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20
Jun
10

More house-hunting and beach walks

By Timinator Leave a Comment
Categories: life, Sydney and weekend

We spent a lot of time looking at houses again this weekend. Things continue to feel relatively promising. Maybe we’ll a make a move on one soon, but for now it’s good to gather data. We attended one auction too, as observers. Many houses here in NSW sell by – or, at least, are listed for – auction, on the street right in front of the place itself. It takes some getting used to, but that’s the way it’s often done here.

I went out for Japanese food and beers with the upstairs neighbour last night. Boys on the town, rawr.

The weather’s been great, so we got out for some fun too. Today it was $10 pizzas at Firefly in Neutral Bay (where we bumped into our expat friends DC), then a drive to Manly to walk along the beach. Only the surfers are in the water at this time of year but it’s still a great place to walk and breath fresh air on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

13
Jun
10

Long weekend: Part 1

By Timinator Leave a Comment
Categories: Australia, friends, home, life and Sydney
Tags: ,

It’s funny how although Canada gets a day off for Victoria Day and Australia (and a few other Commonwealth countries) does the same on The Queen’s Birthday, the United Kingdom no longer has any such long weekend. Brits get Trooping the Colour on TV and little else.

Well, too bad for the Poms*. Here it’s a long weekend, and that suits me fine. It’s the start of winter, so it’s getting cool – nights are about 5C in Sydney, hitting freezing out in the sticks – but it’s still, so it’s still 14C or so in the afternoon.

Friday night we visited friends (other recent immigrants we met back on Anzac Day weekend) for dinner at their place. They’re good folks, friendly and interesting and chatty. They’re both keen to learn from our Australian experiences and bold in striking out on their own. We played with their kids, had some good lamb tagine, and necked a couple of bottles of wine. I like doing something on the first evening of a long weekend: it makes it feel like you maximise the time available.

Saturday was busy househunting, which is the next big task ahead of us. We saw about eight places in a few hours. There’s a good range of housing available, and there are things available that we like and can afford, so it’s all very encouraging. We’re looking before we leap, though.

We don’t really have any plans for Sunday or Monday, yet. I’m thinking that both the Sydney Biennale and Vivid festival deserve a look, though.

*See how quickly I’ve turned?

06
Jun
10

Ex-colleague

By Timinator Leave a Comment
Categories: friends and life
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Last night I went out with an ex-colleague from the UK. It was good to catch up, P’s a good guy. And I got to hear the gossip from the old company, and how they’ve been sold to a new company, and how that’s working (or not). I got to meet some new folks – new colleagues of his – and have a laugh.

It all solidified in my mind how pleased I am with both my life and career choices at the moment. Well done, me.

09
May
10

What didn’t I do this weekend?

By Timinator 3 Comments
Categories: Film, food, life, Sydney and weekend
Tags:

This weekend has been great. It’s been very varied, which is always the best way to make a weekend feel long.

On Friday after work we took a chance on a local French restaurant. It’s a place that I’ve reluctantly wanted to try, that reluctance being based on a couple of things. One is that the restaurant looks a pretty naff inside (berets hanging on the wall, for instance). The other is that it changed its name from La Petite Savoyard to CJ’s Restaurant. Maybe I’m being superficial, but that doesn’t imply going up-market.

But there are lots of accolades printed on the window, and it’s often busy, so we gave it a go. And it was excellent. Deliciously smoked salmon with basil and soy sauce to start, followed by perfectly cooked lamb in pepper brandy sauce and perch in tomato sauce. It’s not much to look at, but CJ’s makes great French food. They’re famous for their fondue, apparently. Perhaps I’ll try that next time.

After dinner we caught Iron Man 2. It does what it says on the tin (har har), so don’t expect anything else. Some whiz-bang action, lots of charisma from Robert Downey Jr, and comic-book scenarios. Stay until the end of the credits to see which Avenger will be the next to show up.

On Saturday I went running (my last big run before next weekend’s half marathon), caught up on chores around the house, and then went out to dinner with the upstairs neighbours, some friends of theirs, and the next door neighbours. It was a hilarious night: all the people involved were a laugh a minute, and everyone took their turns telling stories. We all clicked. It was hugely entertaining. And once again the food was a win: Indian restaurant Raavi’s Cumin in Crows Nest may now be at the top of my list of curry spots in Sydney.

Sunday I awoke early and decided to watch a DVD we had on hand: Drag Me To Hell. It was awesome. You have to be a fan of Sam Raimi’s laugh-gore to enjoy it; this was much more Evil Dead trilogy than Spider Man trilogy. But I am a fan, and so I enjoyed every ludicrous “eww” moment. Raimi makes likeable characters but he isn’t afraid to immerse them in no-holds-barred situations. People grossed out by gooey things getting in your mouth, beware this film. Those scared by demonic portrayals, beware. Cat lovers, beware.

The rest of the day found us wanting to take advantage of the sunshine. We drove south to the Royal National Park, bought an annual NSW park pass, and spent a couple of hours doing the Curra Moors Loop Track hike. The walk isn’t particularly scenic – barring the one point where it touches the coast, which is quite dramatic – but it was warm and pleasant and we saw a really cute wallaby.

We’re finishing the weekend off by watching Doctor Who, grilling some sausages, and seeing off a bottle of sauvignon blanc.

Beat that.

24
Apr
10

Sociable

By Timinator Leave a Comment
Categories: friends, life, long weekend and running
Tags:

I’m loving Sydney autumn: it’s still gorgeously warm, just not oppressively hot.

Work kept me pretty busy and tired this week. We did manage to get out Thursday night: we were invited for drinks at a friend of the She-Aussie’s. Her Annandale factory conversion is quite cool, and it was a good night of cocktails and conversation. I met a hydrogeologist, and got to ask him questions about whether they use ultrasonics to look for water (they don’t: they used to use electrical resistance measurements, but now drilling is so easy and cheap they can reach the water table pretty much anywhere). I met a film producer who’s worked on some cool projects (got some gossip on James Cameron’s next thing).

Now it’s a long weekend. It’s my first Anzac Day on Sunday, and then we have Monday off.

First I have to go running, my longest run of my training. Wish me luck.

12
Apr
10

Health

By Timinator Leave a Comment
Categories: health and life
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I’ve just had a health check-up, and I’m pretty good. I am very happy about this.

I’m 41. That’s an age where I need to start checking myself for issues that I’d always previously considered “old people” problems. So I went to a doctor and got a good once-over.

Because I’m a fair-skinned guy who’s always had to use lots of sunscreen to keep from frying, and because I’ve lived in countries like Canada and the UK instead of Australia, I checked out OK for the first thing doctors here check: skin tumours. Neither did I have any abdominal lumps, my lungs sound fine, and I don’t have any ongoing problems. My blood pressure was high when the doctor first took it but I had just hiked 15 minutes up a hill to get there; he took it again at the end of my visit and it was perfect.

I could do with shedding a few kilos around the middle, of course. Alright, it’s good to have a goal.

I was more worried about what all the hidden tests would show: the potential problems that you can’t see. But I got my results back today and all is good. My blood biochemistry has everything in the normal range: sodium, potassium, creatinine, protein, etc. My glucose is bang in the middle of normal range. My cholesterols and trigylcerides are all in the healthy target range (which is probably better than normal for western diets). The only exception is my phosphate level, which is just a hair below the target range; on its own, with no other problems, this doesn’t seem to be an issue.

Other tests, which decorum will prevent me from describing, show that I have no signs of any colon problems.

I asked my doctor about prostate issues, but he said that in the absence of any other symptoms – and I have such an absence – they don’t start routinely screening until age 50.

The only problem I’m receiving treatment for is a sore heel, which I’ve had for some months now. X-rays from last week show that I do have a small heel spur (a little growth of bone on the heel, around which the plantar tendon becomes inflamed). A week of anti-inflammatories and a heel cushion haven’t helped. So this morning I got a shot of cortisone in my heel. I should know in 48 hours if that’ll be enough to sort it. I hope it does, as I’m right in the middle of my half-marathon training.

So that’s my health. It’s probably more than you cared to know. But as you get older and less invincible this stuff becomes really important. I’m pretty relieved to know that it’s still looking good.

16
Mar
10

Weekend away

By Timinator Leave a Comment
Categories: Australia, holiday, life and long weekend
Tags: ,

Ahh, long weekend. On Friday we drove to an area called The Hawkesbury. It’s the inland bits of the large river just to the north of Sydney, and is an area of hills and waterways that’s very rural. We stayed at a great retreat for a couple of days, did some bush hiking and not much else. We saw some local fauna, including our first wild wombat (though he was across a field, the pics are fuzzy). It was a great spot to unwind, very remote and removed and peaceful.

After a couple of days there we drove through the Hunter Valley to stop at a vineyard, and then east to The Entrance, a seaside resort area. That was a bit more touristy than we liked, but on the drive back towards Sydney the next day we did better: hiking in Bouddi National Park, for instance.

We were both surprised and impressed with how faraway we felt, even though we weren’t long out of Sydney. It was a good break.

There are some pics here.

12
Mar
10

Long weekend

By Timinator Leave a Comment
Categories: Australia, holiday, life and Sydney
Tags:

We’re off to spend four days in The Hawkesbury. I’m looking forward to exploring, relaxing, and a bit of pampering. It’s only a couple of hours from central Sydney, but it all looks quite removed. We’ve got to take ferries to get where we’re going, the Macdonald Valley (named Forgotten Valley by locals).

01
Feb
10

Making the most of the weekend

By Timinator Leave a Comment
Categories: life
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Friday night we drove the new car up the coast and had dinner by the beach in Dee Why (which has a great name).

Saturday evening some friends of family were visiting Sydney, and we had them over for a barbecue at our place. The visitors are from Nova Scotia, and we had a good time getting to know each other.

Sunday was hot, and made for relaxing. A few miscellaneous tasks got done. Later we watched Federer dispatch Murray, which – despite a little third-set drama – he did pretty handily.

29
Jan
10

Bragging time: new car

By Timinator 6 Comments
Categories: life
Tags: , ,

I’m living in a warm, sunny country. I’m 41 years old. I’m a man. I have no children. I have a good job.

So I bought a convertible. A Volkswagen EOS.

Not my car, but that's the colour

It was a compromise. It’s VW, and I like the quality of their engineering. It has a diesel engine, which means it gets good fuel economy. It’s a smallish car, which combined with the diesel engine means it has lower carbon emissions. It’s two years old, but only has 14 thousand kilometres on it.

But it’s also a convertible (and the only convertible that also has a built-in sunroof, I think). The previous owner got it with some sexy options, too: leather seats, bi-Xenon headlights, satnav, metallic interior trim, bluetooth.

Everyone deserves some pampering from time to time. This was my time.

Australia, here we come.

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