Asher 7th

 The Universal Organiser had a day off yesterday, as why make it so hard as to coincide Asher's birthday with the school fete, in which she was peforming a class dance routine and the Melbourne marathon. I was to pooped to type anything more last night after an epic day. These school events are a step up from what I am used to. A few stats should suffice, like 14 major rides all on the back of trucks, at least 10 food trucks and another 20 stalls selling all manner of merchandise.  At the end, one stall was not packing up stuff to take back so they gave it all away, including a jigsaw puzzle that I scored. So after three hours of fete-ing we went back for birthday cake.  

Marathon Run

 It has taken 42 yar but I was back at the Melbourne Marathon for the first time since 1983. It must have hurt that much. The entry fees have quadrupled and they start and finish at the MCG so no more running from Frankston. You do get a tad better service with athlete tracking and a massive sports trade show to check out. Back then there were 7,000 of us, no 10kms, no 21kms, just marathon runners.  This time around there were 50,000 of them doing different distances and they all brought family and friends so the crowds at the finish line were huge. Daniel finished at least 30mins faster than I did back when.  Now we have to wait til Asher and Kaia give this a go.

Dockery Dockery Dell

I have been using Dell since last century. This is one of those mega billionaire inventors who sits in the background, doesn't do anything flashy just sells products and emphasises service. I rang Dell about my faulty Docking Station and got thru to an engineer in less than two minutes. Because I quoted the part number that I own he already had my history in front of him.  We went thru the checks and it was still under warranty, so he arranged for a replacement to be sent out. This part was at most 30 minutes. I got an email one hour later saying the Dock has been sent. At 10:30 am the next morning it arrived. Why can't all companies do this sort of thing?

Beach Clean No 722

I am supposedly nursing a cold and with a coolish wind the last two days I spent them indoors. The aim was to have no contamination of runners before tomorrow's Melbourne Marathon. I think I have beaten down the symptoms so I ventured across the road with my trusty rubbish bag. It did not take long to fill up. Having been away, I have not walked it for nearly three weeks. It is looking more like a wild ocean coast all the time. I picked up a shoe, plenty of plastics, butts, bottles and my first ever harness of some sort plus two golf balls. At least the invasive grasses and bamboos have been dosed with saltwater which generally kills them off.

rubbish collection

Breacher

 I have been fiddling about with video clips from different cameras, trying to splice and dice this stuff and working with about ⅛ of my normal screen real estate. Also at video time trying to focus on a moving whale of a target with grandies asking lots and tugging legs, I am amazed there is something to show for it.  All part of the fun, especially when you can hear the oos and the aahs in the back ground. It seems to me yachts and whales might get in each others way from time to time.

Tangalooma Wrecks

 I have a video clip of some of our wreck snorkel.  There is a Dell dock here where many devices are attached including two large screens which are very good for editing purposes. However this dock has given up so getting something happening on the smallest of sreens is tricky. Hopefully that dock is still under warranty. 

Achey Breaky

As soon as I stepped outside I got the shivers. You can tell immediately that a lurghy has launched or a catarrh has called. It is a good thing I got away from the grandies before I gave it to them. It was probably one party day to many for me, especially after a long hospital day. Only thing is there is supposed to be another hospital day today also combined with another birthday visit, however I don't think the aged care people will want me visiting for a 98th birthday if I am achey and shaky.  Where is that rest day when you need it.

Red Velvet very tasty