Month: February 2012

Laurie Oakes – The Sage – tips…


Gillard has apparently called for a ballot on Monday. The old sage Laurie Oakes from Channel 9 was commenting on the Today Show this morning, and he said Rudd and his supporters need not respond to that. They could tell Gillard there will be a challenge but it would not to the PM’s timing. The reasons are simple – firstly, there would be no time for campaigning. Secondly, parliament is still sitting and should the ballot result in a change of PM, negotiations with independent MPs would be required and parliament could not simply be suspended for that to happen.

All very sound arguments to a lay person like me.

What was interesting however, was the sense that Laurie Oakes sounded like he was advising the Rudd camp on the appropriate response. Oakes is a known Rudd fan and he doesnt mince his words in showing his disdain for Gillard. Rudd supporters would be all ears when Oakes speaks, Oakes probably knows that.

Whatever the outcome, at least Australian politics is a little bit more interesting. Interesting stuff that the country can do without however… just bring on the elections.

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Rudd and Ponting


K Rudd and R Ponting. They once held the highest and second highest offices of the country respectively. Each of those offices are now held by someone else. In the case of Rudd, it is now held by someone immensely unpopular, disliked and not trusted. Ponting’s successor has now won over the populace. Michael Clarke has through the course of this summer which saw a comprehensive victory over the Indians – an Indian Summer for Aussie cricket indeed – earned the affection of Aussies. Gillard however, remains a turn off for many. Poor judgment and liberty with the truth are a deadly combination as far as public trust and affection is concerned.

Both Rudd and Ponting however, are not happy little vegemites when it comes to exiting the scene graciously.

There comes a time for everyone, when the spotlight is trained on someone else. No matter the level of success, one soon becomes a has been. I bet the late  Whitney Houston will very soon – if not already – disappear from public forum, great singer that she was.  If only Rudd (in particular) learns how to be contented with what he is doing and not look at what lies at the next corner. That can be a really hard thing to do. To win confidence and affection however, that is what one needs to do.

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Run, (Forest ?)


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I had to pick myself up and try to run again.  So I jumped on the treadmill yesterday and did a laborious 50 mins or so, doing just under 8km. Ditto this morning. I also started doing side bends with some weights; so pathetic is my core strength now. Doing sit ups on an inclined bench was also much tougher than I had expected. Big payback for all the indulgence of this past year or so.

Someone asked me recently why I had piled on the pounds. My take? There just isn’t any other source of fulfillment now, other than food. I feel demotivated in a lot of things, principally at work. I got to get off this trench, hopefully by running again and taking care of what I shove down the pie hole. I need to find some motivation from somewhere, which would replace food as that something I look forward to.

I guess doing 8km is better than not doing anything at all but I would love to do that in under 40 minutes again, not under an hour. And I want to be totally focused on work again.

 

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Back to square one


Tress and I got home to Melbourne on Sat arvo, just after 5pm. We were supposed to be back yesterday but Port Albert – our last stopover – was way too quiet and given it was only less than 3 hours from home, we decided to come straight home. We walked the entire length and breadth of Port Albert inside 25 minutes and were seriously wondering what we were going to do if we stayed the night as originally planned. That town of 1 pub, 1 cafe and a handful of wharfs didnt seem like a place to linger on, so we took off soon after 2pm.

On arrival at home I was filled with a sudden gush of sadness. I found myself not being able to speak very much, as I unpacked and went into Kiddo’s room to sort some stuff out. Tress busied herself with loads of chores, as did I. Later that night we went to Indochine in Box Hill and my sense of sadness continued.

In a way I felt like we were starting all over again – the feeling was like when we first arrived in Melbourne in 2004. The sense of having to do it all again, that sense of having lost the familiar, was a tad too much for me.

The next morning was the same thing and after waking I made coffee but continued busying myself with sorting out the study together with her room. After church we lunched with Gerry and Jesslyn and when I got home, I continued busying myself – this time with the garden. It was hot but I ploughed on.  Anything was better than staying indoor in a house that has lost some of the familiar love and buzz. It was easier to stay out in the garden and in the heat of the summer afternoon sun and work up a sweat. I worked from 2 to 6pm, then got in to freshen up to get over to Jason and Mel’s for dinner, together with Gerry and Jesslyn. Invariably

The inevitable came however and we got home, again to a house that felt strange. Our minds turned immediately to Canberra. Tress and I waited for a chance to ring her on Skype but we ended up only speaking to her briefly on the phone at close to midnight.

I really want to get back to legal work; other than the money which would come in handy for the extras that would now be required, I need to be busy again.

Images then and now


Images of my room sittin atop the offices of the property agent – LJ Hooker – comes to mind. Images of that desk flanked by a bookshelf on the one side and a bed on the other, in particular. I’d sit on that desk, and try to think of Tress’ face as she sat at her desk in her room. She had gone back to Malaysia, and I was still in Sydney. I was trying to see her in my mind. I missed her. That was 22 years ago, I think.

Images of another room come to mind now. That room in Burton & Garran Hall looked so small. I am trying to see her in my mind. It was less than a week ago.

Elections please, Gillard


We’re sort of on holidays now. We left kiddo at Canberra yesterday and came to Batemans Bay.

The news have focused a lot on Gillard’s mortifying appearance at the Four Corners program. Given her pathological lying tendencies and Rudd’s fatuousness, Australians should just demand elections to come sooner rather than later. Bring on the elections please. Now.

Road Ahead Beckons


It has been a slightly busier last couple of days at work for me. Renovation works scheduled for next week were brought forward and things got a bit messy. I was in early the past couple of days and today – my last day at work before taking a week off for Canberra et al – I’m kind of hoping to have a “POETS” day (Piss off early, tomorrow’s Saturday – pardon the Aussie pleasantries).

Tress has been busy too so I hope today would be better than yesterday.

English: Mallacoota Top Lake, 2011
One Chapter Closes
Batemans Bay
Another one opens

In any case we’re both looking forward to a mini break of sorts. We plan to push off early tomorrow so all the packing for kiddo and other road trip preps must be done tonight. We hope to be at the doors of Burton and Garran Hall by about 2pm, which would allow us a few hours to attend to whatever that needs to be attended to. Tress and I leave the PhB student on Tuesday and will make our way back to Melbourne but via the NSW coast. First stop is Batemans Bay, then down past Bega Valley towards Mallacoota and then down past the Lakes Entrance and towards Wilson’s Prom where Port Albert would be our last stop. We arrive back in Melbourne on Sunday. The Little Black Jedi will be coming along for the ride.

When all that driving’s over and we’re b

ack in Melbourne, life will be somewhat different for us. Life really is a box of chocolates.

Batemans Bay at twilight, looking towards the ...
What lies ahead...
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Backpack from North Melbourne


Kiddo wanted a backpack for uni and was looking up some online sites for it a couple of nights ago. She settled on an STM model – STM Convoy laptop backpack – which is olive in colour, holds the MacBook pretty well, has loads of compartments and great features like a waterproof bonnet, and looks well made.

So yesterday morning I did some digging around and found one in North Melbourne – under Maxfixit site. The person on the email was responsive so I drove over to their site to pick it up during lunch. The transaction went okay but dealing with the staff was something else.

When I walked into the office, a young lady was typing away on a computer and barely looked up, face grim and all. A young man from another corner of the room walked across towards me and I mentioned the email exchange earlier. That young girl muttered something about the bag being at the back of the room somewhere and did not greet or look at me. The young man just went and took the bag, took down some details and processed my payment. This all took a quick 10-15 minutes but it all happened without the slightest occurrence of pleasantries.

I got back to the office just a bit after lunch, and emailed kiddo that I got the bag. So the transaction went ok in that we got the bag pretty quickly and at a reasonably ok price. If you don’t mind the sour puss personnel it would be a perfectly good place to get your Mac stuff but if you want a bit of friendly exchange, look around online and wait for the parcel to be delivered FedEx or something like that. Avoid the Maxfixit North Melbourne office.

Kiddo got her backpack and I think she’s happy with that.

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