anyresemblance

No good deed goes unrewarded

The tyres were looking a bit flat so I went off to Bob Jane's to get more nitrogen put in them.  Don't ask why I have nitrogen but it is a bit of a faff as I always have to go to this special place but on the other hand they do it for free and are super helpful.  Then I went to buy a laser printer.  Having spent $$$ getting a 100 page document printed and bound and being fed up spending endless money on toner for my cheap inkjet, I decided to bite the bullet with a laser printer.  It is not as small and neat as I would have liked but it is super fast.  Toner costs an absolute fortune but at least you only have to do it every 1000 pages and I found an online store with an ersatz version.  I still have to work out the wireless set up but the kid has already printed 150 pages of her on-line course book.  Anyway, by the time I left Officeworks I was bathed in sweat and had to come home and eat ice cream at my desk.  It got to 36 degrees at one point. 

Last night, I bailed from work at 6pm and settled down to watch the oscars red carpet.  One of my team was conveying a request from India on a matter of no consequence whatsoever via whatsapp as they couldn't find me on line.  There is seriously no hiding place! I gave that one short shrift and went back to the dresses. "Yes, if they registered a hotel room will be booked for them.  No, I don't know which one but I can assure you it will be fine".

There was a torrential storm starting just as the kid was due to leave work and she got drenched at the petrol station.  In her rush to get in the house, she must have left the lights on.  I woke up at 2am certain something was not right outside and when I looked out the window I could see the lights were on, but getting dimmer so I got up and went out in the rain to turn them off.  She was on a  6am shift this morning so had to take the other car - which means it was a good thing I went and got the tyres done so she had better traction on those wet roads.  I am feeling the effects of no sleep, however…..

Pluses and minuses

On the minus side I can't get connectivity to my work email. Which is probably really a plus.

On the plus side, Toowoomba is lovely, the rental house is amaze balls wonderful, the bride is super chilled and it's going to be a great weekend.

Jiggedy jig

Got the overnight flight home and fortunately scored an upgrade. I swapped my seat so s family could sit together, saw someone else swap so a young man could sit next to his grandma (aww), declined food and went straight to sleep. It's been an exhausting few days and I think there will be a few more trips to Singapore in the next couple of months but given I didn't even get to M&S,that's ok.

I had a two hour wait in Sydney (damn you, weekend schedules) but my daughter picked me up. Now I'm loading yet more washing in the machine and hanging out watching Castle and making Nigel Slater's bolognaisse. It's good to be home.

Proper job

When my kids ask me what I do when I travel, I struggle to give an answer that encapsulates the ebb and flow of the work. Sometimes, it's chatting to find mutual reference points that cements how my team works together, sometimes it's arguing noisily about a single word, sometimes it's crafting an email to persuade someone to give us what we want. Sometimes I'm standing in front of a thousand people. This week, I'm working with 4 other people who I like, we've taken over a small room, we have the walls plastered with poster size charts to try and work out how we do something in 5 weeks, we have a bunch of superior snacks (hello, be kind bars), and we're on a roll.

Raffle(s)

The hardest thing about packing is getting your head around different temperatures and weather conditions in your destination.  I was determined to do hand luggage only this time around.  I was not at my most soignee as I was touting my three wheeled Bric suitcase.  I love this bag for its squashy covering which lets you stuff more things in but it lost a wheel on a baggage belt somewhere last year.  I don't even know quite when it happened as for a while I was thinking its tendency to topple over which was due to my unbalanced packing.  It's perfectly functional on its three wheels - except for its drunken collapse if you leave it anywhere other than propped against something.  

One of the wonderful things about travelling out from Canberra is that although the dash 8 planes are too small to take a wheelie bag in the overhead locker, they tag and take the bag from you at the foot of the stairs and then return it you on the tarmac when you land.  (I once stood next to Peta Credlin and Tony Abbott on the tarmac while they were waiting for her bag.  She is extremely tall.  He offered to carry her bag and she briskly dismissed him.  Despite loathing his policies and government, I admired his good manners.)  One of the baggage handlers was desperately trying to get my bag to stand in line with the others as it threatened to topple all of them domino fashion.  I realised it was my duty to save all baggage handlers from this humiliation and ordered what I hope is an identical bag in a different colourway from Peters of Kensington but it arrived after I left so the less than able bag is accompanying me on this swansong trip.

I also ordered what I hope is a grown up rucksuck from Tumi.  Their prices are eye watering but this was on sale from amazon but only to be shipped in the US (I assume so Tumi can keep their giant prices up in Asia) so I had it shipped to my colleague who, I hope, has brought it with her.  My goal was a rucksuck that looked business like and did not have tons of fiddly straps.  In the interim, I am using my daughters Hershchel rucksack which does not look in the least bit business like but at least spared by shoulders as I lug my tech world around.  Lovely as they look, large totes of any description wreck my neck and shoulders.

I saw my oldest daughter for 3 minutes at arrivals.  Enough time for a big hug and to feel her soft cheek again before she had to rush for her domestic flight.  My flight was uneventful (horrible cliche film with Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson, a better ensemble comedy drama which was remarkable for its obsession with Jane Fonda's breasts, 3 episodes of the Newsroom and 2 and a half episodes of Suits), I had a headache by the end but remarkably was off the plane, through immigration and in the taxi within 20 minutes of us landing.  However, it is absolutely pouring here.  I mean, buckets of water from the sky so the most important thing in my capsule packing should have been a mini umbrella.

After I checked in, I took the MRT to City Hall and met my colleague, S, who had flown in earlier from Hong Kong in a bar in Raffles where she was sheltering from the rain and waiting for the print shop to finish our job.  The print shop was due to shut at 6 but since she had given them a job worth more than a grand, they were happy to stay open for her.  We had gin and tonic and ate at the Halia bar.  We both had this amazing smoked salmon pate which came in a little kilner jar.  When the bar man opened the jar, a waft of smoke appeared.  It was delicious and wish I had the forethought to photography like a proper blogger but we were too busy stuffing our faces

On the road again

I'm in the lounge waiting for my flight to be called. Today's special is smoked salmon and ricotta. It's really good. See you on the other side of the sea.