Symbol(ism)s of the ride(rs)

Another year, another CQ ride, CQ12 - Gayndah to Noosa ... In no particular order, some of the highlights were:

• This year I was volunteering, in the Catering Corps, as it were. Most of the work involved food preparation, especially chopping up vegetables for subsequent meals, and the lunches for the next day, and food service, such as breakfast and/or dinner. However, I washed up for dinner and breakfast once respectively, and went out on the lunch service on one day - that was a long day! Had to be ready to go at 0600, got back at 1600, then washed up from 1815 to 2000. Out of it, I got two (2) t-shirts and two (2) caps (although one was 'by accident'), with the corporate logo on them. Each time we were involved with the food, we were required to wear a hair net, an apron, and gloves. Alternated between Redbacks and Volleys for footwear. Final comment? Very hard work, but so worth it - many +ve comments, great team, and was a new experience! But probably cycle next year;
• Saw pubes. Now, what happens on Le Tour stays on the Tour, but must say that I was quite shocked by that! In brief, a girl had been relentlessly teasing me, but in a very juvenile way (kicking me, throwing knives at me, making disparaging comments, coupled with questioning my sexual preferences), and then one day I saw her outside, walking along. She flashed her pubes, said something like 'See what you are missing out on?' and wandered off. After that, things settled down, and we had some rather interesting conversations. But no sex;
• Appeared on Channel 7 in Hervey Bay :o Sitting in a cafe with Team 108, and Channel 7 crew turned up. Wanted a discussion about the economic benefits of CQ12 coming to Hervey Bay. Half the Team wandered off, so as not to appear on camera, the other half nominated me as the spokesperson! Was quite a fun experience, but I noticed that I was too concerned about 'hidden agendas' or 'unspoken questions' and so may not have answered as fully or spruiked CQ12/BQ too well. But did get a good plug in for Team 108;
• Shaved my head. Bored, that time to do it, so I did. Had asked Mark to do the honours, but he declined. So after work on Wednesday night, I pulled the clippers out of the bag, hunted around for an available power socket, and did what had to be done. Funnily enough, was totally in a Zen moment, focussed on doing the job well, eyes closed, and Maz came up with a few friends! Clipped the hair, then Maz took the clippings away - hopefully not to make a kewpie doll?;
• Did the signs each evening. Initially, when getting set up, Lilli 'assigned' me the job of filling in the chalkboard each afternoon with the details of what was for dinner that night, and for breakfast the next morning. So I endeavoured to make it interesting, by adding a few pithy comments, entendes, and some endearing, yet encouraging, platitudes. Plus added a few comments embracing the Team 108 ethos, making it up as I went along;
• Promoted shamelessly Team 108. See above - used the blackboard each afternoon, got plugs on local television news programs, talked it up with people in cafe and in food service. Sometimes I think it bemused the actual team memebers beyond knowing (or caring) what was going on, what they were a party to. As the photo shows, I wrote up on the last day a small articulation of 'who' Team 108 was: "Team 108 [108km was the long option, and it was the furtherest that many had rode] - a bunch of randoms who met at CQ11. They rode together, looked after each other, laughed a lot. Epitomising tolerance, acceptance, solidarity, they came together, and kept the laughter loud. So, make your own Team(s), tell someone about it :) WELL DONE BTW";
• Met many people: Deng, Donna, George/Louise, Bruce/Roz, Jody/Joy/ Leandra, Lilli, Trish, Vic, Helen (girl I helped@CQ11), Catering Corp (Kylie, Jack/Rose), John (x 2), Eryie, Lesley, Anne, Maureen, Elke, Chris, Cooks (Ben, Troy, Charlie, Kev + Nugget/Frankie), Jenny, Ken, Leah (BQ co-ordinator), Bill, John (Epic cycles), Emma, Lauren ... Only added 2 on FB ... but no new randoms;
• Drank/ate a lot. Tried to restrict myself to two (2) beers per day. Which I achieved on most days. Interestingly the schooners of beer fluctauated from $3.85 to $7 (at the airport), which is probably why I tried to restrict my beer intake. The others kept buying me drinks too! But then there was also the copious amounts of wine that was being drunk. Food? Never trust a skinny chef, I say ;) Got home and my RMW jeans barely fit me!!! There was so much food to try, so many different combinations to tantalise me with - did not know of 'gluten free with meat' as an option! By the end of the time, I was starting to recognise people and their little peccadillos - if only because I spent so much time on the 'special' diet/vegetarian line ... that will teach me;
• Sent postcards. Tried to send out two (2) postcards per day, but did not really have anyone to send that volume of cards to :o sent a couple to Inger/PA/GEB, but really missed having the excuse from last year of sending them to Cameron. Although, thinking about it, highly unlikely that Ray would have moved, given her intransigent nature. Other problem was that sometimes I just did not have enough time to get into town (e.g. day I did lunch) and purchase said postcards;
• They called me 'Bwana'. When signing up for the ride, one of the questions was 'What would you like to be called?' and so I said 'Bwana'. This backfired on me when I got to camp, and my name badge read 'Bwana' - led to much amusement, I tell you
• Tried to walk around a lot. Well, you would, especially after all of that food/drink! When in Harvey Bay, I tried to walk down to Urangan, where apparently there was a km long pier? The rest of Team 108 rode down there, whilst Peter + I set out to walk at least the majority. However, whilst we were powering along (about 3km to go?), Ian rang up, said let us do coffee, nominated a place we had passed, so we turned around and went back there, before finding another cafe. Where the Channel 7 crew came to also have coffee, and filmed us - see above :) On other days, my routine was pretty much: get up, serve breakfast, pack up, go to the next town, set up, go for a walk around town, explore, buy postcards;
• Saw an old(er) Baum bike. Was (probably) manufactured the year before the Ristretto - this was an Espresso, as the paint scheme was quite 'garish', was in steel (as opposed to titanium, which he seems to focus on lately), but the welds were, as always, exceptionally clean, and was so sleek in its lines. Interestingly, I never did see that bike (or rider) again on the ride ... Mind you, I saw some American Classic 420s go past on the back of some ute on the way into Gayndah, never actually saw them on a bike up there, and I was looking out for them;
• Posted back clothes. What with my decision to take a t-shirt for each day, being given all those clothes (see above), and my inability (it seems) these days to pack as lightly as I used to - teddy bear and spare pair of undies, anyone? - when I got to Hervey Bay, I decided to bundle up a bunch of things and post back to myself. So they were all waiting for me back in Geelong - no muss, no fuss;
• Did lots of cheering/clapping. If only because I was setting out to be the alternative vollie of the ride, at every opportunity I would clap and cheer when I saw riders coming by, such as stepping out onto the road to cheer them as they came in. Often I would post encouraging messages of support up on the chalkboard, acknowledging the efforts of the riders, such as especially on the long day, which was 102km. Seemed to work;
• No screaming fights/arguments. Seems self evident, but as I always acknowledge, it is difficult to form relationships with people that lasts more than 20mins, at least initially;
• Struggled each day with repacking bag with tent and clothes. Which is why I sent some home! But, by the last day in Cooroy, when I packed up for the last time, everything fitted smoothly into the backpack and the shoulder bag, which I was going to take onto the airplane. Looked good, felt good, bought a smile of wry contentment/amusement to my face. Then discovered that I had forgotten to pack my food bowl in;
• Broke several finger nails. Note to self: how many times do you have to be told that your nails are like watching bullets coming at you? Slowly they come/grow, then they whizz past/out ... so cut them early and often! That being said, because of the work being conducted, I ended up ripping out about 3 nails in particularly gruesome fashion. However, as one person commented to me, 'this work is so brutal on your cuticles!' ... which I could not really dispute or question. In the end, I popped over to the St John's Ambulance tent and borrowed their scissors to do a little tidy up of my ragged stumps;
• The flight up/back. The flight up was quite fun, with a fair bit of 'pick the riders' going on, and that is where I first met George/Louise. Flew up with QANTAS, and was solidly amazed at the difference between my previous experiences flying with Jetstar - served breakfast, staff who went out of there way to ensure happiness, rather than evidencing an attitude of going through motions, automated baggage drop in and registration. On the way back, got into Brisbane (via a lift from Leon on the bus - thanks mate!) quite early, so sat around for a few hours, chatting with Lilli, then went and had a couple of schooners whilst waiting to board. Hope I did not stink too much, as the clothes that I was wearing, whilst the cleanest I had, were fair from being 'clean' ... Anyway, got on, squeezed into my window seat, thought it was a bit squishy, and promptly found I had jumped into one row to far forward, so had to go back one row, repeat the whole dance again, and discovered that my new seat was VERY squishy. Relieved slightly by getting the lady in front to put her seat forward, but still ... the flight was very full too! After achieving our stable altitude for cruising, the pilot came on and basically said 'Well, now that we have you trapped in here, you are leaving Brisbane, which was 23c, sunny, and mild, for Geelong, which is currently 11c, windy, and is raining at present. Enjoy your flight'; and/or
• Symbol(ism)s of the ride(rs). All the lycra being worn, especially the jerseys were naturally assumed to be a platform for various forms of advertisement, but also as badges of achievement - I was on this (or that) ride, where were you? I guess in some way I was emulating that sense of alterity (or group consciousness) by wearing all those different t-shirts? The bikes were (of course) another platform to express individuality whilst acknowleding a group identity - you may have the same frame, but what about the various components? On these rides there seems to be an ongoing tension about identifying as sub group(s) within the collective whole, as if to say that one can be different within the encompassing of acceptable modes of being. Which is the attraction of plurality, I suppose? ...

Oh, this is number 100 :o

• Played a lot of pool: went to White Eagle a few times. On Wednesday night there was the three of us, and I drank two beers. On Friday night, there was four of us, and I drank far more than two beers. But there was also an 18th birthday party that got a bit 'rowdy' which impinge on our enjoyment. Played some wonderful shots, however, which made it all worthwhile;
• Kristie went walking through the water at Eastern Beach at 2AM. After pool, we trooped off to the pool at Eastern Beach, where some went for a walk around and some went for a walk away;
• Cassie got snitty at me! Rings when out shopping at Coles, says she is at my place. So dropped off some groceries, came home to make some dinner, have a few drinks, then went out to play pool. For once, it was good to play doubles in a more natural environment;
• cooked some rather decent mushroom ragout, even if I was the only one to enjoy such an effort. Is it any wonder that I am getting a bit podgy when I cook all this food, but do not share it with anyone? Certainly did taste good, however ... and it lasted for about four meals, so there was that about it too. Went to the Farmers' markets on Saturday, but only really bought some carnations for the vases that Cassie had bought for me, and some cashews for Felix. Then went off to the markets at the showground, albeit on the way home from looking at dirt out on the Bellarine - $50/m for garden dirt - and then pottering back along the rail trail. Did not too much, just bread, then some cucumber, chillis and yellow capsicums, which I turned into a rather nice breakfast when I got home;
• bought the Saturday Age, then had to go back the next day to get the remainder, as had not realised it came in 2 parts! Doh! Funnily enough, had farewelled Cassie, went around the corner to put Lotto in, and saw Greg barelling down the street. So caught up with him for a bit of a chat and gossip. He was buying some bread before heading off to work, so did not want to delay him too much, even if he is the boss;
• rode around the river path, remembering all the twists and turns. Not especially difficult but was quite a bit of fun - probably about 25k all up? Tempted to pull into Fyansford pub for a quickie when passing, but, as per ususal, kept going - not sure why I hate stopping for 'breaks' when riding? Ended up going for chips + beer, which helped with the recovery, then coming home in time to wash the bike, then watch Cycling Central, with Kate Bates;
• visited Bruce + Kate to help recharge their broadband, as they seemed a bit unsure of either how to do it or why they needed to do it? Not too sure what was going on there, I tell you! That hill that goes up to their place was certainly a stiff climb - gives a bit of perspective on the WC race the other year, which went up the other side, several times;
• weeded the garden in response to the R/E stipulation that property be cleaned 'inside and the gardens' ... Finally took the plunge and just pulled up all of those weeds, etc. - now I just need to organise myself to get the newspaper down to cover up the ground, as it were. Seems that an awful lot is coming in from next door, so maybe I need to get a bottle of roundup, put it into action? But the other significant factor that comes into play is the scratchings of birds around the gardens, who then drop seeds;
• cleaned the house, as I was expecting that the R/E was to do an inspection on Friday ... so swept, cleaned, polished, vaccuumed, etc. but then got an email saying that none of their keys worked, and that they were unable to do the inspection - irony that ;) Went off to Graylings on Saturday, had a copy of the front + back door keys cut, then delivered to the office. That should keep them happy for awhile;
• did not go to the farewell dinner of Craig :(

Another week ... another full moon

This week it was the turn of Felix to prepare food, have guests, and so he did a rather nice roo meatballs in a tomato sauce, along with lashings of bread. Eric was there, Bruce + Kate came over, and Kristy had the night off from caring for the child, so all in all it was a rather cosy get together ... Afterwards, as Eric was sweeping up the shaved parmesan onto the last 2 bits of bread, we said farewell to Bruce/Kate, bade Eric to do the washing up (not that he actually did it), and took Felix/Kristy off to the Elephant for a beer ... which very soon turned into a few more beers, over at the Nash, and walking home through the rain ... Awoke the next morning feeling very, very seedy :o which became increased/exacerbated when I lay there, rocking back + forwards, heard a knocking at the front door, as Bruce arrived early for our ride, following shortly afterwards by him walking in as I struggled to pull some jeans on - apparently I had left the keys in the door when getting home the night before ... So showered, ate, got out of there to the train station to join the GTC riders, where it transpired that they also were not up to much, so we ended up toddling over to Soft, on Minerva Road, then back in along the foreshore, where Bruce and I peeled off, whilst the others went off to Eastern Gardens, to do a few laps ... Got quickly changed, gave Bruce some clothes to pull on over the top of his cycle clothes, then went to markets, up at the Showgrounds ... Just as we were leaving, the flower man was selling 2 bunches for $10 - how could I say no? So got some lillies and some gladiolii. Also bought some chives and some parsley to put into the garden - have put them all in around the water feature, making it a more user friendly location. Anyway, surrounding with herbs will make it easier to pop out and grab anything needed when cooking, I imagine. As for the other gardens, I am a teeny bit perplexed re what else is in there, so am holding off on my grand scheme to lay down cardboard etc. as things keep popping up amongst all of the weeds! The front garden especially is exploding with Freesias, but the (vegetable) garden bed out back is also showing growth patterns of gladioliis coming up ...
After threatening all of Sunday, that night the rains began afresh, falling like stars from heaven, settling in to wash away the turgidness of mediocrity ... Made up a stew with roo, red kidney beans, and lots of ground vegies (e.g. pumpkin, potato, beans, carrot, sweet potato, onion, garlic, chilli, etc.), added some tom paste, splash of port, and let it settle in for a couple of hours. Meanwhile, went off to meet Felix at the chip shop down the bottom of St. Albans Road, where I promptly realised that only buying 4 woodies was going to cost me $15 (rather than $23 for 10 cans), so I promptly spent $20 on 4 gold cans ... really not to sure how that works ... then Felix came back for a bowl of stew and to keep me company whilst I ironed my shirts for the week - even though I promptly got up the next morning and could not be bothered wearing one ...
This is also the week where I was cursed by a witch ... coming back on the train Tuesday night, an odd couple got on the train - Vietnamese, maybe Montegnards? Plopped down their boxes, he wandered off, she sat there, making funny noises, giving off an odd vibe ... Anyway, got up in the morning, and could find my card case nowhere, despite looking high + low - there not being that many places for it to have been ... Ended up rushing off to catch train, buying another monthly train ticket, on the WPC ... Even rang up lost property during day, but alas, there had been nothing handed in :( Got home that night, and virtually found it sitting there on my kitchen bench ... And let us not forget, and yet also not mention, the bird carcasses that are being found in the fireplace ... An odd week, to be sure ... Local paper comes out, there is a house in Norlane and a townhouse in Whittington, both are under $150000.00 ... Finally get some follow up on recouping relocation costs - Wayne says he is going away, but where is the evidence??? Cass came to visit on Friday night, so it was good to catch up, see what is going on in her life, particularly with boys and companionship. Seems that not all is smooth sailing? But, she is happy working, and enjoys the little pleasures of that lifestyle, continuing to provide exceptional customer service to those reaching the end of their lives ... Oh, been taking the 0714 in, and then toddling off on the tram to visit Pellegrini's for coffee, enjoying the sitting there with a long black, watching the day get going. For the most part, it has been surprisingly absent in there, not as busy as I had expected - maybe people come in at a later time, sit there mid-morning? Is not really the sort of place that encourages takeaways - or a soy latte, as I overheard 1 fellow order this morning :o Also put in a shabby/shoddy APS4 EOI for MEI in Geelong ... The position itself is about reviewing reviewable decisions for the decline of ABN applications, and knowing how they go about applying for an objection to those decisions ... Although says you are required to understand precendents, etc. I imagine that the majority of it will be following established and set procedures, with client contact to ensure that the clients' are aware of what (or why) has been declined, what grounds (and processes) for objections, and/or confirming the details of what was in the initial application (i.e. what did you mean when you wrote that?) ... must follow up on the last one I put in, see whether there has been any action on it? Would make life more wonderful ... Keep getting lambasted from Scheduling re the next period, but despite my choices not being reflected, and the subsequent updating seeming to also have had no effect, I continue on my merry way - have submitted request to do 4 day week for the next period ...

Day 2 ends (forgot the sequence on this)

The ending to Day 2 was all about getting home to sort through my things, to take delivery of goods, to re-discover what has been missing for so long ... well, a week or so. [it is, I think, interesting that I am still noticing the absence of things, but then find them later (e.g. money bowl, sharpening stone), but some remain 'lost']For the most part, there was a lot of things to put into the kitchen, to get set up for cooking/cleaning, and clothes to carefully put away - Kristie and Felix came to help, and she carefully folded everything, before stacking into piles where she wanted things to be ... One thing that is especially obvious/apparent is that I really, really have too much room for just 1 person ... Now, what to do about that, hey?
Went to Cyril Walker at lunch, and they had a rather neat little BBB rainjacket, which the gent seemed to feel would be most suitable ... although he did suggest the Santini jacket instead ... which they did not have in stock ... Many things to spend money on, but whether to and/or when is the challenge - after all, am only in that part of the City for another7 days ... then off to the Docklands site, to try something new - or, rather, do the same thing, but in a different locality. Again. So soon after moving, yet again. And again ... Seems to be the theme of the last few years?
Anyway, the Giant is back together, after a few glitches working out how things best go together - still not getting any better doing those rear wheels, I tell you! Still, the only way I am going to get Bernini back together is to buy a multi-tool, ride it, tweak it, and keep refining the position - who knows, maybe one day (in the not so distant future, I hope) I will (finally) have got it together and actually be comfortable on the bike(s)? Of course, by then I will have probably developed my flexibity some more, and need to reposition myself, so the synergy will be transitory at best?
The train trip back was insane! Got to the North Melbourne station, onto the train, and then was entertained literally most of the way by a girl studying a Diploma of Preaching with the aim of becoming a Pentecostal Minister, and a guy studying to be a teacher, but was barely more than a child himself, at least in attitude, etc. But the girl too was quite innocent in her own way; however, more a blissfully conscious unawareness, choosing to be closed to uncertainty and doubt. When in doubt, the Lord will provide/ protect? I read an interesting FAQ about Sumer ... although I am a bit concerned about where I am getting these pages from, for I read a paper the other morning discussing Derrida + drugs, but am unsure where it originated from ... I think the FAQs contained a lot of transliteration of available texts, as there seemed to be a certain consistency with the tales being repeated? I noticed this too with the Oxford text, which seemed to indicate, at least to my own mind, that there were certain cuniform characters utilised in repeated patterns, so that the interpretation/translation of them seemed to be inconquent, or at least sensically inconsistent?
Cooked a rather simple little vegetable fritarta, as I still have a large number of vegies in the fridge, and must do my best to utilise them - remember, 5 serves of f&v per day ... or something like that, anyway ;)

The week ending that was ...

Ending on Friday night, it was off to the Wok Express out at Moonee Ponds with Craig to visit his old TL, be introduced, and for him to deliver a set of rosary beads, from his trip to the Holy Land. She was, needless to say, suitably impressed, finding them to be quite pleasing to the eye and hand, as they were (are?) of a solid texture, almost metallic. The intention was to just meet her, hang out for a hour, but inevitably we stopped for something to eat, and so I ended up having a chicken with noodles, Vietnamese style ...
Of course, at 1945 Felix rings up to say that he + Kristy are sitting at my place, waiting for me so that we can all go out together! So I went back in and bolted my food, said my goodbyes, and toddled up the road to the train station ...
Where I discovered it would be another 20 minutes until the next train ... which meant that there would be no easy connection to a Geelong train for about another 30 minutes - this being Friday night, after all ... So, thought I may as well wander in and around Southern Cross station ... where there was a tremendous police presence, doing 'random' weapons checks, as well as 'transport' police checking tickets ... got out of there and wandered down the road to the new offices - which were not quite finished ... and there would seem to be a sense of isolation surrounding them - get in, do your work, go home - although there are some little parks about a block down to go and sit in the sun (?) during lunch break, so we will see ...
Got back to Southern Cross to hear the announcement that the train had been replaced by a bus ... which kind of sucked in that it was a bit more cramped than usual, and more people were closer together, so I learnt a lot about interpersonal human psychosexual ambiguities than I usually readily assimilate on my nightly journey ... But was also kind of cool because it was different; we went down the freeway; we left 10 minutes earlier; and, got in at almost the same (expected) time ... Which may well have been a tad earlier, except that the driver managed to almost get lost before going into the Geelong station, and had to turn around ... which was quite fun in and of itself ...
Went out to the White Eagle, had two (2) beers and a rather nice Polish vodka, plus a few games of pool, which Felix kept winning convincingly ... Kristy had bought over a 'cheap' bottle of vodka, so a lot of that got consumed during the evening as well, usually mixing it with limes and soda water, whilst Felix had got a few cans of Bundy Red to enjoy ...
Then up in the morning, Kristy out the door, quick shower to refresh, pulled the lycra on, fiddled with the settings on the Yukon - even remembered to change the bike settings on the Garmin :o then off on the wide pathway down the Bellarine rail trail ... which seemed to be sealed almost ALL the way past Leopold to the Portarlington road ... and the great big dip has been filled in, so that you just go around it now ... Got to the little park just outside of Drysdale, next to the train station, and had a quick breather, called Simon, left a message, then set off back along the Portarlington back into Geelong - bit bloody windy on the way back, I tell you! Anyway, the only real besmirchment on this wonderful trip, leaving aside the pleasure(s) that I forewent having it so sealed, was that as I crested the hill out of Leoplod, an 'elderly' couple were meandering along the path, with the man having a mirror on his handlebar, but still neither moved ... so I politely said 'Passing on the right' to which the old girl almost fell off her bike but eventually moved over. As I passed her by, she said 'Have you got a bell?' but when the m,an said the same as I passed him, I turn to him and replied, 'Yes, it is called the 'get the fuck out of my way' bell' before pedalling off on down the slope ... However, once I had turned the corner and was out of their sight, I looked down and realised that it was an accoutrement that I had not yet replaced on the bike ...
After I got back into town, I kept going for a pedal around town, visiting BOQ for some $$$ before shooting over to the PO to check out PO Box availability and redirection costs. After that, I toddled over to West Geelong, thinking to visit Cafe 9 zero (no longer there), Michael's (extremely busy), and so off to Bicycle Factory for a reasonable chat with Greg - and Nick was there too - about what had been happening in the GTC, life in general, etc. Heading back to Pakington Street, but Michael's was if anything, even more busy! So I set off down to the very end where I negotiated the rather tricky pathway, listening to my discs squeak in agony as I headed downwards to the riverside path, for a little meander to check out the times that E & S were open that weekend ... Which turned out to be quite fortuitous, for the fellow I asked about the hours turned out to be 'the' man, the capo of the establishment ... who promptly offered to have the 'boys' drop the washing machine around later that afternoon. Which I promptly accepted. So, sat at home pottering about, rang Simon and advised I would catch up after the delivery was made ... Whilst waiting, I prepared a slight variation on my sliced vegetable frittarta, with the remaining cous-cous mixed in, held together with eggs, and then pouring a lot of parmesan over the top, before sealing under the grill. Used a lot of thyme in the mix, which seemed to emanate throughout ... When it got there, I gave the boys a stubbie each for later, and followed the promptings to put a 'dummy' load on, with half the required detergent. Thought at the time how intelligent the machine was to display the actual time of day, although it was slightly out, but then realised that was actual the time required to do the load of washing - 2 hrs, 43 mins :o Anyway, once it was on, I was free to toddle off to visit Simon at the Fig & Vine Deli (it perhaps being a little late in the day to go to Gobble), where he promptly gave me his Nalini 'Base' top that he had rediscovered in his drawer recently ... Insisted on giving him $20 for the jacket + afternoon tea, which he seemed happy to accept (I hope) ... But the  memories of that jacket! Hope it holds up to expectations, as I admit that I may well have a slightly skewed perspective in regards to its breathability and water resistance ... Also discussed a few other topics, such as the ideals for an urban, around town machine and what his plans may encompass, as he seemed a bit down, or disorientated, but then perked up with considerations for September rides ... Got home and finished off the grilling of the other side of the frittarta, before eating it, sipping a beer, and going to bed early!!! Bit shagged from last night's endeavours + riding ...
This is was supposed to be the fortnight that we played around in the kitchen of Felix, on Saturday afternoon, exploring a few life skills, to see what could be seen in terms of developing a sense of satisfaction for completing set tasks, but ... he had a family weekend! Which is, I suppose, humbly admitting it, of at least equal importance? Maybe.
Then there was Sunday ... Waited for 8AM, popped over to station to see Greg (+ Rolf and Harry) off on a mysterious tour that was to do 100k through Ceres to Steiglitz, then went off to the markets, at the Showgrounds ... Not much in the way of plants this time, but I picked up some proteas, eggs, bread (lots of bread), vegies (zucchini, apples, garlic, eggplant, onions, mushrooms, chillis (mild, hot, hotter), carrots, etc.), and a lemon-macademia cookie ... Threw it all into the bag, jumped on the Yukon, and headed back. As I came past the station, saw Geoff, so cried out that I was just going to put a load of washing on, would be there ASAP, but probably be about 5 minutes late, and promptly rode into a concrete bump at the end of the parking spot ... much to the amusement of Pam, Dave, etc. who I had not noticed lurking in the shadows ... Anyway, went home, dumped bag of stuff, threw wanshing on, changed into lycra, checked settings on Garmin, changed it to the Opera, and rushed over to join the mob, only to see so many people I had ridden with before! This is why I came  to Geelong, to ride with people, to get on, fit in, and have fun. Pretty much went out the Bellarine Highway, turned left up Swan Bay Road :) and then into Drysdale for morning tea. Finished that, came back in along the Portarlington Road, before turning off at Curlewis, following the sealed railtrail to the bottom of Leopold, where Geoff, Pam (although she then turned for home), and I headed back along the Bellarine Highway again to meet the crew where they crossed and then back up the rail trail back to the station. At the end of which, there was only Geoff/Heather, Simon, and John ... although Lindy said a fond farewll as she kept pedalling and Bruce came over to say a quick goodbye. Showed John the outside of the place and Simon the inside, where we had a cup of tea, some ricotta/honey on toast, and then got him to assist me with the sliding door into the lounge (my bedroom), as it transpired that the guide had been flared at one head, so was not sliding correectly, and was slipping upwards to get jammed! However, once that was rectified, I hung the washing out, jumped back on the bike, and went with him back to East Geelong, where I did a bit more shopping - more herbs, some butter, milk, ham, yogurt, anchovies and capers (I think that was all?) ... Then it was time to head home and play with the carnivorous plants, finding that they were all a bit dehydrated, so I set them up with some plates, and pushed one up into the closest tree ... but am unsure if that was the best option, as it seemed to have a little heat stress on the leaves, so will reassess this next weekend, maybe move it to the other tree (as I had originally considered)? Finally made a ham sandwich, grabbed a beer, and lay down in the beautiful warm room, snug as a bug beneath the quilted rug, with the heater going ... only to have Felix arrive, so was off to the Lemon Tree Laundromat to put the clothes through the dryer, as they had not dried enough during the day - note to self, maybe Saturday is the better day to do washing, cleaning (not that anything much got done this weekend), as it allows more time for unexpected delays ... Anyway, whilst there we argued the toss in relation to the messages which he claimed he had not received, and when I checked my records, I had sent them through to his home phone, so that would seem to explain why he had not received them ... Whilst there, also ran into Drew, who had used to come to Harvest Liquor, back in the day, and has since: got into fencing, as a sole trader; has a 3 year old boy, that he absolutely loves, and spending time iwth, as they both a lot of energy to expend - such as going for swimming lessons together; and, seems to be consuming a bit of alcohol? Anyway, after that little adventure, went back and showed Felix how to access/download apps for 'Mavis', such as Internet radio, Golf, and a Scrabble game ... on which we finished the night with me withdrawing in disgust, as he resoundly thrashed me at a game!!!

Day 1 begins

Day 1 begins, and it is already surprising how full this train is :o *Note to self* Be sure to consider getting on at the last carriage after all! Seems relative, but there may be more room in that carriage, in terms of how people get into this thing. Reminescent of a bell curve? Still, at least there is a 4 seater with room for me to have my legs stretched out on. So far. For all of that, it is quite warm in here, what with all the body heat and the amount of clothes that people are wearing in here, so maybe I could get by without the jacket? Still, it did make for a more pleasurable time standing on the platform before this all headed off, so shall see how things progress for the rest of the day, hey? There is an option ... um, not sure what that option is to be, as just pulled into North Geelong and 
a) somebody got on, climbing into the seat opposite;
b) there were an awfully large number of people that got on at that station; and,
c) somebody came screaming up the ramp with a Giant road bike, and jumped on ...
There are two more stops to pick up passengers, North Shore and Lara, then express to Footscray, so it will be interesting to see what the passenger numbers are like at each of those stations. According to the information I downloaded last night, the best option is to change trains and get one that is going to Flagstaff station, but the choice remains of whether to do so at Footscray or North Melbourne ... Would think that North Melbourne will have more options, but would also be a little more complex to move around on ... spoiled for options am I, hey? Take it one step at a time - never know, might even be able to mix it up day to day?
Well, this is Lara and there seem to be a few people here as well, just to fill up what available space there was, and now people are even standing ... Ha! Ticket collector came around to check tickets, pulled the wallet out, flashed the ticket, then went to put back into back, and completely missed it, making it a bit difficult to retrieve the wallet from the floor where it had fallen, amongst all of these feet and legs ... Really must check whether all of these postings have been uploaded - am starting to feel that I am writing in silence, that these musings are being lost into only the silence of creation. Of course, it is amazing that it is after 8AM and it is still so wan outside - the things we do for fun, hey? It is almost like the sun has not even fully arisen as yet, but then, when will it? There is the option of speccing up a bike for off road use and taking it bouncing around places such as You Yangs or down by Anglesea? Will start with the rail trail first, get a feel for that, and see where I go ... Option may be to convert the Giant to more aggressive off road (bigger tyres, replace suspension, etc.) and get an around town bike. Or convert the Giant to a more around town bike (panniers, rigid forks, etc.) and get an off-road bike, maybe a dual suspension ... 'Problem' is that I really do need three (3) bikes: 1 for road, 1 for around town; and, 1 for puddling along the rail trail, if not more ... The Giant did quite well as a combo for the last two, especially with the panniers on it, so that may be the way to go again? Actually, thinking about it, Footscray may well be a hub station, with several lines coming into/out of the station, as just went through Werribee and realised that there would be trains coming through there that would also go to Flagstaff, as it too is on the suburban lines ...
Incidentally, after to-ing and fro-ing (largely from me trying to talk him out of it, or at least to rationalise his purchasing decision), Felix has gone ahead and purchased an iPad. The last 2 nights have been an interesting experiment in setting it up and exploring its possibilities, so I hope he gets the usage out of it that he so richly desires/deserves ... Last night it kept hanging when we were trying to access the App store, and what a drama it was to try to set him up with an Apple ID - seems all of his previous email accounts had been hacked, and closed down due to suspect activity ... Hmm ... well, that will do me for the trip in, I suppose???

Day 1 ends

Day 1 ends, and I have discovered that it is important to get the train from North Melbourne. Otherwise, like tonight, I stand around at Footscray Station waiting until 1910 for a train ... makes for a long day ... Besides, the earlier train, the one I would catch from North Melbourne, has a drinks car, so I could recline in the lounge car, and unwind after a hectic day at the office. Or is that maybe a little too optimistic, a little too gilded of what the actual realities are? Only one way to find out I suppose, get on that train tomorrow and explore! Guess that means back to the favourite website to explore what the options are ... But, it must be said, that this particular service is quite significantly depopulated, so whether I aim for the earlier service or just find something else to do would seem slightly immaterial, or at least until further evidence is presented ...
Getting a teeny bit worried about the hair position, as I feel that I may be getting to have this scraggly heap, especially as the forefront is rapidly retreating ...
As for the office itself, it is different ... yes, different is possibly the best phrase to use, as there are significantly things that go on which vary from how I used to do things, back in the day, in a land far, far away ... There are flushing urinals, instead of the little tablets ... the team seems so much smaller, yet louder! But this may be due to them occupying a smaller area, and sit more in diamond formation than side by side to each other? ... the dining/break out room has telephones for CSRs to use during their breaks to make calls. But it is on another floor entirely, so time is spent getting to/fro the room ... The actual CS&S area seems to be spread over three (3) floors, with the LBH team(s) on the lowest floor. Not that they are ever seen ... there is a training room up here, and it actually has computers, etc. in it for the use by trainees ... I am still taking Specialist calls, and in fact spoke to about 6 people from CHM :o almost more than I would talk to in a normal day! Even when I was physically there in CHM ... the table is unbelievably low (!) but there seems no mechanism to raise it, although they appear to be up/down desk (i.e. power assisted) so I do wonder how high I will be able to get it up? The chair itself is exceedingly low, so will have to hope that it also will go up an amazing distance to match the table when I get it up. Did try to tee up another seating arrangement, go to another desk, but the t/l was not quite as keen as I was ... around the corner is the Queen Vic markets, so I guess I will be exploring there a couple of times before we set off to the new place down at Docklands? Around the other corner is also Cyril Walker Cycles and a rather decent cookery shop, so there is much to see and do. Still not discovered any 'decent' coffee place(s) as yet - maybe I should make that my anticipated spending for the day? Coffee in the morning, alcohol on train home? It is a thought ...
Other than that, it seems a good little trip in and out on the train, just need to be aware of timing issues, be prepared, have things to do above + beyond utilising Silver Rocket for the travel. One option may be to utilise the time to read and/or prepare submissions for advancement of learning, maybe download some texts to be enjoyed? Might also be a time to set up emails, etc through a client, and then action them during the travel time???