More stuff....

I got a good giggle yesterday while looking at my flickr photos. I was checking to see which photos have been viewed most by visitors and was surprised that my "Birdie Porn" photos have been displaced by: The Boys New Bike Tights (A scanned, poor quality, blurry photo). Now, I could be kind and say that hundreds of women are lusting after Tim and Gavin in their sporting togs.... but when you think about it.... hmmmmmmm. Are these viewers women?

My little baby Lorikeet is growing less little and more assertive. When I go onto our balcony with grapes, he (she?) immediately jumps onto my hand/wrist and starts eating the grape as I hold it. I have to sneak the other grapes to its parents, because he wants those grapes as well. Assertiveness, however, is a trait common to Lorikeets. I haven't seen the bird who is "bird" enough to stand up to them, and size doesn't matter. Particularly amazing is the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. This large bird (+/- 20 inches) is twice the size of the petite Lorikeet, yet is scared off screaming (and I mean screaming!) by the little birds. For this small service, I am grapeful (er, I mean grateful). I have heard many horror stories of innocent home owners who feed the lovely Cockatoos, only to have their homes destroyed, pecked by angry - "can't get enough to eat when I want it" - Cockatoos.

Lastly, I want to tell you of the wonderful Australia Day we had Friday, January 26. A coworker of Tim's and friends, John and Alison, invited us on their boat for the day. The weather was perfect - not killer hot like the previous day - perfect. Australia day seems to be a good reason for all Australians to party - something, I must admit, they do very well. We boated out into Sydney Harbor to watch the Ferry Races, admire the Tall Ships, drink some good wine, swim a bit... life is hard. Our captain, John, should get several stars for safely navigating through a gazillion boats of varying sizes while tipping to and fro in "washing machine like" conditions. I got a couple of good photos during all the excitement, but Tim snapped some interesting photos that really captured the different moods of the day: Festive, Frantic and Serene.


An understated vessel...

Arghhhhhhh!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....

....and some native wildlife....


I took one beautiful photo of a tall ship, but it was nothing compared to this one - Tim's life in actual peril!!!!

Love and Kisses! Judi
(PS: That's a bull shark - actually found in this particular swimming spot, and actually dangerous!)

PSS: I forgot to mention... I was taking the sheet off the laundry line outside, and ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! a GIGANTIC spider the size of my palm was sauntering down the sheet - ugh!!! Then he disappeared, so I had to encourage his journey to the ground. Had he been a funnel web spider, he would have raised up like he was going to strike. I think this guy (or gal) was a Wolf Spider - not a killer, but a painful biter. Fortunately, I don't have to report how a bite feels, and I was impressed at how casual and non-aggressive this spider seemed to be. Hmmmmm, a spider in wolf's clothing perhaps?????? (Almost scared the sheet outta me!!!)

Is Photoshop Elements 4.0 Worth All This?????

Adobe continues to astonish and amaze me (and not in a good way). Since my last post, I received three emails from Adobe. One email was from Adobe Asia/Pacific and incredibly it was from an actual human - obviously a human who had not read my complaint. This human suggested that I log into my account first so that I can view my order and download history. Well, duh!!! Then, I received two more emails - duplicates. Guess which Adobe group is responding to my "Open Case?" UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What are they thinking (or not)????

More amazing still is that the messages contain a pdf document that I could read or I could go directly to the UK open case site. The message on each was the same - log in to view my case history. There is no Adobe response listed - all they have is my initial request!!! Have I fallen in to software company Hell??? Is there no end to their incompetence? ADOBE, IF YOU ARE REALLY OUT THERE.... PLEASE HEAR MY PLEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers? Judi

Summer in Australia

It's hot - very hot. I went for a walk on Sunday morning and the temperature rose about 10 degrees C while I was out. Somehow my brain got fried and I didn't realize how hot I actually was until I got home. Took me most of the day to recover. Highest temp was about 41C at our house. It was actually too hot to go kayaking if you can imagine that.

Other news....

• Man escapes from shark by vicious poke in the eye (man pokes shark, that is).
  
• Teenager dies from brown snake bite but man lives after a bite. The moral is if you get bitten, rest, bind the bite area, and send for help rather than go yourself.
  
• Australia is crushing all comers at cricket (was England during the Ashes but now includes New Zealand). No link since (*sarcasm alert*) there hasn't been any reporting about it here.
  
• Bush fires up the valley from us. Probably an arsonist. No danger to our neighborhood but we can smell the smoke.

On the Australia acclimatization front, we've discovered that putting a big shrimp (called prawn here) on the barbie isn't a good idea. A wok is much better - sprinkle a little spicy stuff such as chili powder and then stirfry quickly - Hmmmmm, prawns.

On Australia Day (Friday), we have an invitation to go sailing with some friends in the harbor. The ferry boat race is a highlight, evidently.

Life is mostly good, obviously.

Tim

ADOBE.COM uses bad Muzak and Robots to terrorize customers!

I don't complain that much. Really! But this got me sooooooooooooo mad. The major source of irritation? ADOBE.COM. I generally like Adobe products, especially Adobe Photoshop Elements - 2, 3 and now 4.0. Did you hear that Adobe???? 4.0!!! I have it. I downloaded it from your website after I paid for it. Why don't you remember me? Why do I have no history? Why do I not have any downloads to return to so that I can reinstall? Why I ask you - WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???

But, that's not the worst part. Do you think I have been able to get Adobe to rectify this problem. Not a chance.


The sad history:

December 18: I wrote an email to Adobe telling them about my problem.
PROBLEM: No response.

Then, about two weeks ago, I called Adobe customer service in the US. After a robot suggested I press #1, I was taken to Muzak Hell. First call: nine minutes of muzak. Second call: nine more minutes of muzak. Just the robot and the muzak. No human. Not even another robot!

Then I tried a chat which is conveniently only available 9-5 Pacific Time. This time, I didn't get muzak, but I'm pretty sure I got a robot. The robot's name was Kendall. I won't bore you with the whole conversation (he didn't send me the transcript by email like the first three chat's that got cut short). The bottom line, however, is it seems that the problem is theirs (Adobe's), and Kendall says it isn't a problem they can rectify with the chat opportunity (Although the chat is shown to be a method to correct registration problems - which mine is!)

After Tim fed me some tranquilizers and a few days passed... and before I opened a so-called "case," I called customer service again (I'm not usually this masochistic!)...
two more 8-minute sessions of muzak. Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I opened a case with Adobe. They promise to contact you about your case within 1 business day. It's January 19 here in Oz Land.

Please note this was completed and sent to Adobe January 15.

Description of Issue:

I have quite a few issues at the point in time, but the main one is that
you don't show an order history for me or any downloads. I have had
Photoshop Elements for Mac 3.0 and several months ago purchased
4.0.

Trying to rectify this problem I have written one email with no response
dated December 18, 2006, called customer service twice and without
any indication of what is happening, was stuck listening to some terrible
muzak for eight minutes each time - I finally hung up as I didn't know if
anything was happening. The worst experience though, was when I did
the "chat". I don't know if you use computers to do the "chat" with
customers or if this was a human - I really couldn't tell, except that
"Kendall" never sent me a transcript of our conversation, and the three
previous times (was disconnected) received e-mailed copies of the
chat. So if that was a computer the computer chose not to pass along
any incriminating evidence. Kendall told me that I had to talk to
customer service and that my problem seemed to be one on your side
(Adobe's). When I mentioned that I had already tried to call twice, he just
repeated the same words. He eventually just hung up on me. It was truly
the worst customer experience I have ever had.

I guess I really don't expect any helpful response from this email, but I
don't know where else to turn in order to access my download so that I
can reinstall my Photoshop 4.0. If there are actually any humans at Adobe,
I hope I have the opportunity to interact with one.

Judi Lowell (judi.lowell@gmail.com)

Hey, thanks for listening to me, and I know only some of you are robots.

With Love, Judi

A walk in the woods

Despite her declared view that a walk is down to the shops, Judi and I went for an excellent bushwalk yesterday, along the Great North Walk. We drove to the trail head - the white building at the corner of Elouera on this map - and walked from there. The trail runs down to the GNW itself and you can go north or south. North takes you pass Westleigh, the Fishponds, through Berowra Regional Park, across the Hawkesbury and eventually to Newcastle (about 250km). South takes you through some beautiful bush to come out in Thornleigh, you can then cross into Lane Cove park and thence down to Sydney (about 40km).

I've walked along part of this trail many times now, mostly now to Galston Gorge and Crosslands. Walking fast you can go about 4km an hour at most. The path goes up and down the sides of the valley - when this occurs, the climb is usually very steep and it helps to have a walking stick. On yesterday's walk there's only really one hard place - a climb up of about 200m (in length). Apart from that it's pretty easy and mostly level walking. The bottom of the valley here is lush and green - lots of eucalyptus and causarina trees, strange Australian bushes, and ferns. After rain, it can be very humid and you almost expect to see dinosaurs poking around in the treetops and pterodactyls swooping overhead. Instead, there are birds - like the ubiquitous and very noisy kookaburras - and lizards - small ones, water dragons, and the occasional big old goanna.

On yesterday's walk, we went down the valley, through the "Jungo" and nearly down to de Saxe Close, and then back. It took about 2 hours in all. I've done a few walks close to three hours but two is a comfortable time to be out and about. Probably as it gets cooler in the fall, we'll take some longer ones, perhaps up north towards the Hawkesbury river.

The most amazing and wonderful thing, of course, is that you can bushwalk for hours in this big metropolitan area, Sydney, and not see any sign of the city. This is a great triumph of rational planning and one of the things that makes Sydney such a great place to live.

Tim

A WALK IN THE FALL IN THE DESERT WITH A PRINCESS

It's strange enough coming from the northern hemisphere where winter is December, January, etc. Here in Oz, winter is June, July, etc. Consider our Xmas. It's bloody hot! Many people have their holiday dinners midday and then a later picnic at the beach. Tim and I barely even noticed it was Xmas. If we hadn't visited friends and had an outstanding Paella (Turkey? Boooooring!), December 25 would have been just like any other day. And despite Spring being our "old" Autumn... Oh my, I'm sooooo confused.

But getting back to FALL. At our house, it is Fall all year round. During winter, leaves fall. Spring and Summer?... more leaves and bark. That's right. The gum trees shed their bark each year and grow it anew - sounds like a dermatologist's fantasy (or nightmare depending upon your perspective). Then in the Fall/Autumn... yes, more leaves... and so on. Now I'm not big on raking (and don't even ask Tim), but here in Thornleigh Bush Country, I MUST rake. If you don't keep up with the tree shed here you could A) Be in serious trouble during a bushfire, and B) Get covered and never seen again.

Now let's talk about "walks." Since I came from the US, I call a traipse around on a mountain or by a river, a "hike." If you come from England or Australia, however, those same activities are considered a "walk." To me, a walk is the two blocks to the local convenience store. For example, "Hey honey, I'm going out for a walk. Can I get you anything?" That's a walk. So when Tim invites me to go on a "walk," I think, "How pleasant... a little stroll." WRONG. A "walk" here, particularly a "bushwalk," could take several hours and take you through five towns and two shires before you even get close to your home base. Catch me once.

Tim wants me to talk about our recent musical experience - Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It was outrageous and excellent and incredible. I bought front row seat tickets since Tim and I often like that "close range" approach to viewing. The seats happen to be at the end of the front row - which was fine - great seats. I have had two "15 minutes of fame" in my life. I know, you're only entitled one. Actually, neither added up to 15 minutes, so it's ok. During the song, Thank God I'm a Country Boy, the cast came down and dragged certain people up on stage to dance - notice that "drag" is the operative word here (and I don't mean as in "drag queen.") So, with the help of Tim's firm shove, I found myself on stage in front of a gazillion people (at least!) learning how to do some line dancing thing that I never could learn - even after living in cowboy land USA for the last 35 years. After the little line dancing number, the cast had us all hold hands and dance around in a big circle - wow, that was fun! Since I was oblivious to anything else besides my two feet, I didn't even notice that the music stopped and the entire cast had left us alone on stage. Hah!! They think they are sooooo funny - the audience laughed. Afterwards, we did a little hand raise and bow thing.... and returned to our seats. That was too bad, because I was just warming up! I highly recommend the musical. They follow the movie quite closely, and the singing and dancing were high energy and wonderful. Go. (Oh, the other 15 minutes of fame was dancing with the cast of Hair - in Boston no less - it was banned at first.)

I will stop now or you'll never read our blog again. Since our hiatus, I have all kinds of things to tell you. Ah. Later.

Hugs, Judi




Photo: A baby lorikeet and his (her?) parents are regular visitors to our balcony lately. Besides making the most obnoxious noise while begging nonstop for food from birdie mom and dad and me.... baby gets so excited he jumps onto my arm to get the yummy grape I veritably have (yes, a bribe).

We're back

• 

We're back..... Don't worry, despite the picture, I haven't gone Shining crazy.

It's time to write again. I hope someone is still reading.

What's new?

• We're applying for permanent residency. Yes, we like it here enough to want to stay longer, maybe much longer.
• Judi has lots and lots of new friends from the dog park and other places - so many that she had a birthday party when I was out of town.
• My job is still fun and challenging, even though I've traveled about 10,000km for every month that I've been here. I'm staying at home for a while now. In fact, I have no plane tickets in hand which is quite rare for me. In the last six months, I've been to Paris, Tucson, the Netherlands, Western Australia, and South Africa (I think I'm missing something....)
• I saw Gavin and Zoe in Tucson a few months ago. They're both fine - Zoe is working (temporarily) in Socorro at Socorro Mental Health providing life coaching for young adults, and Gavin is finishing his degree at UT, Dallas. We went to Nogales together and ate good Mexican food. We also spent a great evening with Judi's friend Vicki. I really liked being in the Southwest again. In fact, the first thing I ate was fish taco from a local taco stand. On returning to Sydney, I brought a bag full of can of green chile so we can have burritos and quesadillas again.
• We're into bush walking at the moment, well me more than Judi. There are excellent trails all around where we live on which you can walk for hours without seeing a house.
• Make Judi tell you about seeing the musical of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
• Book recommendation: "Dirt Music" by Tim Winton, Movie recommendation: "Look Both Ways".
• I deny watching any cricket at all. I am totally unware of any recent international games between Australia and England.
• We're planning a road trip up into northern New South Wales and maybe southern Queensland. I can't wait. Here's one place we might visit.
  

That's it for now.....

Tim

PS This is really me looking happy and lighthearted.

PPS Here's the short version of the Shining.

Did You Think I Forgot You???

Tim and I have been lazy about blogging lately. It’s probably due to several reasons, none of which I’ll go into here. We have gotten out recently – left the house – explored – etc. Urvashi (Tim’s student) is here from Socorro (originally India), so we had a good excuse to take the ferry to Watson’s Bay (south of Sydney). Here is a photo that I took from South Point at Watson’s Bay.

As you probably know, Sydney is a photogenic city.



Last week Tim and I made it to the Manly Wine and Food Festival. Saturday was miserable, but we decided to go on Sunday because the weather held up. We did not find the food booths until after we had eaten at one of the beachside restaurants – costing us considerably more than a nice gourmet cheese plate from a booth. We tried a couple of short glasses of wine from two booths, and with our money, we received a wine glass (actually glass), and cute little wine glass hangers that you put around your neck. These leave your hands free to stuff yourself with a dessert plate (for example) that had eight sample portions of different types of pastries – hmmmmm. Tim and I split one plate, which was more than plenty.

Several posts ago, I mentioned Aussie words that have “i.e.” added to them (e.g., sunglasses are sunnies). I cannot remember which ones I mentioned before, but, but here are a couple more:

Your mailbox is called a “Postie”.
Presents are called “Pressies”.
Breakfast is called “Brekkie”.
A Mosquito is called a “Mozzie”.
Parents are called “Oldies”.
Your car registration is called a “Rego” (not “i.e.”, but still….)
A relative is called a “Rellie”.
Surfers are called… what else? “Surfees.”
I could go on, but you get the point, right? I get the feeling that Aussie slang was developed by three year olds (no offense meant!)

On the other hand, some terms and phrases are endearing. I love the Aussie way of say “no problem” or “it’s ok.” They say “No worries!” I smiled when I left the butcher the other day (I’m a “veggie” – the bones were for our dogs!). After handing him my money, he said, “Good on ya’, G’day!” Ya gotta love’em!

Cheers! Judi

THE ART GALLERY OF NSW

Tim and I had a great time yesterday. We finally (yes, finally) got off our butts and out of the house in order to do "something." The something was a trip into Sydney to visit the Art Gallery of NSW, and specifically the Archibald Exhibit.

We were going to take the train into the city, but opted to drive - I'm not sure why - it's faster I guess. We parked at the Sydney Opera House parking facility and walked up through the Opera House. We chose to eat outside along the water's edge - and yes, it was a splurge for lunch. We opted for a vegetarian platter for two. This turned out to be a great choice - tasty, unusual, and just enough food. It was Mediterranean food -- eggplant, filo pastries, flat bread, capers(?), and so on... finger food. It's hard to beat a glass of Chardonnay, good food and a fantastic view of Sydney Harbour - in good weather. After a satisfying lunch, we strolled along the water and the Botanical Gardens, cutting through the Gardens to get to the Gallery.

The Art Gallery of NSW is a beautiful museum. It's a nice size in that it's not intimidating or overwhelming. Since it was Mother's Day and Sunday afternoon, the place was packed with people. The crowds made it difficult to read the information that accompanied each piece of art. I found myself darting in front of people to read this information which was not exactly formatted for those of us with older "sight-challenged" vision. The Archibald Prize exhibit is comprised of portraits that artists have done of either themselves or of an "interesting" other person. Be sure to check out the winner of the Archibald.



It took the artist a year to complete and he was close to burnout near the end. You'll be able to see why! The original is extraordinary, and unfortunately you can't see by this image the detail and charm that the work possesses. We visited both the painting and photographic exhibits (The Photographic Portrait Prize), and it's amazing to see the various techniques that are used in the portraits. The posted information explains how each artist chose their subject, why they chose the technique used to portray that subject, and any other tidbit about the project. If you check out the web site, you can see examples of the exhibits.

Tim and I love to go to museums, but we both reach our respective saturation points within an hour or two.

I recently became interested in the art of Brett Whiteley. The Gallery only has a couple of his works, so I'm planning a trip to the "Brett Whiteley Studio" which is located in a nearby suburb.

I'll let you know how that goes....

This piece is: BRETT WHITELEY SCREEN AS THE BATHROOM WINDOW 1976

Cheers, Judi

Cape Town

I just came back from a week long trip to Cape Town to work with the computing group of the Karoo Array Telescope. I had a very good time working and also enjoyed some side trips. One was a day of winetasting in the wine regions around Cape Town. They have some really excellent wine. I also spent an evening driving around, ending up at Camps Bay:




This looks a lot like the Sandias in Albuquerque in the evening - the same watermelon coloured mountains which is what Sandia means. Turning around though, we see the sea:



Cape Town is a lot like Sydney - a truly spectacular physical setting with lots of beautiful green suburbs. The long recovery from apartheid still continues though and the poverty is everywhere (unlike Sydney). However, South Africa has a good rate of economic growth and a reasonable government (apart from AIDS). They certainly are friendly to radio astronomy as reflected in the resources that they are putting into their bid to get the Square Kilometre Array in South Africa. The government sees this as a way to bolster high tech in the country. It's interesting that many of the people associated with the project were formerly defense contractors - now that's a fine change to encourage.

I expect to be going back fairly often and I'm looking forward to it!

Tim

FIRST YEAR RESULTS, Part 1a

Just a quick one...

Language: It took me awhile to understand Australian. I'm still learning to speak it. Some examples of the dialect:
Lounge Room = Living Room
Benchtop = Countertop
Timber = Wood
Mate = What guys call each other
Almost any word can be made "Australian" by adding "ie" to the end of it.
For example: Brekkie = Breakfast, Pressie = Present, and get this one! Truckie (the big, burly semi-driver "truckie"?)= Trucker, and Barby = BBQ

Cheers, Judi

FIRST YEAR RESULTS, Part I

I haven’t posted anything here for weeks. My creative urges have been focused elsewhere, i.e., painting the house, making wall hangings, doing a collage, etc. It has been one year now that Tim and I moved to Australia. ONE YEAR! I remember in November 2004, we made a chart to help us decide whether to move. We each ranked various items of consideration: Tim’s job, Socorro VS Sydney, dogs, finances, kids, housing, etc. I thought I might provide an update on how things have turned out to date and add a few items that we had not considered…

1. Tim’s job: He loves it. NRAO? What's that?
2. Socorro VS Sydney: Duhhhhhhh. Socorro doesn’t stand a chance.
3. Dogs: This turned out ok, although I still miss the big white dog I had to leave behind. I’m glad we went through the incredible expense and difficulty to bring Karma and Sammy, though. They have adjusted to Aussie living with no trouble at all.
4. Finances: Hmmmm. Well, it is more expensive to live here and we make less money… but we’re scraping by. ☺
5. Housing: Ouch. Houses are expensive here. We found a nice home in a nice area, but it took the sale of our two New Mexico houses to put down to buy this house.
6. Weather: OOOO la la, the weather is great here. Socorro isn’t bad, but Sydney has it beat.
7. Scenery: The water and beaches are beautiful here, but it is hard to beat the American Southwest for spectacular scenery.
8. Diversity: Sydney. It is truly a melting pot here. Our next-door neighbors are from Chile, the man across the street is from Singapore, our friends Jerry and Yvonne, down the street, are from India (he is half British), as well as the nice family across the street. In addition, one street over is a man from Iran. I have a Chinese friend at the dog park and have met several people from South Africa. I just met a woman down the street who is renting a home with her partner who is Indian. She is from Sri Lanka, and they both arrived from the US one year ago. Socorro has some diversity in that the demographics are made up of Anglo, Hispanic and American Indian, with some international additions that work at NMTech or NRAO. However, Sydney definitely wins in the diversity category.
9. A cool thing: In Australia, they have a system called BYO. As you are probably aware, this means “bring your own” bottle. BYO is an excellent levelling strategy for restaurants that can’t afford a liquor license. Even at the smallest pizza joint, you can enjoy a nice bottle of wine with your meal. Some licensed restaurants even offer BYO along with their own liquor menu. These restaurants charge a corkage fee per person, and this amount seems to depend on the “upscale-ness” of the venue. The corkage fee ranges from $1.00- $4.00 per person.
10. …TO BE CONTINUED…

Cheers! Judi

Bush and Cheney: The Hippie Kings

As someone who was there (the sixties, I mean), I can affirm that this is good stuff -
Petty Larseny: Bush and Cheney: The Hippie Kings

Tim

Todays's useful word - Kakistocracy

Kakistocracy

Fine article on the role of the USA in the world

What 5 years of Bush has done - The World's Dispensable Nation

Ulysses in audio

Many months ago I listened to Homer's Iliad in audio. That was a wonderful experience making the drive to and from work quite a high point in the day. I took a long rest and eventually dived back into listening with James Joyce's Ulysses. I'm about half way through now. I've read the book a couple of times. It's really hard reading but immensely rewarding. Listening to it is quite superior.

The book defies easy summary. Imagine a conflation of Homer (the Odyssey) and Shakespeare (mainly Hamlet) tranposed to Dublin, 1904, as told by an Irishman totally in mastery of the English language. Stephen Daedalus is a Irish-Greek - a mixture of Telemachus (Odysseus's son) and Hamlet. Leopold Bloom is Odysseus as a Irish-Jew wandering the street of Dublin for many a hour before going home to his wife Molly who is beseiged by a suitor (only one) as Penelope was. The scenes from the Odyssey are transferred to Dublin so that for example the Cyclops becomes the Citizen - an Irish patriot who only has one view on everything. But the book is not simply diagrammatic. Joyce pioneered stream of consciousness and so you live inside the head of Stephen, Leopold, and Molly. Bloom is very sympathetic - he is Homer's "master of stratagems" brought into Dublin. He does come home eventually to Molly. The book ends with a long soliquy by Molly. The pleasures of the book (and audio as read by Jim Norton) are quite varied. It's very entertaining and funny, for one. Joyce demonstrates his ability to write in a wide range of styles and voices. And his ability to describe conversations between groups of people (sharing a few drinks perhaps) is superb. The net result is a book that simply towers over other great novels. It should be read (or listened to) by anyone who loves literature.

Tim

WHEN YOU THINK OF WATER, think of BOB

Living most of the last 30 years in the US Southwest desert (New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado), it became clear that outdoor gardening is not my forte. Of course, it never helped that I was miserly with water - but with the drought and all.... I just felt it was the right thing to do. Of course the gophers didn't help much and the bind weed.... oh, the bind weed!

Well, an unusual thing happened the other day that I want to mention. I went to Bunnings (sort of an Oz "Home Depot") and while there, decided to invest in a few plants. Bunnings is probably not the best place to get plants (an employee even told me they don't take care of the plants there at all!), but since I was there, I thought "Why not?"... and I grabbed a few. As usual, my selection criterion were price, hardiness, easy care, drought and frost resistance, does it pass the "is it pretty?" test, and I do like natives. You might think I'm being cheap putting price first on my list, but remember that this sport is not my forte - do I want to sink a bunch of cash into something that's just going to die soon anyway?

.... well, to cut this story short, I planted one little plant right away, and the rest several days later (I'm not into heat much). This was a little guy with a lot of potential. I planted this plant (we'll call it BOB), next to the steps going up towards the house from our driveway. I'm hoping that BOB is a forgiving plant, because I had to build up a soil base for him. Oh, there's plenty of dirt here, but it covers plenty of rocks. So if BOB keeps his roots short, he should do alright. After planting him with some nice black soil mixed with other stuff that looked good, I gave him a nice bath of seaweed water. I don't know if seaweed is good for BOB or other plants, but it's usually green and I think that's probably a good sign.

The clincher.... what I have been leading up to with this story... is that an hour later, water actually fell from the sky and gave BOB an even better bath. Hey, you don't see that happen much in New Mexico... WATER... falling from the sky.... There might be some hope for me... better yet, there might be some hope for BOB. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers! Judi

Ben and Katie and a possum

My nephew Ben and his girlfriend Katie are travelling around NSW and Queensland on what seems to be an idyllic trip. They sent some great pictures recently and I thought we'd rip off a couple to show here. They say that one night a possum got into a bag of flour.

Japanese Death Poems

Zoe is working in home care at the moment, and one of her clients was slowly dying from cancer. So Zoe and I had some conversations about dying via Skype. I didn't and don't have anything particularly helpful to say. Death, like life, sucks.

What I did tell her about (and send her via Amazon) was a book, "Japanese Death Poems", of poems written by Zen monks and haiku poets on the verge of death.

Autumn breeze:
driftwood
landing lightly on the bank

Kanna (1744)

On a journey: ill,
my dream goes wandering
over withered fields

Basho (1694)

A parting gift to my body:
just when it wishes
I'll breathe my last

Ensei (1725)

The foam on the last water
has dissolved
my mind is clear

Mitoku (1669)

And my favorite:

Now it reveals its hidden side
and now the other - thus it falls,
an autumn leaf

Ryokan (1831)

Tim

Leura - Australia's Blue Mountains

This week, Tim and I drove to the town of Leura in the Blue Mountains - a short 1 1/2 hour trip. Tim was attending a conference at the Leura Garden Resort Wednesday through Friday. We decided to stay over Friday night so that he could enjoy some down time. The resort didn't look like a very interesting place to stay, so we booked a room in a B&B called Megalong Manor. The B&B was charming and our suite was truly comfortable and self contained. I missed the communal breakfast, because you can meet some of the most interesting people at B&B breakfasts, but the privacy was nice. The only thing I found uncomfortable about the Megalong was the fake cat lying on the chair in our corridor. I had to pass the cat to get to our room. For some reason, the cat, which looked very realistic, gave me the creeps. I felt like covering it or hiding it until we left. Being a good guest, I left the cat alone... but if I ever stay there again it's the cat or me!

I guess the only other bother were the little spiders who were abseiling from high up on the wood trim and down the drapes. The spider's energy in this pursuit provided some interesting observation for a while, but there's just so long you can watch without doing. (Forget it - I don't do heights!)

On a walk out to Sublime Point (think a not so Grand Canyon mixed with the Blue Ridge Mountains) a young Eastern Brown Snake crossed the path just in front of us. I read later on the internet that this brown snake is the second most venomous in Australia. Yikes! ... and he looked so cute.

Here are photos of Tim and I at Sublime Point. I have a hard time taking a straight photo, so bear with me - I'm showing off my tattoo.

Bush, The Patriot Act, Bugging Devices

As I sit here in my home in Thornleigh, NSW Australia, I am all too keenly aware that we are not exempt from being "watched" by "The Bush" government. I know that Tim and I are open in our thoughts about the Bush government, and we don't mind putting our ideas into writing in this blog, but bugging us all the way over here - in the world of "down under"? Come on! Isn't this going just a bit too far?



Did they REALLY think we weren't going to notice the BUG in our home? And aren't they lacking just a tad in creativity? You can almost hear the little shutter click from the camera. As Americans, can't we expect better than this?



This is the last straw! First it was Cheney the snake, then it was the leechy lobbyists, and now this. All I can say is the best bugging device is the bugging device that you know EXACTLY where it is.

Cheers, Judi

PS: This really is a photo of the Huntsman Spider that is on our wall. I'd say he's about 4 inches across. I put the heart graphic around him because I thought it would make me see these large spiders in a more loving way - embracing nature and all that. Why am kidding myself?!! They say these spiders will eat cockroaches - that's a good thing. It is said they can give you a nasty bite when provoked - that's not so nice. Catch and release? Yuck. At least they don't kill you like some things here - that's a very good thing.

Side view of this cute little guy below:

New Mexico bites back

So Judi and I are kayaking at Apple Tree Bay late on Friday afternoon. Here's a Google Earth picture:



The hot sun and sand on the skin makes me wish for a fish taco. I mention this to Judi and we stop after only an hour or so - she's hungry too! So where can you get a fish taco in Sydney? Our mobile phones don't help or at least we don't know how to use them to find out - we're googlers. So after trawling through Turramurra on the way back, we decide that a fish curry would do as well. There are three options in Turramurra - we choose the wrong one, I think. Both of us are sick the next day, me especially (by the way one of the Mexican restaurants in Sydney is called Montezuma, which really isn't a good name). Anyway, today, Sunday, we did the research and found a place in Cafe La Soul in Bateau Bay that has an excellent sounding fish taco on the menu. It's about an hour's drive and we're neither one of us up to the drive. So it's off to Woolworth's for the makings - Old El Paso's Taco Shells, some freshwater basa (catfish), green stuff, etc. Turned out pretty good, even if I say so myself. So it can be done. I also bought some refried beans with green chile for the inevitable craving for a burrito. It's best to be prepared.

The source for my craving was a happy memory of the fish tacos at El Sombrero in Socorro. All the New Mexican food there is excellent but I really like the fish tacos. Next time you're passing by, try it out.

Tim

Entry point to American Political Blogs

Ruth and Ernie asked about American political blogs. The left (both moderate and further out) are now beginning to make good use of blogs. The Huffington Post is an excellent starting point - see both the headlined news stories and also the pointers to various blog sites about half way down the page in the middle. For video, you can go to Crooks and Liars, which provides short clips from various programs, including news and late night shows.

The Daou Report has links to both left and right wing blogs, chosen from a liberal point of view so the right wing links always look foolish (at least to me).

These are the main places that I read.

Tim

Kayaking with an Artist

Tim and I went kayaking this morning with Ernie Gerzabek. We met at a windy Narrabeen Lake, but chose a nice little creek to paddle down. Since Ernie wasn't going to bring his kayak (he hasn't used it for 3 years), I brought the dogs along thinking I would have some spare time to look after them. Well, Ernie brought his kayak (one of those sleek, tippy models), so the dogs had to keep up by running along the shoreline. This worked out well for every one, except perhaps the poor hapless ducks who were just minding their own business.... until this little black water rat, named Sammy, dog-paddled his way.... well, let me just say that his stamina is incredible. Two kayakers were paddling by whilst Sammy was pursuing his prey and to be friendly, I called out, "This dog is a very optimistic hunter!" (re: catching a duck); and one kayaker yelled back to me, "Thanks mate, I thought that was just the ugliest duck I ever saw!"

After kayaking, Tim and I went to Ernie's house and visited with he and his wife, Ruth. These are great people - interesting, well educated, can't understand how the US population could re-elect Bush... etc. Their home is like an art museum. Ernie is an architect by training, but "retired" to pursue his art. I've put a link to the side of the blog, but here is the same link, Some Favorite Art. Ernie's art is unique and he uses the most incredible colors. You will see that he has been in the process of really being "discovered" for several years now, but his incredible work is still affordable - original art! A friend of mine in Arizona has been collecting his work for some time, I contacted Ernie while we were still in the US, and I am enamored of his paintings. By the way, Ernie is also a refugee of Hungary.... and, well.... read his site or wait until the movie comes out!

A nice way to spend a day.

Cheers, Judi

The President and the Law

See the very illuminating Q&A by Fafnir.

Tim

This Bobbin Head Ain't Noddin' Off

It has been two nights now of little to no sleep. I don't know what is causing my insomnia, but I want it to stop now! I thought yesterday after an afternoon of kayaking and no sleep the night before.... anyway, please bear with my "brain-deadness."

One thing I suggest that you not do if you desire a restful night is read Amazing Australia's on-line account of shark attacks, crocodile attacks, spider attacks, snakes, and so forth. If I weren't so darn good at dissociating, I wouldn't leave my home - ever! - but I AM a good dissociator, so I just won't think about it! I'll float around on my little blue kayak and I just won't think about the sharks, the 4-5 meter "bull" sharks, sliding through the dark water beneath me waiting to jump up and bite my boat in half! Ugh!

Speaking of kayaking, Tim and I went boating on Sunday afternoon. We went to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park at Bobbin Head and paddled (at high tide) through the mangroves. It was beautiful. (Not my photo - but it gives you an idea of what it's like.)











Tim is.... hmmmmmm... upright challenged. He's capsized more than the Titanic has been made into movies. This was a particularly funny capsize, especially since I just caught the part where his white hat is flying and his orange kayak is bobbing without it's skipper and he is just past an overhanging branch. The scenario in my head was that he ran smack into the branch and was knocked out of the boat. What he "said" happened is that he was leaning back to clear the branch and lost his balance. In any case, it was very funny.

Cheers, Judi

Two book recommendations

Another couple of book recommendations.

First, both Zoe and I (independently) read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and liked it a lot.

It's a novel stretching over a thousand years or so - it's hard to tell, starting a few hundred years ago and going into the distant future. I wouldn't call it science fiction, despite that. It's not easily classifiable but it is fascinating and wonderfully written. It consists of a number of linked stories but the links aren't as straightforward as they initially seem, even once you think about it for a while. The author does many things in this book - he subverts narrative, history, the idea of progress. And it's about real people. There are many satisfactions to this book and I really enjoyed it.

Second, I bought this book for Gavin at Christmas and he left it for me to read - A Voyage for Madmen. If you enjoy adventure books (like The Worst Journey in the World), you'll love this. It's the story of the first round the world solo non-stop yacht race. It has horrible catastrophes at sea, cheating, dispair, depression, death, and madness. Can't be beat.


Tim

Museums, Rain and Bathrooms

A woman visitor at the Contemporary Art Museum in Sydney challenged Tim to follow the artist's instructions to unzip his fly, lie down on the floor and stick the bouquet of silk flowers in his open fly. Of course, Tim, not one to back down from a challenge accepted in a heartbeat. This artist was a kick. Another of his "instructions" was to stand in one bucket while wearing a second bucket on your head. Check out the link to see a much better explanation of the artist's work.

Sunday was another rainy day here in Oz. I know the rain is needed, but I wouldn't mind a bit of sun now either. At least the temperatures are wonderful - cool and comfortable. When we had the killer hot day on January 1 (112 degrees F), all our beautiful ferns and several other plants turned brown and keeled over. I'm sure they will recover, but I think their response shows how unusual that kind of weather is around our home.

On Sunday we dragged (drugged?) each other out and took the train into the big city of Sydney. Our plan was to go to the Contemporary Art Museum, which we did, but we decided to eat first - at the Museum Cafe. We got a wonderful table sitting on the veranda overlooking Circular Quay, the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour, various street performers - and the people-watching was fascinating. I ordered what Tim ordered (since he always gets something good and I always get something that only "sounds" good). Our lunch was a blue cheese souffle with endive salad greens and caramelized walnuts. Sounds great, doesn't it? Actually, it was good, all 1.5 grams of it! The souffle arrived in a tiny white ceramic cup and the plate had about 10 small leaves of endive with what seemed to be enough pieces of walnut to perhaps make one whole walnut. This plate should have been called an appetizer, because it certainly did that - made us more hungry! We of course had some wine (in that venue, how could one resist?), and the Riesling was lovely, fruity and crisp and made us mellow enough not to protest the tiny portions.

After lunch and museum we went over to get a closer view of the street performer we had earlier been viewing from afar. Now this was one crazy guy. He juggled and rode a 9' high unicycle. Mostly he had the one-liner down to an artform. He was particularly good at embarrassing people, e.g., to the two men standing on the ferry coming in near us he yelled, "I was glad to hear you two got back together!" and the old woman who he gave a hug to and came away holding a lacy black bra. At first she didn't see the bra, but when she did she exclaimed, "It's not mine! Really, it's not mine!" Tim and I both had severe "cheek ache" when we finally walked away. This photo I took with my mobile phone camera shows the performer and an unwitting 10 year old volunteer.



Last Friday, I had a lovely new friend over to our house for some afternoon snacks. Lisa brought Bella with her, who is probably the most beautiful and well behaved and good tempered baby in the world. I don't know Bella's exact age, but she is seriously considering walking about now. Lisa and her husband, Chris, were kind enough to invite us for dinner at their home not long after we settled into our house last May. That kind of hospitality is unusual and special and did wonders for our sense of belonging. Chris works with Tim at ATNF, and Lisa is working part-time as a pharmacist as well as caring for Bella.

Saturday found Tim anxious to get out and do something, while I was anxious to stay home and do little. Tim called Chris to go kayaking and later that afternoon, off they went. I went to the mall to buy magazines for collaging (the weirder the mag the better).

Note: Australian toilets are interesting in that they have two buttons. The button on the left is for "light" duty and the one on the right is for "heavy" doodee. :)

In the brochure put out by the water company who is encouraging residents to be careful with their water use, I read: "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." They don't mince words here in Oz.

Have a lovely day, Mates! Judi

Our house

Well, I'm late to this but I was finally able to run Google Earth. Here's where we live:

33°42'54.38"S 151° 5'1.28"E

And here's a screen shot:




Tim

Picking Up Nasty Hitchhikers

Tim and the dogs went for a walk in the bush this morning and inadvertently brought home a few Republican Lobbyists and Politicians, oops, I mean bloodsucking leeches. I first saw one on Karma's foot and removed it. I then suggested to Tim that he might check himself - yuck, three inside his sock! Those things go through fiber like it's not even there. One or two had made contact, because he had a slow bleed around the ankle for a good 45 minutes. Karma got the worst of it, and we've been finding the slimy buggers slinking across the rugs here and there. Since a good dose of salt is the recommended exterminant -- well, you probably know about the blood and stuff. Surely you've seen The African Queen?!!

Moving onto films... We saw King Kong last night. Think of 3 1/2 hours of watching giant killer leeches, and you'll get the gist of this movie. Tim will probably think this is unfair and untrue, since he totally enjoyed it. Moi? Basically it was 3 1/2 hours of pouring sweat, tense muscles and tears (or near tears). If the theater chairs would have allowed it, I'd have spent the time curled up in a fetal position.

If you like gore, you'll like this movie - primitive peoples bashing heads and offering a cute blonde to the evil Kong, giant human eating squidlike things sucking in the head of some poor sailor, and bodies being thrown against walls and the ground by the giant ape - too many to count. The special effects were incredible and the subtle expressions of the ape would break your heart, but it was one of the most exhausting movies I've watched in many years. I'm not really a blood and guts kind of movie watcher anyway, so you should really ask Tim for his review of the film.

One last thought... After three hours or so, they still hadn't moved onto NY and the Empire State Building from the terrifying prehistoric island; and if they made the cute blonde (Kong's significant other) climb any more flights of stairs (wearing stilettos) on the top of the Empire State Building.... well, I was ready to shoot her myself. Reviewers comment: ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!

Cheers, Judi

Hairdressers Are Sent By God

At the insistence of my friends at the dog park who told me that "the color doesn't really go with your skin tone," I decided nix on the Clairol fix and went to a recommended hairdresser for a professional job. Good decision. I didn't have the courage to photograph my disastrous dye job, but last night on the way to dinner, I photographed myself (in the car) using my mobile (Australian for "cell phone"). Below is the result.



You would hope that a smart woman would learn her lesson after dying her hair black in Hawaii... Hmmmm. No comment.

Clairol, Born Blonde, Uh Oh!!

This is me.


This is me on Clairol.


I hate to admit this, but I did it again. In the quest for true bottle beauty I've made a horrible mistake. Last night, I tried to go a bit blonder. Now the word "bit" is relative, but my hair is way more than a "bit" blonder. Not only is it blonder, but it has that lovely reddish/orangish tinge that is so sought after in the finest hair salons. Yeah, right. It looks like crap! A$%#rc#%ghh*&)#$cRhhhhhhhh.

I am sitting here this morning waiting for enough time to go past 9:00 AM for the Clairol help staff in Australia to have their coffee which will hopefully put them in a helpful and happy mood. They will need to be in a good frame of mind to deal with me -- crying, whining, pleading, angry, childish "me."

I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, I can be reached at home.

Cheers, Judi

PS: The last time I went black. I was so taken by the lovely hawaiian women during a trip to Hawaii that I decided to try the look. There is a reason why "The Higher Power" gave certain ethnicities certain color hair, skin, etc. She/he had good taste. Moi? I looked like a middle age goth wannabe!

Ben and Katie

My nephew, Ben, and his girlfriend, Katie, left on Sunday, the hottest New Years day ever in Sydney (112F/44.2C).

They bought a car and camping supplies and intend to drive, or meander, up to Cairns, taking about 4 months to get there. They might work occasionally or there again, they might not. Sounds a good way to see the country.



We're really sorry to see them go. It's been fun having them here, especially at the same time as Gavin. I think it was also a good chance for Gavin to meet his cousin who he last saw about ten years ago.

Tim

Too hot

44C / 111F today in Thornleigh. The Specials say:

Too hot, this town is too hot
Now they're calling for their guns
About to spoil the rude boys' fun
But rude boys never give up their guns
It's too hot

No man, can tell them what to do
Pound for pound, they say they're ruder than you
They are the boss, and no back down
You might have a couple you like
Choose your burial sight
Take insurance, make up your will
Come out and tell them, find them

The soldiers came back to you without them
The police force are afraid, they can't even touch them
They say "You think you're bad? Why don't you come out yourself"
These boys are calling for a fight, fighting tonight they don't lie
It's too hot

Too hot, too hot
Too hot, too hot
Too hot, too hot
Too hot, too hot

Tim

Happy New Year - Welcome 2006!!!

OUR PREDICTIONS FOR 2006:

1. The US will win the Soccer World Cup.
2. Dick Cheney is unveiled as an Al Qaida double agent.
3. "W" will take 365 days vacation in 2006 - the country prospers as a result.
4. Zoe will cook an entire meal without burning part of her house down.
5. Gavin will be deported from Brazil due to a face slapping incident at a Capoeira demonstration.
6. Our friend Vicky will find the "real" man of her dreams and he will NOT be a geologist!
7. Diamond Belle Saloon age discrimination suit finally settles out of court.

8. Ben and girlfriend, Katie, organize Australian Outback's seasonal workers and win the right for all to work only at the beach.
9. A movie adaptation of Robyn's new book, The History of the VLA, is forthcoming and will star Christopher Walken as Director Miller Goss.


Give us more to add to the list! Happy New Year - Judi and Tim

Poker with Dick Cheney

The Poor Man: Poker With Dick Cheney

Hah!

Tim

Tim, Judi, Gavin, Katie, Ben

Taken on Christmas Day up by Gosford, returning from a great day at Pearl Beach:

Holidays in the Land of Oz

Happy belated holidays. Sorry I have been incommunicado for the last month or so, but I have been dealing with some depression, etc. Those of you who know me will not be surprised at that news. I wish I could say that I'm past it now, but it looks like it needs to kick me in the butt for a while longer. It's ok - builds character.

Despite the miserable mood, I have still been pretty active - made easier by the presence of three early 20-somethings, two active canines, new kayaks, and a hubby who can't seem to get enough of the water. In fact, after taking Gavin to the airport this morning (we were sad to see him go!), Tim and I went boating on the Lane Cove River.

On Monday, Gavin and I went to the nearby Koala Park. It's a small animal sanctuary where you can see and pet many local animals - koalas (of course), kangaroos (of course), echidnas, wallaroos, emus, etc. As you can see, koalas are almost impossibly cute and sweet creatures.



And then there is the cute roo entertaining me....













... and here's Gavin looking pretty cute as he entertains this roo...



Cheers, Judi

Christmas Eve

We celebrated our first Christmas in Australia last night with Gavin, and Ben and Katie. Katie and I cooked some Indian food, Katie, Judi and Ben made jolly hats and a creditable Christmas tree, we opened presents, and watched one of our (T and J) favorite movies - Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Here we are with hats and tree.




Happy Holidays!

Tim

The most amazing thing about George Bush - Part 2

Yes, he can still amaze me. Even though my expectations are really, really low, he can sink below even those. Choosing to spy illegally on USA citizens when he could just as easily spy legally on the same USA citizens is mind boggling - there's no sense in it. It just goes to show a absolute contempt for the electorate and all the things that he claims the USA can export - democracy, the rule of law, open debate. And yet still people stand up for him, some simply because he claims to be a Christian. While I'm not a Christian now, I was raised as one and it's hard to reconcile what I know and respect about Christianity - love, forgiveness, turning the other cheek, "the meek shall inherit the earth" - with how the Bush government has operated. A pre-emptive, baseless, illegal war that has killed perhaps 100,000 Iraqi people? The complete indifference to suffering seen in the aftermath of Katrina? The unending tax breaks for the rich? The fear-mongering and constant lies? Surely none of this can be counted as Christian?

I guess my only hope is that people will wake up one day and be embarrassed to have supported him. I'm not holding my breath.

Tim

See George Best in action

Following up on my post from a few weeks ago, I'd like to point out that there's a music video about George Best out, written by Colin Hay from Men At Work (remember them from the eighties). It's about 6 minutes long is mostly George Best in action. The proceeds go towards supporting Donor Family Network, an organization that supports donor families and promotes organ and tissue donation.

Tim

Dudes at the Beach

Kayaking

Gavin and I have been kayaking four days in a row. It's now Christmas Eve and we're going to take the day off to rest. We've been to various places around Hornsby. There's a regional Park, Berowra Waters, within about 15 minutes drive that is superb - a quiet calm estuary running through high sandstone cliffs. Here are some pictures - not great but you get the idea.





Tim

Gavin and Capoeira

Gavin, who's visiting us at the moment, does Capoeira - a Brazilian mixture of dance and martial arts. Here are some pictures of him at his club in Dallas:







Tim

Zen master Bush

W as a Zen master.

Wonderful.

Tim

Some Photos, as requested....

Manly Beach Bums: Tim's nephew, Ben Cornwell, from the UK on the left and Gavin Cornwell, attending UTDallas, on the right. Ben is in Australia on a six month working holiday, but just arrived a week ago to spend some weeks with Tim and I. His girlfriend, Katy, will arrive on December 19. Gavin touched down Saturday, December 10, and will be staying with us over Christmas until December 28.



This is Tim and I on the deck of the Manly Ferry. What a beautiful day - sunny with perfect temps!

PADDLING

Wow. Kayaking is fun. As you paddle along, it's hard to think of anything wrong in the world. You become one with the water and the rhythm of your stroke. The beautiful, peaceful Australian countryside surrounds you and the narrow saltwater bay you move through - just gliding. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Until your solitude and peace is ruined by those bloody, crazy Ozzie birds squalking and screaming!!!
(Just kidding.)

Saturday we bought two kayaks (Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120 sit on tops), life vests (aka pfd's), paddles, and gloves. Yeah, gloves - my left thumb almost fell off from being rubbed against the paddle surface. We picked up the kayaks in the morning and spent the rest of the day trying to find some water that didn't have white caps on it. It was a windy day. Our search took us up the coast from Sydney (the Spit Bridge) to Narrabeen Lake which we thought would be adequately sheltered for a calm paddle. Bad idea for us, good idea for all of the windsurfers there.

We continued up the coast past Bayview (our beloved Doggie Heaven) and saw several lovely venues for future paddling - definitely not for our maiden voyage though - too windy! So we ventured farther north to the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the Akuna Bay marina. Wind, wind and more wind. Although we were frustrated that we hadn't found the perfect calm paddling spot yet, we thoroughly enjoyed the drive through the park.

At this point we debated giving up our search and trying again the next morning, but we gave it one last try and went to Bobbin Head which is also part of the Ku-ring-gai National Park system. Ahhhhhh. A breeze but certainly no deal breaker. We unloaded the boats from the top of Tim's wagon and had to wade through some really sticky mud to launch them. If you stopped long enough, you could pretty much kiss your sandal goodbye.

The rest of the afternoon was perfect weather which made for a perfect maiden voyage. Tim had obviously found his equilibrium since I found him leaning back - feet in water - a contented look on his face - lazily floating along.

Our kayaks met all of our expectations. They were stable, maneuverable, tracked well and speedy enough for us. Love at first float.

Catching up.... Ben Cornwell, Tim's 23 year old nephew from the UK called first thing Saturday morning and after a long miserable flight and a night spent in the airport arrival lounge asked if he could stay with us. Tim picked him up from the train station an hour later and after exchanging a few pleasantries, crashed and wasn't heard from again until early evening. Sunday, I spent shopping for Tim's spiffy outfit (see below), so the "boys" went kayaking at the Berowra Waters. I'll leave that story for him to tell.

Ya'll be good now, ya heah?
Judi

Check out Flickr for a few new photos.

Moving on from George Best and George Worst...

What's the Number 1 thing you thought you would never ever see?

Give up?

Answer: Tim in a suit.



Tim adds: The tie is more of a problem. When I was at Grammar School I had to wear a tie every day and I hated it! Still feels unnatural. I have to say that I like the suit. I'm giving a presentation at a CSIRO Industry day so I have to look reasonably smart, which I guess that I do :) Judi did all the shopping without me there. She did really well.

The most amazing thing about George Bush

is that when it came down to it he (and much of the right in the US), didn't believe in democracy, fairness, decency, honesty, openness, the truth, or any of the other things that I (as a transplant from the UK to the US) recognized as being key ideals in US mythology. When 9/11 happened all of that simply crumbled away. Suddenly it's ok to lie, distort, hide, incarcerate, torture. Of course, many people will say that it's always been that way for the US. I don't think I agree. Kennedy, Clinton and Carter were fundamentally decent men, quite different from W.

The last few months have been as strong an experience as seeing the Iron Curtain come down. The hold that Bushco has had over the US seems to have simply disappeared. What happened? How could the lies that once worked not now work? Very strange. But encouraging.

I hope that the US recovers after Bush is gone.

Tim