Tuesday 31 December 2013

Monday 30 December 2013

Sunday 29 December 2013

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty

Sunday 29th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Nine

Saturday 28th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Eight

Friday 27th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Seven

Thursday 26th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Six

Wednesday 25th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Five

Tuesday 24th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Four

Monday 23rd December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Three

Sunday 22nd December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Two

Saturday 21st December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty One

Friday 20th December

Crystal Birthday

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty

Thursday 19th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Nine

Wednesday 18th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Eight

Tuesday 17th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Seven

Monday 16th December

Sunday 15 December 2013

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Six

Sunday 15th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Five

Saturday 14th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Four

Friday 13th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Three

Thursday 12th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Two

Wednesday 11th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty One

Tuesday 10th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Forty

Monday 9th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Nine

Sunday 8th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Eight

Saturday 7th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Seven

Friday 6th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Six

Thursday 5th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Five

Wednesday 4th December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Four

Tuesday 3rd December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Three

Monday 2nd December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Two

Sunday 1st December

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty One

Saturday 30th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty

Friday 29th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Nine

Thursday 28th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Eight

Wednesday 27th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Seven

Tuesday 26th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Six

Monday 25th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Five

Sunday 24th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Four

Saturday 23rd November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Three

Friday 22nd November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Two

Thursday 21st November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty One

Wednesday 20th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty

Tuesday 19th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Nineteen

Monday 18th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighteen

Sunday 17th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Seventeen

Saturday 16th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Sixteen

Friday 15th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifteen

Thursday 14th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Fourteen

Wednesday 13th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirteen

Tuesday 12th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Twelve

Monday 11th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Eleven

Sunday 10th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Ten

Saturday 9th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Nine

Friday 8th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Eight

Thursday 7th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Seven

Wednesday 6th November

Day One Thousand Six Hundred and Six

Tuesday 5th November

Thursday 24 October 2013

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety Four

Thursday 24th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety Three

Wednesday 23rd October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety Two

Tuesday 22nd October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety One

Monday 21st October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety

Sunday 20th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Nine

Saturday 19th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Eight

Friday 18th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Seven

Thursday 17th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Six

Wednesday 16th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Five

Tuesday 15th October

Flew to Perth

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Four

Monday 14th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Three

Sunday 13th October

Lunch

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Two

Saturday 12th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty One

Friday 11th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty

Thursday 10th October

Leaving do's

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Nine

Wednesday 9th October


Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Eight

Tuesday 8th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Seven

Monday 7th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Six

Sunday 6th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Five

Saturday 5th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Four

Friday 4th October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Three

Thursday 3rd October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Two

Wednesday 2nd October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy One

Tuesday 1st October

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy

Monday 30th September

Sunday 29 September 2013

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Nine

Sunday 29th September

We got up and after some brekkie made our way over to Bunnings in Chatswood to buy the new flooring for the kitchen. Bought a few more tools for the upcoming kitchen works.

We dropped into Willoughby and picked up Carol and did some shopping at Westfield in Chatswood, we also had some lunch there.

Later in the afternoon we made our way back to Lane Cove. I started to take out the existing kitchen in preparation for the electrical work booked in for Wednesday.






Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Eight

Saturday 28th September

A busy day of shopping today, we headed over to Alexandria and purchased four dining room chairs in Matt Blatt. We have 4 of these

http://www.mattblatt.com.au/Replica-Dining-Chairs/The-Matt-Blatt-Replica-Eames-DSW-Side-Chair---Plastic.aspx?p4080c535

We then went to Harvey Norman and looked at appliances, we have our eyes on a nice Westinghouse cooker which we may get later in the week.

 Off to Ikea where we grabbed some lunch before making our way to Kitchen dept. We order a couple of units, plus a sink and tap so we can get started on kitchen installation this week.

We made our way home and caught the end of the grand final which Hawthorne won.

In the evening we went up to the pub for a spot of dinner and then came home and watched the movie the Rainmaker.
 

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Seven

Friday 27th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Six

Thursday 26th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Five

Wednesday 25th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Four

Tuesday 24th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Three

Monday 23rd September

Into work early today (meaning I drove in) to ensure I was there for collection of the gear for Perth. Pick up truck arrived at about 10am and took us about half an hour to get gear out of office and loaded.

Rest of day was spent thinking about potential trail changes for next year.

Came home and had dinner.

Sunday 22 September 2013

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Two

Sunday 22nd September

Got up and spent the morning cleaning up the flat and doing some shopping at Chatswood. This afternoon Alex, Colleen, Mike, Ben and John came over for some nibbles and drinks to warm our flat. We went over to the Great Northern for some dinner.

Quiet evening at home with a start of the effort of bringing this blog up to date.

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty One

Saturday 21st September

A relaxing morning at home, and then in the afternoon we went over to Marrickville to Mikes house to watch the Swans play Fremantle in the AFL preliminary final/ The Swans lost, beaten by the better team.

We left there at about 11.30 and got home around midnight.

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty

Friday 20th September

A very quiet day in the office, all but one of the rest of the team had the day off, everyone is using up their time off in lieu (as I did yesterday).

I spent most of the day helping my assistant pack the final pallets for our shipment to Perth. its all coming together now

 

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Nine

Thursday 19th September

Had the day off today, main reason was to await delivery of our replacement side table which was originally delivered damaged. That happened around lunchtime. Spent rest of the day pottering around the flay doing small jobs and doing some more unpacking of final bits and pieces.

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Eight

Wednesday 18th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Seven

Tuesday 17th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Six

Monday 16th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Five

Sunday 15th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Four

Saturday 14th September


Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Three

Friday 13th September



Thursday 12 September 2013

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Two

Thursday 12th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty One

Wednesday 11th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty

Tuesday 10th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Nine

Monday 9th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Eight

Sunday 8th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Seven

Saturday 7th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Six

Friday 6th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Five

Thursday 5th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Four

Wednesday 4th September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Three

Tuesday 3rd September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty Two

Monday 2nd September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty One

Sunday 1st September

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Forty

Saturday 31st August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Nine

Friday 30th August

Thursday 29 August 2013

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Eight

Thursday 29th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Seven

Wednesday 28th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Six

Tuesday 27th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Five

Monday 26th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Four

Sunday 25th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Three

Saturday 24th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Two

Friday 23rd August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty One

Thursday 22nd August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty

Wednesday 21st August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Nine

Tuesday 20th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Eight

Monday 19th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Seven

Sunday 18th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Six

Saturday 17th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Five

Friday 16th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Four

Thursday 15th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Three

Wednesday 14th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Two

Tuesday 13th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty One

Monday 12th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty

Sunday 11th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Nineteen

Saturday 10th August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighteen

Friday 9th August

Thursday 8 August 2013

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventeen

Thursday 8th August

Got up early again and went to garage to collect the Holden after its work. $2009 later we have a new water pump, all new brake discs and pads and new battery. Last of the big investments in that car we think. 

Drove to the office and was at work before 8 again.

Took Ben to Cash and Carry and Bunnings to but more event equipment, then back to Kennards to drop it all off.

The afternoon was spent doing more final prep. At 6.30 we did the second of our volunteer training sessions and then I drove home at 8pm. Had some dinner and spent some time trying to catch this blog up.

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixteen

Wednesday 7th August

Up at 6.15 and away to work before 7am. Got into office at before 7.30 and threw myself into final prep work again. 

In the evening we held the first of our volunteer briefing sessions, reminded me of when I did this in 2010. I spent time doing break out training with our markers and sweep teams. Finally left office at 8.30 and then got home just before 9pm.

Crashed at about 10pm.

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifteen

Tuesday 6th August

First thing this morning, Kate and I drove to the garage to drop the Holden off for the work it needs after its rego check last week. Thankfully the garage rustled up a loan car so I had wheels until we pick up car on Thursday.

I drove to Lane Cove to wait for the shutter man to come and do second measure up for the shutters going on the bedroom windows.

Once he was done I headed back to Willoughby to spend the day doing scheduling for the event.

Kate came home at 5ish and we spent some time in the evening doing more packing in advance of moving out properly.

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Fourteen

Monday 5th August

Back to work after a manic few days. Spent hte day getting into final prep stages, all coming together nicely.

Back to Willoughby for dinner and to sleep there tonight.

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirteen

Sunday 4th August

We got up early again and made our way to Kennards to meet the removalists to take our gear to Lane Cove. They arrived just after 8am and got into moving the gear. Getting out of Kennards took less than an hour and then we all made our way to Lane Cove. Another couple of hours and all of our stuff was in our new place. 30+ boxes to attack in the coming days and weeks.

We did a few bits and pieces around Lane Cove and then went back to Willoughby.

In the evening we drove to the airport to pick up Bill and Carol who had been in Adelaide.

Later in the evening we Skyped the UK.

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Twelve

Saturday 3rd August

The alarm went off at 5.20am! The reason, our furniture at Freedom was delivered at 6am. To the credit of the delivery company they were there on time. The sofa went in first with no problem, followed by our TV cabinet. Finally they tried ot get our TV unit up the stairs, it was too heavy and they gave up trying. 

It will be redelivered in the next week or so with more people.

We went back to Willoughby for a short while before going back to Lane Cove to meet Window Shutter man who came to measure up for plantation shutters in both the bedrooms.

 The afternoon was spent shopping. We stayed at Willoughby again this evening as Bill and Carol are in Adelaide so we are pet sitting.

 

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eleven

Friday 2nd August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Ten

Thursday 1st August

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Nine

Wednesday 31st July

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Eight

Tuesday 30th July

Day One Thousand Five Hundred and Seven

Monday 29th July

Sunday 14 July 2013

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Ninety Two

Sunday 14th July

We got up late and checked out at 11am. We drove to Sublime Point to catch more views of the mountains, this was probably the best viewing point yet, pictures below.
















We then headed back to Leura for some lunch and shopping before driving back to Sydney. We left early to avoid the post school holiday rush and thankfully this payed off and we were home in about an hour and twenty minutes. We also took a drive past the new place too.




Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Ninety One

Saturday 13th July

We took a walk to Wentworth Falls lookout and caught some great pictures of the scenery. We then walked to the Conservation Hut for breakfast. After a good walk back to the hotel we picked up the car and drove to Katoomba to ride the worlds steepest train, view the three sisters etc.

We then went to Leura, had afternoon tea and visited lots of shops. We also picked up some food and drink and headed home ot apartment for a relaxing evening.

A few highlight pictures below.











Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Ninety

Friday 12th July

A day off for me. Soon enough it was time to go and collect the new car. Bill kindly drove me up to Waitara  and I did all the paperwork and soon enough we had our second car.

I spent rest of day at home waiting for Kate to get home before we drove up to the Blue Mountains for a weekend away.

We checked into the Falls mountain Retreat

http://www.fallsmountainretreat.com.au/

We have a superb room and its a very relaxing weekend ahead

 

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Eighty Nine

Thursday 11th July

Saturday 29 June 2013

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Seven

Saturday 29th June

Another really wet day in Sydney, sure hope this rain stops soon. Ground seems to be saturated more and more, not good for the event in under 8 weeks time.

Kate and I spent much of the day a tthe furniture stores in Artarmon home centre place. We did manage to by a sofa, a TV unit and a side table for our lounge. It will all be delivered around the time we move in. They look like this (all images copyright of freedom furniture). In the evening we had a skype call to UK.

Henderson Entertainment Unit 240cm 4 Drawer Natural


Henderson 1 Drawer Side Table 65x65cm  Natural

Hilton MK3 3 Seat Sofa Esquire Pewter

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Six

Friday 28th June

Drove into work this morning which took ages, so much rain is forever causing accidents everywhere so slows down the traffic yet more. Drove in as we are going to the football at the SCG later.

During the day carried on booking in the last of the suppliers.

At 6pm there was a celebration party in the office to farewell the OIYP programme (the international youth program). Left there at about 7 to meet Kate at Central so we could go over to the SCG to watch the Swans play Carlton. It rained all the time and to one point lots!

Walked back to Surry Hills after the game with the Andrews, Michael and Caroline and had a quick drink at the Tipple bar before grabbing the car from the office at midnight and driving home. Got to bed at about 1am.

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Five

Thursday 27th June

Caught the train to work after Kate dropped me to the station due to the rain.

Busy day chasing up suppliers and accepting deliveries.

Caught the train home and Kate picked me up. Surprised her by securing tickets to the Swans game tomorrow at the SCG, lets hope its not raining.


Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Four

Wednesday 26th June

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Three

Tuesday 25th June

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Two

Monday 24th June

Sunday 23 June 2013

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy One

Sunday 23rd June

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy

Saturday 22nd June

Welcome to the weekend, today we got up and had a fairly intense property hunting day. First off Kate and I went to visit a place in Lane Cove and then headed home as it wasn't right for us. 

We then went out again and took Bill and Carol with us this time, a strategic move as we wanted them to view a property we had bid on earlier. Before we got there we visited one other place in Lane Cove which looked like it had not been decorated since the 60s or 70s. 

Anyway we arrived at Murray St and sent Bill and Carol in to ask lots of questions and get their opinion on the place. they came out and we had a quick discussion before we went back in for our third viewing. The agent was pleased to see us as we had dropped out of this place two weeks ago after we had a bid of $467K on the table but saw another property we bid on later at $519K and missed out on.

There were many people viewing Murray St today as a result of lack of property coming into the pipeline so demand is up.

We decided there and then to offer on it again once we got home. A call the to the agent and we settled on an offer of $455K with condition vendor took it off the market this weekend and we signed the contract.

To speed things along we went to the agents office and signed a copy of contract anyway and paid a 0.25percent deposit.

We headed home and waited. The agent struggled to get hold of the vendor for same time, about 2 hours later we finally got call to say property was ours. We are now well on the way to owning our own little piece of real estate in Sydney.

We called the UK to to tell them the news and they were happy to hear our news. It also means they have somewhere to stay when they come over for Christmas.

We got some takeaway in to celebrate in the evening. 

I'll be installing a new kitchen!




We are top floor on right




Friday 21 June 2013

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Nine

Friday 21st June

A busy day at work, we have made a final decision to move our Checkpoint 2 location back to site we had it in 2012, the broken bridge is not going to be fixed and temporary solutions are no longer viable. Spent much time redrawing maps etc.

Came home and Kate and I headed out for some dinner. We were going to try Rubinos a new place at the end of the street, however it was empty apart form four people so didn't appeal. I don't give them long as a business.

We went to the Bridgeview Hotel on Willoughby Road which was OK but nothing spectacular.

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Eight

Thursday 20th June

Spent some time doing prep work for a decision we make tomorrow regarding changing a checkpoint location. Looks like it will happen so need to start planning changes.

A night at home.

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Seven

Wednesday 19th June

More time at work catching up after Brisbane event. Really throwing myself into Sydney work now with just over nine weeks to go.

Really getting cold and rainy in Sydney now, winter is most certainly here and waking up cold in the mornings.

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Six

Tuesday 18th June

Another normal day in the office so not much to report for the blog. Nice to get back to a routine at home with dinner round the table in the evening!

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Five

Monday 17th June

Back to work in Sydney. Walked to the station this morning. Spent all day catching up on emails after almost a week out of the office.

Not a great deal more to report today.

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Four

Sunday 16th June

Got up and packed up all my stuff and checked out of hotel. Made my way to the ECC and helped pack up the event  form there. We all then went back to storage unit and unpacked vans etc. many hands made light work. 

The afternoon was spent in the pub before we made our way back to the airport, returned the hire car and then flew home to Sydney.

Kate picked me up and it was great to see her after almost a week apart..

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Three

Saturday 15th June

I spent the morning roaming around the event, wit was an excellent opportunity to see what has been achieved with the Brissie event, it goes form strength to strength after my tenure. 

One of the key volunteers Sam were heading up Mt Nebo Rd to bump out CP4 when we came across a single vehicle accident off the side of  the road. A man had lost control and gone off the side of the road, hit a tree and ended up on the roof (well upside down in his convertible) and we were second on scene, another driver saw it happen.

We ended up doing traffic control on a very dodgy road as we both had event radios so could talk to one another.

The driver was very lucky with only minor injuries, we could easily have been dealing with a fatality.

We finally bumped out CP4 late, and then after a visit to the Finish later on I went for a quick dinner at the Regatta Hotel.

Another fairly early night.





There is a crumpled car down there somewhere


 

Day One Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Two

Friday 14th June

Alarm went off at 2.25am and it was up and out to support TW Brisbane 2013. My role today was to assist with Registration and the bus operation which I created 2.5 years ago, it's critical this element of the event goes ahead without a hitch or rest of event will be behind. All went very smoothly, with many lessons of previous yea being learnt and implemented to good effect.

Once Rego was done I spent the day assisting at Checkpoint 6 build. Once that was all done late afternoon I headed home to the hotel and crashed at about 9pm.

In the midst of everything today we also submitted a sealed bid on a property on Mowbray Rd of $519K, alas we were unsuccesful having been beaten by a higher bid of $535K. Thanks got to Kate who did all the running around in Sydney whilst I was away in Brisbane.

Some pictures...of Rego and then CP6

Alarms to get up!



















Rego



CP6