Last Day of August

Yesterday i returned from a very long week in Melbourne, and today i write this post from home, as i enjoy a thoroughly deserved day off. The demonstration of our Next Generation Access Technology went relatively well, especially considering the numerous scares we had along the way. The most prominent and painfully obvious problem occurred at the zero minute mark of the demonstration, when our traffic analyser PC decided it would be totally illogical and started spewing out crazy information. I could hear the confused comments from our potential customer behind me as i frantically tried to recover from the situation. With some quick thinking we moved onto another slide in the presentation, allowing me some time to reboot the PC, and restore normality to a universe that was very quickly collapsing upon itself! As i was doing a lot of the behind the scenes work during the demonstration, and also taking on the role of slide-girl, it was hard for me to judge if the demonstration was well received. The word afterwards was that it went quite well, so fingers crossed that they continue to show interest in the product, and that we eventually win the contract.

Kerri came to visit over the weekend, and although she barely saw me on the Sunday (i was in the office until 2am), we still had a lovely weekend together. On Saturday we made time to make our way to the MCG, or (as i've know learnt) is more commonly referred to as "the G", to see the Swans defeat the Hawks in the last regulation round of the season. I'm certainly not the biggest of Swans fans (my 2nd team), and only tend to watch when their matches are closely fought, however i very much enjoyed the game. Much of the enjoyment came from the view. I've only ever been to two AFL games before, and both times i was seated quite low to the playing surface, making depth perception on distant play almost impossible. However for Saturdays match we managed to perch ourselves at the front of the very top level of the stand. This gave a great overview of the entire ground, and now i understand why people say that AFL was not made for television. When given the ability to see all the play, not only in the immediate vicinity of the ball, but also seeing how the players try to position themselves and wrestle off the ball really makes it a spectacular game to watch. I think AFL is a game that will really benefit from HDTV, as the camera will have more freedom to give us a wide angled shot, all the while maintaining focus and detail on play around the ball. Anyway, i'm looking forward to the finals series, and hoping the Cats can lift their form, and if not, for the Swans to make it their first premiership from Sydney.

The month of August has been a good one for myself. The symptoms of Anxiety have further subsided, and i only experienced them during the most stressful times during the past three weeks in Melbourne. Late during the demo on Monday i started to have some mild attacks, and i have reacted to that by taking today off. Highlights for the month were of course Cheryl's efforts in the World Championships, Kerri surprising herself with a good time in the City to Surf, and my niece Tarni celebrating her 14th Birthday. Low light would have to be the amount of sport i have played of late (ie. none). I've developed a wobbly belly full of jelly!

Hope you have all had a good month, as we look forward to the first day of Spring. It's always a very special day for Kerri and I :-)

A Break from the Cold

It's lovely to be back in Sydney. As i write this i glance out the window to see blue skies and a sunlit Blackwattle Bay. It's a pleasant change from two weeks in a very wintery Melbourne. Of course i'm back there tomorrow, and will probably remain there until the end of the month.

Yesterday Kerri and I visited our hair-dresser in the morning. It's always a relaxing and pleasurable experience - just the medicine i needed after a very stressful week. I've added Tony to my newly created Free Plug section. Tony is looking for new customers, so if you're looking for a good hairdresser in Sydney CBD, please give Tony a try.

We also did some shopping in Myer - i bought a couple of pair of Jeans, and Kerri purchased some long sleeved tops and a stunning leather jacket. I also bought a much-needed umbrella, which was advertised as the World's First Automatic Open and Close Umbrella. The idea of that seemed pretty amazing to me - but what a load of crap! The closing mechanism does indeed initiate a folding of the frame, but the operator still needs to pull the pivot point down the shaft to the locking position, and is far more effort than is required with a normal umbrella! Still, it's very compact once folded, and the gimmick makes a good talking point :-)

We squeezed in the bit of tennis yesterday afternoon, however we were battling the wind more than anything. I've never before hit so many delicate drop shots from full-blooded forehand top-spin drives! About 5 mins before we finished up, i realised that my grip on both forehand and backhand had been shockingly incorrect for the whole session. I was wondering why i was hitting the ball so terribly! I've found that simple things like gripping the racket in the right position is easily lost if one does not play regularly.

Today we will be visiting Kerri's grandmothers old place, where we will meet up with her parents, and later in the afternoon we intend to trek out to Penrith to catch up with Cheryl and the family. Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Walking on the Spot

So Kerri and I struggle out of bed early on Sunday morning, jump in the car and head to Northbridge for the annual Fun Run. We first make a stop at the Moss Mansion to feed Mr G. Khan, before climbing Mount err ... Upper Bligh Street. We make our way to the registration desk, where Kerri spends a few minutes filling out the rego form, hands over some money, and is handed a "10km fun run" race number. Kerri then enquires how they knew she was entering the 10km? Oh no, there's no ten km this year ... Not even a five km run. No? No, this year there is only a two kilometer run. Two meesly km's! Hardly ideal preparation for the 14km city-to-surf! So we stroll back to the Mosses, where i take in an early morning nap while Kerri clocks up some km's on her own. Quite a pleasant nap indeed! And i had little Genghi to keep me company :-)

Someone not walking on the spot was my sister Cheryl. She managed 21st place, only one behind Athens Bronze Medalist Jane Saville. Cheryl was not feeling the best physically, but she powered on, finishing in a reasonable time considering the undulating course. Well done Cheryl!

Hope the rest of you all had a great weekend!

Calm before the Storm

Work has me heading down to Melbourne on Tuesday to begin setting up for a demonstration of our impressive next generation broadband access equipment. I'll be based there for the next couple of weeks, and possibly longer. It's exciting times, and i am enjoying the work, but it's also quite stressful as the demonstration is for an extremely important customer. Therefore I am looking to have a very relaxing weekend.

Today Kerri and I will play some tennis, but she's ordered me to take it easy, as she will be entering the Northbridge Fun Run tomorrow morning. It's an extremely undulating course, and will be good preparation for the City to Surf next weekend. While we're in Northbridge we will have the pleasure of stopping by the old Moss Mansion to feed the Genghi-meister, who's usual carer has taken time off to visit her parents in Condobolin.

After checking the television guide, it appears we will not see Cheryl's World Championship race live. Her 20km Walk will start around 6:35pm Sunday, and hopefully last little more than an hour and a half. Cheryl has just moved into the athletes village in Helsinki, where she is rooming with Tatiana Grigorieva, our gorgeous blonde Olympic Pole Vault silver medalist. Let's wish Cheryl the best of luck for her race.

CHERYL, WE BELIEVE IN YOU!

Enjoy the race :-)