Some more 'iPhonography' whilst working - Sydney Harbour!

So, with my current working schedule, I am normally stopping first at Seaforth on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Its a nice spot, and I visit just near The Spit Bridge.

But today, this stop was not required, and I had a little bit of extra time up my sleeve, so I ventured to somewhere more familiar, my old work at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. More over, Mrs Macquaries Chair, which has spectacular views of both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Opera House! I managed to get here just on sunrise this morning, and there was some glorious light; I just wished I had my actual camera instead of my trusty, if not old, iPhone 7PLUS!!

I was actually here several weeks back, and even though I was in my fully marked work car, with the engine running, an overzealous Ranger started to book my as I hadn't used the parking meter. When I got out and said I am here, and the car is running, we had a quick chat and later went on my way! haha

Also here, is a small garden, and a most impressive Xanthorrhoea... Isn't she lovely with the CBD as a backdrop??

After that, the day got very 'boring' and routine, heading to Darlinghurst, then the Inner West before heading back to the Lab. In my drive from the Lab up to Galston however, in these times of Coronavirus (COVID-19) where at a funeral only 10 people are permitted to attend, I managed to get to see a very dear friend in Melbourne, preside over his mothers funeral in Tasmania over a live stream, and whilst I was driving, I was more listening to it as opposed to watching, as I wanted to remain safe on the road. You did a wonderful job and held it together in a very testing time DW, I know mum would be proud...

No time for any sort of gardening in the courtyard today though, but the beds will all get a water tomorrow, and maybe a light trim of the Vibernum screen just to keep it in check, but we will see!!!

Hope you've had, or have, a wonderful Wednesday!

Hoo roo for now...

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Another dull day really

Well today was a bit of a 'just another day'... I had a bad nights sleep really, and I feel that was the catalyst for the day ahead! But I woke up before my alarm at 0430 anyway...

A quick shower and a shave, some breakfast whilst Bronty was outside, and I got the car ready for the work day ahead and left into the darkness and soon, rain...

Whilst the day itself went ok with nothing out of the ordinary happening, from Seaforth, to Darlinghurst and up to Galston and Kenthurst, before a quick stop at Lakeside Private Hospital....

But, getting home this afternoon I saw that the Poppies and Alyssum's were going great guns, as are the Marigolds, Sweet Peas and Lobelia's on the side of the house, so I would give them a foliar feed! So I set about mixing it up in a 9lt watering can, and hand watering them... I can't wait for Spring to bloom!!

Also, this past summer, the Cyathea Tree Ferns took a bit of a hit in the sun and heat, so I have moved them both together, and into a more protected area. As such, I have several new fronds rolling out...

Hoo roo for now...

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A New 'Dawn' begins...

Ok, I have not 'disappeared' nor have I fallen off the planet, I have just been busy and also not particularly in the 'mood' or 'zone' for blogging… As you may know, there has been an 'air' of uncertainty at work, well that 'air' has now gone, and I am now, as of TODAY, unemployed! The environment at work was such that I am now, happy to be OUT of it! I had asked a management person for a 'personal' reference, and gave him a dozen or so point to form one up. I also said that I felt 'uncomfortable' and it was 'inappropriate' for me to wrote my own for his signature! His reply not only left ME, but also another manager, gobsmacked, as he STILL wanted me to form the 'personal' reference for him to then 'personalise'! Can someone please tell me how this is a personal reference?? BUT, this is how he rolls, and I am happy to be free from him and the environment to which it has become, as the 'heart and soul' has not only gone from what once was a great place to work, but its been ripped out from within! So, now, its onwards and upwards from here...

So, whats been happening? I have been busy with photography, I have a news lens, and I am about to head overseas for a conference; and I will be heading to the 'spotters mecca, St Maarten in the Dutch Antilles! My car purchase is on hold, in fact, my current car is in for a service now!! I am off to Melbourne on Thursday for the opening of a friends exhibition as well, so busy days ahead before I leave in three weeks!

Hoo roo for now...

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Bloody car... (and WORK too for that matter)

I have been wanting to upgrade my car for a little while now, actually, since January this year to be precise! But, with work deleting my position (and YES, it has been going on THAT long) I have been in somewhat of a limbo land, so I have put it off. Back in January, I was looking at a Toyota Prado and a Mitsubishi Pajero, both are about the size I am looking at. Simply put, Bronty has out grown my car, a Suzuki Vitara!

now, I have still been looking as the months have rolled on, and now that the redundancy is looming closer, I am now a little more anxious as to what is going to happen. Additionally, come September, I will no longer have to pay a bill that I have been paying for the past few years, so that is also good, but without a job, there is an added pressure. I am still thinking a Prado or a Pajero is the ideal car for me...

Well, the other day, whilst driving along on a VERY BUSY peak hour M4, the inevitable happened; I broke down again, it was the clutch. You may remember from THIS POST a few weeks back that the clutch went, but in fact, it was just the Slave and Master Cylinders that needed replacing. The mechanic also mentioned to me that the 'Pressure Plate' is looking as though it is also on the way, but considering that I am looking at getting rid of the old girl, they made adjustments to it, and we were on our way again. Brakes were also done at the same time!

Anyway, I am driving in the fast lane, very inside lane, and as the traffic was crawling along, it wanted to keep going even though my foot was ON the clutch pedal. I simply put it into neutral, and rolled to a stop. BUT, I was in the inside fast lane, and I had to cross over a lane to get into the breakdown area. I let the traffic move a little bit, put it into first gear, and started the car and put the hazard lights on, turned them off with my left blinker ON, and managed to get across pretty easy actually! I then called the NRMA (roadside service). initially, it was a discussion, but when I said what the problem was, rather than send a serviceman out and THEN a towie, they just sent a tow-truck to pick me up and take me to my mechanic (which is within the 20klm area I get free towing).

in the end, it was a linkage problem between the clutch pivot point, and the slave cylinder, and it was a cheap repair at $190, but needless to say, the search begins, in earnest, for a new car!!

Hoo roo for now...

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Looking looking looking...

SOME of you may know, that recently, I have been on 'tenterhooks' for the last 18 weeks, well yesterday, it all came to a head… Finally, after 5 weeks since interview, yes thats right FIVE WEEKS, I was told that I was unsuccessful in an application for a position that would have kept me employed. In that time, not a phone call to advise of a delay, not an email to tell us whats happening, no, nothing, which really only added to the stresses of the process!

Now, I DO understand that there is a process involved with recruitment, but the way in which I found out, was, simply atrocious!! I was at my desk, when a person came up into the office, and although this person most likely had NO IDEA I was there, proceeded to tell person 2, that XX had announced that XYZ has got the job! After a couple of seconds silence, I then heard a door close… I was, needless to say, ropable, and I simply wanted to get out of there, there and then! But, I am better than that, and when my Manager came out into the office later on an unrelated matter, I aired my disgust. To the credit of him, he was equally mortified, not only the way in which I discovered the news, but in the way in which it was all handled!

Later in the morning though, I was 'summoned' up into the big office, where I was officially informed of the decision… So, for now, I am still 'viably' employed until everything and everyone is recruited, sometime in July, and at that time, I will become 'excess'! So today, after a sleepless night due to Monday's news, I had a day off to catch up on sleep, not that I got that much.

Instead, I mowed the nature strip first, then my front lawn. next up, the back lawn, and hung out a load of washing, and stripped the bed, and washed the sheets. I then got out some flannelette sheets, as it is getting cooler now!! Late in the afternoon though, I finally managed to get some banking done, but I had to travel to Rooty Hill to deposit some cheques! Dinner is in, a simple pie and baked spuds with peas and gravy. Its an interesting night on the box tonight, so I will simply chill, relax and 'try' not to get stressed anymore!

Hoo roo for now...

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Wordless Wednesday No. 81 My Office

My Office - Upper Level



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In other news, it has been a very busy week... With last weekend being Mother's Day on Saturday, I removed the aged Murraya's from the back garden and replanted some Gardenia's. Sunday, I spent time at mum's in the morning (western edge of Sydney) then over to Christines (eastern edge of Sydney) for lunch! I was tired by the time I got home! Sunday night, whilst watching TV and chilling, I saw an image of mine being used on a show, and not to long after, I was getting messages about it!! Work has been more than a little 'stressful', and I am busy planning my trip to Beijing, and I will more than likely include Prague and Oslo as an extension. Today, I am hoping to have an early night, work stress is exhausting, and then Thursday, nothing major is planned, which is not to say it wont happen either! Friday - I am off on a rec day, so I will not be at work, and I am being taken somewhere for something!! I have no idea what! No doubt, photos will follow... Stay Tuned!

Hoo roo for now...

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Sunrise...

This pic, sort of sums me up this morning... Not the best news here at work, which sort of makes me feel sad, but hopefully, with time, something over the sunrise will be better...

Sunrise

Hoo roo for now...

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Feeling a little 'overwhelmed'...

Beach Soccer (Jimbaran) - 2007

Have not 'really' been in the 'mood' for posting this last couple of weeks, as there is a lot going on; work, will I have a job and so on... It seems as though for one reason or another, deleting positions is an easy thing to do. So I have been researching all available options to me, having LOTS of meetings with other staff, and searching out opportunities. At the end of the day, I DO think I will be ok, what ever way it pans out...

Having said that, I also feel like picking up my ball, and going home, which is why I have picked the photo above of the beach soccer game, on Jimbaran Beach Bali.

In other news, a short trip to both Melbourne and Hong Kong is on the horizon, which will be a good distraction at the same time! I will get to catch up with friends and colleagues in both cities! In particular, an old school friend of mine, who moved from Sydney to London and is now settled in Hong Kong, it has been YEARS since I have seen him! I will also be having a meeting in Hong Kong, and a site inspection of the Sha Tin Racecourse!

Otherwise, not much else has been happening, just plodding along...

Hoo roo for now...

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Tuesday...

Today is just a boring day at work, really, it is!!!

You see, this is my boring view, looking out of my office, bad isn't it!!! :p

In all seriousness, its a busy day today, and I am only now just having lunch! I am in the middle of a briefing note, and by the time I have it finished, I will be looking forward to getting into the city later tonight! It should be a fun night, or at least, I hope so!!

For morning tea, I normally have a toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwich, but today, I had the chipolata and scrambled egg wrap which was very tasty...

Hoo roo for now...

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Photo a Day Challenge - Day 133 Grass

Yes, this is grass, and its at work! It is also in the middle of the drought back in the summer of 2010 when we, as with all of Sydney, were under water restrictions. Doesn't look very good for a major garden to have its lawn looking like this now does it??

Landbridge

Hoo roo for now...

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Photo a Day Challenge - Day 128 Something You Do Every Day

Sit in traffic, only the depth of the traffic varies...

Travelling to work

Hoo roo for now...

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Photo a Day Challenge - Day 40 Self Portrait

I was thinking this one out almost all day... I ended up looking through, and I found a pic I could edit in Picik (which is about to close its relationship with Flickr). They have now, for the rest of the period, opened up all 'Premium' bits to all users, so I thought I'd play around!!

Bernie Floating Temple

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I had a good day at work today, and a good visit with the specialist. I had an interesting call on the way home, which I will see how it pans out next week and into the short-term. BUT, when I got home, I was horrified to see that the house two doors down has been purchased... Oh well, I hope the new residents have 'grown up' now they own a house!!

Hoo roo for now...

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Photo a Day Challenge - Day 37 Button

buttons and buckle

'L' use to LOVE collecting buttons, primarily antique or unusual ones as can be seen in the pic above. They are all in the study room still, perhaps I could put them on eBay or something, who knows... For now though, they can stay!

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Today at work, was difficult... We are installing some equipment on our fuel systems (underground tanks and pumps on-site) that has the ability to run reports to user groups, types of fuel and even, CO2 emissions if needs be! The later will be important in many ways, but I like the idea of a single system that can report against many things... BUT, and I say this with a headache after a long day, it will only work IF the server talks to the computer when the computer can talk to the tank recoder that can talk to the server... It has taken a while to get it all going, and it will go live (hopefully) on Thursday, so fingers crossed, everyone will talk to everyone!

Hoo roo for now...

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Photo a Day Challenge - Day 36 Dinner (4/2/12)

Ok, in keeping with yesterdays post of out-of-sequence photos, this was a pic of (what) dinner looked like at KW's b'day dinner at La Mono. Yes, it may resemble a lunch I had recently with L's uncle, but in essence, it was the same that we had on Saturday night!!

Dinner

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Today at work, we had an announcement (of sorts) about the direction of the organisation. It was, somewhat, exciting, daunting yet oh so very strange all at the same time... I think, in the long term, it may be good, but at the moment, I am a little shocked at what was said in some ways... But, I digress...

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Was there a game on today that I missed, who won?

Hoo roo for now...

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Photo a Day Challenge - Day 25 Daily Routine

Well, apart from the wake-up at 5.30 every morning, shower, breakfast (usually a coffee) I start the drive to work... I head towards the city along the M4, and at its end, I come to the intersection of Concord Rd...

Daily Routine Concord Rd

Then, after driving through Five Dock where some very good family friends use to live, I go along Canada Bay on Wattle St, which by way of coincidence, is also underneath YSSY 16 approach! It is nice, sitting in traffic, along the bay with often runners doing their thing as well.. There is even the odd knack at times, but sharks have been known to be in the area!

Daily Routine Wattle Rd

I eventually make it to a parking spot near my office, which although my office is in a very nice heritage building, there are also some newer/modern ('80's) buildings as well!

And finally, working out my organisations CO2 emissions is one of the projects I am doing. It is now very 'automated' in that when I get data, it goes into the various files (tabs) I have, and the formula works it all out from there... Soon though, we will have a lot easier capture of the data as we are installing meters and sub-meters on our infrastructure, and I can look and run reports from the desktop, thus a truly automated system... YAY!!

Daily Routine CO2 Emissions Tables

Hoo roo for now...

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Moving...

Ok, so over the weekend, I moved - or at least, I WAS moved! we had to vacate our office at work, due to mainly an office relocation as repairs were needed elsewhere. BUT, these changes are only a temporary thing alas...

A short time ago, when I went to China actually, my office was stripped bare, dampness was repaired and then it was re carpets and painted. I came back from China, and unpacked. In that very same week, it then became clear that again the packing boxes were needed as we were about to move, this time, up to the other side of the site! We will be here for at least 3 months!

So, Friday I spent the afternoon, packing, sorting repacking my boxes. I only had 3 of them, as well as my PC. Now a lot of my files are all electronic, in that I scan everything and then save as a PDF. And, yes, every single morning I get an email from the server saying that I need to make space as my allocation is nearing its capacity! I mean, fair go, I've been here for over 10 years now, and I have a lot of files already, and I think the allocation is a paltry amount, can't you give me some extra space? Anyway, I digress...

After unpacking, the carpenter was still working in the building, we settled down to work... We were still having the bathroom fixed with a new toilet, roll holder towel roll etc, and there was some noise about the place. BUT, now, it is dreadfully quiet in that we are the only two in the building, we've locked the door to the outside but it is a really nice place to be in! Closer to the city for starters, but a renovated sandstone Gatehouse - really nice! If the weather was nicer, I'd take a photo and post, but its returned to winter here, and its Grey and overcast!

Hoo roo for now...

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Counting down already... For the working week to finish!

How sad is that, I am ALREADY counting down the working week! But it has been a long, not to mention tiring, week!

Things are going along well with regards to the sale, I should hopefully engage an agent next week! The Solicitor has started the contract preparations and we are talking to the bank! I had NO idea that there is SO much work that has to be completed in doing this, zip, zilch NONE!

Last night, I also had dinner with BKBS. I missed S's birthday when we were in Egypt, but I did call on the day! I think, from memory, we were heading towards Cairo at the time! S has also grown So much, and looks as though he will be walking real soon...


God-daughter B on the other hand, was her normal 'happy to see you' self, which I simply love about her! We sat, talked, played silly games before a dinner of taco's, which were so YUMM and I had not had them for ages either; thanks B!

Towel Bat, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Work is really getting busy, REAL busy, and will be that way for more than a few months I suspect. There will be some early morning starts, and even some late afternoon finishes as well!

I am also in the lookout for a hobby, I do not know what, but something to keep me occupied. I may even go back to Uni, change my course, maybe to the MBA, I am not sure. But I feel as though I need to do something new, and to keep my mind active!

And finally, I have decided to not go back to having a cleaner, and that I am more than capable of pushing a vacuum around the house now that I am doing a lot more exercises and that my core muscle groups are stable enough to handle it. Sure, I might get them back every once and a while and do a 'top to bottom' clean, but for the most part, I think I will be OK!

Since I came home, footy season is now well under way, both NRL and AFL. This weekend, I will be most likely heading to the SCG to see the Swans play, so I am hoping that it will be a warmish night. Otherwise, I will be wearing my lovely warm leather jacket from Italy. Of which, I have been wearing to work the last two days; it's excellent!!!

Hoo roo for now...

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It's time to sell, and start to move on... And a birthday thrown in!

After getting home, I have finally come to the conclusion... It is time to sell and (try to) move on! So yesterday, I met with TWO Real Estate agents. It is a very difficult decision to make, and one that is not made easily, but there is SO much involved with it all that I had no idea! Not just the selling of property, but how it intertwines with Estate and Probate etc! But, I think that a price I have in mind is, achievable in the current market and still a very competitive price! SO now, it is just a matter of time until the contracts are prepared and then there will be a 'For Sale' sign on the lawn!

And today, we had a party over at 'C&P' place to celebrate the first birthday of little J! When it came to the cake and presents, he was SO tired and he could barely keep his eyes open! Where as his older brother R, well he was up until 12.30am and wasn't showing ANY signs of wanting a rest!

First Birthday, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Birthday Cake, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

R waiting for J's Happy Song, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

R on J's Birthday, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

There was the usual, way to much food, lots of sweet things and an abundance of presents! Also, I should add that Mr 5 W also had a celebration for his birthday as well, which made the presents look as thought it was Christmas in May!!! Both M & W were having a BALL, and even Miss R and her younger brother J were having a good go at the cakes icing...

M J Birthday, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Birthday boy, Mr 5 W J's Bday, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Miss R J's Bday Cake full, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

J serious look with mum, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

The day was ALSO birthdays for O, S and there was cupcakes for them, as with both M & W... April/May is a busy time for birthdays I think!!!

MWSO Bday Cakes, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

The garden has suffered a bit of a beating whilst I was away, and I lost a couple of plants (Chocolate Sapotae for one), but the Passionfruits are producing like nothing else! This morning, I harvested around 50 of them, and needed quite a large bag so I could take them to the party! Also, they are SO full of flavour, and very YUMMY!

And tomorrow, it is my first day back at work, I dread to think how much work is there, but we will see how we go! I have a GP appointment in the afternoon as well, so it is going to be a full day. I hope that S will be up for the 'usual' 10am coffee!!!

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