NO! Not now. Read my post first. Bloody ingrates.
I think I have knocked the Dreaded Lurgie on the head... I think. The last remnants are valiantly hanging on. Over the last 6 days I have taken that many lotions, potions and concoctions I glow in the dark.
I see that Havock has taken up the baton and now has the Lurgie. Bloody Copy Cat. That'll teach him to visit my blog or maybe it was because he spent 2 days alone, naked, playing with his 360 and a plasma big screen.
I have called off our invasion of New Zealand. Why? I hear you cry. Well they are holding my eldest son (Ashley) as ransom. That's right. Those sneaky Kiwis have my son. Let me explain.
My son's girlfriend (Stace) is a New Zealander and they have decided to shack up. But not here in good ole Oz. They are moving to NZ, to Stacy's home town. A little place at the southern end of the South Island called Lake Wanaka.
It is about 2 hours north west of Dunedin (Dr Yobbo's stomping grounds) and about an hour south of Mt Coook. It is a touristy place with boating and fishing in the summer and skiing in the winter. They tell me it is cold, very cold. Stace said it started snowing at her family's place last week. It should be interesting as my son is a Queensland boy and rarely ventured south of the Queensland border. There is plenty of employment opportunities in the area and Stace is going to finish a Teaching Degree so they should be OK.
So now I will have a place to stay when I visit NZ.
It has been raining for the last week. Not much of a problem here as the runoff just goes into the sea but it has been flooding inland around Caboolture and further north around Hughesy's Place in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Sunshine and blue skies here today. I went for an amble along the beach this morning and there was no storm damage which is good.
With the Lurgie and rain I have been doing a lot of reading. Some Tech stuff to get the brain working again and started reading Clive Cussler's Arctic Drift. I also read a book on life as a soldier in the Roman Legion in Syria in 100 AD.
I have also been putting some thought into what I am going to do when I am fit and healthy again. The employment situation is looking grim out there in the big bad world. There are several options that I can concider.
My teaching registration has expired so I would have to renew that if I want to go back to Education. My specialisation was Adult Education and I believe that some of the requirements have changed so I will have to look at that and see if I need to upgrade.
I could resume my Technology career. My area was Integrated Information Systems and Emerging Technology. I also did a lot of R&D work in that area. I would like to go back to R&D but it will take a lot of work to get up to speed on the latest developments.
There is also the option of Business Administration but that might be a bit too much stress to jump into after 3 years of intensive medical treatment and trying to stay alive.
Then again I could just forget about all of that and find something that would not be too stressful. Perhaps do a Barista's course and go and serve delicious coffee to all the other people stressing out. If that doesn't work out at least I might learn to make a decent cup of coffee.
Anyway I'll sort it out. But first I have to get fit enough to go back to work. So I might just concentrate on that first.
Pysy hyvä ja olla ystävällisiä toisilleen
15 comments:
Arctic Drift - is that a Pitt novel? shame about your son being kidnapped but I guess that sort of thing happens when Kiwis are around.
Glad your environs haven't been storm wrecked.
Hey Therbs Yep... the latest in the NUMA Files Series. As with his last couple of NUMA Files books Sandecker is now Vice President, Dirk Pitt is the Director of NUMA and the central characters are Dirk Pitt Junior and Summer Pitt (Dirk's twin son and daughter).
I have also just finished Plague Ship the latest in the Oregon Series and I've got Corsair on order.
excellent to hear your continued improvement.
"If that doesn't work out at least I might learn to make a decent cup of coffee".
dude just buy the right machine and one button does it all for you.
Barnes: I've got a one button machine and various excellent coffee beans that I grind. I want to learn how to make those pretty pictures they put on the top of the Cappuccinos.
Wanaka's bloody gorgeous, it's everything Queenstown would like to be but lost on the way to becoming Aspen-Lite. It's not that cold. Well OK it is (it's a snow town after all) but summers are mid to high 20s and the lake becomes watersports central. We had a bit of a cold snap here last week - got down to single figure daytime maxes in D-town, so probably snowed up in Central Otago - but it's back to high teens which over here actually feels quite warm for some reason. The young bloke will love it particularly if he gets into the adventure sports (and Kiwi girls are very cool.) Lots of good vineyards in the locality as well, all that Central Otago pinot noir. Those driving distances are a bit optimistic though - unless Casey Stoner is doubling you on his bike - I'd give it three and a half hours from here to Wanaka and probably best part of two to get from there to Mt Cook. A bit over an hour to Queenstown, either over the Crown Range (an insane bit of road) or around the vineyards of the Cromwell basin.
Re the pretty pics I think they use stencilled shakers and/or wiggle the end of the foamy thing around in patterns. They're big on fern shapes over here for some reason. Australia and NZ may be the best coffee drinking countries in the world - certainly in terms of English speaking countries (well the competition isn't flash, the Brits and Americans are pretty clueless in general.)
My understanding was always that the Dept of Education would cut its own arms off in order to get more good male teachers in front of primary classes - the old man (who was a secondary English/humanities teacher specialising in remedial classes) went back as a casual primary teacher after 10 years away and rated it very highly. Much more relaxed, a lot less rubbish from the kids at that age compared to teens. Bit more rubbish from the parents but as a casual why would you care? Of course it's well away from your speciality but if it's relatively easy to span the qualifications divide it might be an option.
Doc: Thanks mate. Yes the driving times would be a bit iffy. I was trying to remember everything that they told me when they dropped in last Sunday.
The Coffee Magicians keep the pretty pictures bit a secret until you are trained and inducted into the Coffee Magician's Guild. There is a Coffee Den up here, Zarraffa's, that do wonderous patterns. If you ordered 6 coffees you would get 6 different patterns.
About 10 years ago I did contract teaching for a few years, teaching Forensic Science for Grades 10, 11 and 12. It was only for about 4 months each year and I would do one day a week at each of five high schools in the school district. I prefer Adult Education. I don't think I would have the patience for Primary teaching. They won't let you nail them to the walls to start with.
It's always great to have family in another country, free board and lodgings every time you visit. Myself being a Pom and the wife Australian, it saves us a fortune and the same applies when her family come and visit us.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Al.
I would go back down the teaching path. Adult education must be less stressful than dealing with a bunch of kids. They will challenge you enough to keep the brain fresh and you get to write off any tech toys you buy.
I think Naut's onto something-maybe the adult education route. Most adults may not pick up on things as fast as kids, but they're serious about trying to learn where kids don't care much yet. I think that'd be easier to deal with.
Waylon Jennings-awesome! Obviously a person with discerning musical taste.
Just concentrate on ur health and getting well and fit again, then all else will fall into place.
Once ur body is healthy, ur mind and soul will let u know where they want u to take them.
Mr-Stu: Yep makes holidays cheaper.
Bangar: Thanks.
Naut & YD: I will be checking out the teaching bit. Maybe, I don't know just yet.
YD:My favourite - I have 9 - 10 Waylon CDs plus other singers from the same period and style. Johnny Cash, Kenny Rodgers Jessie Coulter and so on.
FRH: You are right. Now if I could only find a way to get paid to be a beach bum...
What is "the lurgie?"
Hey PB good to see ya. Lurgie = Man Flu
Oh.
Well, fuck, my brother, I just got over a case of that myself.
Semper Fi.
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Arrgh!Speak up or hang from the yard arm. Arrgh!