Getting Kultcha'd

It's been a few weeks since the last post.  Well since then we haven't dropped off the face of the earth, in fact we haven't gone far.

Our departure was delayed in large part because the project team were out of the country.  I had requested a contact so that we could continue to progress things and well that didn't really help at all.  It also didn't help that the first two days back for the team were public holidays in Oman.  Anyhoo, I spoke to the Captain responsible for sorting my travel and visa etc, and it turns out he's still out country, but none too impressed at the lack of progress.  Hopefully rockets have been fired and things move in the next week.........  Not holding my breath though.

So almost two weeks ago we moved again, from Geelong to Ashburton and are staying with my sister in law.  She keeps saying she's happy to have us here as I've sorted a plumbing issue and Katrina has been cooking for her and the lads.  But that is only a little bit of the time.........

Katrina has made some inroads on the thesis and I as the heading indicates have been getting culture!  It's kinda nice to have some time to relax and go see things that you don't have/make the time to do in regular visits to Victoria.  So in the past week I've been to the Melbourne Museum, Botanic Gardens, Zoo, the National gallery and for the first time poked my nose into the Shrine of Rememberance.

Apart from that we've caught up with a bunch of people, some accidentally, like Peter and Lillian in a shop and Daffyd at a pub quiz night - at the pub adjoining the brasseirie we dined at.  Well to be accurate the Brasserie adjoined the pub!  Otherwise we caught up with  family,  most of the old (mid eighties) D&D crowd and some SCA friends at a series of rather nice dinners.  It's been nice catching up, with no real time constraints.

And on Thursday we went to Wesley College to see our nephew Braden appointed as a school prefect.  Rather a big deal for Braden and his mum Liz as she teaches there.  There's a photo somewhere below..  Funny going to Wesley as that's where dad and my uncle David went.  Whereas I am an ex Geelong College boy, somehow all that purple feels like it should be dark green!

I did catch up with an old school mate - David who looked just like his dad used to!  Now that must be a sign of the times.  It's funny when we talked about the last 30 years we each left with a feeling of wow how does my life stack up to yours? He never left Geelong, but he does run a pharmacy - or two, or three... and home grows beef and Mt Moriac wines! Things I would be proud to have achieved.  And yet he see's my previous travels and future as things to be greatly envied.  Guess familiarity does build, well not contempt, but a lesser appreciation of your own achievements.

And yes my techno hell has continued.  After eulogising about the roll up bluetooth keyboard I returned it for one that doesn't roll up, but does synch first time every time and where the keys all do what their label says.  Cost almost twice as much, but it works.  I also toomk my mobile phone to the Vodafone tech centre and they essentially replaced its guts and updated the software in an hour.  Funnily enough it seems to work now.

Cheers

David

Snoozy Tapir at the zoo

NGV Triptych detail

Pick the prefect