week of the Country week team trials. He came home happy and dirty and tired.
I spent the middle of the day watching Geelong beat Richmond in very wet conditions at the MCG. The Cats remain unbeaten so far this season along with Hawthorn, both being 8-0. The football world is eagerly awaiting them playing against each other but in a weird piece of fixturing they are not scheduled to meet until round 17! I can only imagine the hype in the build-up to that game if they both manage to remain unbeaten until then!
Church started early tonight, at 4.00 o'clock and was followed by a going away dinner for a couple who are moving to Molloy Island.
Now we're home watching the Cup Final.
Later in the afternoon he went down to Margaret River with the other kids for the third week of the Country week team trials. He came home happy and dirty and tired.
I spent the middle of the day watching Geelong beat Richmond in very wet conditions at the MCG. The Cats remain unbeaten so far this season along with Hawthorn, both being 8-0. The football world is eagerly awaiting them playing against each other but in a weird piece of fixturing they are not scheduled to meet until round 17! I can only imagine the hype in the build-up to that game if they both manage to remain unbeaten until then!
Church started early tonight, at 4.00 o'clock and was followed by a going away dinner for a couple who are moving to Molloy Island.
Now we're home watching the Cup Final.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
It's FA Cup Final Night
Cardiff City v Portsmouth at Wembley Stadium in the most famous soccer match in the world.
Sport Boy is rugged up on the sofa and the game is about to kick off.
I'm barracking for Cardiff who are in the Championship (old 2nd division) because they're the underdogs, but I really don't mind, it's just nice to see two teams other than Manchester United Chelsea Liverpool or Arsenal in the Cup Final.
Sport Boy is rugged up on the sofa and the game is about to kick off.
I'm barracking for Cardiff who are in the Championship (old 2nd division) because they're the underdogs, but I really don't mind, it's just nice to see two teams other than Manchester United Chelsea Liverpool or Arsenal in the Cup Final.
Friday Night
Just finished a quiet night in the cab, apart from a couple of drunken slobs.
The "early finish is helpful cause I've got a soccer game to coach at Capel at 9.30!
Sport Boy stayed the night at friends because as well as me, Favourite daughter and The Heir were both working and The Hair has gone on a Rypen camp this weekend.
10 minutes before the footy started tonight I went on a hunch and switched from St Kilda to Collingwood in the footy tipping which proved to be a smart move. Influenced by me The Heir also switched, I hope he's grateful. I'm looking forward to the Cats game tomorrow lunch time, in between soccer duties.
The "early finish is helpful cause I've got a soccer game to coach at Capel at 9.30!
Sport Boy stayed the night at friends because as well as me, Favourite daughter and The Heir were both working and The Hair has gone on a Rypen camp this weekend.
10 minutes before the footy started tonight I went on a hunch and switched from St Kilda to Collingwood in the footy tipping which proved to be a smart move. Influenced by me The Heir also switched, I hope he's grateful. I'm looking forward to the Cats game tomorrow lunch time, in between soccer duties.
Friday, May 16, 2008
And the Winner is...
Frustration!
Blogger's autosave has failed me big time!
I accidentally wiped out the post I was writing and autosave had not saved it, despite saying it had!
Now comes the difficult task of overcoming the disappointment and recreating the wit and eloquence of the former post!
I talked about volleyball and the moral dilemma facing me; do I cross over to the Dark Side and join the most controversial team in the league, Six Pack. Yes, they have won the last several Grand Finals in a row. But, they are the most full on team in the comp, and they have regularly plundered other lesser teams, such as mine, poaching players. Two of my former teammates have already crossed over to the Dark Side.
I filled in for them tonight, and enjoyed playing at a higher level than I'm accustomed to. One of their players has done his knee so they've got a vacancy.
What should I do?
Talking of decisions, it's time to announce the winner of the "Find a new blog name for Fashion Boy" competition. I had a few suggestions, thanks for those who contributed, but have decided on a new name for my third child.
And the winner is....
The Hair!
It works in nicely with his older brother The Heir, and reflects his dominant feature, his mop of long curly hair which usually hangs down over his face.
Talking of the Hair, he enjoyed his trip to Perth to visit state parliament, particularly his lunch with the leader of the opposition, the notorious Troy Buswell.
Mrs HP rang this evening and spoke to The Hair while I was out. She sends her love, which I'm happy to pass on to you.
Blogger's autosave has failed me big time!
I accidentally wiped out the post I was writing and autosave had not saved it, despite saying it had!
Now comes the difficult task of overcoming the disappointment and recreating the wit and eloquence of the former post!
I talked about volleyball and the moral dilemma facing me; do I cross over to the Dark Side and join the most controversial team in the league, Six Pack. Yes, they have won the last several Grand Finals in a row. But, they are the most full on team in the comp, and they have regularly plundered other lesser teams, such as mine, poaching players. Two of my former teammates have already crossed over to the Dark Side.
I filled in for them tonight, and enjoyed playing at a higher level than I'm accustomed to. One of their players has done his knee so they've got a vacancy.
What should I do?
Talking of decisions, it's time to announce the winner of the "Find a new blog name for Fashion Boy" competition. I had a few suggestions, thanks for those who contributed, but have decided on a new name for my third child.
And the winner is....
The Hair!
It works in nicely with his older brother The Heir, and reflects his dominant feature, his mop of long curly hair which usually hangs down over his face.
Talking of the Hair, he enjoyed his trip to Perth to visit state parliament, particularly his lunch with the leader of the opposition, the notorious Troy Buswell.
Mrs HP rang this evening and spoke to The Hair while I was out. She sends her love, which I'm happy to pass on to you.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Family Continue to Survive
Day three of the experiment has passed without incident.
Soccer training went "well". I bought a soccer training manual off the internet and tried out a few new drills tonight, with mixed success. No matter how many drills you try, the thing kids really want to do is play a scratch match! So we did, against Stu's team, for the last 10 minutes.
I got the volleyball umpiring course underway at the school, part of my role as umpiring coordinator for the local association. Two reps from VWA have come down from Perth for a couple of days. 7 people are doing the course which will bolster our stock of qualified refs considerably.
There are two sessions with students at two different schools tomorrow, then the ref
course concludes tomorrow night, followed by beginner and advanced coaching clinics.
Then it was home to cook dinner, home made hamburgers, mmmm hamburgers!!!
Fashion Boy went to bed early tonight, he's going to Perth for a politics excursion tomorrow which includes lunch with Troy Buswell. Hopefully he'll behave himself, and FB too.
I spent the rest of the evening painting while Favourite Daughter and I watched an incredible documentary on the life of Douglas Mawson, the Australian explorer to Antarctica. I knew his name but none of the details about his amazing life and incredible survival against the odds on the world's most inhospitable continent. I recommend it if you ever get the chance to see it. I'll have a copy on DVD if you visit!
No news from over east today so I presume all is well, as it is here.
Soccer training went "well". I bought a soccer training manual off the internet and tried out a few new drills tonight, with mixed success. No matter how many drills you try, the thing kids really want to do is play a scratch match! So we did, against Stu's team, for the last 10 minutes.
I got the volleyball umpiring course underway at the school, part of my role as umpiring coordinator for the local association. Two reps from VWA have come down from Perth for a couple of days. 7 people are doing the course which will bolster our stock of qualified refs considerably.
There are two sessions with students at two different schools tomorrow, then the ref
course concludes tomorrow night, followed by beginner and advanced coaching clinics.
Then it was home to cook dinner, home made hamburgers, mmmm hamburgers!!!
Fashion Boy went to bed early tonight, he's going to Perth for a politics excursion tomorrow which includes lunch with Troy Buswell. Hopefully he'll behave himself, and FB too.
I spent the rest of the evening painting while Favourite Daughter and I watched an incredible documentary on the life of Douglas Mawson, the Australian explorer to Antarctica. I knew his name but none of the details about his amazing life and incredible survival against the odds on the world's most inhospitable continent. I recommend it if you ever get the chance to see it. I'll have a copy on DVD if you visit!
No news from over east today so I presume all is well, as it is here.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Two Down, Eight to Go
Our second mother-less/wife-less day has passed without mishap. Both boys went to school, and stayed for the duration. Sport Boy had his guitar lesson, and practised for nearly two hours after school while I continued cleaning out the gutters and discussing cameras with The Heir.I cooked dinner and received positive comments from the eaters.
After dinner we played a family game, which involved a lot of throwing of hackey sacks and a lot of laughter.
Once SB was in bed we watched a DVD, a very interesting film called "Into the Wild" based on a true story of a young man who turned away from the American dream in search of truth and a pilgrimage to Alaska.
I enjoyed it and gave it 8/10 on the Holt Press movie rating scale.
I sold another painting last night. It's the one I posted a picture of on April 23, "One Blue Square" that I painted at the retreat at Katanning; price $450. I had offered to auction it at the quiz night (See below) but the crowd were not an auction bidding/art buying audience and after I struggled to get $105 for a $250 voucher from a photography business I decided not to subject myself or my art to possible humiliation, nor did I want to sell it for less than it was worth, which as it turns out, was $450.
There's no way I'd have got close to that at the quiz night.
My picture and my picture on the front page of Friday's Times. After dinner we played a family game, which involved a lot of throwing of hackey sacks and a lot of laughter.
Once SB was in bed we watched a DVD, a very interesting film called "Into the Wild" based on a true story of a young man who turned away from the American dream in search of truth and a pilgrimage to Alaska.
I enjoyed it and gave it 8/10 on the Holt Press movie rating scale.
I sold another painting last night. It's the one I posted a picture of on April 23, "One Blue Square" that I painted at the retreat at Katanning; price $450. I had offered to auction it at the quiz night (See below) but the crowd were not an auction bidding/art buying audience and after I struggled to get $105 for a $250 voucher from a photography business I decided not to subject myself or my art to possible humiliation, nor did I want to sell it for less than it was worth, which as it turns out, was $450.
There's no way I'd have got close to that at the quiz night.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Soccer Round Up
One day down without Mrs Holt Press and the family appear to have survived, after a fashion! Sport Boy had a headache when I woke him up so I let him stay in bed and when I called in later, to drop off Fashion Boy who had been feeling sick at school at 2.00pm, SB was still sound asleep!
They were paying the price for their big weekend!
I cooked steak on the BBQ for dinner and sent them to bed early.
Mrs HP rang to say she'd arrived safely, that it was 9.30 and her folks were in bed, and she was about to retire as well.
Celebrating Mothers Day with lunch at The Goose.
Soccer
They were paying the price for their big weekend!
I cooked steak on the BBQ for dinner and sent them to bed early.
Mrs HP rang to say she'd arrived safely, that it was 9.30 and her folks were in bed, and she was about to retire as well.
Celebrating Mothers Day with lunch at The Goose.Soccer
I mentioned in passing the soccer on saturday but neglected to say what a close and exciting game it was, or that the final score was 6-6!! We were 4-1 ahead before the opposition scored 5 goals in a row to lead 6-4! To the kids credit they fought back to level the score, and would almost certainly have won but for the heroics of the other goalie who was far and away the best goalie I've seen in junior soccer, he made 4-5 great saves. Sadly we don't have anyone who wants to play goalie so I just rotate the kids through the position. Sadly, for the team and for him, the kid who played goalie this week is not a goalie! Some of the goals he conceded were a little soft but I didn't go crook at him, he was trying his best. It was a great game and the parents on both sides were very excited and appreciative.
Thankfully there was none of the conflict I encountered last week!
Sport Boy went to week two of the Country Week trials down in Marg R. later and from the sound of it really enjoyed the skills and drills they set for them.
One day last week a little bird flew into my office and I managed to get a couple of photos before it found it's way out the door.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Happy Mothers Day
We had the special pleasure of honouring two mothers today, my mum and the kid's mum. Mum came over from Bridgetown yesterday to come to the quiz night and be here for mothers day.
We went out for lunch at The Goose, overlooking Geographe Bay and had a really good time, nice food and lots of fun and laughter. fashion Boy was struggling to recover from the exertions of the school ball and afterball last night. He looked very cool in his suit and black shirt and had a wonderful time; he was high on life when he got home.
The rest of the family were at the quiz night which was a resounding success, just under 200 people came and we raised about $3000. The Heir helped Stu with the scoring, Sport Boy and Stu's daughter Emily were kept busy all night as runners, distributing and collecting puzzles and answers, collecting money etc and having a great time. Mum and Mrs Holt Press were on a table and said they really enjoyed the night.
The only bummer of the night was that some low-life swiped the three portable floodlight stands we had put out to enable people to see as they arrived and departed!!!! Not a quiz night customer I'm sure, just some passer-by siezing a dishonest opportunity!
Mrs Holt Press is about to board an aeroplane bound for Melbourne. She'll be away visiting her family for 10 days, leaving me in charge of domestic policy and famililal responsibilities.
Readers given to prayer may want to offer a few extra up for us, me, and the kids!
The Heir went up to Perth with her to drop her off at the airport and bring the car home. He's not back yet but shouldn't be too long now.
We went out for lunch at The Goose, overlooking Geographe Bay and had a really good time, nice food and lots of fun and laughter. fashion Boy was struggling to recover from the exertions of the school ball and afterball last night. He looked very cool in his suit and black shirt and had a wonderful time; he was high on life when he got home.
The rest of the family were at the quiz night which was a resounding success, just under 200 people came and we raised about $3000. The Heir helped Stu with the scoring, Sport Boy and Stu's daughter Emily were kept busy all night as runners, distributing and collecting puzzles and answers, collecting money etc and having a great time. Mum and Mrs Holt Press were on a table and said they really enjoyed the night.
The only bummer of the night was that some low-life swiped the three portable floodlight stands we had put out to enable people to see as they arrived and departed!!!! Not a quiz night customer I'm sure, just some passer-by siezing a dishonest opportunity!
Mrs Holt Press is about to board an aeroplane bound for Melbourne. She'll be away visiting her family for 10 days, leaving me in charge of domestic policy and famililal responsibilities.
Readers given to prayer may want to offer a few extra up for us, me, and the kids!
The Heir went up to Perth with her to drop her off at the airport and bring the car home. He's not back yet but shouldn't be too long now.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Too Late Too Tired
It's been a very BIG day and a very good night.
But it's very late so I'm not going to tell you about it now.
Happy Mothers Day.
But it's very late so I'm not going to tell you about it now.
Happy Mothers Day.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
One More Sleep until the Big Busso Quiz Night
Congratulations to Rachel and Michael on the birth of their first child, a boy, named Angus. That's great news.
This morning was spent "rescuing" The Heir, whose car refused to start and retrieving him from work. He's been staying on site for the last week, working on a miner's convention. Even the soon to be renamed Fashion Boy and his mate Zac worked one night.
The Heir's car is an old (ancient) blue Falcon station wagon bought for a peppercorn sum in January. Now, showing it's first sign of vulnerability since he got it, the age old debate has re-commenced. Do you send good money after bad knowing that ultimately the car (read: any car) is a black hole capable of sucking thousands of dollars out of you, never to be seen again, for repairs and mechanical issues! Or do you bite the bullet and put your money/savings toward something a little better but a little dearer? At this point a crystal ball would be very helpful. A quick look that reveals a starter motor, a fuel pump and an oil seal all about to go kaput in the next 6 months would make the decision much easier!
Having gotten The Heir home I returned to work where I spent the rest of the day getting ready for the quiz night. Moving 30 tables from around the school to the gym that is. I gratefully accepted the help of a couple of teachers and their classes with the heavy lifting! A lot of progress was made but I'll still have to spend a couple of hours down there tomorrow afternoon getting all the chairs set up along with all the technology. Then it was back to the paperwork side of the prep, the answer sheets, puzzle pages, cheat sheets etc.
I had to knock off at 5.30 so I could get home in time to go and drive the taxi.
And that's where I've been for the last 10 hours. It was a slow night although I did see one unusual sight. In the middle of a huge downpour, which prompted many of the pub patrons to walk home rather than stand around in the rain at closing time, there was a girl walking east along Marine Terrace who I'm 95% certain had no top on! She was holding what I can only presume was her shirt across her chest but the rest looked like bare skin to me. There was a guy, fully clothed, with her, and she didn't look distressed or in danger, other than from catching a cold, but it certainly had me wondering what was going on!
Tomorrow 's agenda starts with kid's soccer, looking at a painting a local artist did for us by request, setting up the rest of the gym and running the quiz night. Meanwhile Fashion Boy will be getting ready to go the school ball at Abbey Beach Resort.
Once all that excitment dies down, Mrs Holt Press will be heading for Perth on Sunday evening and flying out that night to spend 10 days in Victoria visiting her parents and family.
The kids will be entrusted solely to my care for a week and a half!
Pray for me/them, whoever you think will need it more.
This morning was spent "rescuing" The Heir, whose car refused to start and retrieving him from work. He's been staying on site for the last week, working on a miner's convention. Even the soon to be renamed Fashion Boy and his mate Zac worked one night.
The Heir's car is an old (ancient) blue Falcon station wagon bought for a peppercorn sum in January. Now, showing it's first sign of vulnerability since he got it, the age old debate has re-commenced. Do you send good money after bad knowing that ultimately the car (read: any car) is a black hole capable of sucking thousands of dollars out of you, never to be seen again, for repairs and mechanical issues! Or do you bite the bullet and put your money/savings toward something a little better but a little dearer? At this point a crystal ball would be very helpful. A quick look that reveals a starter motor, a fuel pump and an oil seal all about to go kaput in the next 6 months would make the decision much easier!
Having gotten The Heir home I returned to work where I spent the rest of the day getting ready for the quiz night. Moving 30 tables from around the school to the gym that is. I gratefully accepted the help of a couple of teachers and their classes with the heavy lifting! A lot of progress was made but I'll still have to spend a couple of hours down there tomorrow afternoon getting all the chairs set up along with all the technology. Then it was back to the paperwork side of the prep, the answer sheets, puzzle pages, cheat sheets etc.
I had to knock off at 5.30 so I could get home in time to go and drive the taxi.
And that's where I've been for the last 10 hours. It was a slow night although I did see one unusual sight. In the middle of a huge downpour, which prompted many of the pub patrons to walk home rather than stand around in the rain at closing time, there was a girl walking east along Marine Terrace who I'm 95% certain had no top on! She was holding what I can only presume was her shirt across her chest but the rest looked like bare skin to me. There was a guy, fully clothed, with her, and she didn't look distressed or in danger, other than from catching a cold, but it certainly had me wondering what was going on!
Tomorrow 's agenda starts with kid's soccer, looking at a painting a local artist did for us by request, setting up the rest of the gym and running the quiz night. Meanwhile Fashion Boy will be getting ready to go the school ball at Abbey Beach Resort.
Once all that excitment dies down, Mrs Holt Press will be heading for Perth on Sunday evening and flying out that night to spend 10 days in Victoria visiting her parents and family.
The kids will be entrusted solely to my care for a week and a half!
Pray for me/them, whoever you think will need it more.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Thursday
I met with the principal today and so long as we get a minimum of 13 kids the footy trip to Melbourne is a goer! I've got 8 definites so far. Hopefully we'll get the rest.
I came away from my psych appointment feeling a little better about things after she helped me put some perspective on how I'm feeling.
I reffed volleyball this evening, I still don't have a team which is a real bummer.
The rest of the night was spent on quiz night preparation. Tomorrow will be a big day of setting up and final tasks. I really hope we get a big crowd to make it worthwhile.
I came away from my psych appointment feeling a little better about things after she helped me put some perspective on how I'm feeling.
I reffed volleyball this evening, I still don't have a team which is a real bummer.
The rest of the night was spent on quiz night preparation. Tomorrow will be a big day of setting up and final tasks. I really hope we get a big crowd to make it worthwhile.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Wednesday
This afternoon I had soccer training with the kids, not always a task I enjoy, but after a bit of a pep talk from the coaches adviser last night I approached it with a more positive attitude, and got more positive results. I need a decent set of drills to work with. I have some idea about tactics and skills and how to improve a team's performance, but practical drills to develop the kids ability is the area I need to work on.
Tonight I met with parents and kids interested in going on the footy trip to Melbourne in the July holidays. Not as many turned up as I'd hoped but those who did were very keen and willing to commit themselves to the trip. We had 6 kids at the meeting, we need a minimum of 13 to make it viable and we've got 18 expressions of interest. Theoretically we should be able to do it but getting people to commit is the hard bit. The school I developed the relationship with in Melbourne when we went to the Commonwealth Games have given the thumbs up for us to stay there again. The trickiest part will be securing flights at reasonable prices for a large group.
We need to make a decision by the end of next week.
The rest of my day was spent on preparation for the quiz night on Saturday night.
I've been feeling tired and flat the last couple of days. After a gradual improvement in my sense of well-being over the last few months it's a bit of a let down to not feel so good.
I'm seeing the psych tomorrow so that's good timing.
Tonight I met with parents and kids interested in going on the footy trip to Melbourne in the July holidays. Not as many turned up as I'd hoped but those who did were very keen and willing to commit themselves to the trip. We had 6 kids at the meeting, we need a minimum of 13 to make it viable and we've got 18 expressions of interest. Theoretically we should be able to do it but getting people to commit is the hard bit. The school I developed the relationship with in Melbourne when we went to the Commonwealth Games have given the thumbs up for us to stay there again. The trickiest part will be securing flights at reasonable prices for a large group.
We need to make a decision by the end of next week.
The rest of my day was spent on preparation for the quiz night on Saturday night.
I've been feeling tired and flat the last couple of days. After a gradual improvement in my sense of well-being over the last few months it's a bit of a let down to not feel so good.
I'm seeing the psych tomorrow so that's good timing.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Baptism Broadie and Book Club
For some reason the video didn't load from the camera when I moved these pictures. The idiosyncisies of the new computers are still causing us to scratch our heads. The hit and miss approach to whether they'll grant access to the web being the most annoying of them.Enough whingeing. Here are the before and after shots of Sport Boy's baptism on Sunday.
And here are a couple of rare pictures of Broadie working!
I had him booked up with a pretty full schedule at school today, giving presentations about his work with TEAR Australia. The Tim Tam Model of Resource Distribution was effective and engaging. He also talked about TEAR's best known project, the "Arguably The World's Most Useful Gift Catalogue".
Having made him work so "hard" he'll no doubt take the rest of the week off to recover.
It was great to have him stay for a couple of days. He is one of the funniest people I know so there were lots of laughs, in amidst the tears over the woeful Dockers!
Mrs Holt Press had all the ladies over tonight as it was her turn to host their book club. I decided to spice things up a bit by secretly adding a number of new books to their selection table. The usual selection is dominated by Christian and or women's books so the addition of Real Footballers Don't Cry by Justin Madden, Down Under by Bill Bryson, Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James, a biography of The Beatles, a cheap detective novel, and the literary classic, 99 More Un-Useless Japanese Inventions, certainly got the tongues wagging, especially when the detective novel was found to have, shock, gasp, horror, the F word in it!
Scurrilous goings-on at the book club! Mrs Holt Press' reputation has been blotted by her practical joking spouse!
Monday, May 05, 2008
Baptism and Capitulation
At lunch time Sport Boy was baptised in Geographe Bay, it was a great occasion with quite a big crowd of family and friends from church there. Three other boys were baptised as well.
I videoed it on my digital camera but I haven't got things worked out to upload videos to Blogger on the new computer yet. I'll get it sorted out shortly.
When a team is 51 points in front, they shouldn't lose the game.
When a team are playing the bottom side who haven't won a game all season, they REALLY shouldn't lose.
And when the team surrendered a 39 point lead the week before and thus has some experience in what it takes not to lose in these circumstances, it REALLY REALLY shouldn't lose!
But, if that team is the Fremantle Dockers, you just know they're going to find a way to lose regardless. And that's what they did, giving up an 8 goal lead at half time to allow Melbourne to stage the second biggest comeback in the history of AFL football and win their first game of the season! The whole experience was made all the more painful in that I watched it in company with Broadie who unlike me, who has a mild affection for the Dockers, is a former member and much wounded Freo fan.
I felt for him!
I videoed it on my digital camera but I haven't got things worked out to upload videos to Blogger on the new computer yet. I'll get it sorted out shortly.
When a team is 51 points in front, they shouldn't lose the game.
When a team are playing the bottom side who haven't won a game all season, they REALLY shouldn't lose.
And when the team surrendered a 39 point lead the week before and thus has some experience in what it takes not to lose in these circumstances, it REALLY REALLY shouldn't lose!
But, if that team is the Fremantle Dockers, you just know they're going to find a way to lose regardless. And that's what they did, giving up an 8 goal lead at half time to allow Melbourne to stage the second biggest comeback in the history of AFL football and win their first game of the season! The whole experience was made all the more painful in that I watched it in company with Broadie who unlike me, who has a mild affection for the Dockers, is a former member and much wounded Freo fan.
I felt for him!
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Soccer Starts with a Bang
The soccer season started this morning, with both boys playing at Margaret River. I arrived just in time to see the soon to be re-badged Fashion Boy almost score a great goal. his team lost but he played well.
Sport Boy also had a good game, scoring two goals (and missing a penalty) in a 3-2 win. The only black spot on the game was some conflict between an opposition supporter and I which arose over a wrong call (in my opinion) by the ref. The bloke told me to shut up and let the ref do his job, not altogether unreasonable, but the followed it up by telling me to *%#$ off, in front of some of the kids in his team!! I was dumb-founded and got a little fired up, although I didn't take it any further. Then he launched an attack on me claiming I'd been coming down there for three years throwing my weight around etc! I had no idea what he was talking about and decided to go back to coaching the game. It all erupted suddenly and out of nowhere and left me confused and bemused. Things sttled down after that and a good game ensued, with the kids having their first taste of playing the offside rule. Our kids handled it a lot better than the opposition.
After the game I went to the pub in Margaret River to watch the second half of the football on Foxtel. Geelong won by 27 points but not before Brisbane had given hem a good run for their money and drawn level early in the final quarter.
footy fix satisfied I headed back to the soccer ground where they were holding trials for the Busselton under 12 country week team, something Sport Boy has been looking forward to for weeks. He was one of the smallest kids there but held his own in the games they played.
The trials run for 4 weeks before they choose the squad which means choosing 15 kids from the 30 odd who are trying out. I'm trying not to let SB get his hopes up too high as about half the kids are a year older, and significantly bigger, than he is. He's certainly got a chance but at the same time I'll be surprised if he makes it, pleased, but surprised none-the-less.
There's also the minimum $700 cost involved in being in the team that travels to Perth for Country week in October! It may take until next year before we can afford him to go!!
The new name suggestions for Fashion Boy are continuing to come in, thanks Dad, Keith, Broady and Zaac. A full list of options will be posted in a few days, and maybe an on-line poll, they seem very popular.
Broadie arrived tonight to stay for a couple of days. I've brought him to town to speak at a couple of churches, Down South tonight and Cornerstone tomorrow, and to do some sessions at the high school and Cornerstone college on Monday. He's always good value and the source of many laughs.
If you'd like to sample some of his work go to this link, click on Audio on Demand and type Bert's sport review in the search box. There are a lot worse things you could do with 5 minutes of your life.
Tomorrow will be an exciting day for Sport Boy, he's getting baptised at the beach at 12.30, along with a couple of other people from church. He and Mrs Holt Press have been doing some preparatory studies on baptism for the last few weeks and tomorrow is the big day.
Sport Boy also had a good game, scoring two goals (and missing a penalty) in a 3-2 win. The only black spot on the game was some conflict between an opposition supporter and I which arose over a wrong call (in my opinion) by the ref. The bloke told me to shut up and let the ref do his job, not altogether unreasonable, but the followed it up by telling me to *%#$ off, in front of some of the kids in his team!! I was dumb-founded and got a little fired up, although I didn't take it any further. Then he launched an attack on me claiming I'd been coming down there for three years throwing my weight around etc! I had no idea what he was talking about and decided to go back to coaching the game. It all erupted suddenly and out of nowhere and left me confused and bemused. Things sttled down after that and a good game ensued, with the kids having their first taste of playing the offside rule. Our kids handled it a lot better than the opposition.
After the game I went to the pub in Margaret River to watch the second half of the football on Foxtel. Geelong won by 27 points but not before Brisbane had given hem a good run for their money and drawn level early in the final quarter.
footy fix satisfied I headed back to the soccer ground where they were holding trials for the Busselton under 12 country week team, something Sport Boy has been looking forward to for weeks. He was one of the smallest kids there but held his own in the games they played.
The trials run for 4 weeks before they choose the squad which means choosing 15 kids from the 30 odd who are trying out. I'm trying not to let SB get his hopes up too high as about half the kids are a year older, and significantly bigger, than he is. He's certainly got a chance but at the same time I'll be surprised if he makes it, pleased, but surprised none-the-less.
There's also the minimum $700 cost involved in being in the team that travels to Perth for Country week in October! It may take until next year before we can afford him to go!!
The new name suggestions for Fashion Boy are continuing to come in, thanks Dad, Keith, Broady and Zaac. A full list of options will be posted in a few days, and maybe an on-line poll, they seem very popular.
Broadie arrived tonight to stay for a couple of days. I've brought him to town to speak at a couple of churches, Down South tonight and Cornerstone tomorrow, and to do some sessions at the high school and Cornerstone college on Monday. He's always good value and the source of many laughs.
If you'd like to sample some of his work go to this link, click on Audio on Demand and type Bert's sport review in the search box. There are a lot worse things you could do with 5 minutes of your life.
Tomorrow will be an exciting day for Sport Boy, he's getting baptised at the beach at 12.30, along with a couple of other people from church. He and Mrs Holt Press have been doing some preparatory studies on baptism for the last few weeks and tomorrow is the big day.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Loyal Customer
I had the same customer in the cab three times tonight and she wasn't happy any of the times.
First she wasn't happy to be going home cause she'd had a fight with her boyfriend.
Then she called again and wasn't happy cause her boyfriend was drunk and asleepso she went back to the pub.
The third time she wasn't happy because the pub had been so disappointing, and she ended up sharing the cab with loud drunken "friends".
I on the other hand was happy to have such a loyal customer.
Two other people recognised me from their time as students at the school, and one of them offered me a spot on their volleyball team!
The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful, punctuated only by the footy on the radio and West Coast losing to the "traitor"-led Blues! Judd jumped ship just in time it seems!
The kid's soccer season starts tomorrow, with both of their teams playing at Margaret River. Sport Boy is jumping out of his skin in excited anticipation of the new season.
Between now and then I need to get as much sleep as I can.
First she wasn't happy to be going home cause she'd had a fight with her boyfriend.
Then she called again and wasn't happy cause her boyfriend was drunk and asleepso she went back to the pub.
The third time she wasn't happy because the pub had been so disappointing, and she ended up sharing the cab with loud drunken "friends".
I on the other hand was happy to have such a loyal customer.
Two other people recognised me from their time as students at the school, and one of them offered me a spot on their volleyball team!
The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful, punctuated only by the footy on the radio and West Coast losing to the "traitor"-led Blues! Judd jumped ship just in time it seems!
The kid's soccer season starts tomorrow, with both of their teams playing at Margaret River. Sport Boy is jumping out of his skin in excited anticipation of the new season.
Between now and then I need to get as much sleep as I can.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Volleyball
I'm feeling like the kid with no friends.
The new volleyball season started tonight and I didn't play cause I haven't got a team to play in. Miffy the Cow disbanded after last season and I haven't been able to get into a team. Yet! Hopefully I'll find a team in need soon.
In the meantime I refereed three games tonight which is handy as we raised the match payment to $20 this year! I'd rather play but $60 for blowing a whistle and pointing is not bad.
There have been two entries so far in the "Find a New Name For Fashion Boy" competition.
Birchy suggested "Air Jordan" while Sally has offered a more simple and direct moniker: "Jordan". (Not much imagination there Sal!)
Keep the suggestions coming.
Things are starting to crank up in preparation for the Big Busso Quiz Night on May 10. I've put 5 colourful signs up around town and tonight I wrote three rounds of questions. Only 5 to go.
If you're not busy on Sat May 10, get along to the high school, have some fun, win a prize, and help us raise funds for chaplaincy, what could be better than that?
I'll tell you!
I'm auctioning one of my paintings as part of the fund raising, your chance to bid on a Marcus Holt original!
And there's the famous Big Busso Quiz Night Cheat Sheets, containing the answer to every question in the quiz, available for the bargain price of $10!
How can you resist?
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Art Day
I spent today driving a group of students to Perth and back for a visit to the WA Art Gallery. Apart from the early start it was a very pleasant day. The Year 12 Perspectives Exhibition was wonderful, and inspirational.
Continuing on the art theme, friends Lyn and Kingsley came round tonight to look at my paintings. They are interested in buying one to go in their bedroom. They particularly liked two, one here and one that is hanging down at The Ship Hotel. Now it's a matter of deciding which one best fits the colour scheme at home.
I did some more work on Favourite Daughter's big green painting tonight. It has been a work in progress for over a year as I've added bits to it. It may never be truly "finished" but she likes it.
It's great to have happy customers!!
Continuing on the art theme, friends Lyn and Kingsley came round tonight to look at my paintings. They are interested in buying one to go in their bedroom. They particularly liked two, one here and one that is hanging down at The Ship Hotel. Now it's a matter of deciding which one best fits the colour scheme at home.
I did some more work on Favourite Daughter's big green painting tonight. It has been a work in progress for over a year as I've added bits to it. It may never be truly "finished" but she likes it.
It's great to have happy customers!!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Weekend Highlights
- Friday night thrills at the footy as Geelong beat Fremantle by a point and te Holt Press family breathe a huge collective sigh of relief as they nurse their lost voices.
- Stayed at the Collins' in Lesmurdie and left a gift hanging on the wall.
- Breakfast in South Perth.
- Shopping at Harbourtown (Sport Boy got two new pairs of shoes, Mrs Holt Press got her winter wardrobe) and IKEA where I exchanged a damaged frame.
- Visited Kevin and Kerry, old friends and BIG Cats fans.
- Mrs HP visited another old friend Dawn.
- Dinner at Han's Cafe in Leederville.
- Breakfast Club, all members present and an excellent, reflective and emotional night.
- Stayed the night at Hugh's in Inglewood and enjoyed his humour and hospitality.
- Mrs HP and FD went to church with Toni.
- SB and I went to the swap meet at the Galleria.
- Picked up the girls and headed for home after a great weekend.
aka fashion Boy competition
I've just returned home from "beating up on the old ladies at scrabble club" as the family describe it. The good news is that there was an inadvertant breakthrough in the Holt Press technology department tonight. The new computers are both wireless enabled but both have been refusing to connect or load web pages, until tonight, when I removed a cable from the back of the router, and voila, both computers loaded up!! Why? I don't know! But I'm not complaining! I'm now free to blog from anywhere in the house. just as well because Favourite Daughter and Fashion Boy have taken over the study. On the subject of Fashion Boy, he has requested a change of name on my blog. He claims to hate "Fashion Boy", despite it's aptness, a point he also deies. I present exhibit A: At Harbourtown on the weekend he went looking for shoes. But not just any shoes. No. They had to be Converse shoes. And not even just Converse, they ad to be from the expensive end of the range! Not surprisingly he did not get Converse shoes. In his defense I will confirm that when I found a pair of FILA shoes not dissimilar to Converse, and that they were two pairs for $40, and that I was getting a pair fr Sport Boy, he agreed to accept them! Further, tonight he stated that he was going to wear them to the school ball next Saturday night! Now, while I think Fashion Boy is a very approriate name, I have no deliberate intention or desire to annoy one of my offspring, so I'm launching an on-line competition right here on my blog. Can you come up with a suitable new blog name for my 2nd son/3rd child?
Entries via comment.
NB. The blog owner is under no obligation to use any of the suggested names, though I will certainly give due consideration to any decent suggestions.
I wanted to blog more extensively about the weekend before it becomes a fading memory, but mindful of a discussion with Michael, of Barrandgirl fame, about keeping m posts briefer, I will just do it in point form. With that in mind, I'll give one of the new features of Blogger a go and sart a new post. So, unless you're particularly perceptive, or obedient, you've probably read that post first. Never mind. So long as you're reading I'm happy, the order is up to you.
Tomorrow I'm driving a group of kids to Perth for an art excursion which means an early start.
Entries via comment.
NB. The blog owner is under no obligation to use any of the suggested names, though I will certainly give due consideration to any decent suggestions.
I wanted to blog more extensively about the weekend before it becomes a fading memory, but mindful of a discussion with Michael, of Barrandgirl fame, about keeping m posts briefer, I will just do it in point form. With that in mind, I'll give one of the new features of Blogger a go and sart a new post. So, unless you're particularly perceptive, or obedient, you've probably read that post first. Never mind. So long as you're reading I'm happy, the order is up to you.
Tomorrow I'm driving a group of kids to Perth for an art excursion which means an early start.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Great Weekend
We had a GREAT weekend in Perth which I don't have time to blog about now, except to say that the football was fantastic on Friday night, a heart-stopping thriller with the Cats getting up to win by 1 point after being 39 points down in the 2nd quarter and still 25 points behind at 3/4 time. My voice has still not recovered.
And, we had a great time with The Breakfast Club on Saturday night in Leederville.
I'll catch up on details tomorrow.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Technology Upgrade
Today should be a day of celebration in the world of Holt Press Technology. After months of thinking about it and scanning ads, brochures, offers etc, I finally bit the bullet and bought not one but two new computers today!! A desktop and a laptop. Both NEC, both heavily discounted, both way more powerful than the existing Holt Press PC which has served faithfully if not always impressively these last 4 years. Quad core processor, 4gb RAM and 500 GB HD ought to make the computing experience far more pleasureable for the various Holt Press computer users. Wireless internet, TV tuner, good quality graphics card, Vista and lots of other specs that sound impressive to boot.
So, why do I say "should" be a day of celebration?
Because, computers being what they are, ornery little characters, the set up process has not been smooth nor particularly successful.
Yes I eventually connected to the net via the router.
No I can't open any web pages!
Yes I tried to load Trend Micro protection.
No it wouldn't finish the installation because it claimed Windows Mail was running.
It wasn't but no amount of coaxing or searching through help options managed to solve the problem, so at this point I'm relying on the McAfee it came with to keep it safe.
Not that it's at much risk seeing as it refuses to allow me onto the web!
I'm sure there'll be solutions to these teething troubles.
There has to be.
Surely!
I haven't tried any more with the laptop than turning it on yet but the duo core processor and 200GB HD should keep me happy!
The whole operation required a complete rearrangement of the Holt Press office and the addition of another desk, to accommodate the old computer, which I will keep. Even though it's old and slow and feisty, it still has some useful capacities, such as blogging! I've had to use it for this post. It will still work for the kid's games, and my scrabble! and should lead to a little less conflict between the HP kids when more than one of them wants to use a computer.
In case you're wondering, no I haven't won lotto, I just took advantage of a 45 month interest free deal from Hardly Normals, and the heavily discounted prices I mentioned, a combined $1500 off the original prices.
First thing tomorrow we're off to Perth to go to the footy, the ANZAC Day game between Geelong and Fremantle. Carn the Cats.
So, why do I say "should" be a day of celebration?
Because, computers being what they are, ornery little characters, the set up process has not been smooth nor particularly successful.
Yes I eventually connected to the net via the router.
No I can't open any web pages!
Yes I tried to load Trend Micro protection.
No it wouldn't finish the installation because it claimed Windows Mail was running.
It wasn't but no amount of coaxing or searching through help options managed to solve the problem, so at this point I'm relying on the McAfee it came with to keep it safe.
Not that it's at much risk seeing as it refuses to allow me onto the web!
I'm sure there'll be solutions to these teething troubles.
There has to be.
Surely!
I haven't tried any more with the laptop than turning it on yet but the duo core processor and 200GB HD should keep me happy!
The whole operation required a complete rearrangement of the Holt Press office and the addition of another desk, to accommodate the old computer, which I will keep. Even though it's old and slow and feisty, it still has some useful capacities, such as blogging! I've had to use it for this post. It will still work for the kid's games, and my scrabble! and should lead to a little less conflict between the HP kids when more than one of them wants to use a computer.
In case you're wondering, no I haven't won lotto, I just took advantage of a 45 month interest free deal from Hardly Normals, and the heavily discounted prices I mentioned, a combined $1500 off the original prices.
First thing tomorrow we're off to Perth to go to the footy, the ANZAC Day game between Geelong and Fremantle. Carn the Cats.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Scenes from the Retreat
Scenes from IKEA
Sport Boy trying on some Swedish Headwear!
Ron, who we shared a table with for lunch and who I recognised as a face from the past. We'd had connections through youthwork and the YMCA nearly 20 years ago.
Vanessa, a friend from our days at the church in Joondalup. I hadn't seen her for about 4 years.
Caroline, a colleague from Carine.
The girl on the checkout whose hair Sport Boy really liked and who allowed me to take a picture of it.As we walked out the door we also bumped into a teacher from Busso.
Footnote. Mrs Holt Press and I went to the movies tonight to see Juno and the same teacher, Ray, was there with his wife.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Collins'
I'm having trouble with this post. There is supposed to be a picture of the Collins' sitting here, but as you can see, there's not!!!
Grant and Gillian and their three kids came round for dinner tonight. They're down from Perth for a week's holiday so I invited them over for a BBQ. The weather has been wet and cold, with intermittent spells of warmth and sunshine! so it wasn't ideal BBQ weather, and with the patio still crowded with the stuff that will one day end up in the shed, or a garage sale, we retreated indoors to eat. The boys were full of energy and exuberance, while the baby laughed, and cried, and laughed again. I cuddled her for a while which may have had something to do with it. The boys were settled in front of the e-babysitter watching Surf's Up while the adults chatted in the front room and talked about the merits and benefits of seachanges and vasectomies.
Grant used to be a chaplain but now works for a church in youth ministry and says it's going well. The timing of their visit was fortuitous, they're in town till Saturday, while we're going up to Perth on Friday for the footy, Fremantle V Geelong so we've arranged to stay at their place on Friday night in their absence. In exchange I gave Grant the key so he can come and watch the footy here on Friday night!
NB Sorry if the size of this picture slowed the downloading of the blog, the Gimp and Picasa were not cooperating tonight so I couldn't use the scaled version!
What picture!!!!!
Grant and Gillian and their three kids came round for dinner tonight. They're down from Perth for a week's holiday so I invited them over for a BBQ. The weather has been wet and cold, with intermittent spells of warmth and sunshine! so it wasn't ideal BBQ weather, and with the patio still crowded with the stuff that will one day end up in the shed, or a garage sale, we retreated indoors to eat. The boys were full of energy and exuberance, while the baby laughed, and cried, and laughed again. I cuddled her for a while which may have had something to do with it. The boys were settled in front of the e-babysitter watching Surf's Up while the adults chatted in the front room and talked about the merits and benefits of seachanges and vasectomies.
Grant used to be a chaplain but now works for a church in youth ministry and says it's going well. The timing of their visit was fortuitous, they're in town till Saturday, while we're going up to Perth on Friday for the footy, Fremantle V Geelong so we've arranged to stay at their place on Friday night in their absence. In exchange I gave Grant the key so he can come and watch the footy here on Friday night!
NB Sorry if the size of this picture slowed the downloading of the blog, the Gimp and Picasa were not cooperating tonight so I couldn't use the scaled version!
What picture!!!!!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday
I did a day shift in the cab today, covering for the boss who's gone to Melbourne for the ANZAC Day footy at the G. It was fairly quiet, the Granny brigade on the doctors and groceries runs.
It was a beautiful day, right up until I finished and Bircht dropped in for a visit; then it started raining and got cold and grey. He was impressed with the shed, and gave me some tips on pouring the concrete; a job I'd hoped to get done this week but am not feeling confident about.
I also ran into Phil Smoker in town. I convinced him to join the fantasy footy league this season but he's feeling a bit out of his depth with it. Hopefully the mid-season draft will help him acclimatize.
Cam rang today to confirm that he had thrashed me by 70 points, and busted through the 300 point barrier courtesy of Buddy Franklin and the Fevolution, not to mention Jimmy Bartel's 10 tackles! Just as well the Cats are on top of the ladder so I don't have to pay to much attention to FF!
Collo is in town too, he and the family are coming round for a BBQ tomorrow night, I hope the weather is kinder.
Mrs Holt Press and Favourite Daughter drove to Bunbury for a Fusion meeting tonight, only to find it had been cancelled and they hadn't been told! Not impressed!
Sport Boy's friend Ben is staying over tonight so he's happy to have company.
I've spent the evening painting but I've got another taxi shift tomorrow so its time for bed.
It was a beautiful day, right up until I finished and Bircht dropped in for a visit; then it started raining and got cold and grey. He was impressed with the shed, and gave me some tips on pouring the concrete; a job I'd hoped to get done this week but am not feeling confident about.
I also ran into Phil Smoker in town. I convinced him to join the fantasy footy league this season but he's feeling a bit out of his depth with it. Hopefully the mid-season draft will help him acclimatize.
Cam rang today to confirm that he had thrashed me by 70 points, and busted through the 300 point barrier courtesy of Buddy Franklin and the Fevolution, not to mention Jimmy Bartel's 10 tackles! Just as well the Cats are on top of the ladder so I don't have to pay to much attention to FF!
Collo is in town too, he and the family are coming round for a BBQ tomorrow night, I hope the weather is kinder.
Mrs Holt Press and Favourite Daughter drove to Bunbury for a Fusion meeting tonight, only to find it had been cancelled and they hadn't been told! Not impressed!
Sport Boy's friend Ben is staying over tonight so he's happy to have company.
I've spent the evening painting but I've got another taxi shift tomorrow so its time for bed.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Picnic Plans Dampened but not Extinguished
With all 4 Holt Press offspring home at the one time this afternoon, and Fashion Boy about to leave for a week at Morawa, I gathered them all up and took them into town for an ice cream picnic. We sat at a table in a nice park, opened the ice cream tub and started to dig in, and then the rain started! Big wet heavy rain, not conducive to picnics, so we scampered for cover at St Marys church over the road. There were no seats so we sat on the pavement underneath their awning, and enjoyed ice cream and laughter in equal measure.
We then deposited FB on the bus for Perth. He's staying with Greg and Demelza tonight then taking the 7.15 Geraldton bus to Morawa in the morning, a lazy 6 hour trip! He's gone to stay with a friend who he met at the State Youth Parliament last year.
There are clear echoes of my adolescence here. I met my dear friend Sally at a camp while we were at school, me in Perth and her in Moora, and I used to go and stay with her on weekends occasionally at her family's farm at Coomberdale, as well as meeting up with her in Midland on those Saturday mornings when she came down for dental appointments.
With FB on the bus and The Heir off to work, Sport Boy and I went to the movies to see Nim's Island, an enjoyable Robinson Crusoe style film. I did nod off for a brief time in the middle of it but SB woke me up in time to see the catapulting fish and lizard scene.
Mrs Holt Press arrived home from Northam at about 9.30 having had a good time at her course.
We then deposited FB on the bus for Perth. He's staying with Greg and Demelza tonight then taking the 7.15 Geraldton bus to Morawa in the morning, a lazy 6 hour trip! He's gone to stay with a friend who he met at the State Youth Parliament last year.
There are clear echoes of my adolescence here. I met my dear friend Sally at a camp while we were at school, me in Perth and her in Moora, and I used to go and stay with her on weekends occasionally at her family's farm at Coomberdale, as well as meeting up with her in Midland on those Saturday mornings when she came down for dental appointments.
With FB on the bus and The Heir off to work, Sport Boy and I went to the movies to see Nim's Island, an enjoyable Robinson Crusoe style film. I did nod off for a brief time in the middle of it but SB woke me up in time to see the catapulting fish and lizard scene.
Mrs Holt Press arrived home from Northam at about 9.30 having had a good time at her course.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
News in Brief
The Cats won their 5th straight game, a 42 point victory over Sydney, although it was much closer than that for most of the game.
I've just finished a long, and profitable, shift in the taxi.
Mrs Holt-Press is away on a weekend course at Northam, Favourite Daughter is on a camp at Margaret River and The Heir has a friend down from Perth and they've gone somewhere for the night.
That left Fashion and Sport Boys to look after one another tonight, and eat the pizzas I delivered for them!
Sleep is next on the agenda.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
End of Retreat
The retreat concluded at lunchtime. It took a while to pack the car, I have a tendency to distribute belongings and equipment all over the place when I'm on camp, sort of like marking my territory, so I had to retrieve footballs, board games, Capella magazines, paints and glue guns, clothes etc from various points throughout Kobeelya. I gave Rowena a lift home to Busselton so had her bags to fit in as well, and finally, my latest painting, completed at the retreat. I hoped I might not need to bring it home because someone might have bought it but despite many positive comments, no-one was willing to part with the readies to make it theirs!
It did inspire several people to consider taking up painting for themselves though! The next retreat shapes as an artist's gathering!
I was glad of Rowena's company on the way home as it enabled me to swap driving duties when I got tired between Bridgetown and Nannup.
There was just time for a quick hello with the kids and getting my footy tips in before starting tonight's cab shift.
I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
It did inspire several people to consider taking up painting for themselves though! The next retreat shapes as an artist's gathering!
I was glad of Rowena's company on the way home as it enabled me to swap driving duties when I got tired between Bridgetown and Nannup.
There was just time for a quick hello with the kids and getting my footy tips in before starting tonight's cab shift.
I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Katanning Retreat
Welcome to Katanning, in the Great Southern district of WA. I'm here for the chaplain's retreat being held at Kobeelya, which is the large old building pictured in the centre of the banner above.I was late getting here, after my meeting yesterday morning, and packing, and dealing with domestic duties, and picking up last minute things from work, but I got here just in time for the first session. The theme for the retreat is REST so we are being encouraged to do just that, and there's plenty of free time in the program to allow it.
I've been painting for the last couple of hours so decided hitch a lift into town to take a break, and blog! I haven't got wheels at present because both mufflers on my car have passed their use-by-date and the noise my car makes is starting to attract the wrong sort of attention. I found a place in Katanning that fixes exhausts and they were able to get the necessary parts shipped down from Perth over night. Hopefully some time late this afternoon my quieter car will be ready for pick-up.
Last night there was of course the traditional game of Trivial Pursuit played. Andrew, Nathan, Steve and Brent took on Rowena, Nicole, Ben and I, and lost! They made much of me "chastising" them for being long-winded and obtuse when accepting answers, and seemed sure that I would blog about them. I don't want to disappoint them, so I have.
There followed an amusing discussion in which various chaplains and Youthcare employees were cast as characters from The Lord of the Rings. Andrew Nathan and Brent were the casting agents and they saw fit to give me the roll of Tom Bombadil!!
Before going to bed a couple of the girls barricaded the Area Chaplains in their room with tables chairs and assorted furniture. This escalated further throughout the morning until at lunch time there was a "request from the management" not to move the furniture which was met with laughter and taunts all round!!
I was awoken this morning by the loud blaring of a television. Thinking it was 7am and that the morning option was for prayer and communion I was a bit annoyed and confused so went and requested they turn the tv down. They were happy to oblige but did look at me a little strangely as I headed back to bed.
The reason for this became apparent shortly after when the announcement was made that the first session was starting and it dawned on me that it was actually 9.30!!
The tv watchers had all been up, had breakfast and returned to the lounge, it was me who was in the wrong place, or time!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sport Boy and the Gambles
At least Rosie hasn't changed.
Sport Boy and I had a great time while we were away. Today we went to the new IKEA store and kept running into people we knew, photos to follow.
By then it was clear that I wasn't going to get back to Busso in time for my 4 o'clock meeting so I rang and re-scheduled it then we headed down to Fremantle to look around a few galleries and cool shops.
He then slept all the way home except for the 20 minutes we stopped at Bunbury so he could have Hungry Jacks for tea! I had noodles.
Home tonight. Katanning tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
It was half way through the morning before I suddenly remembered the most important thing I had to do today was buy tickets for the ANZAC Day footy game, Fremantle V Geelong!
I headed for Subiaco Oval only to find that the ticket office wasn't open there! I needed a computer. Thankfully Subi library was close by and had a terminal free. It took several attempts, forgotten password retrievals and time expirations but finally I got what I wanted, 6 tickets to the footy for April 25. Not sure about Fashion Boy but the rest of the family are going.
After that I cruised around a few art shops, buying paint, brushes and canvasses. A quick detour to the Peters factory outlet then on to Joondalup and Trevor and Rosie's. Sport Boy had a great day, swimming and playing with the tribe of kids who hang out with T & R's 4 kids.
We're staying here the night before heading home tomorrow.
After swapping all the news over dinner I went to the movies to see "The Black Balloon", an Australian movie I'd heard a lot about. It didn't disappoint, although at times it was excruciating to watch. Here's a link for a review.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Marcus the Baptist
The baptism went well. We met at the same place as Phil and Julie had their wedding vow recommittment a couple of months ago, on the bank of the Swan River at Matilda Bay.
Being my first baptism I was a little uncertain of the exact protocol but nobody drowned and Phil was pleased with it so all is good.
Sport Boy came up to Perth with me and I dropped him off with our old friends Trevor and Rosie who were water skiing with their kids near the Raffles. He's staying at their place for the night and I'll pick him up tomorrow.
Its been a beautiful, and enjoyable day.
Being my first baptism I was a little uncertain of the exact protocol but nobody drowned and Phil was pleased with it so all is good.
Sport Boy came up to Perth with me and I dropped him off with our old friends Trevor and Rosie who were water skiing with their kids near the Raffles. He's staying at their place for the night and I'll pick him up tomorrow.
Its been a beautiful, and enjoyable day.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Catching Up
I don't normally have such big gaps between posts (Thurs to Sat) but the computer has been playing up a bit, not allowing me to connect to the net etc. Funnily enough, these problems occurred after my big clean-up of the hard drive! I'm beginning to suspect that somewhere in amongst all that junk I deleted there might have been a couple of little nuggets that I should have kept!! Everything is still in the trash can so theoretically I could reinstall any important bits, but for one small problem: which ones the critical ones may have been remains a complete mystery to me, as is the fact that now, at 4.00am, after my taxi shift, it has decided to cooperate. Has it healed itself? Is it taking pity on a poor blogger with withdrawal symptons? Has the tooth fairy dropped in and done a little magic?
I have no idea, but seeing as it is currently working, I'm making hay.
Both Fri and Sat night's shifts were pretty slow although things picked up a bit later tonight. The local footy season started tonight with Busselton beating South Bunbury so there were a few fares from the footy club.
In more important football news, the Cats continued their winning ways, going to 4-0 with a 7 goal win over St Kilda. The Saints played well early and lead at quarter time but it was all Geelong after that.
Mrs Holt-Press and I went for a long walk on the beach this afternoon, it was a beautiful day in Busselton, warm, sunny, still, the sky was blue, the ocean was picturesque, it was truly lovely.
Once I get up in the morning I'm heading up to Perth. One of my best mates, Phil, has asked me to baptise him. He and his family are heading back to Afghanistan to work in a bit over a week's time and he's keen to get squared away with God before he goes, or something like that!
I'll stay up in Perth for the night and probably come home Monday. With the school holidays having started I don't have to be back in the office for 2 weeks, yeehaa!!
I'm going on a chaplains retreat at Katanning from Wed-Fri which I'm really looking forward to.
Mrs H-P will be at a training course in Northam for the weekend.
After that we may go to Esperance for a few days to visit our friend Chris. Now is a good time, she's a West Coast Tragic and seeing as they got thrashed today and are looking very ordinary I'll enjoy discussing the finer points of football with her!!!!
I have no idea, but seeing as it is currently working, I'm making hay.
Both Fri and Sat night's shifts were pretty slow although things picked up a bit later tonight. The local footy season started tonight with Busselton beating South Bunbury so there were a few fares from the footy club.
In more important football news, the Cats continued their winning ways, going to 4-0 with a 7 goal win over St Kilda. The Saints played well early and lead at quarter time but it was all Geelong after that.
Mrs Holt-Press and I went for a long walk on the beach this afternoon, it was a beautiful day in Busselton, warm, sunny, still, the sky was blue, the ocean was picturesque, it was truly lovely.
Once I get up in the morning I'm heading up to Perth. One of my best mates, Phil, has asked me to baptise him. He and his family are heading back to Afghanistan to work in a bit over a week's time and he's keen to get squared away with God before he goes, or something like that!
I'll stay up in Perth for the night and probably come home Monday. With the school holidays having started I don't have to be back in the office for 2 weeks, yeehaa!!
I'm going on a chaplains retreat at Katanning from Wed-Fri which I'm really looking forward to.
Mrs H-P will be at a training course in Northam for the weekend.
After that we may go to Esperance for a few days to visit our friend Chris. Now is a good time, she's a West Coast Tragic and seeing as they got thrashed today and are looking very ordinary I'll enjoy discussing the finer points of football with her!!!!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Stepping Out
This afternoon I spoke at the Shire Council meeting regarding school chaplaincy, as part of a delegation from Youthcare. The local council has contributed funds to Youthcare for the last couple of years and today was a PR exercise in letting them know what they get for their money and endeavouring to convince them to keep supporting chaplaincy. There are a number of supporters on the council, including the president, Wes Hartley, who is also the local Uniting Church Minister.
There was good news and bad news at work. The bad news is that Country Week is looking less and less likely to happen this year due to the industrial dispute between the teacher's union and the govt. As Country Week is one of the major events on the school calendar it will be a considerable loss if it doesn't go ahead. It has significant impact on me because I am the Country Week manager.
The good news is that after a 3 week wait, I finally got a new phone today following my misadventure in the swimming pool at Alex's birthday. The insurance company authorised a replacement so I raced down to the phone shop to pick it up!
I got adventurous tonight! The computer has been slowing down a lot because of over crowding. The 80 GB hard drive is "full", as is the 100GB external hard drive!! The joys of music, photos and teenagers all co-existing. My adventurousness involved deleting stuff off the hard drive!
Some stuff I was very cofident to dump, other stuff less so. The computer, sensing my uncertainty would occasionally pop up a helpful suggestion like: "Hey Dummy, if you delete this your computer programs might not work any more!! Are you SURE you want to delete this?"
I chickened out at that point, but in the main it was happy to let me consign things to the trash can. I figure I'll leave them there for a few days just in case something critical stops working, say for instance my blog!!
I did manage to retrieve about 5GB so at least numerically I'm happy!
Open question to my readers, surfers and drop-ins from cyberspace:
Can you safely delete stuff in the TEMP folder?
There's about a Gig and a half's worth of stuff in there, hundreds of tiny little files, which I suspect can be safely disposed of, but, I'm just not quite sure....
Leave me a comment if you can shed some light on the subject.
Only 2 more days before the April school holiday break, bring it on!
There was good news and bad news at work. The bad news is that Country Week is looking less and less likely to happen this year due to the industrial dispute between the teacher's union and the govt. As Country Week is one of the major events on the school calendar it will be a considerable loss if it doesn't go ahead. It has significant impact on me because I am the Country Week manager.
The good news is that after a 3 week wait, I finally got a new phone today following my misadventure in the swimming pool at Alex's birthday. The insurance company authorised a replacement so I raced down to the phone shop to pick it up!
I got adventurous tonight! The computer has been slowing down a lot because of over crowding. The 80 GB hard drive is "full", as is the 100GB external hard drive!! The joys of music, photos and teenagers all co-existing. My adventurousness involved deleting stuff off the hard drive!
Some stuff I was very cofident to dump, other stuff less so. The computer, sensing my uncertainty would occasionally pop up a helpful suggestion like: "Hey Dummy, if you delete this your computer programs might not work any more!! Are you SURE you want to delete this?"
I chickened out at that point, but in the main it was happy to let me consign things to the trash can. I figure I'll leave them there for a few days just in case something critical stops working, say for instance my blog!!
I did manage to retrieve about 5GB so at least numerically I'm happy!
Open question to my readers, surfers and drop-ins from cyberspace:
Can you safely delete stuff in the TEMP folder?
There's about a Gig and a half's worth of stuff in there, hundreds of tiny little files, which I suspect can be safely disposed of, but, I'm just not quite sure....
Leave me a comment if you can shed some light on the subject.
Only 2 more days before the April school holiday break, bring it on!
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
I would have been in bed by now but...
I fight a continual losing battle to get to bed earlier. Even though I get tired during the day, and sometimes snooze in my lounge chair for a while, invariably the later it gets the more awake and alive I become!
Then, even when I make an effort, sometimes unexpected things happen that waylay me.
For instance, as I went in to turn the music off in the boy's room (and found Fashion Boy still reading at 10 to 12!) Favourite Daughter called out, "Dad" from her room.
"Can you explain this for me?"
Suddenly, 45 minutes had passed as we discussed various questions concerning the Bible.
I'm not complaining, those are the sort of precious conversations I treasure, but they don't help me get to bed!
I had the Covenant Players at school today, they're an international Christian Drama Company. It went really well, despite the negative things the kids were told before the session by one of the teachers who has a real objection to anything Christian. They came in with a pronounced prejudice but were soon engaged and enjoying the presentation and asking lots of questions. Funny how people can have an open mind about everything except Christianity!
Then, even when I make an effort, sometimes unexpected things happen that waylay me.
For instance, as I went in to turn the music off in the boy's room (and found Fashion Boy still reading at 10 to 12!) Favourite Daughter called out, "Dad" from her room.
"Can you explain this for me?"
Suddenly, 45 minutes had passed as we discussed various questions concerning the Bible.
I'm not complaining, those are the sort of precious conversations I treasure, but they don't help me get to bed!
I had the Covenant Players at school today, they're an international Christian Drama Company. It went really well, despite the negative things the kids were told before the session by one of the teachers who has a real objection to anything Christian. They came in with a pronounced prejudice but were soon engaged and enjoying the presentation and asking lots of questions. Funny how people can have an open mind about everything except Christianity!
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Tibet Protest
I had to laugh tonight when I watched the news. Pro-Tibet protesters were demonstrating in Paris as the Olympic torch relay went past. There have been various disruptions to the torch relay already but I take my hat off to the Parisian who fired a fire extinguisher at it!
I sent off a petition to the Chinese ambassador to Australia today, calling on China to dialogue with Tibet and the Dalai Lama and to protect human rights. Hopefully the Chinese will start to take some notice of the collective voice of protesters around the world. They promised the IOC that improving human rights would be one of the things they would do if they were awarded the olympics, but it appears that they have clamped down even further.
I was pleased to hear the IOC President Jacques Rogge come out today and call on China to do the right thing in Tibet. Ironically, while governments cowtow to China because of their economic power, the olympics don't have to hold their tongue or be "diplomatic", they've got something China desperately wants and are probably more likely to listen to if they fear the IOC may humiliate them or threaten to take the games off them. (I know that won't happen but the fear of it would be a powerful motivator.)I'm also impressed with the prime ministers and presidents of a few countries who are planning to boycott the opening ceremony. These sorts of actions have the potential to force China to recognise the voices of protest and respond, the world spotlight is increasingly on Beijing and they can't afford to alienate the rest of the world.
Historical Note: I'm not above a bit of civil disobedience myself. One of my earliest forays was heckling US President Ronald Reagan at a campaign rally in San Diego in 1984.
In the 90's right wing ratbag Pauline Hanson gained a strong following in Australia with her xenophobic ranting and simplistic redneck hysteria. I went to one of her rallies in Perth at Challenge Stadium. There were lots of protesters outside but I decided to buy a ticket and go in, figuring I had a more legitimate right to protest if I listened to what she had to say first. I listened for about half an hour before I started heckling. That action came as a shock to both her and the crowd who were very strongly pro-Hanson, and made me the centre of attention for the security guards who tried to make me leave because I kept calling out. I refused to go, on the grounds that it was a free country, with freedom of speech, and that I'd paid my money and had a right to be there! They weren't happy but they didn't throw me out! And I didn't stop heckling!
Monday, April 07, 2008
Cats do just enough
Saturday night church sure makes Sunday mornings much more relaxed. I took the trailer load to the tip then Sport Boy and I went down to the Nade to watch the footy on Foxtel.
The Cats won but it was a long way short of the massacre everyone expected, in fact Melbourne kicked the first three goals of the game to totally deflate the crowd after the unveiling of the premiership flag.
Things improved after that but Geelong never really clicked into gear today, just did enough to win.
The good news though is that they are on top of the ladder. Hopefully they can stay there all season.
Tom Hawkins, aka Tomahawk, kicked 5 goals and took a couple of great marks. He's starting to show some of the signs that accompanied the hype when he was drafted.
I spent a couple of hours this afternoon trying to level the shed in preparation for the concrete floor. I had to raise the bricks up that it is sitting on, a strategy to keep it dry when it rains because it sits at the foot of a small slope in the garden. I managed to use my car jack to lift it up, then raised the level of sand before repositioning the bricks. I bought a level from Bunnings this arvo (a bargain at $4.95!) and managed to get it pretty close to level on all four sides!!
Another load of sand to lift the floor and stabilise the bricks and it should be just about ready. After I manufacture some sort of form work for the concrete that is!!
With the weather getting wetter and colder I'm really keen to get the job finished and get everything put away, and get our patio and carport back!!
Mum rang this evening, they've been away over east for a month and not having a very good time of it, with conflict with part of the family, Vicki's serious health problems, and Walter himself getting sick and needing to go to hospital in Mt Gambier.
I think they'll be glad to get home.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
The Recycle Cycle
Normally when I get home from driving the cab I take about an hour to unwind before I go to bed, usually blogging and playing a game of Scrabble. Then comes a decent 6-7 hours of sleep before I get up at lunchtime.
Not today.
This morning was the chaplaincy fete in town and my fate was to deliver a trailer full of "stuff" (junk) for the white elephant stall. It wasn't our stuff, we inherited it from a previous fete run by the music dept. They couldn't sell it, so in their benevolent wisdom, donated it to us! So that we wouldn't be able to sell it either.
The fete started at 8, so with just over 2 hours sleep I dragged my sorry looking self down town to deliver the junk.
Fast forward 10 hours, I've had a few more hours sleep and finished my shift at the art gallery this arvo and have just been down to pick up the trailer.......and the junk, unsold!
However, I'm not going to perpetuate this cycle of economic silliness.
I've left the trailer attached to the car and tomorrow I will deliver it to where it should have gone in the first place, the tip!!
The price you pay for working for a charitable/fund-raising dependant organisation!!
Not today.
This morning was the chaplaincy fete in town and my fate was to deliver a trailer full of "stuff" (junk) for the white elephant stall. It wasn't our stuff, we inherited it from a previous fete run by the music dept. They couldn't sell it, so in their benevolent wisdom, donated it to us! So that we wouldn't be able to sell it either.
The fete started at 8, so with just over 2 hours sleep I dragged my sorry looking self down town to deliver the junk.
Fast forward 10 hours, I've had a few more hours sleep and finished my shift at the art gallery this arvo and have just been down to pick up the trailer.......and the junk, unsold!
However, I'm not going to perpetuate this cycle of economic silliness.
I've left the trailer attached to the car and tomorrow I will deliver it to where it should have gone in the first place, the tip!!
The price you pay for working for a charitable/fund-raising dependant organisation!!
Friday, April 04, 2008
Revolving Rooms
There's been a revolution in the Holt Press household. The equation of 4 offspring into 3 rooms requires that 2 of them share a room. Since favourite Daughter moved back home she has been sharing a room with Sport Boy; they are 9 years apart and get along very well, but I know that FD would prefer to have her own room. Fashion Boy on the other hand has a larger room but not much money. I invited FD and FB to consider a business proposition wherein FB sub-lets his room to FD and shares a room with SB. FD gets more privacy, FB gets more money, everyone's happy. While all this was being negotiated The Heir volunteered to take the smallest room, therefore TH will move into SB's old room, FD will move into TH's old room and FB will stay in his room but share with SB.
Beds and furniture were moved and the new arrangement has begun for a one month trial.
But, just a few hours into the trial period, SB is feeling unsettled because his sleep was disturbed and he came out saying "I don't want to switch rooms"! FB likes to play music all of the time and not all of his music is to the rest of the family's taste. I told him that part of the deal is no music once SB is in bed. Ever responsive FB still had his music on, compromising only in playing stuff that wasn't heavy. Hmmm!
We'll monitor the trial and see how things go!
Beds and furniture were moved and the new arrangement has begun for a one month trial.
But, just a few hours into the trial period, SB is feeling unsettled because his sleep was disturbed and he came out saying "I don't want to switch rooms"! FB likes to play music all of the time and not all of his music is to the rest of the family's taste. I told him that part of the deal is no music once SB is in bed. Ever responsive FB still had his music on, compromising only in playing stuff that wasn't heavy. Hmmm!
We'll monitor the trial and see how things go!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Controversy for the Chaplain
I had a phone call today from an Ed Dept investigator concerning an incident that happened in 2003, asking for my recollections. It concerned a complaint from a parent. When I checked my diary I couldn't find any trace of it. Then I realised he'd given me the wrong date and it actually occurred in 2004. My recollections are vague (sign of age!) and my notes are scant but he is coming to interview me on Friday. (The complaint is not against me or to do with anything I did, but I saw the student in question at the time and the parent is still pursuing it even though it was very minor and she took the kid out of the school shortly after.) We've talked at PD days about the possibility of investigations and how we should handle them. I've only been involved in one previous one following an incident at a camp I ran. They're not fun, dealing as they do with people who have been hurt or offended in some way. Hopefully my participation will be useful and beneficial and a satisfactory outcome will be achieved.
It was a day for controversial issues as I'm also dealing with a dispute concerning a Christian Drama Group I have coming to the school next week. It was all approved by the relevant authorities but a staff member has raised objections on the grounds that it is a secular school, and therefore, in their opinion, there is no place for any religious input at all.
Funny how people can have all sorts of views and beliefs, and be applauded for them eg. the Dalai Lama, except if they're Christian!! Then the opponents start making a fuss.
I'm not naive, there are appropriate guidelines and sensible restrictions on what groups can do in schools for good reason, but the blanket approach, that only secular groups, presentations, speakers etc are acceptable is just as biased and prejudiced as Christians are accused of being if they talk about faith in Jesus Christ.
Education is about providing a range of information and views on a wide variety of topics. So long as students are informed what basis a particular idea is coming from they are free then to evaluate it and make their own choices.
The Education dept, and the state and federal governments all support a Christian presence in schools via chaplaincy and religious education, but some people want to deny the right to teach about God or express any ideas about faith.
I suspect there is a personal issue behind this particular objection, there usually is.
It was a day for controversial issues as I'm also dealing with a dispute concerning a Christian Drama Group I have coming to the school next week. It was all approved by the relevant authorities but a staff member has raised objections on the grounds that it is a secular school, and therefore, in their opinion, there is no place for any religious input at all.
Funny how people can have all sorts of views and beliefs, and be applauded for them eg. the Dalai Lama, except if they're Christian!! Then the opponents start making a fuss.
I'm not naive, there are appropriate guidelines and sensible restrictions on what groups can do in schools for good reason, but the blanket approach, that only secular groups, presentations, speakers etc are acceptable is just as biased and prejudiced as Christians are accused of being if they talk about faith in Jesus Christ.
Education is about providing a range of information and views on a wide variety of topics. So long as students are informed what basis a particular idea is coming from they are free then to evaluate it and make their own choices.
The Education dept, and the state and federal governments all support a Christian presence in schools via chaplaincy and religious education, but some people want to deny the right to teach about God or express any ideas about faith.
I suspect there is a personal issue behind this particular objection, there usually is.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Cold Wet and Wintery in Busselton
Daylight saving finishing seems to have triggered a change in the weather, no sooner had summer time ended than the weather turned ugly! Its been a miserable day in Busso, although of course, rain is always welcome, sort of!
Things must be getting better personally, I managed to go to the Volleyball AGM tonight and not get into any arguments or stir up any controversy, and, most amazingly, managed to get something changed (an increase in umpire's payments) with strong support from the members!!
Considering the controversy and ill-feeling generated at last year's AGM this is a significant achievement!
I did end up with more work to do as a result of the meeting; on top of my umpiring co-ordinator job I'll take on some of the publicity and newspaper stories, as well as help further develop the website.
Just what the doctor ordered, more work!!
Its not that bad really!
I've just finished watching Wayne Carey's interview with Andrew Denton on Enough Rope and found it fascinating. He is a troubled man but appeared genuinely remorseful and took responsibility for his actions (those he could remember). The impact of heavy drinking and latterly, cocaine use, have been significant. Carey was a giant on the football field but like many others has struggled to find place and meaning in retirement. I don't condone his many indiscretions but I do hope he will find some sense of peace and well-being- physically, mentally and spiritually- as he confronts his demons.
Things must be getting better personally, I managed to go to the Volleyball AGM tonight and not get into any arguments or stir up any controversy, and, most amazingly, managed to get something changed (an increase in umpire's payments) with strong support from the members!!
Considering the controversy and ill-feeling generated at last year's AGM this is a significant achievement!
I did end up with more work to do as a result of the meeting; on top of my umpiring co-ordinator job I'll take on some of the publicity and newspaper stories, as well as help further develop the website.
Just what the doctor ordered, more work!!
Its not that bad really!
I've just finished watching Wayne Carey's interview with Andrew Denton on Enough Rope and found it fascinating. He is a troubled man but appeared genuinely remorseful and took responsibility for his actions (those he could remember). The impact of heavy drinking and latterly, cocaine use, have been significant. Carey was a giant on the football field but like many others has struggled to find place and meaning in retirement. I don't condone his many indiscretions but I do hope he will find some sense of peace and well-being- physically, mentally and spiritually- as he confronts his demons.
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