Hi!
Well. Here we are, only way late. Am very sorry, turns out the weekends have been shortened without my consultation or approval and just aren't long enough to fit everything in, and that doesn't include sleeping-in and making a nice big breakfast. I honestly don't know where the time has gone, but it's gone. Apologies for the lateness. But here we are - Sunday at last, the lorikeets have sure been busy in the mornings but not so much in the evenings. Maybe they're too pooped from all that jabbering in the a.m. The
days are getting longer, which is nice, although it means the mornings start earlier. Shame they don't do daylight savings here, though they've been talking about doing it for yeeears, no decision has been made yet. The rest of the country does it except for Queensland. The farmers are dead against it, something about the cows waking up too early and going to bed too late. So we can't have daylight savings because of some cows' bedtime? Hmmmm. I know they're thinking of just having this bottom corner of southeast Queensland do it so we can keep up with the rest of the country in commerce, but when they'll figure it out is anyone's guess. Hmmm. But I digress! We're here with the groovy jazz tunes, got the cool glass of standby white wine, a few chattering lorikeets - life is good!
So work. Yep, is really good. Still helping out my adoptive team, busy being helpful, which is just cool. I think I mentioned it before that I think this is
basically an on-going thing, well, until next year sometime. They're not going to hire a replacement for the guy that left and a gal on our team has just announced she's pregnant, so there's more help they'll be needing....... So I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon - hopefully! As for my other team, well the bid guys are threatening to throw me a ton of work between now and Xmas. Eh, while I sort of believe them this time, they've said it before and nothing scary has ever happened. We'll see! Otherwise work is good. I get to work with nice people and I actually have work to do. Awesome.
And then there were the vanishing weekends. Let's see, casting the
memory back.... Am still going with my rock climbing course and two Friday evenings ago we had an indoor session at the local rock climbing gym, Urban Climb, which was nice because it's close to my house. And Kangaroo Point, where we've done all our outdoor stuff, is like 15 minutes from mah house - sweet! So yes, that was lots of fun, tho not as much fun as outdoors with real rocks I must say. Still, good for the practice and 
fitness!
And then there was the briefly appearing Saturdays and Sundays. Saturday I managed to get some
laundry done before heading out to meet Linus and Julian (they of the Australia Day BBQs every year) at the German Club to catch up over a few (too many) German beers. While we were there a very moody storm blew quickly through. It was neat. I love the storms that blow through though they're too quick. And the day was warm and muggy but after the storm it sure got dark and cooled off. Just to let us know summer is nearly here. It was a fantastic afternoon and so good to catch up with them, having last seen them in January!
Sunday the better part of the day was spent doing chores and waiting for people to come around and pick up and pay for the stuff of mine they bought off eBay (love this eBay thing - totally beats a garage sale). Then spent the other half of the day putting together mah new desk! Of which I have yet to clock up any time as it took that long to build (hence the non-appearance here that evening) that by the time I was finished I
was cranky and ready for bed. Now, I'm getting pretty good at putting this Ikea stuff together, but the time you think it will take differs wildly from the actual time it takes, which is double, if not triple, the assembly time. Like, I looked at the 2 boxes holding the desk, laid everything out, looked at the clock, which was around 2pm, and figured I'd be done in time to start the little blog, around 5pm. Yeah. No. 7pm and a dead cordless drill battery later....... I guess maybe because people must have friends and helpers get some of the stuff ready because I don't, it's just me with all the lifting, pushing, shoving, drilling, hammering, etc.... And unfortunately I'm one of those who reads every single instruction and follows it to the letter (even tho they're pictures, no letters). I guess that chews time as well - studying. Anyways, it took a lot longer than I thought and by the time I finished it was too late for checking in. Hmmm.
And then last week was good but busy. I can't remember why I couldn't check in on Monday.... Oh yeah, normally at work, when I had nothing but time, I'd write the little blog during the day and get home and load up the photos, so it's pretty quick. But being in a department with actual work, I have no time to get a head start! And by the time I get home, feed Kona, feed me, shower, it's way too late. Hmmm. Anyways, had another rock climbing session on last Tuesday evening (forgot mah camera but the view was pretty much the same - amazingly pretty). This time we learned abseiling - where you go off
the cliff backwards - eeeeek from the top. It was fuuuuuuun though repetitive. Apparently people love to just do abseiling. Yawn. Me, I'd rather climb, much more fun and useful. Although minutes before I arrived there were allllllll these cop cars. Found my little climbing group only to be told that a few feet from where we were to do our thing a guy had thrown himself from the top of the cliffs (last I heard he lived to regret it). Now, the thing about Kangaroo Point Cliffs is that they may have the word "cliff" in the title and the photos make them out to be pretty treacherous (and they do indeed look pretty scary from the bottom
and really high up from the top), and no doubt they can be quite treacherous if you're not paying attention, but it's common knowledge that even if you throw yourself from the very top with high hopes it'll be a one-way trip, something like 90% of hopefuls actually live to regret it. Lesson here - pick a much higher spot/building or a different method because they just ain't tall enough to do the trick. Same goes for the Story Bridge - more people live to regret that trip than not; They simply end up going for a swim with broken arms and legs. Am just sayin'.*
And then there was this past weekend. Now that I've finally sold all the stuff from the living room that I wanted to sell, it was time to get the new stuff! Hooray! So was up first thing Saturday morning to get to Ikea to meet my co-worker
Emma, who lives like down the road from Ikea (for me that would be like a crack addict living across the street from the dealer) as she had to get a shower curtain and I a whole entertainment center. Well that didn't take too long but in the end I had to get most of it delivered. There was no way on earth I could carry those boxes up my stairs on my own (and I didn't want to bug one of my neighbors to help). Thankfully it all arrived before that very same day was done and I could get building (knowing how build time is double/triple what you estimate)! I managed to get one bookshelf built, but boy they're finnigly things with all their moldings and bits. Niiiice, but finnigly. And that was all I could manage Saturday.
Then Sunday was up early-ish to get some laundry done before heading out to
meet Jason and Hasse (they of the way fun Pizza & Games on the odd Friday evenings) in town for Brisbane's annual Zombie Walk. We all have fanceee cameras (tho Jason's is by far the fanceeeest) so we wanted to go out and take neat pictures and figured zombies would be perfect! And they were!
It was such a fun day that I'm totally going to come back next year and dress up zombie style - makeup, scary scars and all. Plus, any money they raise (by donation only) goes to the Brain Foundation. I'm all for helping a worthy cause and what a better way to help the Brain Foundation than as a zombie! Apparently Brisbane has the biggest zombie walk
in the world. But as Jason so 
cynically pointed out - "that's just what they say on their website." Hmmm. Either way there were thousands of folks there - about 50/50 - zombies vs. people like us there to just watch and take pictures. It was way fun. Highly recommend it next time they invade your town! Oh, and just so you don't think this is some sort of "fad", even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a plan on how to deal with a zombie invasion - Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse!
So by the time I got home from that, it was nearly 6pm and I was too pooped and it was getting too late to check in. Again. The thing about wanting to check in by say 5pm is that it takes me a good 3 or so hours to write the little blog, pick and upload the photos, hyperlink everything, make dinner, have a shower, that by the time I get to bed it's nearly 11pm - too late for a Sunday! But I must say I love my Sunday ritual and I miss it and feel bad when I can't check in on time. So I do try - honest! (Even tho only a whopping 3 people might read this.........).
Then there was this past Monday. I called in sick to work. But
magically by noon or so I felt fine enough to get to building the rest of my bookshelf and bridging shelf! Took most of the day and into the evening (moving all the books and stuff back in) that again, it was waaaay too late to check in. But now it's allllllll done! And big! I love it. I now have furniture that matches and that I like! Just like real people! HOORAY! So that's the living room's mini-makeover..... on to the bedroom!?
And that brings us to this weekend. Friday was quiet, which was nice. No stuff
to sell, no people to come around and pick stuff up, no rocks to climb, no place to go except the couch, it was niiiiice. But yesterday, Saturday, I was up way early, even before all the birds, to go on a Mini-Adventure to the 
Glasshouse Mountains for my rock climbing course's "final exam"! I've always wanted to climb or at least go for a good walk around the Glasshouse Mountains, always thought it looked so neat. And it was really fun! Weeeeeeeeeeeee! Got to drive mah cool new car too! Tho I decided to follow my instructor up there (he had to meet another gal at the shop anyway, which is just down the road from my house). Glad I followed them. It's pretty straightforward once you make the trip, but never having driven myself, I was sure to get lost, even tho it's only about an hour north east of town.... Anyways, we finally all m
ade it up there and proceeded to go on quite a good hike to get to our climbing site. A hike that none of us, bar the instructor, was expecting! Woooooooo! That was the most exercise I'd gotten for years! So we finally made it to the top where we caught our breath and got set up to abseil down the cliff we'd just hiked up. Once down, we climbed it a few times (tons of fun tho I only got 2 climbs in) we 
collected our things and hiked not far to the next spot where we abseiled down even further to get closer to the base of the cliff that we'd just hiked up. From there we hiked back to our cars and were done! WHEW! Big day, much fun! Much exercise too, my legs are still feeling it.......! So that was our big class day out, we have one more class this coming Tuesday back at Kangaroo Point and then we're finished. Just as I got in the routine of going rock climbing and learning on Tuesday evenings! So will definitely have to go along on as many "social climbs" as I can. It's heaps of fun, the people are so nice and it's good for you! HOORAY! Plus, when they have social climbs out of town, I can drive along, and if we have to camp, I've got my own studio apartment! Yay!
And then today. Well, I must say after the last few weekends and yesterday, I was in real need of a nice quiet day to do nothing (except for the laundry of course). So yes, didn't do much. Started to watch "Cowboys and Aliens" but got distracted. And then it was time to check in here....... Ahhhhhhhhh, lazy Sunday. Life was good today.
And, finally, that brings us up to now! Sorry again for the lengthy delay, I should be on time from now on barring any unapproved weekend shortening......... Oh, wait, on second thought, while I think of it, next weekend Kim and I are off to Grafton (about 4&1/2 hours drive south, in New South Wales) to go their annual Jacaranda Festival. It looks pretty neat in a flowering-Jacaranda-trees-everywhere kinda way. Good for photos and a really good run for the car. My friend Jan had taken her Mom there last year and said they really enjoyed it, so I thought 'why not?!' So we're planning to leave Saturday morning and return Sunday afternoon. Will hopefully have the energy to check in that evening but something tells me probably not. Depends on how late we get back and how pooped I am...... Hmmm. But, anyways, there you have it! Hope you're all well up there. Drop a line so I know there's more than just the odd cricket hopping around here. Speaking of crickets, I have to highly recommend a cuuuuuuuuute little computer-animated series called "Minuscule". Each "episode" is only roughly 4&1/2 minutes long and features different computer-animated bugs doing stuff in real landscapes. It's hard to explain, so just go find an episode, like this one - "The Fight for the Lollipop". They're most excellent and hilarious. No dialogue, just sound-effects. They're priceless. So good in fact that I went out and bought the whole series!
So yes, there you have it, drop a line, come on down, and hope you're all well!
BYE!
J!
*P.S. Not that suicide is a matter to be taken lightly (I know from experience). If someone's having problems, there's help, trust me.
http://suicidehotlines.com/national.html
http://www.lifeline.org.au/Find-Help/Find-Help/default.aspx
Well. Here we are, only way late. Am very sorry, turns out the weekends have been shortened without my consultation or approval and just aren't long enough to fit everything in, and that doesn't include sleeping-in and making a nice big breakfast. I honestly don't know where the time has gone, but it's gone. Apologies for the lateness. But here we are - Sunday at last, the lorikeets have sure been busy in the mornings but not so much in the evenings. Maybe they're too pooped from all that jabbering in the a.m. The
days are getting longer, which is nice, although it means the mornings start earlier. Shame they don't do daylight savings here, though they've been talking about doing it for yeeears, no decision has been made yet. The rest of the country does it except for Queensland. The farmers are dead against it, something about the cows waking up too early and going to bed too late. So we can't have daylight savings because of some cows' bedtime? Hmmmm. I know they're thinking of just having this bottom corner of southeast Queensland do it so we can keep up with the rest of the country in commerce, but when they'll figure it out is anyone's guess. Hmmm. But I digress! We're here with the groovy jazz tunes, got the cool glass of standby white wine, a few chattering lorikeets - life is good!So work. Yep, is really good. Still helping out my adoptive team, busy being helpful, which is just cool. I think I mentioned it before that I think this is
basically an on-going thing, well, until next year sometime. They're not going to hire a replacement for the guy that left and a gal on our team has just announced she's pregnant, so there's more help they'll be needing....... So I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon - hopefully! As for my other team, well the bid guys are threatening to throw me a ton of work between now and Xmas. Eh, while I sort of believe them this time, they've said it before and nothing scary has ever happened. We'll see! Otherwise work is good. I get to work with nice people and I actually have work to do. Awesome.And then there were the vanishing weekends. Let's see, casting the
memory back.... Am still going with my rock climbing course and two Friday evenings ago we had an indoor session at the local rock climbing gym, Urban Climb, which was nice because it's close to my house. And Kangaroo Point, where we've done all our outdoor stuff, is like 15 minutes from mah house - sweet! So yes, that was lots of fun, tho not as much fun as outdoors with real rocks I must say. Still, good for the practice and 
fitness!
And then there was the briefly appearing Saturdays and Sundays. Saturday I managed to get some
laundry done before heading out to meet Linus and Julian (they of the Australia Day BBQs every year) at the German Club to catch up over a few (too many) German beers. While we were there a very moody storm blew quickly through. It was neat. I love the storms that blow through though they're too quick. And the day was warm and muggy but after the storm it sure got dark and cooled off. Just to let us know summer is nearly here. It was a fantastic afternoon and so good to catch up with them, having last seen them in January!Sunday the better part of the day was spent doing chores and waiting for people to come around and pick up and pay for the stuff of mine they bought off eBay (love this eBay thing - totally beats a garage sale). Then spent the other half of the day putting together mah new desk! Of which I have yet to clock up any time as it took that long to build (hence the non-appearance here that evening) that by the time I was finished I
was cranky and ready for bed. Now, I'm getting pretty good at putting this Ikea stuff together, but the time you think it will take differs wildly from the actual time it takes, which is double, if not triple, the assembly time. Like, I looked at the 2 boxes holding the desk, laid everything out, looked at the clock, which was around 2pm, and figured I'd be done in time to start the little blog, around 5pm. Yeah. No. 7pm and a dead cordless drill battery later....... I guess maybe because people must have friends and helpers get some of the stuff ready because I don't, it's just me with all the lifting, pushing, shoving, drilling, hammering, etc.... And unfortunately I'm one of those who reads every single instruction and follows it to the letter (even tho they're pictures, no letters). I guess that chews time as well - studying. Anyways, it took a lot longer than I thought and by the time I finished it was too late for checking in. Hmmm.And then last week was good but busy. I can't remember why I couldn't check in on Monday.... Oh yeah, normally at work, when I had nothing but time, I'd write the little blog during the day and get home and load up the photos, so it's pretty quick. But being in a department with actual work, I have no time to get a head start! And by the time I get home, feed Kona, feed me, shower, it's way too late. Hmmm. Anyways, had another rock climbing session on last Tuesday evening (forgot mah camera but the view was pretty much the same - amazingly pretty). This time we learned abseiling - where you go off
the cliff backwards - eeeeek from the top. It was fuuuuuuun though repetitive. Apparently people love to just do abseiling. Yawn. Me, I'd rather climb, much more fun and useful. Although minutes before I arrived there were allllllll these cop cars. Found my little climbing group only to be told that a few feet from where we were to do our thing a guy had thrown himself from the top of the cliffs (last I heard he lived to regret it). Now, the thing about Kangaroo Point Cliffs is that they may have the word "cliff" in the title and the photos make them out to be pretty treacherous (and they do indeed look pretty scary from the bottom
and really high up from the top), and no doubt they can be quite treacherous if you're not paying attention, but it's common knowledge that even if you throw yourself from the very top with high hopes it'll be a one-way trip, something like 90% of hopefuls actually live to regret it. Lesson here - pick a much higher spot/building or a different method because they just ain't tall enough to do the trick. Same goes for the Story Bridge - more people live to regret that trip than not; They simply end up going for a swim with broken arms and legs. Am just sayin'.*And then there was this past weekend. Now that I've finally sold all the stuff from the living room that I wanted to sell, it was time to get the new stuff! Hooray! So was up first thing Saturday morning to get to Ikea to meet my co-worker
Emma, who lives like down the road from Ikea (for me that would be like a crack addict living across the street from the dealer) as she had to get a shower curtain and I a whole entertainment center. Well that didn't take too long but in the end I had to get most of it delivered. There was no way on earth I could carry those boxes up my stairs on my own (and I didn't want to bug one of my neighbors to help). Thankfully it all arrived before that very same day was done and I could get building (knowing how build time is double/triple what you estimate)! I managed to get one bookshelf built, but boy they're finnigly things with all their moldings and bits. Niiiice, but finnigly. And that was all I could manage Saturday.Then Sunday was up early-ish to get some laundry done before heading out to
meet Jason and Hasse (they of the way fun Pizza & Games on the odd Friday evenings) in town for Brisbane's annual Zombie Walk. We all have fanceee cameras (tho Jason's is by far the fanceeeest) so we wanted to go out and take neat pictures and figured zombies would be perfect! And they were!It was such a fun day that I'm totally going to come back next year and dress up zombie style - makeup, scary scars and all. Plus, any money they raise (by donation only) goes to the Brain Foundation. I'm all for helping a worthy cause and what a better way to help the Brain Foundation than as a zombie! Apparently Brisbane has the biggest zombie walk
in the world. But as Jason so 
cynically pointed out - "that's just what they say on their website." Hmmm. Either way there were thousands of folks there - about 50/50 - zombies vs. people like us there to just watch and take pictures. It was way fun. Highly recommend it next time they invade your town! Oh, and just so you don't think this is some sort of "fad", even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a plan on how to deal with a zombie invasion - Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse!
Then there was this past Monday. I called in sick to work. But
magically by noon or so I felt fine enough to get to building the rest of my bookshelf and bridging shelf! Took most of the day and into the evening (moving all the books and stuff back in) that again, it was waaaay too late to check in. But now it's allllllll done! And big! I love it. I now have furniture that matches and that I like! Just like real people! HOORAY! So that's the living room's mini-makeover..... on to the bedroom!?And that brings us to this weekend. Friday was quiet, which was nice. No stuff
to sell, no people to come around and pick stuff up, no rocks to climb, no place to go except the couch, it was niiiiice. But yesterday, Saturday, I was up way early, even before all the birds, to go on a Mini-Adventure to the 
Glasshouse Mountains for my rock climbing course's "final exam"! I've always wanted to climb or at least go for a good walk around the Glasshouse Mountains, always thought it looked so neat. And it was really fun! Weeeeeeeeeeeee! Got to drive mah cool new car too! Tho I decided to follow my instructor up there (he had to meet another gal at the shop anyway, which is just down the road from my house). Glad I followed them. It's pretty straightforward once you make the trip, but never having driven myself, I was sure to get lost, even tho it's only about an hour north east of town.... Anyways, we finally all m
ade it up there and proceeded to go on quite a good hike to get to our climbing site. A hike that none of us, bar the instructor, was expecting! Woooooooo! That was the most exercise I'd gotten for years! So we finally made it to the top where we caught our breath and got set up to abseil down the cliff we'd just hiked up. Once down, we climbed it a few times (tons of fun tho I only got 2 climbs in) we 
collected our things and hiked not far to the next spot where we abseiled down even further to get closer to the base of the cliff that we'd just hiked up. From there we hiked back to our cars and were done! WHEW! Big day, much fun! Much exercise too, my legs are still feeling it.......! So that was our big class day out, we have one more class this coming Tuesday back at Kangaroo Point and then we're finished. Just as I got in the routine of going rock climbing and learning on Tuesday evenings! So will definitely have to go along on as many "social climbs" as I can. It's heaps of fun, the people are so nice and it's good for you! HOORAY! Plus, when they have social climbs out of town, I can drive along, and if we have to camp, I've got my own studio apartment! Yay!And then today. Well, I must say after the last few weekends and yesterday, I was in real need of a nice quiet day to do nothing (except for the laundry of course). So yes, didn't do much. Started to watch "Cowboys and Aliens" but got distracted. And then it was time to check in here....... Ahhhhhhhhh, lazy Sunday. Life was good today.
And, finally, that brings us up to now! Sorry again for the lengthy delay, I should be on time from now on barring any unapproved weekend shortening......... Oh, wait, on second thought, while I think of it, next weekend Kim and I are off to Grafton (about 4&1/2 hours drive south, in New South Wales) to go their annual Jacaranda Festival. It looks pretty neat in a flowering-Jacaranda-trees-everywhere kinda way. Good for photos and a really good run for the car. My friend Jan had taken her Mom there last year and said they really enjoyed it, so I thought 'why not?!' So we're planning to leave Saturday morning and return Sunday afternoon. Will hopefully have the energy to check in that evening but something tells me probably not. Depends on how late we get back and how pooped I am...... Hmmm. But, anyways, there you have it! Hope you're all well up there. Drop a line so I know there's more than just the odd cricket hopping around here. Speaking of crickets, I have to highly recommend a cuuuuuuuuute little computer-animated series called "Minuscule". Each "episode" is only roughly 4&1/2 minutes long and features different computer-animated bugs doing stuff in real landscapes. It's hard to explain, so just go find an episode, like this one - "The Fight for the Lollipop". They're most excellent and hilarious. No dialogue, just sound-effects. They're priceless. So good in fact that I went out and bought the whole series!
So yes, there you have it, drop a line, come on down, and hope you're all well!
BYE!
J!
*P.S. Not that suicide is a matter to be taken lightly (I know from experience). If someone's having problems, there's help, trust me.http://suicidehotlines.com/national.html
http://www.lifeline.org.au/Find-Help/Find-Help/default.aspx
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