On Friday night I went to the Mary Owen Dinner. It was my second but there were women there who had been to all eighteen. The Moorabbin Town Hall was packed with women in the feminist colours of purple, green and white. Most were in their forties and fifties but quite a number were much older and there was a sprinkling of youngies too. I was introduced to Mary Owen Herself. Imagine - you have a retirement dinner and have to hold it in the Hawthorn Town Hall because there is no restaurant big enough. And then you hold it again every year in town halls around Melbourne and the dozens of people are turned away.
It was a fabulous night.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Well, I am sufficiently recovered from my dicky knee to accept Petite Soeur's invitation to walk in the Mother's Day Classic again this year. After all the treatments I endured:
acupuncture
boring exercises
painful physiotherapy
drugs
shark cartilege tablets
rest
fish at every meal
etc.
it is impossible to know which one did the trick so I am perservering with all of them except, for the time being, the physio which is expensive as well as painful.
I checked my collection of remedies and found only one is from the dodgy pharmaceutical lab - Heaven knows what's in it - it's like buying a chiko roll at the football.
acupuncture
boring exercises
painful physiotherapy
drugs
shark cartilege tablets
rest
fish at every meal
etc.
it is impossible to know which one did the trick so I am perservering with all of them except, for the time being, the physio which is expensive as well as painful.
I checked my collection of remedies and found only one is from the dodgy pharmaceutical lab - Heaven knows what's in it - it's like buying a chiko roll at the football.
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Second day back at work after our six-day holiday in the Daintree courtesy of travel agent's muddle. It was wonderful to see North Queensland and snorkelling on the Barrier Reef was unforgettable, exhilarating and hugely satisfying. Great grub up there too, especially the barramundi.
Now it's back to lots of hard work including writing the conference paper. We're desperately hoping that SARS will not prevent us going to Glasgow. That would be too disappointing to bear.
Now it's back to lots of hard work including writing the conference paper. We're desperately hoping that SARS will not prevent us going to Glasgow. That would be too disappointing to bear.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
I don't think I ever recorded the story of my birthday bracelet so belatedly I will. When I was in Kuching, Grumpy Girl and Petite Soeur sent me a bracelet for my birthday but it never arrived. They were both extremely upset and so was I. I told them I would prefer not to even know what the gift was so they didn't tell me and bought me another very similiar one for Christmas. Very nice, very me.
A month or so earlier I had received a card from Pos Malaysia telling me a parcel was waiting to be claimed. Thrilled and relieved I sped to the PO only to find not the bracelet but three tubes of Vegemite which a dear friend had sent to alleviate our homesickness. It was wonderful to have it but, at the time, something of a disappointment.
When we arrived at Melbourne Airport nearly two months after my birthday, Customs took some of our stuff for fumigation. The same thig happened to Petite when she arrived couple of days later. Another two months went by and Petite received a card to say her fumigated goods were now available for picking up at Balaclava PO. When Right Foot went to get the parcel for her there were TWO. One was the fumigated cane balls as expected but the other was the bracelet! It had taken four months for it to go to Malaysia and back and the parcel had obviously been opened but the bracelet lay unharmed in its wrapping. I can wear the two together, they look very well.
My wounded knee feels a little better. Maybe it's the powdered shark, maybe it's the acupuncture.
A month or so earlier I had received a card from Pos Malaysia telling me a parcel was waiting to be claimed. Thrilled and relieved I sped to the PO only to find not the bracelet but three tubes of Vegemite which a dear friend had sent to alleviate our homesickness. It was wonderful to have it but, at the time, something of a disappointment.
When we arrived at Melbourne Airport nearly two months after my birthday, Customs took some of our stuff for fumigation. The same thig happened to Petite when she arrived couple of days later. Another two months went by and Petite received a card to say her fumigated goods were now available for picking up at Balaclava PO. When Right Foot went to get the parcel for her there were TWO. One was the fumigated cane balls as expected but the other was the bracelet! It had taken four months for it to go to Malaysia and back and the parcel had obviously been opened but the bracelet lay unharmed in its wrapping. I can wear the two together, they look very well.
My wounded knee feels a little better. Maybe it's the powdered shark, maybe it's the acupuncture.
Monday, April 07, 2003
The physiotherapist tried acupuncture on me this morning but it doesn't seemed to have helped much. He has also suggested I buy some powdered shark whch is supposed to build up cartilege. I will get some tomorrow: I am very sick of not being able to walk.
Yesterday I limped around the Ned Kelly exhibition at the State Library feeling more sorry for myself than poor Ned, martyr that he was.
We are trying to cobble up funds so that Susan and I can both go to Scotland to present our paper. A is sending begging letters on our behalf to all the cashed up departments who could conceivably cough for us. Here's hoping.
Yesterday I limped around the Ned Kelly exhibition at the State Library feeling more sorry for myself than poor Ned, martyr that he was.
We are trying to cobble up funds so that Susan and I can both go to Scotland to present our paper. A is sending begging letters on our behalf to all the cashed up departments who could conceivably cough for us. Here's hoping.
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
Lefty
Susan and I submitted an abstract for a paper to be presented at a conference in Glasgow and we found out this morning that we have been accepted. Great excitement for half an hour and then the harsh realities of who would pay for us surfaced, as we knew it would. I am determined to go somehow. We have both given papers before but not overseas and I am NOT going to miss this chance - not sure when I will get time to write it though.
I'm soldiering on with the orthotics in my shoes - they seem to be helping to make me walk straight and I am sooo sick of limping and languishing.
Susan and I submitted an abstract for a paper to be presented at a conference in Glasgow and we found out this morning that we have been accepted. Great excitement for half an hour and then the harsh realities of who would pay for us surfaced, as we knew it would. I am determined to go somehow. We have both given papers before but not overseas and I am NOT going to miss this chance - not sure when I will get time to write it though.
I'm soldiering on with the orthotics in my shoes - they seem to be helping to make me walk straight and I am sooo sick of limping and languishing.
Monday, March 31, 2003
Lefty
We went to see 'Ned Kelly' which isn't bad but Righty was irritated by the unintended anachronisms. The major problem was with the carriages of course, as Righty is the world expert on Australian horse-drawn vehicles. If you have seen the film you might remember the scene where Naomi Watt's horrible husband stumbles as he clambers into the carriage. Well no wonder he stumbled! The klutz was getting in the wrong side and not only that, everybody was sitting in the wrong seat. The children were facing the horses. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. They should have had their backs to the horses and Naomi should have been in the 'seat of honour', facing the horses and on the right hand side. Klutzy should have got in from the left and sat on the left. But it gets worse. In another scene we see a carriage stored inside a stable with the horses. According to Righty, the ammonia in the horses' dooings would have had a major deleterious effect on the carriage's varnish and no-one would have subjected their carriage to such treatment. So there.
We went to see 'Ned Kelly' which isn't bad but Righty was irritated by the unintended anachronisms. The major problem was with the carriages of course, as Righty is the world expert on Australian horse-drawn vehicles. If you have seen the film you might remember the scene where Naomi Watt's horrible husband stumbles as he clambers into the carriage. Well no wonder he stumbled! The klutz was getting in the wrong side and not only that, everybody was sitting in the wrong seat. The children were facing the horses. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. They should have had their backs to the horses and Naomi should have been in the 'seat of honour', facing the horses and on the right hand side. Klutzy should have got in from the left and sat on the left. But it gets worse. In another scene we see a carriage stored inside a stable with the horses. According to Righty, the ammonia in the horses' dooings would have had a major deleterious effect on the carriage's varnish and no-one would have subjected their carriage to such treatment. So there.
Lefty
Last Friday Susan and I went to a cocktail party hosted by the PVC to bring together all the Kuching veterans, wannabes, soon-to-bes and backroom boys. A very blokey occasion, there were about four women and 60 or so men, mostly engineers. Hmmm. Good grub though and a passable white wine.
This morning I paid (boy, did I pay!) my second visit to the physiotherapist who repeated the pummelling he gave me last week. I hope it is helping - my knee stills feels very dodgy. He told me there was a lot of tension in my body (what else is new?) and that I should walk like a West Indian, loose, limber and relaxed. So we practised together, large Sri Lankan physio and small, fair-skinned woman in surgical gown walking like West Indians around the tiny office with its panoramic views over St Kilda Road. Suddenly a window cleaner appeared in one of those contraptions they sit in, swinging gently in the breeze and staring unswervingly at his sqweedgie.
Last Friday Susan and I went to a cocktail party hosted by the PVC to bring together all the Kuching veterans, wannabes, soon-to-bes and backroom boys. A very blokey occasion, there were about four women and 60 or so men, mostly engineers. Hmmm. Good grub though and a passable white wine.
This morning I paid (boy, did I pay!) my second visit to the physiotherapist who repeated the pummelling he gave me last week. I hope it is helping - my knee stills feels very dodgy. He told me there was a lot of tension in my body (what else is new?) and that I should walk like a West Indian, loose, limber and relaxed. So we practised together, large Sri Lankan physio and small, fair-skinned woman in surgical gown walking like West Indians around the tiny office with its panoramic views over St Kilda Road. Suddenly a window cleaner appeared in one of those contraptions they sit in, swinging gently in the breeze and staring unswervingly at his sqweedgie.
Monday, January 13, 2003
The Left Foot
Back at work at Lilydale today still smarting about the loss of our holiday in China but greatly relieved to hear that SR has gone to Kuching to take care of User Ed and the cataloguing backlog. I spoke to her on the phone and it was really weird to visualise her sitting at 'my' desk while I was alone in our usually shared office. My Kuching adventure is over but I was thinking of them all today and suppose I will for quite some time. I hope the first hand experience I had will have long-term benefits for the library there and for me as well.
This will be the last blog from the Frontier Librarians as we return to the normal pattern of our lives, beginning with the celebration of our 33rd wedding anniversary on Thursday 16th. We will take the blog down in early February. Thank-you for all the positive feedback we received: the number of readers made us aware of our wider audience and changed the nature of our entries from the family orientation we had anticipated. Our daughter, Meredith, aka Grumpy Girl set up the page for us so we could easily keep in touch with her and our other daughter, Hilary, aka Petite Soeur.
When Hil was studying German in secondary school she learnt that the word for mother was 'mutter' and began calling me that, soon abbreviating it to Moot. By extension, that made her father 'Foot' and the plural obviously 'Feet'. I am left-handed and left-footed so it was not hard to tell who was who. None of you guys ever needed to know this piece of family lore but as some have been curious, it was time to explain.
I will miss the blogging experience but there is nothing more to say except maybe Salamat Datang or should that be Auf Weidersien (or something).
Back at work at Lilydale today still smarting about the loss of our holiday in China but greatly relieved to hear that SR has gone to Kuching to take care of User Ed and the cataloguing backlog. I spoke to her on the phone and it was really weird to visualise her sitting at 'my' desk while I was alone in our usually shared office. My Kuching adventure is over but I was thinking of them all today and suppose I will for quite some time. I hope the first hand experience I had will have long-term benefits for the library there and for me as well.
This will be the last blog from the Frontier Librarians as we return to the normal pattern of our lives, beginning with the celebration of our 33rd wedding anniversary on Thursday 16th. We will take the blog down in early February. Thank-you for all the positive feedback we received: the number of readers made us aware of our wider audience and changed the nature of our entries from the family orientation we had anticipated. Our daughter, Meredith, aka Grumpy Girl set up the page for us so we could easily keep in touch with her and our other daughter, Hilary, aka Petite Soeur.
When Hil was studying German in secondary school she learnt that the word for mother was 'mutter' and began calling me that, soon abbreviating it to Moot. By extension, that made her father 'Foot' and the plural obviously 'Feet'. I am left-handed and left-footed so it was not hard to tell who was who. None of you guys ever needed to know this piece of family lore but as some have been curious, it was time to explain.
I will miss the blogging experience but there is nothing more to say except maybe Salamat Datang or should that be Auf Weidersien (or something).
The Right Foot:
For me, KL will forever be associated with the mystical law of Bad Things that Come in Threes (See the preceding Tale of Woe from the Left Foot) - I must do a Google search and see if there is a proper name for this phenomenon. But no doubt my rather jaundiced view of KL is also profoundly coloured by the (misplaced) perception of Eastern Malaysians that KL is a fabulous city whose nature is compounded from the essences of those great trading centres like Baghdad, Rome and Tyre. And I must admit it really is an attractive place with vibrant and often admirable architecture, really efficient services and lots of bustling life wherever you care to look. It is a fine city, but after Kuching, you really couldn't live there.
After sampling life in Kuching, KL looks too much like your standard wanna-be modern identikit Southeast Asian city, secure in its very own economic miracle and keen to emulate Singapore or Hong Kong in outward and visible display, high energy output and general brouhaha. To that end, it is busily knocking over whole streets of charming shophouses, replacing them with mega-malls and ever-larger extensions to existing mega-malls and carving freeways through its parklands. I really can't imagine its inhabitants slowing down at sunset to walk along the riverfront - after all, there are still several hours left of quality shopping time left! The nice thing about Kuching was the sense that a visitor from 1850 would feel pretty much at home there today - water taxis still criss-cross the Sungai Sarawak (even if they now advertise Lipton's admirable Yellow Label tea); while the river pirates are still kept at bay by the White Rajah's toy fort, peeping over the feathery trees that line the river. Real shopping still goes on in the markets and carpenters still work in Jalan Carpenter. Real life goes on in the kampongs all along the river banks; fishermen fish right under the hugh sign proclaiming that fishing is prohibited at this point and you can still meet and greet kingfishers lording over the secondary jungle not ten k. from the city centre. People stop wherever the mood strikes them to appraise the durians and debate the merits of red or white garlic. Moreover, cats really still rule in Kuching! Long may it remain that way!
For me, KL will forever be associated with the mystical law of Bad Things that Come in Threes (See the preceding Tale of Woe from the Left Foot) - I must do a Google search and see if there is a proper name for this phenomenon. But no doubt my rather jaundiced view of KL is also profoundly coloured by the (misplaced) perception of Eastern Malaysians that KL is a fabulous city whose nature is compounded from the essences of those great trading centres like Baghdad, Rome and Tyre. And I must admit it really is an attractive place with vibrant and often admirable architecture, really efficient services and lots of bustling life wherever you care to look. It is a fine city, but after Kuching, you really couldn't live there.
After sampling life in Kuching, KL looks too much like your standard wanna-be modern identikit Southeast Asian city, secure in its very own economic miracle and keen to emulate Singapore or Hong Kong in outward and visible display, high energy output and general brouhaha. To that end, it is busily knocking over whole streets of charming shophouses, replacing them with mega-malls and ever-larger extensions to existing mega-malls and carving freeways through its parklands. I really can't imagine its inhabitants slowing down at sunset to walk along the riverfront - after all, there are still several hours left of quality shopping time left! The nice thing about Kuching was the sense that a visitor from 1850 would feel pretty much at home there today - water taxis still criss-cross the Sungai Sarawak (even if they now advertise Lipton's admirable Yellow Label tea); while the river pirates are still kept at bay by the White Rajah's toy fort, peeping over the feathery trees that line the river. Real shopping still goes on in the markets and carpenters still work in Jalan Carpenter. Real life goes on in the kampongs all along the river banks; fishermen fish right under the hugh sign proclaiming that fishing is prohibited at this point and you can still meet and greet kingfishers lording over the secondary jungle not ten k. from the city centre. People stop wherever the mood strikes them to appraise the durians and debate the merits of red or white garlic. Moreover, cats really still rule in Kuching! Long may it remain that way!
Friday, January 10, 2003
The Left Foot
Alas, the new year started even more badly then the old one ended. When we tried to check in at MAS, it was discovered that the dates of our flights and accommodation were out of synch. with the dates of our Chinese visas. Major stuff-up by travel agent. The guy found a supervisor and although she was very sympathetic, there was nothing she could do. Her exact words: "If I let you get on that plane you will not like what the Chinese will do to you when you get off". It was a public holiday and no hope of acquiring an emergency visa. Also, our visas for Malaysia had expired on 31st. I was stunned, shocked and so disappointed. I couldn't believe what was happening. Within two hours we were on a plane heading for Melbourne, feeling like we were being deported. We were in the last two seats, not together, and surrounded by Poms with streaming colds and hacking coughs just to add to our miseries.
Since then I have been battling with the travel agent for compensation, gradually moving up the hierarchy. Red tape, red tape!
There have been some consolations. however:
Steve Waugh's innings last Friday afternoon;
dinner at Saigon Rose with Grumpy Girl and Petite Soeur that night;
Right Foot reunited with his banjo and his shed;
and the big, blue sky after months of overcast weather.
Still, it was an ignominious end to our travels and I am still longing to see Shanghai before it is finally ruined by commercial development.
On Monday it is back to Lilydale for me, though many of my thoughts will be with colleagues in Kuching on their first day of semester. Good luck to them all.
Alas, the new year started even more badly then the old one ended. When we tried to check in at MAS, it was discovered that the dates of our flights and accommodation were out of synch. with the dates of our Chinese visas. Major stuff-up by travel agent. The guy found a supervisor and although she was very sympathetic, there was nothing she could do. Her exact words: "If I let you get on that plane you will not like what the Chinese will do to you when you get off". It was a public holiday and no hope of acquiring an emergency visa. Also, our visas for Malaysia had expired on 31st. I was stunned, shocked and so disappointed. I couldn't believe what was happening. Within two hours we were on a plane heading for Melbourne, feeling like we were being deported. We were in the last two seats, not together, and surrounded by Poms with streaming colds and hacking coughs just to add to our miseries.
Since then I have been battling with the travel agent for compensation, gradually moving up the hierarchy. Red tape, red tape!
There have been some consolations. however:
Steve Waugh's innings last Friday afternoon;
dinner at Saigon Rose with Grumpy Girl and Petite Soeur that night;
Right Foot reunited with his banjo and his shed;
and the big, blue sky after months of overcast weather.
Still, it was an ignominious end to our travels and I am still longing to see Shanghai before it is finally ruined by commercial development.
On Monday it is back to Lilydale for me, though many of my thoughts will be with colleagues in Kuching on their first day of semester. Good luck to them all.
The Left Foot
New Year's Eve in Kuala Lumpar and we went with several trillion others to see the fireworks at the Petronas Towers. After minding our spot for an hour and a half, Right Foot discovered at a quarter to twelve that his pocket had been picked. People had been warning us for months about the possibility of this but now it had finally happened. Right Foot was anxious to return to the hotel to cancel his cards, etc. so off we dashed, seeing only a couple of fireworks as we headed for the railway station. RF was on the phone for an hour and a half ringing banks in three countries, trying to arrange emergency cash and cards. We finally tumbled into bed, setting the alarm for 6 o'clock, in view of our early flight to Shanghai, city of my dreams.
New Year's Eve in Kuala Lumpar and we went with several trillion others to see the fireworks at the Petronas Towers. After minding our spot for an hour and a half, Right Foot discovered at a quarter to twelve that his pocket had been picked. People had been warning us for months about the possibility of this but now it had finally happened. Right Foot was anxious to return to the hotel to cancel his cards, etc. so off we dashed, seeing only a couple of fireworks as we headed for the railway station. RF was on the phone for an hour and a half ringing banks in three countries, trying to arrange emergency cash and cards. We finally tumbled into bed, setting the alarm for 6 o'clock, in view of our early flight to Shanghai, city of my dreams.
Monday, December 30, 2002
The Left Foot
Howdy from KL everyone! We left Kuching on 28th, having carefully replaced the borrowed palm Christmas tree in the courtyard garden and armed with numerous hideous gifts which we are managing to lose at various locations each time we pack.
KL is interesting but I am choking on the ciggie smoke. When I am dictator, cigarettes will cost $500 each.
Howdy from KL everyone! We left Kuching on 28th, having carefully replaced the borrowed palm Christmas tree in the courtyard garden and armed with numerous hideous gifts which we are managing to lose at various locations each time we pack.
KL is interesting but I am choking on the ciggie smoke. When I am dictator, cigarettes will cost $500 each.
Friday, December 27, 2002
The Left Foot
An evening of packing has given the apartment that horrible bare and temporary look. I am still a bit feverish but I'm determined to be better when my holiday officially starts tomorrow. After three months here, my last sleep in Kuching is imminent. There are so many things not working now that we wonder what will be still going in the morning. I'd like it to be the fridge.
It is rather weird and a little alarming to think that in two weeks I have to immerse myself in Lilydaleania again but I cannot wait to see those gals.
An evening of packing has given the apartment that horrible bare and temporary look. I am still a bit feverish but I'm determined to be better when my holiday officially starts tomorrow. After three months here, my last sleep in Kuching is imminent. There are so many things not working now that we wonder what will be still going in the morning. I'd like it to be the fridge.
It is rather weird and a little alarming to think that in two weeks I have to immerse myself in Lilydaleania again but I cannot wait to see those gals.
The Left Foot
I am leaving the office now to go on holidays at last. It's been a day of farewells and I have acquired a parcel so large that I cannot imagine how I am ever going to get it home. What a pity the DHL man had just left.
So what have I achieved? I've heard a lot of kind words today but what do I think? I think I've made a good start on moving things in the right direction and I hope the momentum won't be lost. It's been interesting, challenging, frustrating and satisfying. I've been out of my comfort zone and a member of a minority group which is a salutary experience. I am very tired and can't shake off my cold and don't think I will until I can get away from the air-con. What I need now is a holiday. Tomorrow we go to KL for a few days then to China. When I return to Lilydale I know my thoughts will be divided. I will be wondering how all the processes I have set in train are going along. I'm sure I'll be informed if everthing falls in a heap!
I am leaving the office now to go on holidays at last. It's been a day of farewells and I have acquired a parcel so large that I cannot imagine how I am ever going to get it home. What a pity the DHL man had just left.
So what have I achieved? I've heard a lot of kind words today but what do I think? I think I've made a good start on moving things in the right direction and I hope the momentum won't be lost. It's been interesting, challenging, frustrating and satisfying. I've been out of my comfort zone and a member of a minority group which is a salutary experience. I am very tired and can't shake off my cold and don't think I will until I can get away from the air-con. What I need now is a holiday. Tomorrow we go to KL for a few days then to China. When I return to Lilydale I know my thoughts will be divided. I will be wondering how all the processes I have set in train are going along. I'm sure I'll be informed if everthing falls in a heap!
Wednesday, December 25, 2002
The Left Foot
Christmas Day in Kuching has been very relaxing and pleasant. In his usual way, Right Foot produced perfectly chosen, custom-made presents which we opened around the palm Christmas tree - just a teaser for our real Christmas in Melbourne on 19th January. We couldn't get through to Grumpy Girl by phone but we've sent her an email. Happy Christmas GG and Matt.
Buffet lunch at the Hilton was nice but a little strange. As well as all the traditional Western Christmas food there was a wide range of Malay and Chinese fare on offer. For most of the guests it was the usual eat and run we've become accustomed to, no lingering over coffee for this lot. Ours was the only table to order a bottle of wine. People here just don't drink.
After lunch we went up to the pool to doze in the sun and stand around in the cooling water. We stayed there for hours, catching up on five months news from Petite. Very soothing. I have another cold, the first one arrived for my birthday and the second for Christmas. I suppose it's the constant change of temperature from the tropical outdoors to the freezing air-con inside.
We're now sitting around reading all the books Petite bought over and munching cheese straws from Patterson's cake shop. Tres bon.
Christmas Day in Kuching has been very relaxing and pleasant. In his usual way, Right Foot produced perfectly chosen, custom-made presents which we opened around the palm Christmas tree - just a teaser for our real Christmas in Melbourne on 19th January. We couldn't get through to Grumpy Girl by phone but we've sent her an email. Happy Christmas GG and Matt.
Buffet lunch at the Hilton was nice but a little strange. As well as all the traditional Western Christmas food there was a wide range of Malay and Chinese fare on offer. For most of the guests it was the usual eat and run we've become accustomed to, no lingering over coffee for this lot. Ours was the only table to order a bottle of wine. People here just don't drink.
After lunch we went up to the pool to doze in the sun and stand around in the cooling water. We stayed there for hours, catching up on five months news from Petite. Very soothing. I have another cold, the first one arrived for my birthday and the second for Christmas. I suppose it's the constant change of temperature from the tropical outdoors to the freezing air-con inside.
We're now sitting around reading all the books Petite bought over and munching cheese straws from Patterson's cake shop. Tres bon.
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
The Left Foot
We took Petite to Bako National Park and we got a much closer look at the proboscis monkeys than we did the first time we went there. That's the sort of luck that follows Petite around. The monkeys did all their stunts for us, swinging and running and chomping etc. Fantastic. We then trecked through the jungle so that we could have a swim in the South China Sea. This is when our luck ran out. Poor Right Foot was stung on the right foot by a stingray and was in agony. We struggled back through the jungle to the canteen where a bevy of wise men administered traditional Malay first aid. The pain subsided and so did my vision of spending yet another Christmas Eve in a hospital emergency ward.
We had very choppy seas on our trip back to shore and were saturated. Now we are safely back in the ET where the toaster has just died. The dryer expired yesterday and now there is not much left of the mod cons we started out with three months ago. Will the building still be standing when we leave on Saturday?
It's a very unusual Christmas Eve. No shopping for turkey in Prahran market, no last minute present wrapping and definitely no Ray Martin and Carols by Candlelight. Tonight we will dine at the Top Spot on top of a multi-storey carpark. Tomorrow lunch and a swim at the Hilton Kuching. Different.
Merry Christmas to everyone especially Grumpy Girl. X0X0X. And a virtual H o P while driving to Adelaide and back.
We took Petite to Bako National Park and we got a much closer look at the proboscis monkeys than we did the first time we went there. That's the sort of luck that follows Petite around. The monkeys did all their stunts for us, swinging and running and chomping etc. Fantastic. We then trecked through the jungle so that we could have a swim in the South China Sea. This is when our luck ran out. Poor Right Foot was stung on the right foot by a stingray and was in agony. We struggled back through the jungle to the canteen where a bevy of wise men administered traditional Malay first aid. The pain subsided and so did my vision of spending yet another Christmas Eve in a hospital emergency ward.
We had very choppy seas on our trip back to shore and were saturated. Now we are safely back in the ET where the toaster has just died. The dryer expired yesterday and now there is not much left of the mod cons we started out with three months ago. Will the building still be standing when we leave on Saturday?
It's a very unusual Christmas Eve. No shopping for turkey in Prahran market, no last minute present wrapping and definitely no Ray Martin and Carols by Candlelight. Tonight we will dine at the Top Spot on top of a multi-storey carpark. Tomorrow lunch and a swim at the Hilton Kuching. Different.
Merry Christmas to everyone especially Grumpy Girl. X0X0X. And a virtual H o P while driving to Adelaide and back.
Monday, December 23, 2002
The Left Foot
We're just back from a meal and a couple of Tigers at our favourite riverside restaurant with Petite. It is so amazing having her here and hearing her voice from a metre away instead of on the end of the phone line. She says she's enjoyed her first day of living at Kuching pace. I wonder how she'll feel after another four days.
I have three days off work now and intend to enjoy every second. It was very satisfying teeing up those two appointments today - A and N are just what we need to turn an inward looking refuge into a customer focused library. Z was thrilled when I told her and is now really looking forward to her new job. They will be a wonderful team. I was able to talk up the salary for all three which may not please the Institute but which is good for the profession. Librarians rule!
Merry Christmas to anyone still reading this piece of self indulgence, especially to Grumpy Girl who will be celebrating in Adelaide. We will miss you GG. Have a relaxing and restorative break from all your enterprises. Happy Christmas to you.
We're just back from a meal and a couple of Tigers at our favourite riverside restaurant with Petite. It is so amazing having her here and hearing her voice from a metre away instead of on the end of the phone line. She says she's enjoyed her first day of living at Kuching pace. I wonder how she'll feel after another four days.
I have three days off work now and intend to enjoy every second. It was very satisfying teeing up those two appointments today - A and N are just what we need to turn an inward looking refuge into a customer focused library. Z was thrilled when I told her and is now really looking forward to her new job. They will be a wonderful team. I was able to talk up the salary for all three which may not please the Institute but which is good for the profession. Librarians rule!
Merry Christmas to anyone still reading this piece of self indulgence, especially to Grumpy Girl who will be celebrating in Adelaide. We will miss you GG. Have a relaxing and restorative break from all your enterprises. Happy Christmas to you.
The Left Foot
Petite is here! Beautiful, brilliant and brown as any local and much, much suaver. We met her at the airport then alas, I had to come to work. The day has started well, though. I have rung the two successful candidates for the library assistant positions and both have accepted the offer I made. We agreed on a salary somewhere between what they wanted and what SS was willing to pay so I am feeling gooooood. Now back to Problem Number 199. Someone tell me, is it really Christmas out there?
Petite is here! Beautiful, brilliant and brown as any local and much, much suaver. We met her at the airport then alas, I had to come to work. The day has started well, though. I have rung the two successful candidates for the library assistant positions and both have accepted the offer I made. We agreed on a salary somewhere between what they wanted and what SS was willing to pay so I am feeling gooooood. Now back to Problem Number 199. Someone tell me, is it really Christmas out there?
Sunday, December 22, 2002
The Right Foot:
Kuching is famed as Cat City, so you might expect its feline population to be something special. Not so, but far otherwise, Best Beloved. Taken all in all, the Kats of Kuching are as lean, mean and ill-favoured a set of moggies as you could ever not wish to encounter. Tabbies, gingers, a few black and white and tortoiseshells seem to make up the bulk of the population. Most are rakish and mean-looking, with fur in poor condition, torn ears and dingy whiskers. Almost all of the street cats you see have very short tails, or no tails at all.Some have strange knotted or kinked tails and it makes you wonder how they could ever curl them decorously over their paws as they sit surveying the world. There would be no eloquent tail tip to twitch in order to express finer nuances of feline meaning.
Kutching's kats appear to scrounge a meagre existence around the bazaars and markets, using the deep stormwater drains as a sort of cat highway to keep out of harm's way. They are usually not unfriendly although they don't court human company. We got caught in a sudden shower along the Waterfront one day and, together with a crowd of people, found refuge under the wide eaves of a hawker kiosk. While everyone looked up and out at the rolling clouds, I glanced down and there at our feet, cool as a cucumber, was a ginger cat, washing his paws to while away the time. Most buildings have a resident cat or two to help keep things in order. The State Library has a large piratical animal with a very loud meouw who strolls around amongst the diners out on the cafeteria terrace and demands chicken with menaces. Swinburne Uni campus has a very self-possessed tortie who sleeps on the sunny steps surrounding the security guard's office. We visited a longhouse village recently and I was pleased to see that the ends of each house featured a number of protruding floor boards which made perfect sunny cat perches and that the village moggies had smugly taken up residence, glancing down through half-closed eyes at the earth-bound village dogs as they wandered about.
Kuching is famed as Cat City, so you might expect its feline population to be something special. Not so, but far otherwise, Best Beloved. Taken all in all, the Kats of Kuching are as lean, mean and ill-favoured a set of moggies as you could ever not wish to encounter. Tabbies, gingers, a few black and white and tortoiseshells seem to make up the bulk of the population. Most are rakish and mean-looking, with fur in poor condition, torn ears and dingy whiskers. Almost all of the street cats you see have very short tails, or no tails at all.Some have strange knotted or kinked tails and it makes you wonder how they could ever curl them decorously over their paws as they sit surveying the world. There would be no eloquent tail tip to twitch in order to express finer nuances of feline meaning.
Kutching's kats appear to scrounge a meagre existence around the bazaars and markets, using the deep stormwater drains as a sort of cat highway to keep out of harm's way. They are usually not unfriendly although they don't court human company. We got caught in a sudden shower along the Waterfront one day and, together with a crowd of people, found refuge under the wide eaves of a hawker kiosk. While everyone looked up and out at the rolling clouds, I glanced down and there at our feet, cool as a cucumber, was a ginger cat, washing his paws to while away the time. Most buildings have a resident cat or two to help keep things in order. The State Library has a large piratical animal with a very loud meouw who strolls around amongst the diners out on the cafeteria terrace and demands chicken with menaces. Swinburne Uni campus has a very self-possessed tortie who sleeps on the sunny steps surrounding the security guard's office. We visited a longhouse village recently and I was pleased to see that the ends of each house featured a number of protruding floor boards which made perfect sunny cat perches and that the village moggies had smugly taken up residence, glancing down through half-closed eyes at the earth-bound village dogs as they wandered about.
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