That Happy Feeling

Long Weekend Lingering

Its the 8 Hour Day (Labour Day) long weekend this weekend, so no work tomorrow which is great. It seems we've moved straight from Spring to Summer. At 3.15 this afternoon it was 26.4C/80F so its quite warm outside. There's a dry wind which is exacerbating the heat so its good to be inside at the moment. The weekend so far has just been pottering around, tidying up, clearing paper and detritus which seems to be all around me. That's the plan for the rest of the afternoon. Its also Footy Grand Final Weekend. Yesterday was Aussie Rules, in Melbourne VIC with the Geelong (Victoria) Cats trouncing Port Power (Port Adelaide - South Australia). Tonight, in Sydney, its Manly Warringah (my neck of the woods, taking on Melbourne Storm (Victoria). Go the maroon and whites of Manly. Will I be watching the game? I don't think so. I might even go out later for a drink. Didn't get out yesterday as I was attacking the paperwork, but maybe a little later, I'll duck out and have a cleansing ale or two. Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks. Hope the campers are safe and sound?

Mouse On A Treadmill

The last couple of weeks have been fairly busy at work (nothing new there).   Rotating shifts are playing merry hell with the body clock.   Looking forward to a full, free weekend.   Tempted to go bicycle shopping, or at least sizing, so that's on the cards.   The weather has been fairly grey and sleazy over the last couple of days, but early spring holds the promise of more sunshine, and more time outdorrs.   The mic. has just arrived for my Edirol R-09, so the podcasts should be a little more frequent as well.   All in all, life is pretty good at the moment.   Hope yours is as well.   Have a great weekend.   

Can I Have My City Back

As stated in the last entry, Sydney has hosted the APEC 2007 Leaders conference this last weekend (Thursday-Sunday) when the leaders of 21 different Asian/Pacific countries got together to talk about world issues. The city was practically deserted, residents and shopkeepers having been enouraged to stay away, "just in case of trouble". It was an absolutely bizarre weekend. The hot topic (pardon the pun) was global warming and the leaders signed the Sydney Declaration, agreeing that yes global warming was a real issue, and yes something needs to be done. They haven't quite figured out what, when or how to do that which needs to be done so we'll just have to cross our fingers and pray.

And pray we did, (in a manner of speaking) on Sunday when the choir were the guests of Sydney Unitarians, and their congregation there present, in the auditoriumat Ravenswood Girls School, in Gordon, on Sydney's upper North Shore. We were there to perform a few songs before the start of the service, and to assist with the hymn singing during the service. We were again fortunate to be in the presence of a wonderful man, the Retired Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, Reverend John Shelby Spong. I think if more people had the opportunity to hear and read the words of Jack Spong, there'd be a lot more people in church, any church, any denomination. The guy is incredible and its an absolute joy to hear him speak. He's been out here for just under a month and with his lovely wife is on his way home after a short break in a former prison colony where I'm sure the history of that place will fascinate him. Thanks for coming Jack. We look forward to your next visit.