Another week gone

Yes, the 26th of October already, and tomorrow Rene's birthday. Yesterday he received a wonderful package from Holland - a photo in a frame. The photograph was of the entire Dings Clan, including pets. Tomorrow night there are eight of us going to a favourite restaurant of ours for dinner. We have our own wine (if you don't know, it's BYO wine even though it's fully licensed). We have our own room at the restaurant, and I just know Rene'll have a terrific time.

Sunday night we're going with a Taiwanese friend of ours to a Sunnybank restaurant to have crab. It's a tough life!

Today Rene and I sorted out things with our financial advisor, which lead to a second trip into the city to see a bank manager. We've had terrific service from both people today and above all it was very personal but efficient. Quite impressed! Oh, we also went in and out twice on the bus for the first time (we always used the train from Clayfield). The buses were fast, efficient, and the dedicated express lanes - they're elevated or tunneled where necessary - meant a short 15 minute trip each way. If only we had them everywhere. There are a couple of new ones being built now, and a major northern one matching the tunnels being built at present for the cars crossing Brisbane for something like 11 kilometres. Major activity and expenditure, but absolutely essential.

We should be moving to the Sunshine Coast somewhere around the 12th of November (Kay, if you're reading this in Prague or Italy - it'll be safe to come home again haha) and we'll have one apartment for the business and a neighbouring apartment in the same complex to live in.

A week on Sunday will see the exciting and challenging selection process for the exterior colours/ interior fittings for the house. We have been collecting catalogues and brochures, website links and all sorts of stuff in order to make up our minds quickly and correctly. It'll be a lot of fun. Done this twice before from scratch and it is a really lovely feeling to have a blank sheet and get everything just where you want it.

The Federal Election campaign continues with lots of pork barrelling from both sides. I'm still hoping for a thrashing for Howard, but I'll settle merely for a defeat of any size.

Rene today showed me the beta version of his website for Centred Art. It's looking great. Look out for the official launch any day now.

Deborah Kerr died last week. The impression of her was always that of being a star without that brashness that seems to accompany so many people courting the term these days (OH, I'M SOUNDING OLD!) but you get my drift. Apart from "The King and I", that famous kiss and other well known movies, the one that has always stayed in my mind is one I last saw on B&W television waaay back in 1969 when I was going to the University of Queensland here in Brisbane. It was called "The Innocents" and was a chilling drama involving seemingly innocent, yet wicked, children. No, I haven't seen it since, but when I saw it on TV here in '69 it was the second time I had seen it, and it made the hairs on my neck stand up. Not sure if it's available on DVD, but worth a look if you like being frightened.

I smell cooking - we sure eat well here in this house. The other day we had tortilla soup with all the Mexican trimmings (awesome!), Spanish rice and tortillas, last night I cooked tuna steaks (yumm) and I think tonight we're having BBQ'd steaks plus oven roasted vegetables.

I love my life!

(ciao for now, have a brilliant weekend)

and to think you thought I was missing.

Well, sort of missing I guess. I have been busy with many things, and blogging just didn't seem that important - until now.

I have been for the day (last Friday) to the Sydney Motor Show, very enjoyable experience but too much to do on one day. I did bump into our house designer at Sydney airport coming home. He and his wife were rerouted home from a brief holiday in Fiji via Sydney, so was surprised but pleased to meet them and have a drink in a bar to pass the time.

Our new apartment is one bedroom, and we inspected it the other day and found it to be very small - VERY small, so our plan is to use it for Rene's business until June and we'll attempt to rent a 2 bedroom apartment in addition until our home is built. We won't have to pay for storage either, so we'll offset some of the cost. I think it'll work.

We also attended the Multicultural Festival at Roma Street Parklands at the weekend and found it to be a very enjoyable distraction. A couple from my past came back to visit me whilst walking through the railway tunnel at Roma Street. A couple of teachers that I worked with over 34 years ago in Dirranbandi saw me and heard my voice, recognised it, and introduced themselves. I was really surprised to see them after all this time. They both looked exceedingly well and I was flattered that they recognised me.

I've been commuting for over a week and a half now from Mount Gravatt on the Southside of the city to schools on the Northside. The commute has been very tedious and slow, but seeing as though it is for a few weeks only, it's more than tolerable. I'm really impressed with the courtesy and patience of the drivers as a whole.

Kit's wife Polly arrived back Sunday from working for seven weeks back in the US. Now we're a household of four instead of three and it is really delightful to be so welcome here in Mount Gravatt. Dinners are shared and we dine exceedingly well, and once again the recycle bin is on a hiding to nothing to escape being extra full again this week. Incidentally Polly arrived back nearly recovered from a seriously sprained ankle (reputedly from dancing outside at night - hmmmm) plus sporting a viciously black finger nail attached to a strapped, alas broken, finger that was the result of her encounter with public transport (a train I think?) in Boston. Now when is that girl going to learn that dancing and public transport just aren't safe any more?

Decisions are looming on colours/materials for our new house. We hope to have that hurdle out of the way by mid November, then we won't have to think about it anymore.

The Iraqi family I teach have had a miraculous turn of events happen in their lives. Their father, who was kidnapped three years ago in Baghdad, has been found by US troops alive, but imprisoned underground, during a house sweep in mid August. He was released after questioning two days later and it took him three weeks to find contact his family here in Brisbane. We at the school only found out last week. Today I helped write a letter from my school to support his repatriation with his wife and five daughters here in Australia. It just goes to show that one should never give up hope, even though it may seem to be impossible to consider.

That's all for now. We are in the midst of a federal election campaign that will culminate with the polls on November 24. Those of you overseas, please think of us poor sods Down Under enduring the rhetoric and vitriol of a lot of people whom you really wouldn't like as friends. There is little difference at present between the policies of either of the two major parties, therefore I just want a new crew in Canberra because the old crew is too tainted by the past ('children overboard' is but one example). Oh well, at least we are fortunate enough to have relatively minor issues to distract us unlike many other nations.

It's such a tough life - not!

I would never like you to think for one moment I ever take my good fortune lightly. I really appreciate my friends, the great food and wine we get to partake of, the interesting work I do and above all the opportunity to travel meet fascinating people.

Last Wednesday night Rene and I were with four dear friends enjoying a delicious dinner at Azafran (in Annerley - try it, I heartily recommend it). We had earlier on been to see our house designer at a display village, discussed at length this 'finish' or that 'look' - the sort of thing that besots one when in the throes of building - we were having drinks, chatting away, really loving the service from two very smart, attractive young waitresses, and I was overwhelmed by a feeling of deep satisfaction. Here I was, in just about the safest, most stunning country on planet Earth, surrounded by people I like/love/adore, eating great food, sharing great stories from here and around the world, about to launch into yet another round of 'change' (which I usually enjoy), and I felt blissfully happy. It's a good zone to be in, and I really appreciate the opportunity to share this bliss with Rene and my friends.

Enough gushing, I've just reread the above and consider it a load of @#*%, but I'm leaving it in because they are my thoughts, and this is my forum to express them in.

Our team came equal third at the trivia night last Tuesday - not our best effort. However, it was enjoyable and helped make this fortnight off for the Spring vacation enjoyable.

Back to work tomorrow. I have a workshop and social and emotional competencies of 5-7 year olds on Tuesday. I think this will be particularly interesting in the light of the events with one of my refugee families at the end of last term. Our federal immigration minister currently has made pronouncements regarding African immigration reductions for 2008, due to lack of integration of these communities. He, of course, makes Rita Verdonk (his Dutch counterpart, now departed I think) appear Left Wing by comparison, and his public announcements regarding many issues (including overseas doctors) appear to be either ill-advised or at least very badly managed. My work with refugees is federally funded, and this funding falls far short of what is needed to assist these families in a holistic manner. A person from a camp with a non literate background is going to be much harder to settle and assimilate than the French, Italian or German immigrant child who arrives with similar funding for ESL (let's just use this one example). Yet after one year it ceases - the European child assimilates gradually over time (still takes a long time) but for many (not all) African refugees this assimilation will take generations to accomplish, and to assist in this, much more family support needs to be put into place, with assured funding from the government that wonderfully decided to allow them into this country in the first place.

Oh dear, I'm in my 'going back to work' frame of mind again. No matter, a new election in November/December will assuredly see the conservative government of John Howard thrown out and, hopefully, see a more humanitarian 'left of centre' government in its place. Mind you, all governments seem the same to me these days, all hovering around the middle. Oh for the days of Jack Lang (pre War Labor premier of NSW) - oh, forget that, that was during The Depression and the world was different then, no sub-prime jitters affecting the stock exchange, just extreme middle and upper class greed - thinks... the wealthy have never had it better in Australia....hmmmm, is there much difference between the greed of the Twenties and that of the Noughties?

Must sign off, about to depart for Doug's Seafood Cafe at Sandgate. We're taking Kit (our house mate) for the first time to this wonderful piece of Australian life - dining on fabulous fish and chips/salad beside the Bay for what is almost nothing.

Have a terrific week, write if you can, all notes gratefully received. If you disagree with a statement, discuss it with me, I'm always open to a great debate (or a little one). Ciao!

Tuesday - must be trivia night!

Yes, our third Tuesday night trivia event in two weeks - a record. First week we came second, last week fourth, this week......who knows? It's fun, we get out, it's inexpensive and above all it's one less meal to have to prepare.

Last night a Swiss friend came and visited after seeing our land and our plans. He's an architect, and it was interesting to see his European slant on all things housing. I thought our plan was ultra simple, but the one and only 'kink' in the northern side of the house accommodating the staircase was the one thing he would have straightened out and just had plain straight all along the side.

He stayed for dinner. We had barbecued beef and pork ribs, home made potato salad (I made it and it was delicious) along with a green salad. We dined on the veranda since it had been a hot day. The nights are still cooling down beautifully, it is spring after all, but Thursday is forecast to be 32. Ouch!

Saw Hairspray late Sunday afternoon. Enjoyed it for what it is, light entertainment. A group chatting behind us a couple of rows to the right continued chattering as the movie began. Without a second thought, after stewing for five minutes, I told them firmly but quietly to quieten down please, THANK YOU! I spent the next 20 minutes calming down and sort of regretting I had said anything. Rene was mortified. Oh well, I'm getting sick and tired of people using cinemas and theatres as their own lounge rooms and forgetting etiquette, manners and actually caring about what the other poor sods that occupy their public space are feeling. I mean to say, mobile phones texting in the dark during an opera, let alone a movie? Let's start not silently accepting it and putting up with it and telling these inconsiderate unsociable ingrates that enough is enough. I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore! Oh, I should add these people aren't necessarily all young, but they seem to be almost all female (don't hit me, I'm only reporting anecdotal evidence first hand).

Here's Brisbane's latest footbridge linking Roma Street to the GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art). It's only our second such bridge - we're very slow to catch on to this type of thing here in the deep dark north of the country. With its construction starting today and the nearby Hale St road bridge due to start in January, traffic movement will be improved, but the disruption to traffic whilst it's being achieved is going to be scary. We already have 11km of tunnels being built under and across the city with all that that entails, this will add to the burden of peak hour travel - yet we need all of it (like, yesterday!).