3DownUnder

Work

Although the business planning exercise does not officially launch for another month, most of the teams in my business unit seem to have started already.  I came up with quite a good analogy – it’s a 400m race and although no one has fired the starting pistol, half the competitors are rounding the first bend.  So I spent the majority of this week trying to catch up with them, ensuring everyone is working to the same rules, and because I felt that I was lagging, I started putting the budget for my division together.

Other than that, I ran the second compliance risk management review – that is 18 sessions complete in total and there are still another 8 or 9 to go before we finish in September.  Despite losing 30 minutes of this two hour session to an evacuation drill, I still got it done on time.  I also did a bit of work on the new database we are piloting for the group from August and we had a divisional quarterly review on Friday arvo, followed by drinks.

Exercise

Due to a few aches and pains, being tired and wintry weather I didn’t go for a run this week.  I did take Marley for a walk three times though, once on my own, once with Sam while Maryann was at a friends’ house and once with both of them.

Evenings

On Monday night I had to go out for the residents meeting, but at least it was little more than an hour, not the talkfest it seems to have become recently.  Although we both feel we need more sleep at the moment due to it being winter and Marley getting us up on weekend mornings we ended up staying up until nearly 11pm watching the first episode of Sunshine that I downloaded a few months ago.

I was fairly late leaving work on Tuesday after our team meeting, as per usual.  Having got home at 7pm I still seem to need a 4 hour window to relax before bed so we stayed up even later watching the last two episodes of Sunshine.  A mixture of this week being the anniversary of my brother dying and scenes in Sunshine of the grandad dying in hospital got me all upset and I ended up drinking more than I should midweek and feeling quite down.  Watching some of the scenes of English countryside, and especially the relationship between the young lad and his grandad had me as nostalgic for the old country as I have been in almost four years Down Under.

I was able to leave the office promptly on Wednesday but was too tired and the weather was too wet to go for my regular midweek run.  So we had an early dinner and were in bed by about 8.30, catching up on some much needed sleep.

Thursday was another late night with Marley’s puppy training classes not finishing until almost 9.30pm.  Being as competitive as I am, I was actually quite stoked to win three dentabones when I got Marley to do more sit ups (sit-down-sit-down…) than anyone else – nine sets.

Friday Night

We hit the bar at 4.30pm after the team meeting.  We were all hoping for food as well as drinks but that was almost an hour coming so I had three pints on an empty stomach and was already feeling quite tiddly by the time I left there at 6 o’clock.  From there I went to Durty Nelly’s and met up with three poms, one woman who I have met a couple of times before and two new guys; One of the new guys has been in Perth as long as me but the other has just arrived.  The new guys were really nice and we all had fun chatting away.

After a couple in Durty Nelly’s we went to the Moon & Sixpence for a couple more and watched the band before heading for Northbridge.  The woman left us suddenly as we passed the station; which she did last time we were out in the city.

So the three guys headed into Northbridge and started at the Brass Monkey.  I know when I have had enough to drink these days and when I headed off for the station the other guys also decided to leave.  The new guy lives up fairly close to us so we caught the train together.  By the time everyone finished their pints and went to the loo we were cutting it fine for the train.  Then he had to buy a ticket (I take my SmartRider for granted) and then the barrier wouldn’t open for him so he jumped the barrier and we ran through the tunnel and down the escalator and just got on the train as the doors closed.  Sam picked me up from Joondalup and had a Wok in a Box waiting for me to reheat when I got home – good girl!  I must admit, I expected to have a serious hangover the next morning but the food and a couple of glasses of water meant I felt absolutely fine.

Saturday

Having planned for a hangover I was at a bit of a loose end. I had a bit of a lazy day before we took Marley for a walk between rain showers.  Maryann had been round to her friends house most of the day and went to the library with her.  Later, we got a couple of DVD’s out and after I watched the Wallabies thrash the French in the rugby we all watched Igor together.  When Maryann went to bed Sam and I watched Zac and Miri Make a Porno which was actually quite funny / sweet.

Sunday

Sunday was my turn to get up early to Marley.  Given how manic he tends to get first thing I decided to take him for a walk straight after I fed him but he didn’t seem at all keen.  He normally bites the lead when we start a walk but he seemed to be telling me he didn’t want to go out, or at least go my way.  It was the first time I have walked him alone so there is normally someone to walk in front to give him a reason to follow (walking to heel training has only just started).  At one point we passed a house with a boat on the drive and he refused to walk any further; I’m convinced he thought it was our house.

When Sam got up I left Marley with him for a while.  I did about 5 loads of washing on Sunday to catch up on some arrears (no point waiting for a dry day this time of year) and also did some ironing.  Then I got one of those heads on and cleaned the kitchen and generally had a tidy round.  Then I started the boat up for the first time in a few weeks to make sure it would start as we are planning a river cruise next Sunday.

We went down to Bunnings to buy some new flyscreen material for the back door which was already fraying but Marley had finished it off.  This new stuff claims to be 19 times stronger than the regular but let’s see how it stands up to his teeth!  It was surprisingly easy to fit.  We had a bit of a tidy outside and discussed me making some gates to separate the garage from the patio area which will also keep Marley and his teeth away from anything he could do damage to.  The day we arrived in Aus I couldn’t work out how to get hot water as the water heater is outside and requires a pilot light.  I had a fear of trying anything DIY for a while after that but I am growing in confidence, particularly with my boat repairs.  Making a gate from pickets & planks shouldn’t be beyond me!  Between showers we all took Marley for a walk – Maryann really loves holding his lead and running with him which is good to see as getting her more active was one of the main reasons for getting him.

On Sunday night I watched the Superbikes and spoke to mum and dad on the webcam.  I used the laptop and sat in the front room for the first time and was pleased to have got that working after it kept dropping out the first time I tried.  I think having a new PC also with Vista makes the network far more reliable.  For some reason, I felt more engaged in the conversation in that environment too; less work-like perhaps?  Overall, it was quite a productive weekend considering the weather.

Iain

Work

It was a busy start to the week with a hastily arranged workshop on Monday afternoon and a considerable amount of unexpected budget work as several of our teams have jumped the gun and needed some steering before they got too far ahead of themselves.  I had a telephone / web conference with my boss who was in the UK on Tuesday night but was relieved that it finished before 6pm.  With those two days out of the way I was able to relax a little.  On Wednesday I was able to leave a little early and I planned on working from home on Thursday morning before going out to a site visit near the airport.  But the guy that works for me has been sick and, I think, given me his bug so I was still lying in bed at 10am aching and feeling exhausted as if I had (swine?) flu.  I crawled out of bed to get some lunch and felt a bit better.  An hour before I left the house I was leaning over the toilet in preparedness for being sick but I got showered and dressed and drove down the freeway as I knew I had the entire first line of a business unit waiting to see me.  Thankfully I felt a bit better on the drive down and was able to do a good job of work.  But on Friday I felt just as bad as I had the previous morning and so stayed away from work, which was sensible given possible swine flu concerns.  Again, I felt better after a few hours.

Exercise

I went for a long run on Wednesday again.  I started off on my Tapping mini-circuit with the intention of at least completing that run of about 5km which has always beaten me so far – either because I run too hard, because it is a long steep climb or injuries.  There were a couple of occasions I could have given up, particularly where it got steeper towards the end but by the time I turned on to the main road for a long downhill stretch I felt better.  My knees were still hurting but I was able to carry on and rejoined my Carramar-edges loop near the start.  In the end it was a 12.5km run and I was able to get into second or third gear for the last km.

I went for a quick 4km circuit on Sunday afternoon but as usual, running hard meant I had to walk a few times after 2km. I guess I can claim for walking Marley in this section too, now.

Evenings

On Monday I caught up with some chores, Tuesday was a late one at work and on Wednesday I ran.  We took Marley to junior puppy training on Thursday night.  As usual he went yampy when we first got there and I was feeling off-colour but Sam insisted I should do the training this week.  Charlotte, our instructor, is also a friend and has been giving Sam (or should that be Marley?) free lessons in return for being filmed for a video she is making for a local council.

So while Marley will obey commands for me most of the time at home he was far more interested in the other dogs.  Charlotte was telling me off, Sam was telling me off, Marley wouldn’t do as he was told and I wasn’t feeling well so I really wasn’t happy.  Just to make things worse, Marley pooed on the floor.  But at least he calmed down after that, so maybe he was pulling at the lead because he knew he wanted to go out, not because he wanted to play with the border collie in that direction.  The puppy pre-school classes were 7-8pm but these junior classes don’t start until 8.15pm which means we aren’t home until nearly 10 o’clock so it is a late night, given that we are usually in bed with a book by then now it is winter.  Talking of which, the winter rains have finally arrived, albeit a month late.  There aren’t many days where we don’t have any rain at all now and when it does rain it is torrential.

We went to the Sea Sports Club for the monthly Powerboat meal on Friday night as I had recovered.  I offered to drive which Sam gladly accepted.  I didn’t mind as we usually leave straight after the meal but after Sam had a bottle of wine she wanted to stay and we all ended up sitting in the bar about a metre from the speakers of the band.  I always have trouble telling one sound from another in loud environments so sat there looking glum.  So Sam got the hump with me thinking it was me sulking because I was driving.  Even when we got home Sam wanted to carry on so we ended up sitting up until well after Midnight when we could both have done with the sleep.

Saturday

It was my turn to get up for Marley, but even he seems to be sleeping in later now it is winter, so at least I had until 7 o’clock.  That didn’t mean he was any less yampy - It’s funny watching him over the course of the day like a battery-powered toy as the battery runs out.   It’s just not so funny when you are trying to do things like fill the dishwasher and he tries to climb in to lick the plates or, on this occasion, sweep the floors and he thinks it is a game and clamps his jaw around the bristles.  The only way to calm him down is to be still.  Last week I watched the British Superbikes that I had downloaded but this week I had nothing to watch so I stood over the laptop while he sat on my feet.

When Sam got up I was freed to move around.  The dive section was having its end of season brunch at the club and we had an excellent cooked breakfast with a turn out of probably 50 or so people.  I didn’t win the photo award although I heard quite a few complimentary things said.  And even though Sindy nominated me in the dob-a-diver section, I nominated myself and also nominated someone else (for leaving his cap inside his wetsuit when he went diving) I didn’t win.  But I think I must have got a sympathy vote for making an effort with the photos, dob-a-diver and offering to be secretary next year so I got a bottle of wine (which Sam has kindly drank for me!)  The end of the brunch nicely coincided with the opening of the bar.  I had this pipe dream that I would sit quietly in the corner with a couple of pints reading my paper but it was never going to happen.  I called Sam to come and get me but then Sindy offered to come back and take me home.  In the meantime I had got another pint in. Sindy won the contest to be allowed to take me home (why so keen?!) but was back before I had blown the top off my pint so I had to rush.

When I got home I considered opening another beer and having another go at my fantasy of reading the paper in peace or even going back to bed for a while.  But Sam over-ruled me and made me make myself a cup of coffee and sober up so that later on, during a gap in the rain, we could take Marley for a walk over to the shops while we got coffee.  It is nice that the staff brought us some water for him to drink; only he thought it was far more fun to get both front paws in it and see how fast he could empty the tub.  The other thing I noticed is the social aspect.  Even when running there is no acknowledging nod between runners but take Marley for a walk, especially as he is a cute chocolate brown Labrador puppy, and everyone wants to stop, stroke him and exchange a few words.  We spoke to the husband of one of Sam’s friends on Saturday who is normally very quite and on the way back spoke to a guy from two doors down that I have never even seen before never mind spoken to.  We also met two other women from next door and four doors down at the shops.  So for anyone about to emigrate, while a dog might seem a hassle at first it will certainly help you meet people!

Sam was out for a meal with the girls on Saturday night so I got pizza for Maryann and me.  I’m convinced some innate hibernating behaviour is kicking in now it is winter as I am eating and drinking for two it seems and can even sleep in past 7 o’clock which I haven’t done for months.  I watched some sport on TV – Wallabies beating the Italians at rugby etc.

Sunday was my turn for a lie in and I was amazed when I woke up and looked at the clock – 9.30!  Again I mucked about on the computer until the rain eased then we took Marley to the dog beach just north of Hillarys for the first time.  He is not well enough trained to be let off the lead but was happy to meet other dogs and people.  He got wet in the sea, by accident, a couple of times and also did his business – quite an important thing to get him used to going on grass and sand as a puppy can become texture trained so that they only go on hard ground etc.  Sam put him in the bath and gave him a shower with dog shampoo which, surprisingly, he doesn’t mind at all.

Photos of taking Marley to the beach are here:

http://cid-4cc6aa1c0b4e44df.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.res/4CC6AA1C0B4E44DF!2115?ct=photos

Sam cooked a roast beef Sunday dinner on the Weber when we got back then I spoke to mum and dad on the webcam and watched the World Superbikes and F1 GP.

Iain

Work

It was a steady start to the week.  Tuesday afternoon was a concern for me as I could not get my head around the risk analysis I had been asked to perform but once I got there and found out the scope was very narrow and only likely to raise a handful of risks I understood what it was about and why I was struggling to comprehend it.

Unfortunately, I had to go to site on Friday (the bit about it being Friday being the unfortunate part).  The trip up was uneventful with taxis and planes on time.  The only thing which was difficult was that we had been moved to a training room off-site and the layout was like a small theatre which meant it was difficult for me to set up my laptop and engage with the audience so far away but I coped.  On reflection, I am not sure how much the workshop was called because it was required and how much because a bunch of guys from Perth wanted to be in Dampier for a leaving piss up!  But I finished in plenty of time and was able to have a couple of beers before boarding.

The plane trip back home was not ideal.  First of all the TV system failed so the crew had to do the safety presentation verbally.  Should I be concerned they couldn’t remember it?!  We also discovered that there were no TV shows for the trip either for the same reason.  That meant I listened to the rock radio channel and songs I have heard so many times already after two trips north this month.  While the plane was only a quarter full on the way up, there wasn’t a spare seat on the way back so I was in row 18 of about 30.  The stewardesses started serving at the front and, it being Friday, all the blokes wanted a couple of drinks.  So they guys at the front were getting repeat servings while us at the back got more and more frustrated with the delay.  So while I intended to start my Friday night wind down with a few drinks I only just managed to get the one and was stone cold sober by the time I walked in the house at 7.15pm.

Exercise

I had a quick run round the block on Monday night (3km).  I went the other way round thinking finishing with a steep descent would be easier but it just meant that the majority of the circuit was a gentle incline.  I ran it hard but had to walk briefly at 2km and 2.5km and so was really disappointed when I got home and calculated I had only managed 10kph compared to my usual 8 – 8.5kph.  Slow and steady wins the race!

As usual, Wednesday was my big run.  I almost didn’t go as I felt a bit rough when I got home from work (I have been showing first signs of coming down with a cold for a couple of weeks but it isn’t breaking).  I started nice and slow but after even a couple of km it was starting to hurt my knees and by the time I got to the top end of Carramar (4km) it felt like every step would be the last before I quit but I persevered and the 2 km descent down Golf Links Drive was effectively a rest.  I even quickened my pace and that, I have recently realised, is good for my knees if not my lungs and muscles.  I added on all my little diversions that get an extra 1.5km and while uphill bits were hard I was striding out on the downhill.  As I got near to home I would have been around the 8km mark and it was starting to get dark but I was actually starting to enjoy the run more than at any point and was setting a decent pace.  So I took a detour to the main road and went round the back of the shops.  I thought about heading straight back from there but decided I wanted to set a new PB and detoured to my short loop round the block.  Half way round I felt rain on my glasses and thought I had made a mistake, but the rain never became more than a few spots and it gave me an incentive to keep running hard.  Even the steep bit of Balladong Loop was run at a reasonable pace – it was faster and felt easier than the first time I did that section 20 minutes earlier.  I checked my time when I got home and it was exactly 90 minutes which is the target I have set myself for the 12km of the City to Surf but I knew I had done more than that.  I entered my route into the Gmap website and was actually a bit disappointed it was just short of 13.5km as I thought I had added more to it than that.  If I had known I would have extended my route even more.  Still, that is 9kph average and I keep quoting that I usually average 8kph so I must be getting faster.

I also went for a short run on Sunday afternoon to blow away the cobwebs. I chose my 4km circuit and ran quite hard.  Although I had to walk just after the 3km mark that is still longer than I usually manage at pace so was quite happy with that.

Evenings

On Monday night we did the quiz and had Ben and Margy on the team to replace Lia and Pete who were not available.  I suspected the loss of a couple of Aussies on the team would cost us but Ben and Margy more than made up for them.  I didn’t have my best night at a quiz, I even struggled with a flags round which is unheard of, but at least I knew when I was unsure and allowed the majority to rule and so we did consistently well.  We lost the two tie-break rounds we had but won one round outright and the quiz over all.

I was late home on Tuesday as a result of a teleconference to the UK so there was only time to have dinner and watch a bit of TV before bed.  Marley had his vaccinations late in the afternoon so was subdued for a bit but returned to his yampy self mid-evening.  Although I ran on Wednesday, I left work a bit early so had enough time to watch a couple of hours TV with Sam and Maryann (who is getting over a cold and was therefore snuffling all over me – that doesn’t excuse her being fidgety though!)  Bob and Marley continue to get used to each other – it makes perfect sense to us that Bob is allowed on sofas, tables etc to keep them apart but Marley doesn’t see why he has to stay at floor level.  So we had a few hisses, woofs and short paw jabs!

Because of the early start on Friday to catch my flight and intent to have a few drinks I expected to be knackered by 9pm and heading for bed.  But I had slept well the night before and without access to drinks on the plane was fresh as a daisy and stayed up past 11 o’clock with Sam watching My Name is Earl.

Saturday

As I said, I expected the site trip on Friday to leave me as a waste of space on Saturday so made no plans.  In the end I installed an old Sims game on the PC and played that for a couple of hours.  I only got dressed at midday as we took Marley out for his first walk.  He really enjoyed himself and was pretty good on the lead for a 12 week old.  He pulled a bit at times and at others wanted to stop to smell something but on the whole he was well behaved and loved it.  Several people stopped us to say hello to him and he really enjoyed the attention.  He was far more circumspect when he met other dogs but did have a bit of a sniff!  We went to the shops and got coffee which we had outside.  He got more attention but was bored and so we didn’t stay too long.

In the evening we went to the Sea Sports club for the quiz with Rachael & Steve, Sindy & Craig and Jo & Ian.  We really struggled last year with the Aussie-flavour of the questions so had no expectations but were in the lead for the first four rounds.  It started to unravel when we played our joker on the science round but it turned out to be mostly medical so only got 4 out of 8.  There were a couple of Aussie rounds we struggled on too including sport so we finished about 10^th of 30 overall.  We did do better on the raffles etc though.  Sindy won the second raffle prize and chose a powerful iPod docking station and I won one of two coin tosses for a bottle of Wild Turkey.  There were a couple of other small prize wins on the table too.  Overall it was a really good night.  Getting into rounds of Guinness with Ian was probably a mistake, one compounded by finishing Sam’s bottle of wine then having a few samplers of the whisky.

Sunday

Having got up early for Marley on Saturday I was glad it was my turn for a lie in on Sunday!  With no plans again I mooched around the house in my pyjamas until it was time for walkies at 3pm.  I would go on the computer to play the Sims and next time I looked up 90 minutes had passed!  We took Marley across the oval and again he loved meeting people but was quite scared at meeting some of the dogs.  In particular there were a few large ones running loose on the oval next to a soccer match.  They were friendly and only wanted to sniff but he was whimpering a lot and trying to get away from them.  But after all, this is the purpose of this socialisation period to get him to accept scenarios before he has much of a concept of fear which could lead to a defensive or aggressive response.

I had a short run when we got back while Sam cooked a Sunday lunch and then I spoke to mum and dad on the webcam.  I watched the MotoGP afterwards and despite a lie in and no Sunday session I kept falling asleep.  Thankfully the commentators getting excited with a couple of laps to go roused me and I enjoyed a thrilling last lap dice between Lorenzo and Rossi.

Work

It was a short week as Monday was a public holiday, I took Tuesday as leave and I had a medical appointment on Wednesday afternoon.  But it didn’t feel short!  Wednesday morning was full of catching up on the previous day’s missed emails and preparation for a site trip on Thursday.  While I left the office on the previous Friday feeling on top of everything, some stuff cropped up late morning that had me running round frantically collating everything I needed the next day at the last minute.

Thursday was even worse!  I had booked my 5.30am taxi online the day before but having refreshed the page to check status the screen showed I had booked two taxis so I cancelled one.  When I called the taxi operator at 5.35 on Thursday morning to see where my taxi was they said they only received one booking and cancelled it, despite their webpage still telling me I had a confirmed booking.  Anyway, they promised me another one ASAP. But when I rang back 15 minutes later the operator said someone had accepted the job then gone AWOL.  They sent another one but it didn’t arrive until just after 6 o’clock with the boarding time 6.30 for a 6.50 departure and a 40 minute journey ahead of us.  Credit to the taxi driver – he got his foot down and was weaving in and out of traffic, over the speed limit without making me feel unsafe at all.

The freeway was chock-a-block so we diverted to Wanneroo Road and he took some back roads but at 6.30 we were still 8km from the airport per the road signs.  All this time I was thinking about that Air France flight that crashed and was this some sort of omen that I should miss my flight to avoid something similar.  Sam confided later she had been through the same thought processes. 

The driver tried to take some money off my company credit card as we waited for traffic lights but it proved too difficult.  So I got him to scribble me a receipt and threw $100 at him so I could jump straight out of the taxi when we arrived at the airport. 6.43!  I ran across the road while removing my laptop from its bag barged my way through security (thankfully without being stopped) and got to the departure lounge at 6.48.  But I got to the gate and the barrier was across.  Bugger! But then I noticed that there were still a couple of hundred people milling around, several looking at their watch or similarly agitated.  I asked at the counter and was sooooo relieved to hear the flight had been delayed 20 minutes and the gate was just about to open.  Phew!  I even had time to go to the loo and buy some water and a paper.

That still wasn’t the end of the day’s stresses.  At Karratha I had 90 minutes before my meeting started so decided to get a cup of tea and regain my composure before getting my hire car and taking the 10 minute drive to site.  But as I came through arrivals my client was there to meet me and was enthusiastically urging me to get in his car for a lift.  I had to insist on going to the loo and cancelling my car hire before we did so.  Once at site there were more issues.  I had clearly stated the need for a projector to connect my laptop to.  But while there was a roof-mounted projector it was only capable of connecting to a desktop PC which even with a wireless keyboard and mouse isn’t healthy if I am twisting to look at the screen for 5 hours.  Eventually a spare projector was found and I was ready to go with 20 minutes to spare.

Even the meeting didn’t go totally to plan.  We were sat around a long, thin table with 20 people and separate conversations kept occurring despite my requests for that not to happen.  They also wanted to get into fine detail so I struggled to keep the meeting on track.  Thankfully the GM helped me out.  With 90 minutes to go I was very aware we were struggling to finish but played a blinder to rush something together good enough that I could finish it off in the office.  My horoscopes said it would be a traumatic day but I would retain my cool to triumph.  Not bad!

The plan for Friday was for minor tidying of the previous day’s work and finalising preparation for two risk analyses the next week.  But the effort to finish Thursday was more than expected and I also got a call to go back to Dampier next Friday (Yuk!) for another job which needed preparation work too.

And how is this for an indication of how competitive / goal-focused I am.  As a result of Thursday’s trip to Karratha I made it from Bronze frequent flyer to Silver and I feel a real sense of achievement.  As far as I can tell, any FF points now earn a 25% premium and I get one free entry to a Qantas Lounge but little extra.  Making that sound only slightly less petty, I just missed out on that promotion in the last two years.  Two years ago I was booked on a 5th trip to Melbourne with Alinta that would have got me to Silver before I walked out on them.  Last year I had a site trip with Rio booked that would have got me over the threshold but it was cancelled at the last minute.  So anyway, I will be a Silver member for the next 14 months at least.

I reckon if I can get next Friday’s session finished early I can head for the lounge at Karratha airport and get stuck into some free wine for a couple of hours to use my free admission; assuming my voucher comes through in time.

Exercise

I didn’t get my midweek run due to rain and spending so much time getting the new computer set up.  But I did manage to do 8km on Sunday, although my knees both hurt, as did my shin and I was a bit tight in one hammy too.

Hospital

I had an appointment at the hospital at 1.30pm Wednesday to see the doctor who is going to do my snip.  I am a definite sufferer of “white coat syndrome” but all the stresses of broken computers and work meant I had not even thought about this appointment until I got on the train at lunchtime.  But then it hit me and my heart was racing.  Those two days in and out of hospital when my brother died are probably the main reason I hate being in hospitals but even doctors and dentists make me really uncomfortable and always have done.

The doctor I was seeing also “enjoys” a reputation for being a bit fierce.  I know a couple of guys who have had this operation with him and one who refused to be his patient.  I knew he was Scottish and had built a mental picture of a 6’6” monster of a man with long, wild red hair.  But he was about as tall as me and about 10 stone dripping wet (not that I saw him wet!)  Admittedly he did have a very direct way of speaking.  He asked me very pointedly three times whether I was certain about this.  He also referred to the soreness I would feel after he “stuck and knife in my scrotum”.  But I actually found that reassuringly direct, if not even amusing.  My 5 minute consult was sandwiched between a 15 minute wait and 40 minutes form-filling and appointment booking.  The op is scheduled for the end of June but they did offer me a cancellation this week!

Evenings

I picked up my new desktop PC from the shop just before it closed at 5.30pm on Wednesday.  That in itself was a rush to get there and the new wiper blade I put on the car was slipping out of its holder as I drove through pouring rain.  I tried to use the wipers as little as possible and got there okay.  Thankfully both hard drives were undamaged and they put the old PC one in the new tower as an extra disk and I bought a new case for the external HDD to use as a back up destination.

Given that I was due an early night before my site trip I probably should have left setting it up until later but I couldn’t help myself making a start on it and got through a fair amount, I thought, before stopping at 9pm.  Having been through the same exercise with the laptop recently it was easier than starting from scratch, apart from iTunes which is controlled so tightly that every step took a 10 minute Google to find a way around.  Sam hasn’t done much studying recently due to looking after Marley then the computer crashing so I at least made sure Microsoft Office was installed and her files recovered from the old hard drive for her.  With hindsight I should probably have left the PC alone as I didn’t sleep too well that night, probably with thoughts of software installations running through my head.

I did a bit more on the computer on Friday night then watched some TV with Sam.  I felt like getting drunk, but after a couple of beers and a glass of wine I was too tired to stay up so ended up in bed early.

Saturday

Sam and I had agreed to take one morning each over the weekend for a lie in and one to get up early for Marley.  Still suffering from Thursday’s long day site trip and stresses over the computer I intended to take my lie in on Saturday.  But Sam got up, checked on Marley, came back to use our loo, yanked the sheet underneath me then claimed she didn’t mean to wake me.  Yeah, sure!  As I was now fully awake I got up and Sam went back to sleep for three hours.  I spent some time with Marley until he got over-excited and started playing rough.  Then I did some more stuff on the computer.  I haven’t counted, but there must have been something like 40 applications to install to recreate everything I had before.  Some were on discs that came with cameras etc but others needed downloading off the internet.  At least with Vista very few of them required the computer to be restarted after each installation.

In fact, the installations were the easy part; it was the customisation that took the time.  For example, Microsoft front page – I had to ferret around to find the address of the ftp server for the residents association before I could load a couple of changes.  It took 15 minutes to customise my Excel toolbars.  Audacity took 20 minutes playing with sound settings and fiddling with cable connections.  And like I said, iTunes was a real pain: my library had moved and had to be relocated; I needed to authorise a new computer to access downloaded tracks, I had to find album artwork; a few album covers could not be found in the iTunes store so had to be found as images on the Net then manually added; and I had to recreate all my playlists from scratch as the import function didn’t work properly.

Another problem was the webcam.  When I got the laptop a couple of months back I discovered the printer would not work with Vista so I had to buy a new printer / scanner / fax.  This time I discovered the webcam would not work with Vista so I had to nip out for 40 minutes to go to DSE and buy another one before I spoke to mum and dad on Sunday night.  Of course, that needed installing and adjusting too.

Maryann and her friend Tara had organised themselves a sleepover at Tara’s on Saturday night, without checking with us and probably Tara’s parents too despite it being at their house.  She was collected about 3pm and didn’t return until about 5pm on Sunday.  Tara volunteers at a local retirement village where her great aunt and grandma are, originally as part of her Girl Guides community work but she still does it.  Maryann agreed to help out too this Sunday – she said most of the wrinklies were fun but some with dementia and one who was just plain miserable were not fun.  It is really heartening to find she is making friends her own age and was out of the house away from TV screens.

We took advantage of our freedom to go out for a meal at Paddy Malones with Sindy & Craig, although Sindy was coming down with a cold and so we didn’t stay long after eating.  Sam and I had some wine and watched some more My Name is Earl when we got back.

Sunday

Sunday was my turn for a lie in but having been woken by Marley at 6.30 I was not optimistic of getting back to sleep even if Sam was seeing to him.  It took me a while but I eventually drifted off and woke at 9 o’clock.  I spent yet more time on the computer.  Every time I felt like I had done enough someone would say “why can’t I see email contacts”, “where are my old emails”, “Can I go on Live Messenger” so I would spend another hour which turned into two as I couldn’t locate the wab files, Maryann had forgotten her passwords etc.

On the positive side, it took me about 2 weeks to get everything set up on the laptop but that experience has made this easier; not having to sort out the wireless networking has been a big help.  Also, the printer connectivity to two computers both on Vista works better now and I have organised most files to public areas so we can work on them from either computer.  Generally, the home network is working a lot better.  We just need to train Marley not to try and eat the power cable which is resulting in us leaving it unplugged and thus uncharged all the time.

Talking of Marley, he gave us a bit of a fright on Sunday.  As with all puppies, he tries to eat absolutely everything.  I brushed up as much as I could in the garden last week but he still finds things.  Anyway, he was nibbling at something yesterday and started coughing like something was stuck in his throat.  We tried to look in his mouth but couldn’t see anything.  Eventually he was sick a few times and in one I found either a thorn or half a cocktail stick that would have been uncomfortable.  He still retched a bit afterwards but not as bad so I think it must have scratched him.  He was quite docile and clingy for a couple of hours afterwards but started to be his old yampy self later in the day.  He is in for his vaccinations this week and so it will only be another week until we can take him out for a walk or to the beach.  I am really looking forward to that!  Marley and Bob seem to be accepting each other more now, although Bob seems to have decided the day bed we bought for Marley is going to be his and woe betide Marley if he tries to get on it.

Sam bought a small slow cooker a few weeks back and used it to make me chicken and apricot that I have been asking for literally for years.  In fact it is so long, I cannot remember where I had it or what it was like but it must have been good for me to request it.  I am sure it pre-dates emigration.  What Sam actually made was like a curry in a dark sauce which is what all the recipes she could find were.  As I said, I cannot remember what I was expecting but it wasn’t that; possibly something more like a chicken supreme.  Still, it was nice.  It was supposed to be for dinner but we were both hungry late afternoon and Sam was planning an early night so we ate dinner at 3.30 in the afternoon.  Because it was so early and maybe because of my run or winter munchies I also had a cheese and onion toastie with Maryann about 6pm and a sandwich about 9pm when I watched the grand prix.

Iain

Work

Monday and Tuesday were hectic as I had to help my boss with some very last minute preparation but after that things got easier.  There is a long weekend coming up and I think that helped me relax a bit.

Exercise

I went for a long-ish run on Wednesday night but my shin was still a bit sore and my knees seemed very stiff so I quit after 8.5km.  I avoided Tapping as I seem to have bad luck when I cross Joondalup Drive but I found a little diversion at the top end of Carramar into a brand new estate being built which added about half a km and a change of scene.  I also went for a run on Saturday afternoon – 6km around the basic Carramar loop.  While it does not seem to be one specific place, I am feeling all sorts of pains in my knees and shins so need to take it easy for a while.  I have also bought some glucosamine and fish oil tablets.  I am only taking one per day not the three recommended but let’s see if that makes a difference over the next few months.

Evenings

On Monday night I had the residents’ association meeting.  Maybe I am a bit stressed due to having been so busy at work but a handful of old wrinklies from the indoor bowls club turned up at the meeting and gave me a hard time because I mentioned the website a couple of times.  I am probably a bit protective of the website given that I built it but I told them pointedly that the website is in addition to anything we used to do not instead of.  They want a monthly newsletter delivered to their doors but I explained to them we had neither the money nor volunteers to deliver that.  The developers used to produce a newsletter but once the suburb was complete they lost interest and the wrinklies thought that was an association effort that had been dropped in favour of the website.  The meeting turned into a bit of a farce as they started reeling off a list of “demands” for more post boxes, extra disabled parking etc. I know we had councillors and an MLA there but still!  As expected, I was late home on Tuesday because our departmental team meeting went on longer than planned.

On Wednesday I went to the dive meeting and will shortly add secretary of the section to webmaster further extending my range of volunteering activities.  I keep moaning that I don’t have enough time but then volunteering for something else.  To be honest, this will just involve scribbling down some notes at a monthly meeting then typing them up the following lunchtime.  I figure that if I take on the secretary role there is no way I can get press-ganged into the rear-commodore position.  Now that would be a big commitment!  I think the way Australia developed from nothing fairly recently with people being in remote locations is responsible for much of the “mateship” culture that defines Australia.  Volunteering is just an extension of that and is thus far more prevalent than in the UK.

On Thursday we had puppy pre-training with Marley.  Having been to class last week he seemed more confident and excitable than last time and was constantly on the go.  When we got him in the car afterwards he calmed down and that makes him realise he needs the toilet.  I am very impressed with the way Sam can tell one whimper from another and knew immediately what he wanted, I just assumed he didn’t like being cooped up in the car.  I think Sam has spent so much time with him these last two weeks she has gone into new mother-mode and is a bit Dr Doolittle too!  Anyway, although we are not supposed to let Marley on the ground outside until he has been vaccinated but we had to pull over to let him pee.  And of course, as soon as he had done that and got back in the car he immediately needed a number two so I had to get a move on to get home before he had an accident in the car.

To be honest, I was a bit sceptical about the need for lessons for Marley this early but Charlotte is really good.  I think the main benefit is that we understand what Marley is thinking and what our behaviours are teaching him.  Secondly, we are getting him used to various situations that should stop him being a timid dog.  We were even given a CD with sounds of fireworks, thunder etc to play louder and louder to desensitise him.

I am pleased that we have taught him sit and down but they are not that important in themselves, more as first steps in getting him to generally do as he is told.  We have made some progress with mouthing and toilet training but they are the main areas for improvement at the moment.  The mouthing is really just a teething thing and should ease; we just don’t want him to think of biting as playing. If we stand still he soon gives up and finds something else to play with but standing still when he has his teeth in you is not always easy!  He pretty much knows that he should go out when he needs to go the toilet but it is down to us to keep an eye on him and recognise the signs and then build up the time between him needing to go.  He hasn’t been for a number two in the house for a while now but still does the odd pee.

Sam was out on Friday night with the girls in Mindarie.  It was my idea as she needed to get away from Marley and the house generally.  She got drunk for the first time in ages and it was a late night for all by the time I had brought her home, even Maryann insisted on staying up.

Weekend

This was a long weekend for Foundation (WA) Day and I also took the Tuesday off to get a good break away from the office.  I was on puppy duty on Saturday morning while Sam slept in.  It was a generally quiet day but the three of us walked over to our local shops for coffee and some bits of shopping.  I also tidied up the outside areas to reduce the amount of stones, leaves and suchlike that Marley keeps chewing on.  In the afternoon I did a couple of hours ironing for Sam while I watched the last few episodes of Mighty Boosh then went for my run after that.  Having seen Sam get drunk on Friday I thought it was about time I did the same on Saturday.  I had a few beers and a bottle of wine but didn’t really want the second half of the bottle and felt a bit rough the next day.  Hopefully that gets it out of my system for a while.

Sunday was a lazy day again.  Sam and I sat outside for a few hours with Marley.  He seems to get bored playing inside but when outside has more things to occupy him and is far calmer.  He also discovered that he can get through both cat flaps (just) and had great fun doing laps through those and the laundry door which was open.  We went to the Indian Ocean Brewery for a couple of hours in the afternoon as there was a 50’s-style band on.  Sindy likes that sort of thing but Craig and her only stayed briefly as they had a pop-up caravan to go and look at (it looked every bit of its 35 years age apparently!)

We had some bad news on Sunday when the old desktop PC packed up.  The power came on but it would not boot and despite my house keeping routines I had never made a boot disk.  I wracked my brain for ideas and twiddled with some cables but feeling a bit hungover was not quite with it.  At one point I flicked a switch from 240V to 115V and as I did it realised that was a big mistake.  A loud pop and small plume of smoke confirmed that – the power supply unit was fried.  Given that the PC is four years old, only has 80Gb memory and XP for an operating system there was no point trying to save the tower as it would be due for upgrade in the next year or so anyway.

My biggest worry is whether I will be able to recover the contents of my hard drive.  I back up Documents and Settings to an external hard drive about once a fortnight but I tried plugging that into my laptop and it would not come on.  I hope that is just a power issue and that the memory is okay.  I have also committed another $50 to a new case for that, assuming it still works.  If I have lost both, then I have some disks in my drawer at work which are 12 months old and some other records can be recreated from scratch such as bank statements.  Some photos / videos are still on camera memory cards etc.  But I think my evenings and weekends for the next couple of weeks are already taken care of either way.

Once again Monday was a lazy day spent watching TV (Xmas specials of My Family and series one of My Name is Earl especially) as well as spending time with Marley.

There are a few photos here:

http://cid-4cc6aa1c0b4e44df.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/090601%20Marley%20%7C0%20Bob

I didn’t have anything particular in mind for Tuesday when I booked it as leave but I am sure it was not shopping I had on my mind.  First stop was at the computer shop where I bought a powerful desktop tower.  It is more than I wanted to pay but I do a lot of high-powered activities simultaneously so need something above average.  Sam is very happy as she will take over the laptop; I don’t think she broke the PC on purpose!

After that we went to Whitfords to do a bit of shopping.  I finally found a pair of jeans to fit me after 4 years of trying.  Bootleg used to be the ones to get in the UK but that style here is very baggy.  The ones I found were called “flare”. Best of all they are a 34” waist which is quite a boost after wearing 38” for the last several years.  I knew I had lost weight (about 4kg) and my old jeans / trousers are loose but didn’t think it would make that much of a difference.  I gave up on finding a short leg but working laterally got a regular leg taken up for $18, including an original style turn up so you cannot tell they are shortened.  The jeans were reduced from $80 to $50 in the sale so I was still up on the deal.  I also bought a couple of t-shirts and some boxers and we got some more Eukanuba for Marley and a few other bits and bobs.

After that I took Sam for lunch at Han Café in Joondalup then we went home to see how Marley had coped with five hours on his own.  He was very excited to see us and had peed on his newspaper but otherwise was okay.  He did seem to have even more energy for the rest of the day as a result of that sleep though.  The three of us went to the local shops for grocery shopping after that and Maryann and I mucked about like a couple of 6 year olds all the way round.  Sam told us off frequently but had a smile underneath the scowl most of the time.  Despite not doing anything really fun, it was actually a really nice day off.

Iain