Tag: Melbourne

Why We “Fought”


For posterity, and as a reminder of why we pursued what we did, quite strongly, more than a year ago.

Hi everyone

I like to share my personal thoughts with you as home group members, concerning the integration.

I don’t think the questions (which were raised yesterday) about what is the will of God for ICC and whether Pastor TF engagement fits that will, are questions which bother us in our home group. In any case I would like to share my thoughts with you, so that we have a (somewhat) clearly articulated position.

If you agree, then we can at least be clear in our mind about why we are doing this. We will also be better placed to share this with others in ICC.

My apologies for being “cheong heh” but if you can spare 10-15 minutes please read through. If you agree, you are welcomed to share this with others.

Finally, if you can, try to attend the prayer meetings. Apart from the integration, it is always good to pray together and to meet specifically to pray. For this integration, come together to pray as a church if you can. This is just so we can commit the matter to Him even as we plan and do the detailed work of implementing these plans.

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Why integrate? What is the will of God? Is it simply to plan and do our best for Him?

1. ICC has not had a pastor[1] since late 2005/early 2006. In the second half of 2009, efforts to find a pastor escalated and a number of candidates were identified and considered at length.

2. Prior to 2009, efforts to find a pastor were confined to limited number of candidates namely, Rev Jeremiah Yap and Rev TT Quah. Both these candidates have current and extensive portfolios in Australia as well as overseas. They are often overseas and their current commitments preclude them from responding to our needs in the manner we expect them to.

3. The candidates we have considered in 2009 have now been narrowed down to just one, namely Pastor Tham Fuan. I will refer to him as “TF”.

4. TF graduated from the Bible College of Victoria in 1994. BCV is a seminary accredited by the Australian College of Theology. Prior to 1994 TF was serving as a lay leader in his church in Malaysia and served as a leader in student ministry in Tasmania. From 1994 to-date, TF has been serving actively as a full-time servant of God. He continued his seminary training and obtained post graduate qualifications – an MA in Ministry from BCV in 2002.

5. TF has served as a pastor (in chronological order) in Canaan Church in KL Malaysia, FGA Melbourne in Box Hill and Cornerstone Church of Christ in Oakleigh East. He has been with Cornerstone since 2006.

6. We have heard TF preach in ICC for maybe 6-8 times now. Some of us have also had the opportunity to spend time with him socially a number of times. I believe many (if not all) share the view that he is a godly man who is committed and has a passion for the work of fulfilling the Great Commission and building His church. His pulpit messages have been godly biblical expository teachings which challenge listeners to take life changing actions and decisions.

7. TF was a board member of Wycliffe Malaysia and has participated in mission work both on-field and as a support mobilising intermediary. In fact ICC first initiated contact with TF as a result of Alex’s mission network which included Beram Kumar and STAMP, whom TF also knows and worked with.

8. Additionally TF is a sole pastor in Cornerstone, a church which shares the same statements of beliefs as ICC.

9. On a personal level, TF is married to Suan Choo and they have 2 daughters, Danica who is in Year 12 and Elysia who is in Year 7. We have been to his home for meals and they are not unlike any ordinary lively and loving family making their lives in the suburbs of Melbourne. Suan Choo works as an accountant in the city and Danica and Elysia attend Oxley College.

10. In all respects therefore, there is nothing about TF, his beliefs, teachings, work ethics, values, family lives and commitment to God and His work which creates any concern for me. To me he is as good a candidate as ICC can be blessed with.

11. As with all good candidates, he is presently serving in another church – Cornerstone Church of Christ. Cornerstone renewed the engagement of TF last year and under TF, the church has settled, stabilized, grown and is seeking to be even more effective for God.

12. I am glad TF is not seeking to resign from Cornerstone to come to ICC. This demonstrates his commitment to the flock he has been entrusted with. He is looking to ICC only as an expansion to provide both Cornerstone as well as another church (namely ICC) in Melbourne, with a common and enlarged platform for even greater effectiveness for God, so that we can better obey Him and be better agents of the gospel for Him.

13. We are therefore looking at engaging a pastor who has been and remains committed to the work of God as a full time pastor. There is neither any question about TF commitment to do this on a dedicated full time basis nor has there been any event in his life to render continuation of this work problematic.

14. Obviously TF will have his flaws. He is shy – we all know that. There have been remarks that he has a strong character and while I don’t see that as a flaw, let us just accept that it may be at this stage. That makes him human. However it is his good traits I am more interested in and all of these which have been identified, have no doubt been seen by Cornerstone as well. They too want him to continue serving as their pastor.

15. This brings to a logical question of whether ICC and Cornerstone can come together as one, with TF as the pastor for a new merged church.

16. To me, this requires much harder work than just engaging a pastor who doesn’t “come with a church”. However. I’d rather wear this hard work than engage a pastor who has for example, just left a church (making it necessary for us to consider why he left) or just joined the ministry (he would then lack the experience of TF) or any other circumstances which makes him available readily. The only other scenario is to get someone from overseas. This may not be the best route as such a person would have to acclimatise himself with the way churches function in Melbourne/Australia. As a relatively fresh migrant I see very different setting between churches in (say) Malaysia and in Melbourne/Australia.

17. And so we consider merger. Even as I looked closer, I begin to see why this can be a good thing.

18. Churches in Melbourne are a fragmented scene. The average number in a church in Melbourne is about 65. Every week thousands of churches some as small as 20-30 persons and most with less than 100, replicate resources and stretch what we have in order to carry out the most basic of church functions.

19. In each of those thousand of churches, we all replicate and invest time so that a church will have basic Sunday worship, prayer meetings, weekly or fortnightly bible studies and some (often annual) outreach programs. For a church of under 100 persons, these activities alone will keep most members busy.

20. Additionally, if you consider the 80-20 rule, you’d have pockets of 20 persons across Melbourne all doing the same thing – attending to the bare necessities for a church to function. Few have spare time to do more than the basic functions. If someone gets sick and needs visitation or attention then that stretches the resources of the church. If someone is moving house that stretches resources. If there is a wedding that really stretches the church resources. If a newcomer comes and needs follow up – ditto. Someone needs a lift – ditto. Someone has emotional needs – ditto. We spend our time tending to the most basic of needs to keep the church running (floating?). This is especially true in a church such as ICC, which has had no pastor for a number of years.

21. These are important functions but they must not erode the role the church has to play to fulfil the Great Commission.

22. Size isn’t everything, but it does tend to provide more resources so that efforts can be pooled and deployed more strategically. Resources must be targeted at outreach and mission work, at work which builds disciples and at work which teach and edifies members.

23. As someone has already mentioned (I think it was Pauline) Cornerstone also provides a plug to a critical demographic gap. Cornerstone comprise of a large proportion of young adults and young families. This complements the demographics of ICC. This age group is critical because it is a bridge between the 40/50+ and the youth (primary and high schoolers). Without this age group, primary and high schoolers may not have the required handles as to what sort of role models they can focus on, relate to and/or aspire to become.

24. As a merged church, I hope to see ICC (or whatever our new name may be) become better resourced to do the work of God which matters the most – outreach, evangelism and mission, and teaching each other the Word of God.

25. Pastor TF will be able to provide us with sound, biblical teachings with life changing challenges and do this consistently and systematically and members will be better placed to grow and become agents of the Great Commission and make disciples of those God place in their lives.

26. I cannot see how the above scenario can be against the will of God. I often say to others that God doesn’t lead us just by the weird and unusual stuff – ie dreams, visions, “word” etc.

27. God by and large leads and guides us by providing us with logical thoughts and preparing us to put those thoughts into perspective by making us go through a range of experiences. God is an orderly and logical being as evidenced by His creation. Why would He lead us in ways other than in an orderly and logical fashion? Why are we not confident that when we think logically and plan in an orderly fashion it isn’t being lead by God? Against those thoughts and plans, I’d pray and search the scriptures. The Word of God ultimately has to be the arbiter of whether it is against the will of God for us to be doing something.

28. If what we have logically and orderly sought the Lord, planned and determined – and therefore confident God has lead us in an orderly and logical way – cannot be refuted by any biblical principles, then we should be confident to move on. We cannot orderly and logically plan for example, to kill, steal or hurt our neighbours. Where what we have committed to the Lord and thought and prayed through and considered all facts and circumstances in a responsible, engaging and wise manner, and there has been no biblical principle adduced to suggest otherwise, we should be confident to move ahead.

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Mene Mene Tekel Parsin


I used to be appalled by graffiti. And then for a little while I thought maybe I was just wasn’t sophisticated enough to appreciate this sort of stuff, because some people think this is street art. I guess it ceases to be street art when the medium of such artistic expression is either private property or public domain with scarred aesthetics. When something previously beautiful is defaced it ceases to be artistic, even assuming such acts can be termed artistic, as opposed to a nasty tendency to be rebellious and express such tendencies in an in-your-face yet cowardly but provocative manner.

I was following some reactions to the Federal Court judgment against Andrew Bolt, when I stumbled on this marvellous blog entry which cited the work of Mark Steyn in relating the example of graffiti as a symptom of western civilisation decay. The juxtaposition between the Old Testament story relating to Daniel’s interpretation of the Babylonian King’s message of doom on the wall and the modern day disease of graffiti, was a joy to read. I must list this book (After America: Get Ready for Armageddon) under my wish-list basket in Amazon.com.

I must however, make room for singing the praises of Melbourne in approaching this issue, albeit only as a compromise. A couple of years ago Kiddo, Tress and I were wandering in the city one day and Kiddo (the official city guide for us) took us to that infamous street where graffiti covered the every brick of all walls lining that street. Personally to me it was grotesque. We took some pictures, with half of me glad that such “freedom” existed in my home city but the other half cringed because in that same block and also for blocks surrounding that area, beautiful buildings, courtyards and public squares abound. The compromise I guess is in letting these tormented souls release the ghosts within the deep recesses of their beings in a way which engages the support, consent and approval of owners of buildings otherwise considered defaced. I guess some would say they can see beauty in such expressions and some would welcome such activities by these people and not try and “turn them around”.

Ah well, I blame it all on post-modernism. Again. Nothing is right or wrong anymore. All must be respected. All must be given their say and corner in this world.

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Retail Tailing Off?


I was in the Dick Smith outlet in Box Hill earlier today, looking for an adapter for a very old printer in our office. I could not find the adapter so I thought I’d ask one of the 2 shop assistants I saw in the shop. Neither of them showed any interest in serving me, even though I was standing right at the front of the reception, making it as obvious as I could, that I was waiting for help. I stood and waited for easily 10 minutes. One of those 2 shop assistants was behind the reception counter on the phone, obviously on a personal call. He could not have missed me, the only person waiting at the counter at that time. When he finished the call, he walked away from the counter and went to the back of the shop. It wasn’t until about 5 minutes had passed before he came back to the reception counter. I wonder if both the workers were hoping I would go away after waiting for a few minutes. As it turned out, my near 20 minute wait was futile as all it took for one of them to finally attend to me, was less than a minute to say to me the adapter wasn’t available.

It is the same with the Myer Forest Hill Chase store. For as long as they have existed (since taking over the Harris Scarfe store), they are one of the worst Myer outlets I know. The service is near non-existent and when you do get service, it is the most unfriendly type.

Ditto the Gazman outlet at The Glen shopping center in Glen Waverley. You either get no service or when you do, you get the most unfriendly, almost rude service.

So why is there a prevalence of bad service in retail outlets? You hear complaints on talkback radio but it is only when I put my own recent bad experiences that I realise it isn’t an isolated or aberration of a problem. It looks like the trend now.

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BERSIH and Carbon Tax


9 July has come and gone. Tress and I were with close to a thousand others at the Federation Square on Saturday afternoon, for a rally to demand some electoral reforms in Malaysia. We went with Brian, a good mate of mine who in turn introduced us to another bloke, who was also a lot of fun. The BERSIH rally in Melbourne was no where near as eventful as the KL version, but the KL folks showed the BN government it needs to take a serious look at itself or it is going to be sitting at the opposition side of the house come the next election. At the very least, BERSIH 2.0 has stripped BN off whatever claim to legitimacy it has left. Najib Razak can barely stand with any credibility and he has his mob has come out of this looking really rubbish. Well done BERSIH, well done, Ambiga.

On the domestic front, Bob Brown, Christine Milne and their mob have flexed their muscles and Julia Gillard continues to look worse by the day. All the compensatory aspects of the scheme may sit well for now for a group of voters but how will employment and foreign investment be affected over time? I don’t think Julia Gillard will be able to make the sale to the people in that regard. I think for most Australians, compensation is only a small part of it. What we want is assurance that jobs and investments and growths of these will not be adversely impacted, especially given the minimal impact the carbon tax will have on climate change.

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5 Deg (feels like 2 deg)


Beginning of St Kilda Road, Melbourne, on Prin...
Image via Wikipedia

That’s what my weather app is saying about Forest Hill now. No wonder I’m freezing my watuzi off. Why is it so cold? Or have I just become old?

I was just at Kiddo’s school for an info/briefing session for her trip to the old world. It’s now just over 2 weeks before they leave and everyone is excited now. I had to trek into the city and in this weather, it wasnt fun. The traffic was bad, it was cold and, I’m not the one going to Europe in 2 weeks.A 6pm meeting meant I had to cut across the city circa 5.30pm – the worst possible time to be in the St Kilda Road area. Thankfully a cold night meant there was plenty of parking available so that took some of the pain away. I was a little late and when I approached the theaterette where the talk was being held, the crowd was already there and it had started.

Kiddo reserved a seat just next to her and I sat down and tried to get into the mood of things. Thankfully I managed that.

Apparently it will be hot in Italy this northern summer. What a treat it’d be for kiddo, if even to just get away from this cold and wet winter in Melbourne. It would be a trip she will enjoy and remember very fondly I’m sure. I’m really happy for her. If nothing else, she’d get away from this cold for a few weeks. Why is it so cold? Or am I just old?

 

Donor Fatigue – What A Tiresome Thought


I was talking to a mate who mentioned he was told recently that some congregations in Melbourne are experiencing donor fatigue,

I recall waking up one morning in Patna, the capital city of Bihar in India. A mate (the one I was talking to) and I were there several years ago, on an unscheduled stop of a mission trip. Our flight from Lucknow to Calcutta was interrupted and we landed there as a result of a mechanical fault and we checked into a dingy hotel courtesy of Sahara Air (or whatever the domestic airline was called).

It was early in the morning and I thought I’d take a walk down the street and look at this city which I may never have a chance to return.

I walked out from the hotel to a cacophony of sounds and a kaleidoscope of colours. It was as though the curtains to a screen in a movie theatre were parted. What hit me though, were not the sight and sound, or even the smell. I was nevertheless looking at scenes which were to etch on my mind forever.

I saw right outside the hotel, women sweeping the footpaths with broken off tree branches full of leaves. These Indian women were not street sweepers though. They were sweeping their homes. They had rolled or stacked away whatever cardboard or newspapers they had been sleeping on, put on stoves and were sweeping an area on which they were going to set the morning’s meal for the family – all right there on the footpaths.

There were also bicycles and trishaws being pushed up and down the streets, with large plywood boards strapped to the rear. Dried cow pads were heaped in rows on these boards. They were for fuel for the women to cook their meals, once they had finished sweeping the footpaths which were to be their dining areas.

Little Indian children were everywhere – the younger ones were not wearing any clothes and the older ones were decked out in torn, oversized and dusty, grimy pieces of clothing which were obviously not intended for them.

I saw some men squatting on curbsides and observing either the children or the women. These were the ones without either bicyles or trishaws and had nowhere to go and no work to do. Some were walking slowly to a town square several hundred meters down the road, presumably to wait for work as daily labour hires.

Although Bihar is one of the poorer states in India, the scenes I observed were repeated right across the other places in India I subsequently visited.

I last went to India maybe 8-9 years ago with Tress – we were on a holiday so the conditions of our travel were different but I continued to observe the same scenes. A period of 8-9 years, especially over a period of aggressive economic growth, may have changed things but I can imagine many places still stuck in the quagmire and left behind by the growth and development of the haves.

In the slums of Calcutta for example, you’d walk through muddy paths with excretion of dogs, cows, goats, pigs and even humans dotting the way through. We’d constantly hop from spot to spot to avoid stepping on them. The paths are smelly, grimy and filthy and they are often the fronts of homes erected on either side with combinations of plywood off cuts, cardboard and plastic sheets. Only very occasionally would you get a brick building.

Once we were at a school started by a mission organisation (Operation Mobilisation) in a slum in Calcutta, which was less than maybe 10mx6m, with corrugated iron sheets for roof and broken bricks and plywood walls and no windows which render the little hut a sweltering oven. It was built right next to a swamp – it could have been a man made pond of some sort. The water was still and was thick and black and pigs, cows and dogs were wading in and out of that toxic looking body of water. Kids were squatting on the edges, also wading in and out.

We were told that it was a good thing it was the dry season. When the rains came, everything we saw and smelled would rise and extend beyond that body of water. The muddy paths would become black streams over which the worst imaginable filth would flow, often into homes.

When I read of storms hitting the West Bengal delta, I imagine the slums in Calcutta being awashed with unspeakable and unimaginable hardships. Those ramshackle huts would be blown away by the weakest of storms and whatever sparse furniture and cooking utensils would be gone.  It wouldn’t have required a strong wind to blow away the tree branches and plastic sheets which made up walls and roofs of those homes on footpaths all over the streets. The dried cow pads would be useless and the stoves would be no more. Diseases would probably claim many lives.

I would wonder how I would explain donor fatigue to them, or to myriads of even worse calamities.

I would perhaps wonder how I explain why I opted for better looking and better quality floor coverings over simpler ones and channeling the difference to where hardships can be alleviated, even if only by a little. Or maybe I can rug up a bit more and save the money on heating, so that I may help some poor soul in Bihar get a new stove.

Donor fatigue? May we somehow overcome this dreaded ill so that others may have resources to overcome far greater ill.

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3AW – Talking Melbourne (but Reporting to Sydney?)


One of my favourite radio stations is 3AW. I know that tends to betray my age. I was on a site visit a few weeks ago with a colleague, who frowned on 3AW when I turned on the car radio. He is of course, a younger man so I acknowledged the folly of my age and switched to a more mod station – some FM rock rumblings (like Triple M) to rob the journey off its peace and serenity.

The only other talk radio offering here in Melbourne is MTR, a recent venture spearheaded by Steve Price, once a program director of 3AW and who was responsible in bringing Ross Stevenson (of the Ross and John Breakfast Show fame – oh what blazingly quick with) to 3AW.  MTR is part owned by Macquarie Radio Network, which also owns 2GB, a station I used to listen to when I was a student in Sydney and first learned to like talk radio. It was the likes of John Laws and Mike Carlton who ruled the airwaves then, both on 2GB. I believe Laws moved to 2UE later, but I’m not sure. Or maybe it was Alan Jones I was listening to on 2UE.

Anyway, there was a smallish news article this morning about Fairfax Media Ltd (owners of 3AW) commissioning KPMG to look into the possibility of selling 3AW, and one of the interested buyers is Macquarie Radio. I guess the ACCC would have a say in this transaction.

3AW is an institution in Melbourne. I have been listening to it since the day I arrived in Melbourne and other than the occasional foray into ABC Classical music or Light FM stuff 3AW has the main chunk of airtime in my home and car. I’d have Ross and John on weekdays and Darren on weekends (Buy, Swap or Sell – or something like that – and the gardening show with a lady whose name I forget). When I have the day off, I’d have Neil Mitchell on too. Darren Hinch is in the kitchen on most evenings as well.

As an institution, 3AW has a place like no other media platform. It has probably the most captive audiences across all forms of media. I believe whatever residual market there is after 3AW, falls onto MTR’s plate.

If Macquarie Radio succeeds in acquiring 3AW, not only would it provide the company with control over the only 2 talk radio stations in Melbourne, it would also provide a Sydney-centric company with direct control over Melbourne’s most iconic media hub. I mean – take a look at the Board of Macquarie Radio. It is filled with the establishment of Sydney’s financial and advertising personalities. Guys like Mark Carnegie (of Carnegie, Wylie and Company the investment bank), Steve Chapman (Founder Chair of Baron Partners, another investment bank), Max Donnelly (of Ferrier Hodgson) and Richard Freemantle (Mr Cisco system) as well as personalities like Maureen Plavsic, an ex Channel Seven advertising powerhouse. How does a Melbourne institution like 3AW contemplate being controlled by this mob?

Not that it matters to me as a relatively new Melbournian who grew up on 2GB – but surely the rest of Melbourne wouldn’t like this and isn’t Grant Samuel from Melbourne?

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Metro Moans


Over the long Easter weekend we were at a dinner party where the pre-dinner small talk was on commuting.

There were 2 who drove to work, one retired person who relayed his pleasure at taking the train into the city and yours truly, whose famously impatient traits are being tested on a daily basis.

Of the 2 who drove, one had never taken the train. Metro might as well be the Millennium Falcon to him.

The other bloke used to take the train years ago but after a number of delays, hold ups and break downs, decided to drive and hasn’t looked back since.

The retiree travelled off peak so is spared of the travails of public transport.

Yours truly was the lone sufferer. It is an ongoing persecution. It is a Pauline pain in you-know-where. The Apostle asked the Lord three times, to remove the source of his pain. I tried it and the Lord answered partially. He removed Connex. Redemption however was no where insight as Metro is no Messiah.

In fact it is positively Machiavellian to usher in Metro and raised the hopes of sojourners that we would henceforth journey to the Promised Land of reliability and punctuality. Metro as it turned out, is a massively false messiah.

My ride is via what is called a “City Loop”. As you enter the city via whichever railway line from the suburbs, you enter the city via one of several spots. The most common ones by far, are the Flinders Street and Parliament stations. They are on the opposite end of the CBD circle , with the former on the south side of the city and the latter on the north. Trains coming into the city are either “Flinders Street” or “City Loop”. If you come in via the former, Flinders Street station is the first stop, then you go through the circle and the train leaves the city after going past Parliament.

The City Loop train is the reverse. There are only 3 stations (Spencer, Flagstaff and Melbourne Central) in between so it is no biggie but the loop takes about 10 minutes to cover, and you’d be surprised how 10 minutes over 3 stops fill up the cars very quickly. We haven’t quite reached the stage where conductors need to shove passengers in but we have reached a stage where passenger proximity is such that if this was an Islamic country, we’d be looking at separate cars for men and women.

I’m almost always on the City Loop trains because my office is only a block and a half from Parliament Station. It is also the nearest to our station – Blackburn – so the ride is only about say, 25 minutes. It is the perfect leg for me, time wise.

Whatever advantage there is however, depends on punctuality and reliability. If the train arrives late the short 25 minute journey is extended. Likewise, if they muck around by switching the route, one wastes precious minutes too. So if you’re on a City Loop and the Metro decide to turn it into a Flinders Street train, you either ride the extra 10-15 minutes or you jump off at Richmond – a major exchange just outside the CBD – and wait for a City Loop. One usually arrives within a few minutes but the whole saga usually sets you back 10 minutes easy. Not much in the scheme of things, but add that to the array of other irritating non-compliance and one wonders why the State Government sacked Connex in the first place. Frequently for example, the City Loop in the evening would be cancelled and one has to take a ride to Richmond for a connecting train or wait for the next one. Either way you are again set back 15-20 minutes. Not much for sure, but again, the cumulative effect is there. It has happened so often that Metro has long turned into a joke for Melbourne commuters. To add insult to injury, Metro has just increased fare and just this morning Tress was saying the monthly has gone up to over $175 now (from about $160).

Yet, when I am frustrated I only have to remind myself of “KTM Komuter”. I remember several occasions where I waited on a platform, only for a train to arrive on the one opposite. Many would jump onto the tracks to run across to the other side, because if you don’t or don’t do a sprint of Carl Lewis proportion to run through the overhead to the other side, you run the risk of waiting for … God knows how long for the next one. Actually at the rate it is going, who knows – Metro may descend to that level… now where’s the car keys?

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Day Out


A colleague was working on a case which was potentially curly. The team had wanted to set out a consistent approach in terms of treatment of similar cases but sometimes – often in fact – so much depends on the facts of a particular case. A site visit was thought useful to verify certain factual situations and to put documented facts in perspective.

I was asked to come along for the visit. I guess it is part familiarization with site visit procedures but also good control to have more than just the one person on site visits.

So yesterday this colleague and I set out for the property in question. It was located at the start of the Great Ocean Road and it was going to take us about an hour and a half to get there.

We were at the Finance department early on to pick up the car keys and look for the necessary paper work. We then headed down to the basement where the cars were, and I was pleasantly surprised to note that the Office has a fleet of the Toyota Camry Hybrid. My colleague was even more of a novice in these things than yours truly. He pushed the power button on and then the both of us just sat in the car for a while, wondering if he had done all the right thing, as the car was so quiet we thought nothing was happening.

We finally pulled out of the parking space and made our way past the five floors underground to emerge out of the belly of the complex, onto Bourke Street, after going past 3 boom gates. Soon the wet morning pushed on and it was belting down. While waiting for the lights on Flinders Street, we thought the engine had died on us, so quiet was the thing. It felt like it had powered down to a safe mode of sorts but when my colleague engaged the gear back to drive it took off again. Soon I was fiddling around with the radio and after about 5 minutes of talk back radio on 3AW, I switched channel to an FM music channel – I think it was either Classic Rock on 104.3 or Vega on 91.5. My colleague lighted up noticeably – he must have thought me an old man, what was I doing listening to Neil Mitchell on a drive out to the Great Ocean Road.

We were soon out of the city and on the Westgate, heading towards Geelong and beyond. It was still belting down – the rain was tropical. Still, it beats being cooped up in the office so we enjoyed the ride.

At the property my colleague talked to the clients while I took some pictures. It was a basic Canon SLR model. Thanks to my (very) modest self education on these toys, I could handle the thing ok and my colleague and our boss was fairly pleased with the outcome of my photographic efforts and they sort of spoke the thousands of words the report needed to attend to the clients’ file.

We got back around 1.30pm after stopping in town for coffee and a very good apple and rhubarb cake (it was labeled as a fancy pastry with some French name but it was a cake to me). I told my colleague this morning I think I have an idea for a day trip this coming Easter long weekend. I think he had the same idea.

Regards,Ian

Sent from my iPhinity (and beyond)

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Bazza’s Buzz and (Kiddo’s) Whirlwind Weekend


 

       

Tress and I had the house to ourselves on Saturday night. Oh, with the Little Black Jedi also, of course. Kiddo had a birthday party and we drove her to birthday girl’s home in Pasco Vale in the north-west of the city. After dropping her off, I made the mistake of thinking we could get into the city for a quick dinner. The usual Saturday crowd turned us off and we drove back to the east and stopped by Box Hill for a bite before returning home. 

The Petaling Street food joint which first opened up in Glen Waverley had branched out to Box Hill. A few weeks ago I was walking around near the office and I saw another one being renovated, this time on Swanston Street. The one in Box Hill was very well run. Staff were hardworking, courteous, alert to diners’ reactions and the food was pretty decent too.

Earlier that day, I had gone to the library to try and catch up with my MST work. Tress and Kiddo were together but Tress had a dental appointment in the arvo. I decided to tidy up the garden and spent the arvo mowing, pruning, sawing off some branches off the pine tree on the front lawn, dusted off some cobwebs and basically tried to keep the place under control. Tress was busy with the laundry and was pottering around getting bits and pieces done, including giving LBJ a bath.

Kiddo’s party was a sleepover so Tress and I just sat and watched tv, basically catching up on the bloodbath of the NSW Labour Party in the state elections. Barry O’Farrell seemed like a well grounded guy but he has lots to do now. Everyone we know in Sydney felt the state has been deteriorating in recent years and our visit there a couple of years ago felt bad too – congested road and rail were the main issues for us. When I travelled there for work a few times, I didn’t feel good either. Hopefully Bazza turns things around. He looked like an ordinary bloke but sounded very determined to “fix things”.

Kiddo left the party the next morning and got on a train to Melbourne University for a history lecture, before returning to Glen Waverley station where we picked her up and dropped her off in church for a meeting of the worship team.

I got home and did some more work on MST stuff. I got to church half way through to pick kiddo up, returned for more work and then went to the Royal Children’s Hospital with Tress, Mel and Jason to visit a church member whose baby was unwell.  We got home around 7, fixed a quick dinner, watched 60 Minutes and I went back to my study for more work before retiring just after 11. I had thoroughly enjoyed the MST work the whole day.

Regards,

Ian

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