I've Moved

The new address for Marcus' Blog is www.holtpress2.blogspot.com

Just click on the link and it will take you to my new home.

The Blogs They are a Changin'

I've just tried to switch to Blogger Beta for the second time, and was unsuccessful again. It appears my blog is too big. I guess size does matter.
I have created a new version of Holt Press with the new version but won't be able to transfer my history to the new blog which is a real shame. I will leave a permanent link on here so that my readers (all four of you) can find it.
It is still called Holt Press but the URL is different.
www.holtpress2.blogspot.com should get you there.
Well, here goes!
See you on the other side.

It's the Weekend! Yeah!

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7.30 Big Brekky, reasonable crowd, cooked eggs on barbie for first time.

11.00 Funeral at Dunsborough, quite different to Wednesday's, very sad

1.00-4.00 Recruited camp staff, 5 knock backs, three acceptances (2 definite, one conditional), phone calls and emails

4.00 Outward Bound meeting, sharing ideas about Amazing Race style camps.

6.00 Start cab shift (earnt over $250 for the night) put up with usual array of drunks, yobbos and people you wouldn't want to take home to meet your mother, with a reasonable scattering of nice/normal/sober people thrown in, including three older ladies from Geelong here for a Heritage Rose conference (can you believe it?) Recommended the Gardener's Blog! Always nice to have Cats fans in the cab.

4.00am Finish shift, resolving to come home and go straight to bed.

4.15 Count up the night's takings and prepare paperwork.

4.30 Blog!! as the first light of dawn breaks through.

4.45 In bed, sound asleep, hopefully!

Not driving tomorrow night so have rest of weekend to rest and catch up.

Laundry Makeover Complete

 
Modest as our laundry may be, it is vastly improved since I completed the makeover tonight. The cupboard I assembled yesterday has replaced the original which was twice as big. The dryer has been relocated above it, it used to be on the right above the trough and was a head hazard. I put up the duel shelves and even hung the cottage craft calendar. Carolyn's happy, not only because it's safer but she also has a flat surface to put clothes and baskets on and moving the dryer has let a lot more light in. All in all a very successful and satisfying project and achieved for just over $200.

I spent most of today working on the finances for the camp prior to a teleconference to get some approvals on things we wanted to do, and it was all thumbs up and green lights which is a relief.
The other very good news is that I have secured a venue for campsite 2. I'd struck out a couple of times so was very keen to get it settled, I was very relieved when I got the confirmation.
Campsite 1 is still not finalised yet which is a little frustrating but I'm not too worried, I'm waiting to hear back from one venue and there are still several other possibilities if that falls through.

I didn't enjoy watching Sport Boy's basketball game this afternoon, even though they won. I do not like basketball generally, but I especially dislike it for kids because of one key reason; because of the way kids play it (selfishly) they do not pass the ball and it is quite possible to go through a whole game and not get the ball and thus be a spectator. Unlike most other sports where either the ball is hit to you, eg tennis, volleyball or you can go and get it yourself, eg. football, soccer, in basketball you are completely at the mercy of your team mates, you can't just go and get the ball (unless you're tall, another reason I don't like it; because it's a huge disadvantage to be small whereas in most other sports your size is not critical). So, if your team mates don't pass you the ball you just run up and down the court the whole game becoming more and more frustrated. Which is pretty much what happened to Sport Boy this afternoon. He wasn't happy and neither was I!
Later on, when kids are old enough to know they have to pass the ball around and play as a team it improves marginally, but it's still not a good game. I agree with the Coodabeenchampions who refer to it as The Nonsense.
I've probably alienated a basketball fan out there somewhere, but I don't care, I know I'm right!!!!!!!!

The new series of The Amazing Race started tonight which always makes me happy. With the CSRC coming up, watching The Amazing Race is like professional development for me! Only 20 days till the start of the camp, got to pick up the pace!! 

Purchased today, Assembled Tonight, That's Impressive!

 
Well, it is for a no tool-guy like me! For Birchy it would be a 5 minute kob with his eyes closed but for me, correctly interpreting and following instructions and wielding tools is a challenge! See post below for background info about the cupboard!
And No, this is not a slow news day at Holt Press, quite the contrary, I just wanted to celebrate a little masculine achievement! 

Me in Action at Meelup this Morning

 
I'm pleased and relieved to report that the funeral service went very well this morning. The setting was stunning, the weather was perfect and the mood and tone of the service was great, despite the obvious sadness of the occasion.
Nathan's family requested people to wear bright colours, or at least not dress in black, so I wore my brightest shirt, a lovely yellow number. Further to the casual mood was the relaxed footwear standards that normally apply at funerals, thus I am to be seen sporting my blue rubber thongs which from memory cost me $5.99 at Big W.
Not surprisingly there were many people there and after the service I received several compliments on the the job I did which was a relief, I'm always a little anxious about how it will be received, particulary my part of it via the message. A few people said it had really helped them, had put some things in perspective for them, or had been touched or challenged by it.
I'll hopefully post a copy of my message tomorrow once I've let Nathan's family know about it.
The committal in Bunbury this afternoon wasn't quite as tight or smooth, I basically winged it because A. none of us had really thought about or discussed what we wanted to happen and B. never having done one this way before I had no idea what I was doing! It was short and simple but also very emotional, being the last chance for Nathan's family to say goodbye. They stayed for quite a while at the end. I can imagine it would be very hard to leave knowing this is truly the final farewell.

After everything was over I needed some time out so I got a little retail therapy, buying some paint for me and a laundry cupboard for Carolyn, don't tell me I'm not romantic! She's been wanting a new one for ages, a smaller one so that when we replace the bigger one I can relocate the clothes dryer from above the sink and she can stop banging her head against it when she does any hand-washing!
I even managed to assemble it when I got home and apart from a slightly misaligned door it looks pretty good!

I bought some garlic King Prawn noodles for dinner, and got some more to bring home for Carolyn and the kids, then went and saw Clint Eastwood's new movie, Flags of our Fathers, based on the iconic photo of American soldiers hoisting the flag at the battle of Iwo Jima. It was good but not great, but one part was particularly interesting, concerning one of the men involved, Ira Hayes, a native American (Referred to as an Indian in the film which was set in pre PC times) who was a reluctant hero and an alcoholic. The reason it's interesting is because there's a song about Ira Hayes on one of the Johnny Cash albums I bought recently and now it makes a lot more sense. 

Another Big Day Ahead

 
Tomorrow I'm conducting Nathan's funeral service. I spent much of today preparing for it and have just finished the final draft of my message. Carolyn read the first one and made some helpful suggestions and helped me soften and lighten the tone of the first draft.
The funeral is at 11.00 followed by a wake, also at Meelup Beach, then later in the afternoon the committal and cremation in Bunbury at 4.00 so it's going to be a long and intense day. I may have said that in my previous post but it's no less true for having been said twice if I have.
The picture above is the country week soccer team I coached last year. It features Nathan's younger brother Vaughan. It's going to be a tough day for him and the other two boys tomorrow and for their parents.
I hope and pray I never have to go through this experience with any of my own children.

On a much lighter note, Tottenham ended a 33 game streak without a win against Chelsea when they beat them 2-1 at White Hart Lane on Sunday night. The signs suggest Spurs are improving and their season might just be turning around.
And the NY Giants beat Houston to stretch their winning streak to 5.
A good week for the Holt Press teams! 

For the visually cahllenged

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Before anyone complains, yes I know the font in the post below is hard to read! It looked better on Word when I previewed it but on Blogger everything is reduced in size and thus it's become hard to read.
Sorry.
For those not prepared to persevere with it, here it is in plain text!


I visited both the families of Nathan and Bianca today, the young couple killed in the Dunsborough fire. They were not as desperately sad as they were last week thankfully and have received a huge amount of support and care from the community. The outpouring of love toward them and their children has given them a great deal of comfort to help them cope with their grief.

I spent about an hour with Nathan’s family preparing for the funeral service on Wednesday morning. It’s being held at Meelup, a beautiful local beach, and will be a relaxed and informal event. I’ve been told to wear my best thongs!

Most of tomorrow will be spent preparing and writing. It’s an important job and I always want to do it as well as I possibly can, a funeral is a once only chance to farewell the person whose died so I want to get it right.

Family Visits

I visited both the families of Nathan and Bianca today, the young couple killed in the Dunsborough fire. They were not as desperately sad as they were last week thankfully and have received a huge amount of support and care from the community. The outpouring of love toward them and their children has given them a great deal of comfort to help them cope with their grief.

I spent about an hour with Nathan’s family preparing for the funeral service on Wednesday morning. It’s being held at Meelup, a beautiful local beach, and will be a relaxed and informal event. I’ve been told to wear my best thongs!

Most of tomorrow will be spent preparing and writing. It’s an important job and I always want  to do it as well as I possibly can, a funeral is  a once only chance to farewell the person whose died so I want to get it right.

Sunday Night in Sleepy Town

Holt Press
For regular visitors (G'day Pop) who may not scroll down, I've added some explanatory text to the Jack and Harry picture from the other night. A plug for me and a plug for them.
It's Sunday night and the weekend is winding down. I slept in this morning while Carolyn and the kids went to church.
Watched the episode of House I recorded on Wed night.
Had a phone call from Walter who has arrived back home in Bridgetown following his part of their big adventure to Germany and America. Mum has stayed on till Thanksgiving and the snow arrives. He had a great time but his back was giving him a lot of trouble so he's glad to be home. He's since had an injection for it and feels fine again.
I spent the afternoon on roster at the gallery. None of my paintings sold but I did sell several other items, a pottery dish and some stuff from the wood turners, while I worked on a painting.
My production rate has slowed down of late, coinciding with the start of driving the taxi I guess.
I had a little nana nap this afternoon when I got home and was listening to Australia play the West Indies in the Champions Cup Final so I may do some more paiting now.

The Maxi Taxi

Holt Press
I drove the Maxi Taxi tonight, a 14 seat min-bus used to take bigger groups of customers.
It tends to get the big jobs. An average fare around Busselton in a normal cab is about $10.
Tonight I had fares of $64, $69, $70 and $125, the last one being to take a group of young women to Bunbury so they could go night clubbing.
$125 is a lot for a taxi fare but split between a bunch of people it's not so bad.

The customers were a lot quieter and more civil tonight compared to normal.
Last night was flat out because of the show, tonight was much quieter though I still made a reasonable amount of money, courtesy of the big fares.

We went back to the show for another couple of hours this afternoon so Sport Boy and Sophie could get some show bags and go on a few rides. Letting them drive the dodgems was a near suicide decision, neither of them had any idea what they were doing, and Carolyn and I as the hapless passengers may well need visits to the physio this week to deal with the whiplash caused by a couple of head on collisions!!
We survived but only just.
Carolyn got to have a go at the ping pong ball in the clown's mouth on sideshow alley and came away with a soft toy key ring for her consolation prize.
I had entered some paintings and photos in the show competitions but was disappointed not to win anything, not even a highly commended. Worse, because my photos were framed "wrongly" they were not even hung in the competition!!!! And my sculpture made with parts of our old microwave was beaten by a pair of metal high heels in the metal and wood section. Local bias and favourtism must have played a part in the results I'm sure!

Jordy had his final performance of The Pinafore Pirates this afternoon, not sure how it went but I know he was looking forward to the pizza party with the cast after the show.

Sport Boy with his heroes Jack and Harry at the Busselton Show

  
When we went to the Show last year we met Mervyn Davis, author of a book called "Jack & Harry" which he and his brother Barry were selling. They travel around the country to shows and fairs selling the book which tells the story of two boys who run away from home after being falsely accused of stealing a bike and end up having an amazing adventure which takes them through the heart of Australia, all the while with their frantic parents worried sick about their whereabouts and well-being and their attempts to find them. Merv did a good job convincing me of the book's merits so I bought it and over the next couple of months read it aloud to Sport Boy at bed time. (Ironically, the credit card payment I made to buy it caused me a great deal of consternation. When my statement came it had a mystery entry of $25 to a motel in Midland on it. I had never stayed at the motel and could not understand how it came to be on my account. I contacted Visa to query it and ended up reporting it as fraudulent. A couple of months after that a receipt turned up which I had indeed signed and was in fact the payment for "Jack & Harry". Turns out Mervyn's credit card payments were made into his business, a motel in Midland!!)
Sport Boy and I both loved the book, as did Jordy when he read it, and just the other day SB asked me when I thought the sequel would come out? The first book ends in such a way that a sequel is required.

Fast forward to Friday night and our visit to this year's show and who de we find but "Jack & Harry", literally as I'll explain in a moment. Merv and his brother Barry remembered us, asking me about computing as I had told them about my blog last year. Sport Boy immediately asked them when the second book was coming and Barry said that he was locking Merv away in a room early next year to force him to write the next book, as well as the script for a "Jack & Harry" movie which is planned.
They both have deep gravelly voices and look similar as you can see. Barry divulged to us something he hadn't said last year, that "Jack & Harry" is their story, it's about real life events that happened to them as kids! That made it all the more special.
Barry then said to Sport Boy, hang on mate, I've got something for you, and proceeded to give him a "Jack & Harry" hat and T-shirt, which he immediately put on and hasn't taken off since!
Carolyn took him back later to say goodbye before they left the show (I'd left by then to start my cab shift) and we dropped by to say farewell on Saturday afternoon as well. Apparently they invited Sport Boy to come and visit the set when the movie is being made!
Two lovely Aussie blokes, selling their life story in a typically Aussie way, travelling round the country in a van, sharing their story with people they meet.
I find them and their story, both the written and the living versions, inspirational.

As far as I know the book is not available in shops but keep your eye out for "Jack & Harry", appearing at a country show near you!

Big Night in Busselton

Just Finished the late late shift in the cab, I saw the sun go down at the start of the shift and saw it starting to come up again by the end of it!!
Tonight was Busselton Show Night, one of the busiest nights of the year in our small town so the cabs were all working flat out.
My last fare of the night was to Capel, about 24km away, so it was a profitable trip.
I start again at 5.00 tonight so it's time for some much needed sleep.

Sam O'Nella

 
Wow!! My son's a star!!
We've just come home from his school production of The Pinafore Pirates in which Jordy played the role of Sam O'Nella the irish cook on a pirate ship full of women and he was wonderful! I had no idea he would be so good. He maintained a great Irish brogue all the way through, even when singing his solos. He was the comic relief and the crowd laughed appreciatively as he delivered his lines.
Acting is challenging, doing it with a convincing accent is more so, but to also sing solos in front of a crowd of a couple of hundred people was truly impressive.
I'm on record as not being a big fan of musicals, but seeing Jordan do such a good job sold me, and he wasn't the only one, all the kids were great, in a huge cast, and several of the girls especially sang superbly, considering they are just year 9 and 10 students.
I felt very proud of him and pleased for him.
He was pretty high after the show, laughing and talking and celebrating as many people came to compliment his performance and say how much they enjoyed the show.
The pictures I took are not great because of the lighting but the show was recorded by someone so I hope to get a copy of it, I'm sure his grandparents will be keen to see it. 

The Joys of Blogger

Blogger is really giving me some grief lately, posts are just disappearing into the ether!
Did some drug ed seminars this afternoon, trying to convince 15 year old kids that getting drunk is a bad thing! They didn't seem convinced!
Saw The Departed tonight, a violent film with the biggest line-up of stars since the last planetary alignment!

A Difficult Day

Holt Press
 
I spent this morning visiting the two families of the young couple killed in a house fire in Dunsborough yesterday. Both visits were difficult. The families were as you'd expect, numbed, shocked, and devatstated. Their pain and grief was overwhelming as they talked about the respective son and daughter they had lost.
I found myself in tears as I listened to their story and we all held hands and cried together. There was another surprise twist that I hadn't expected, the young man who was killed was the nephew of the lady whose house we rented for the first year we were in Busselton. Both families felt at a loss about how to handle things and were overwhelmed at the thought of arranging funerals etc. There can surely be no greater pain and sadness than that of a parent whose child has died.

Between the two visits I had a bizarre experience.
As I was driving from Busselton to Dunsborough I spotted a snake curled up on the road. I have always been fascinated by snakes so I pulled over to have a look at it. It started to move a little and had just stuck it's head up when a car ran over it throwing it up in the air as the wheels hit it. It was not killed but sustained serious injury. It lay still for a while then it's tail started to twitch and eventually it began to writhe and turn itself right way up. Just then another vehicle hit it, causing further serious injury. Some more feeble movements followed before a third vehicle delivered the fatal blow and it was dead. It was a Dugite, about a metre and a half long and although I share a healthy fear and respect for snakes it was shocking to see it die such a brutal death.
Perhaps I was extra sensitive due to the nature of the visit I had just had and the one I was on my way to I don't know. I couldn't help also the passing thought that the snake has always been a symbol of evil in the world.
I'm not suggesting anything about the timing or the incident.
It just seemed to me that the deaths of the two young people in the fire were not just tragic but unfair. Both lots of parents told me that their kids had been emerging out of difficult times and were starting to get their lives in order. It seemed cruelly ironic that they should survive through bad experiences and then have their lives taken away so suddenly and in such an awful way.

After a draining morning I needed a Vanilla Diet Coke and a break before going back to school.
I dropped a few paintings and photographs that I'm entering in the Busselton Show off at the showgrounds.

This afternoon I spent over an hour talking to Kori's Mum, the boy whose funeral I did a couple of months ago.
It was good to be able to spend some time with her but not easy, she is still having a pretty hard time coming to terms with her grief and sadness. I am encouraged by her strength and thoughtfulness, she has a very supportive and caring attitude, as does Kori's Dad and this strength has really helped them manage the last couple of months.

I "shot some hoops" with Sport Boy after work.

Jordan had his first performance in the school production of Pirates of Penzance today for the year 1-3's. It went pretty well by the sound of it. He has to sing several songs which is pretty tough on him. We're going to see the show on Thursday night.

Tonight I had a Synoptic meeting with Stu, Rick and about 20 young people we are wanting to encourage to take on leadership roles in the youth ministry of Synoptic, it was an encouraging meeting with some plans being made for 2007.

More Sad News

Holt Press
There was very sad news for our community on the radio this morning. A young couple died in a house fire in Dunsborough, a neighbouring town. They both had younger brothers who go to the high school. Tomorrow I will go and visit both families to offer my condolences and support. I can only imagine how they are feeling and how their world has come crashing down.
There are two devastated families and many other friends and people who will be affected by this tragedy.
On the day after the federal govt announced a $90m funding injection for school chaplains, which has attracted a certain amount of criticism in the media, it is a sobering reminder that in the absence of any traditional connection with local churches, it is often school chaplains who are called to respond when crises occurs.

Year 12's Last Day

 
The days of running amok and committing acts of vandalism in the name of leaving rights are thankfully past. Schools have learnt to manage the process of students finishing high school pretty well, ala the Yr 12's last day at Busso on Friday. A sausage sizzle and a fancy dress day kept everyone happy and entertained.
They're a good bunch of kids and I got to know several of them through things like footy teams, Country Week and the trip to Melbourne. It is sad to see them go but exciting to see them heading off on the next stage of their journey through life. 

A Post but No Pictures!! Grrr!!

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I'm not happy, I've "posted" 4 pictures tonight via Picasa and none of them have made it through cyberspace to appear on my blog!!!

I spoke at Dunsborough this morning and it seemed to go well, people laughed at the right times and gave me a warm response and compliments afterwards. I got the kids painting a banner while the service was on, it was messy but they enjoyed themselves.

Spent a whole 15 minutes at the footy club wind-up BBQ, just enough time to say g'day and have a couple of snags, before clocking on at the Gallery for the afternoon shift, it was quiet, I didn't sell anything, of mine or anyone else's.

Came home and mowed the grass so that we can see the front of the house again. The rabbits didn't like the mower and huddled in the corner of their hutch. Sport Boy said I was a bad man.

I then "fixed" the hoses on Mum's car which had caused me all the trouble the day I drove home from Perth, the day it took 7 hours for a 3 hour trip! Hopefully the problem is solved, although, the heater won't work anymore, just as well Mum likes the cold, she did move to Bridgetown because it's the coldest place in WA after-all!

Tonight I bought a telescope at a garage sale. I'd seen it at lunchtime and remarked there was not much point trying out a telescope during the day time so they said "come back tonight", so I did. We aimed it at the moon and it was amazing, being able to see the surface clearly and the vast number of craters was enough to persuade me to part with 50 bucks for my new toy. We do a star spotting thing at Augusta sometimes so I'll put it into action in January. Pretty cool.

Pipe Dream

 
I love what can be done when an artist takes "non art" materials and creates something that really works, like this concrete pipe inlaid with pointy tiles which I discovered at the Fremantle Arts Centre. 

Student Art

 
Some of the art on display at a school in Perth that I visited last week. I've always liked art, without taking a strong interest in it, just enjoying and admiring the the things people create, I've been to plenty of galleries in different places and am always impressed with what I find. But now that I've taken up painting it's a bit like buying a new car and you suddenly notice the same model of car on the road everywhere, everywhere I look I notice the artwork, in cafes and restaurants, homes and offices, parks and city streets, it's everywhere, and it's great. 

Some New Additions to my Growing Collection of Public Art (pictures)

 
 
 
 
Several of these pieces are outside the Busselton police station and courthouse and the others are in Fremantle. 

Sign of the Times ?

 
Guaranteed to confuse! 

Home from Mandurah

Holt Press
We're home again after a very long day.
I "dozed" in the car on the way to Mandurah then much to my surprise managed to stay awake and mostly alert throughout the whole training day which finished at 7.15pm. Everything went well, we had a really good turn out and we got lots done. Birchy came to his first meeting, he and Katherine and the kids are coming to Augusta to be on the team for the first time which is fantastic news. Getting the Letchies involved a few years ago was wonderful, now having the Birchy's on board too is doubly good. The three of us (Greg, Darren and I) are going to jointly lead the teenage program this year. We added it up at lunchtime and worked out between us we've got at least 63 year's experience in working with teenagers! On that basis we should be able to manage a week long beach mission program.

Jordan got his wish after the meeting when we went to Gloria Jean's for coffee and dessert.

Ironically, despite my tiredness I stayed awake the whole way home, while the kids slept in the back.

Tomorrow is also busy, I'm speaking at Dunsborough Community Church in the morning, about chaplaincy and the trip to Uluru earlier this year.
We've got the Masters Rules Footy wind-up BBQ at lunch time which I'll only be able to stay at for an hour cause in the afternoon I'm on roster at the gallery down at Art Geo.
Suffice to say I'm looking forward to tomorrow night when I can finally get some rest.

Apart from now, when I'm about to go to bed.

Burning the candle on the "Wick-end"

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Just finished a 9 1/2 hour shift in the cab, have to be up in 3 1/2 hours to go to Mandurah! Carolyn will drive, hopefully Ill sleep!

Saving the World

 
Some of the year 11 girls helping me count the money raised for the 40 Hour Famine, I banked just over $3000.
Funny how having your hands on that much cash brings a smile to your face. 

The Footy Team at Kelmscott early this morning

 
After breakfast we discussed the day's plans, 10 pin bowling was abandoned in favour of a movie but we still had at least 2 hours until anything opened.
I took the boys for a drive up to Kalamunda then down the zig zag road and parked on the 2nd zig in order to walk up to Statham Quarry, a place I used to often take groups abseiling at. They are adolescent boys so of course there were various whinges and grumbles about "Where are we going?" and "Why?" which despite their predictability are annoying in the extreme.
As we sat on the cliff top, surveying the 45m drop to the quarry floor and the panoramic view of Perth complete with planes cruising in to land at Perth Airport below us, I urged the boys to do away with whinging and negativity, to have an open mind when suggestions are made, and be prepared to try things and even risk enjoying them, even if they don't know if they like it or not beforehand. The message seemed to sink in because there were a couple of positive responses to things later. We had in fact had quite a good debrief of the day and discussion about life and drugs and sex the night before in the gym.
We drove to Cannington, the boys had another fast food fix at Maccas then we went to the cinema to see "Kenny", a very funny Australian movie. Most of the boys enjoyed it, Daniel, the other staff member with me on the trip, loved it.
From there it was straight onto the bus and we hit the road for home. A quick fuel and dunny stop, with obligatory spending in the shop, and we made it back to school by 3.00pm, just as Daniel predicted.
The Chaplains Cup is over for another year. 

Keep Your Eye on the Ball!

 
An action shot from the Chaplains Cup yesterday, played at Fremantle Oval. The Kelmscott player dropped the mark, the Busselton player behind seems to be grasping at thin air rather than the ball. That's sort of how the day went for the boys from Busso. We played 4 games, and in a very consistent display, lost all 4 of them.
I only got to see 2 of the games because by then we had 2 players needing hospital treatment. Liam copped a knock to the head in the first 10 minutes of the first game and was concussed, having no recollection of the incident or the ensuing few minutes, even though when I walked him off the ground he was lucid and answered my questions correctly. Alex copped a blow to the body in our second game and went down in agony clutching his side and suspecting broken ribs. After some phone calls to parents and making arrangements, we took both boys to the hospital which was very handily located next door to the ground. Thankfully both boys were ok and after being seen and given pain killers were free to go. They both went to stay with family members in Perth for the night which was sure to be more comfortable than sleeping on the gym mats at Kelmscott high school like the rest of us did.
Carine won the Cup for the second year in a row, beating John Curtin in the Grand Final.
Despite the 4 losses and 2 injuries the boys all enjoyed the day and had a good time.
They weren't "too" difficult to get settled down and into bed and after about 45 minutes of talking, laughing, wriggling, and of course, farting, they all fell asleep. Sadly, a combination of the dawn breaking through the curtainless windows and the vigorous application of the loudest blower vac in the known universe by an unwitting cleaner, served to awaken us around 6am, long before we had sufficiently rested from the previous day's endeavours.
More of the Chaplains Cup story to follow once I've had my dinner. 

Chaplains Cup - Getting the very last drop out of the footy season!

Holt Press
Today is Chaplains Cup Day, an inter-school football competition for year 10 students, being played at Fremantle Oval. I'm driving a bus load of 15 year old boys to Perth this morning, pray for me!!!!
They play football all afternoon and don't finish until 8.30 tonight, with the finals played under lights. Then we're camping in the gym at Kelmscott High School before coming back to Busso tomorrow afternoon.

I Used to Live Here

While driving around Perth yesterday working on the camp I found myself on The Boulevarde in Mt Hawthorn, a street I once lived on while sharing a house with BB The Accountant and a friend of his in the early 80's. I literally lived on the street because I had an old caravan that I parked on the grass verge next to the house and I lived in it, with a power lead running out from the house to give me light. I had bought the van along with a couple of mates, Tom and Nick, when we set off on an ill fated and poorly planned trip around the country in our late teens. Tom only stuck it out about a month before heading home to Perth. Nick and I stayed on in Melbourne, working at the Melbourne Show to earn enough money to buy an old EH Holden station wagon for $400. We did a couple of trips to Canberra and Nathalia (it was in Nathalia, where my Nan and cousins lived most of their lives,and my cousin Katherine still lived at the time, that I watched the 1981 FA Cup Final replay at about 4.00 in the morning while the rest of the house slept. I could barely keep from screaming when Ricardo Villa scored his wonder goal to give Spurs the Cup in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Manchester City. This was before the days of video recorders so while I watched the game I taped the radio broadcast and Nick wrote on the cassette case, "Genuine Marcus Holt Teethmarks" to describe the cracks from where I'd been biting the cover so hard in my excitement and tension.) We stayed in Melbourne for a few more months, him working at a mechanical repair place in North Melbourne and me working as an usher at the Capitol Cinema in Swanston St where I watched the classic Australian film Breaker Morant about 85 times.
We had the van at a caravan park in Altona, on the edge of the industrial heartland of Melbourne and hardly the most salubrious of suburbs. Imagine my surprise then when the manager revealed to us that if he'd seen our van before we'd driven in and parked it the night before he wouldn't have let it in because it wasn't up to scratch appearance wise!!!!!
Nick and I watched the famous 1981 Ashes series on a little black and white TV as Ian Botham laid waste to the Aussie team with both bat and ball to win the unwinnable series.
Finally Nick had had enough as well and drove the car back to Perth leaving me with the van.
I hitch-hiked across the Nullabor to Perth and drove back with my girlfriend at the time, Leeann, to pick up the van.
When Spurs made it to the Cup Final for the second year in a row in 1982 I decided to go to London for the game and it was by selling both the car and the caravan that I raised enough money to buy a one way ticket to London, and thus began my big adventure, living in London following Tottenham and travelling overseas for 2 1/2 years, including two trips to the USA to work on a summer camp and visit my mate Paul in San Diego.
The house, remember the house? in the picture? at the top of this post? has becpme pretty run down which is not surprising seeing as the events I'm describing happened 25 years ago.

ANZAC Memorial

 
I don't seem to have time to blog these days, this is just a quick post before bed. I pulled up to take this picture at Ballajura High School this morning only to realise I'd left my camera at Letchie's place, just as well I discovered it then and not half an hour later when I was on the other side of Perth. Isn't this a great sculpture? Even more impressive on closer inspection which reveals it is actually a war memorial and the tablets have the words of the traditional Australian ANZAC Day service written across them: "They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old, age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them."
I got lots of pictures of cool art and sculptures from around the city today, I'm constantly amazed at how much public art there is in Perth, it's only when you go looking for it that you realise the volume.

I had a great dinner with Hugh last night after the mission meeting, we went to the local food hall as we usually do, he had Italian, I had curry and he told me about his trip to Italy with a group of students from his school, with tales of Florence and Tuscany and art galleries and ice cream. He also spent a couple of weeks in England visiting his brother and friends, lucky man.

I spent the night at the Letchies who were going through some dramas with one of their kids. I had hoped to watch the Spurs v West Ham game as advertised but it wasn't on, although I did get to follow it's progress on news bulletins and am glad to report Spurs won 1-0.

I got a fair bit done in preparation for the camp today and have made good progress on securing camp sites for both nights.
Home again and back to work "proper" in the morning, before turning around and heading back to Perth on Wednesday for the Chaplains Cup football competition at Fremantle Oval with the year 10 boys. 

Sunday arvo in Willetton

Holt Press
I've just finished a 3 hour meeting with the Augusta Beach Mission Exec team, a productive and enjoyable time with some very good friends.

I'm off now to have dinner with an old mate, Hugh, who has just returned from a school trip to Italy so I look forward to hearing some of his stories.

Tonight I'm staying at Letchie's place, and hopefully watching Spurs beat west Ham on Foxtel.

Tomorrow I'll do camp prep and planning before heading home tomorrow evening.

Brief Blogging interlude between Taxi Driving and Sleeping

Holt Press
Only a few minutes to blog before I go and start my shift in the cab. I had a profitable night last night but the late finish meant today was pretty low energy.
I put the final coat of gesso on my 10 boards so they're now ready to paint on. Took Sport Boy and his friend into town looking for a toy he wanted to buy with his pocket money.
He's not feeling well now and has been having periods of being afraid and distressed for no apparent reason. Carolyn is home from her retreat so at least she can look after him while I go to work. She had a great time.
I've got to go up to Perth for a Beach Mission meeting tomorrow afternoon so it's going to be another long night and day. I'll stay in Perth Sunday night and do some more work on the camp on Monday to make good use of my time.

Sadly The NY Mets lost to St Louis and failed to make the World Series in the baseball, I followed the game on the net and felt let down at the end!

Lonnnnnggggg Day

Holt Press
Big Brekky this morning and taxi driving tonight meant I've been working for the best part of 21 hours! Carolyn is away on an overnight ladies retreat with church so I'm really hoping the boys will be quiet and well behaved in the morning while I sleep! It was a pretty good shift, not least because I made about $90 in tips! but I'm apalled by some of the attitudes of customers, particularly drunk young men towards women and girls, horrible stuff that would make you want to lock up your daughters!
To bed!!!

Happy Birthday Jordan, 15 Today

 
Jordy is a great kid, and even though he's showing increasing signs of teenagerism, there is still a lovely spirit of generosity and compassion in his heart, he laughs a lot and enjoys his growing friendships. He is a smart kid with an interest in, and a developing sense of awareness of the world around him. He reads voraciously which is a great habit to develop when you're a kid. He does a junk mail round twice a week which earns him $50-60 a week and largely paid for his own trip to Sydney and Canberra recently. He's become very enthusiastic about music (that's what he calls it anyway!) and loves doing stuff on the computer like chatting on MSN and playing around with his blog and myspace sites.
He enjoys playing sport but unlike me does not get into watching it, and sadly does not like Aussie Rules footy!!
He's become more conscious of fashion and style and has a growing collection of hats, wrist bands, sun glasses and jackets. He has an interesting collection of bottles, cans and food packets in his room, an unusual hobby to be sure!
When he was little there was a period for a couple of years when he would run out to the carport when I got home from work and launch himself into my lap before I got out of the car. Not surprisingly he doesn't do that any more but he's still willing to give and receive a hug and this morning when I wished him a happy birthday we hugged for a full minute. He got some new clothes before the trip to Sydney as an early birthday present so he wasn't expecting much today, thus he was delighted when Sophie gave him a really cool pair of shorts, Paulie gave him a wristband and I gave him the latest Matthew Reilly book, "7 Ancient Wonders".
He occasionally goes to stay at a friend's place for a few days in Capel and last time they brought him home the family, including 3 sisters and one boy, all said they'd willingly keep Jordan and they loved having him around. It's always nice to hear encouraging and positive things about your kids from other people.
He's not perfect, no-one is, but he's a great kid with a great attitude, I'm proud of him and love him very much.
Happy 15th Birthday Jordy. (He reads this blog!) 

Happy Birthday Jordy

Holt Press
Our second son and third child, Jordan, turned 15 today.
Happy Birthday Jord.

Chaplaincy Forum

Holt Press
I'm just about to leave for a Youthcare/Rotary Chaplaincy Forum and dinner at Geographe Bayview Resort. It's a promotional exercise to raise awareness of chaplaincy in the region and seek financial support.
3 boys from school put together a DVD for the occasion, they just finished it this afternoon! There'll be 5 of us, chaplains, talking briefly about our work in the local primary schools and high school.
Just hope the technology all works as it's supposed to!

New Artist at Work

 
Sophie threw aside her caution and reluctance to try new things on Sunday night and launched into her first painting. As you can see she's made a good start. It's based on a picture she found on the internet which she enlarged with a free hand sketch on the canvas. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. 

Family Outing on Sunday afternoon

 
 
 
 
The kids and I had a lovely afternoon on a family outing on Sunday. Carolyn wasn't well enough to join us unfortunately but we still had a good time, starting with ice cream and chocolate fudge at a picnic table, a visit to Steve's place to pick up my paints which I had accidentally left in his car after I borrowed it to go to Perth a couple of weeks back, then a drive towards Yallingup. We took a dirt road to see where it would lead us, it turned out to be private property which got the kids worried! We parked in the bush and went for a walk up a nearby hill from whwere we enjoyed a lovely view of the valley and surrounding bush. I pointed out a few little bits of bush craft and various tracks as we went, nothing startling but it was cool just walking through the bush and noticing a few little things. Sport Boy wanted to run and race the others and they both obliged him which was nice.
After our walk everyone was hungry so we continued on to Dunsborough for some chips with squid rings and prawns. 

Seeing the Funny Side

 
David and Jo are not big footy fans, why else would they choose Grand Final day for their wedding? But they are good sports and appreciated the humour of my footy wielding bouncedown to commence the service. Considering David got married in green gym boots there was never any doubt they'd take it in good spirit. They also had the decency to have the service at 9.30, leaving the guests free to watch the game without conflict. 

In Honour of the Second Biggest Event in Australia on Sep 30

  

Another Retreat Painting

 
This is a practice run for a larger one I'm planning to do.
Today I got some boards cut at Bunnings and tonight I put the first of 5 coats of Gesso on them, to prepare them to be painted on. The Gesso will give them the same sort of surface to paint on as canvas. I needed specially cut boards in order to fit the frames I've been buying, it's easy to find frames, and easy to buy pre-made canvases, but it's very difficult to find both frame and canvas in matching size.
Sophie started her first painting last night! The bug is catching! 

The Collins' of Lesmurdie

 
Grant and Jillian and their two boys William and Daniel were my hosts on Friday night.
I feel very fortunate to have such a wide range of friends to stay with on my frequent trips to Perth. It keeps me in touch with lots of people and means I'm not too much of a burden on anyone in particular.
Attentive readers will remember that Grant and I went to the Dockers V Melbourne final at Subiaco a few weeks back.
It's funny to see him as a married family man now, I remember a day a few years back, following a chaplaincy PD Day, when Grant asked me about marriage because he was considering getting married to Jillian. Obviously nothing I said talked him out of it! 

One of my Retreat Paintings

  

Winners Dinner - Lobstergate

 
Tryhards coach and 2006 CFFL premier Grant Collo Collins enjoys the spoils of victory, a flambaed lobster dish at The Dons restaurant, and nearly sends the rest of the league broke! The Tryhards name will be added to the trophy, making them the 5th different team to win the premiership in the 5 years of the league's existence.
Letchy and Broady shared the Brownnose medal when their players Cameron Bruce and Daniel Cross tied after the vote count. Broady added a second award for the night when I presented him with the Marcus Holt Medal, given to the player who made the greatest contribution to the result of the Grand Final. History will show that Broady wasn't in the Grand Final (Wazza played Grant) but it was Brett Kirk (Broady's player) who was instrumental in keeping Brendan Fevola to one goal in the Sydney v Carlton game, thus ensuring victory for the Tryhards. It was a controversial decision, but that's par for the course in matters concerning the CFFL. 

The Chaplains on Retreat at New Norcia

 
I didn't know that many of the group on the retreat this year, or rather, none of the people I'm closest to attended, thus I had the opportunity to get to know some new people. Of course, Heather, the Mother of all Chaplains was there, and Alison my area chaplain, but I hung out with Mark, Ben, Andrew and Matt a fair bit. I'd point out who's who but Picasa is not being all that cooperative at the moment and I can't see the picture, just the html that will enable it to be posted! 

The Things You Find

 
I was doing some reconnaisance for the Cool School Race Camp, taking pictures of interesting and unusual items around Perth, statues, artworks, monuments, signs and buildings. I was on a back road somewhere between Armadale and Fremantle when this caught my eye on a property I was driving past. I knew I had to take the picture for my Dad, even if it doesn't get a gig on the camp. For the uninitiated and the previously blissfully unaware, the man in question is Slim Dusty, a prolific country music artist and Aussie icon.
At the risk of this degenerating into a country music blog, this is the last time I will publish a country music singer's picture on Holt Press. 

Tough night

Holt Press
I had a long and at times frustrating night in the cab. I started at 4.00 and didn't finish until about 2.30 and didn't get a break. The best I could manage was to order a pizza on the phone, pick it up in between jobs, and try and eat it without making a mess. I failed dismally in the last task.

Unfortunately Carolyn has not been well tonight, suffering from a migraine, complete with vomiting.
She's asleep now so hopefully the worst of it is past.

Tomorrow is the last day of the school holidays so we'll try and do something fun together as a family, though it will take me a while to recover from my late shift and Carolyn from her migraine.

Spurs drew and the Mets lost, not a very good night for sports results.

Home Again, briefly!!

Holt Press
Home again after 4 days away, just time to blog for a minute before I have to go and drive the cab.
I was plagued by cold showers and lousy internet connections while away,I sat for an hour at New Norcia yesterday afternoon waiting in vain for the computer to let me log on to blogger, had to give up in the end cause I was due back in Perth.

I did 4 and 2 1/2 paintings while I was away, it was great to have the time and space to paint, and chat, and play trivial pursuit etc.
This morning I went to my favourite art shop in Perth and got some expert advice on what I need to make my own canvases and boards to paint on. I need to cut some boards to suit the frames I've been buying.

Last night's winners dinner will go down in CFFL history as Lobstergate. We ate at The Don's "Mafia Styled" restaurant at Kalamunda and had a great time until we got the bill and discovered that Grant, the winner, whose dinner the resat of us were shouting cause he won the grand final, had ordered the lobster at market price, which turned out to be a hefty $65, plus dessert and coffee! Even splitting this 7 ways added a substantial amount to the rest of our parts of the bill! Broadie wasn't happy as he'd ordered the cheapest meal of anyone!
In spite of the bill dilemma the food was good and the company excellent. The night took an "interesting twist" when Wazza the commissioner decided to read out the votes for all 18 rounds of the Brownnose Medal!! The statistically minded attended to the count while the rest of us rolled our eyes, laughed and chatted quietly amongst ourselves!

I stayed at Grant's place at Lesmurdie for the night and met his two boys William and Daniel. Lesmurdie and Kalamunda, sitting at the top of the Perth hills are beautiful little "towns" nestled in amongst the bush and the parks and the attractive town centres.

Gotta go and get ready for the cab, photos to follow tomorrow.

I'm Back from the Blogging Wilderness

Good news everyone, I'm back! My two day blogging exile is over. I was sitting in the common room painting when Matt walked in and said he'd been to the monastery library reading and using the internet. "Internet?" I yelped in a slightly too eager voice, causing several people to look up from what they were doing! I downed my paint brush and set off for the library post haste.

I did try and blog from Galleria shopping centre yesterday morning on a PIE web booth but I spent my entire two dollars/20 minutes waiting for it to load the page and the sign in pop-up!! A complete waste of time. The monk's computer seems to be much more responsive.

New Norcia is the only monastery town in Australia, having been founded about 150 years ago by some Spanish Benedictine monks, I'll put a link to their web page in this post. Now there are only about a dozen monks left and they are getting pretty old so the long term future for their order doesn't look great. New Norcia link.
It's a tourist town now with bus tours coming through every day, but they also host groups like ours for retreats and camps.
It's very peaceful and relaxed, and the program is pleasingly relaxed also, we can pick and chopose what we do, we can rest, read, sleep or wander, or in my case, paint. Things liven up a little at night when the annual Men V Women Trivial Pursuit Challenge happens.
WE had the first game last night, with the boys winning so there'll probably be a rematch tonight as the girls try to even the score.
I am a Trivial Pursuit devotee and am usually the driving force in getting the game happening, wile Heather, The Mother of all Chaplains, leads the troops for the girls, usually in an animated and consultative fashion.

Backtracking over the last couple of days, here are the highlights in random order of importance.

Staying at Greg and Demelza's place was good except for the lack of hot water on Tuesday morning. I flirted around the outskirts of the shower, ducking my head under just long enough to be able to wash my hair and underarms. I did two circumnaviagations of their house before I located what appeared to be the only thing that could possible be a hot water service in the vain hope that perhaps by looking at it in a quizzical way I could spak it to life sufficiemtly to provide me with a decent shower but it wasn't to be.

I spent Tuesday driving around Perth from Midland to Armadale, to Fremantle to the city doing reconnaisance for the cool school race camp, setting up contacts with businesses and asking them to get involved as chekpoints on the camp. Most people were very willing to help, and a couple remarked that they wish they'd had a similar opportunity when they were at school.
One day when I get the time and courage I am going to have a go at selling the camp concept to an organisation for use as a training and development exercise. I'm convinced it would work and be really well received but I don't know how to go about promoting and marketing it. It's easier in a school where I have a captive audience and a lot of goodwill built up over the last several years that the camp has run.
I also browsed through a few shops and found a fantastic birthday present for Sport Boy who turne 9 next week, it's so cool I can hardly wait to give it to him cause I'm sure he'll love it so much.

I went and saw the movie kenny on Tuesday night. If you haven't already seen it then I thoroughly recommend you do so at ypour earliest convenience, it's a fantastic movie. It's a mockumentary about Kenny whose job is providing and servicing mobile toilets to functions such as shows and race meetings. He is a totally lovable character and the story is charming, despite the natuare of his business. I reckon it's likely to become another cult film in the style of The Castle anmd people will be quoting lines from it in general conversation for years to come.

Wednesday I was able to have a hot shower before setting off for New Norcia. I stopped at Galleria SC to look for an art shop but there wasn't one there so I leftempty handed, my only outlay being for a couple of bottles of vanilla diet coke, and the afore-mentioned internet booth.
It rained heavily all the way up here making the drive a bit more of a concern than normal, with semi-trailers sending up huge plumes of spray off the road and reducing visibility significantly.

I arrived after lunch and spent the afternoon hanging out, talking and painting. Mark sat and watched me paint for an hour as we talked before it got too much for him and he asked if he could have one of my canvases so he could paint too. This afternoon he said, "You've inspired me Marcus, you've awoken me from my 10 years of unpaintingness"!!
At dinner last night I was called upon to give an account of my fish story. Before I stood up to speak Matt asked me if I'd used a rod or a hand line, I replied, neither, I used a net!!

The Week Ahead

I'm just about to leave for Perth. Tomorrow I'll spend doing preparation and leg work for the Cool School Race Camp. Wednesday to Friday I'm going to the annual chaplain's retreat at New Norcia where I suspect I will be out of blogging range, though I'll be trying to find access to a computer somewhere.
Friday night is the highlight of the social calendar, the CFFL Winners Dinner, a post season post mortem in celebration of another great year of fantasy football.
I'm staying with Greg and Demelza for the next two nights.
I'll be back in Busso Saturday, I have a taxi shift starting 4.00 that afternoon.
Aloha.

Starsky and Stew

 
History was made at the Holt Press Home today when our children got pet rabbits! I was about to say they got their first ever pets but Sophie did have a brief flirtation with a budgerigar a few years ago until a friend who was looking after it while we were away let it escape. I'm not a big animals person, I've always preferred to eat them rather than play with them so it's no surprise we didn't have many pets as kids. There was the ill fated Wattsie, a little black puppy which got on a train one morning at Bayswater and was let off two stations later and never seen again! I've heard there are lots of benefits to kids having pets but I've heard some horror stories of $1000 vet bills to fix cats that died anyway and the extra expense of dog/cat food, sterilisation and vet bills and of course the waste product have always put me off.
In this instance however I was left out of the loop, Sophie came home one day last week and said "I bought a rabbit today!" My immediate response of course was, "Great, does it come with a recipe book?" which reminds me of a joke that was popular back in the 70's, "Watership Down, Read the Book, See the Movie, Eat the Pie"! which in turn leads to one of my Dad's favourite sayings, "To make rabbit pie, first catch your rabbit".

Culinary considerations aside, the newest members of the family have been named Starsky (and Hutch, you know, rabbit hutch? Yeah, lame I know but Sport Boy likes it) and Stew! Again with the food! Not sure of the origin, or the spelling, but I'm sticking to the pot version.
They are dwarf rabbits apparently, and rumoured to both be female, which is probably a very good thing given the reputation rabbits enjoy. They are in their hutch in the backyard and the only risk to their well being is that Sport Boy will kill them with kindness, he's very keen to hold them, watch them, pat them, carry them and generally hang out with them.
I admit they are quite cute, but I'm planning on not becoming too attached to them, they are only two steps removed from the freezer on a bad day!

In case any of my home based children should read this blog, don't worry, I'm only being serious!!

Sophie has been going great guns since she returned home, working full time at the corner store, and tonight she started a second job, working for her old boss at a new little restaurant he's started at the Broadwater Food Hall, he rang her up especially to see if she wanted to work for him again which is a great compliment.In fact, she started tonight!
Two jobs! Wonders never cease, what next! The return of the Heir! It's being seriously mooted for early 2007!
In fact, he and his siter have been chatting online and making plans for an overseas adventure, travelling together next year! Now that's exciting!
I've been spruiking the Summer Camp idea in the States for a few years so I'll be giving that another push.

I was on roster at Art Geo this afternoon, it was quiet and I didn't sell anything, mine or anyone else's, but I did hang one of my framed paintings so I'm optimistic about it selling, I really like it and it's drawn a few compliments at home so hopefully someone out there in the public will agree.

After I finished Carolyn and I (and Sport Boy) went down to the cafe at Abbey Beach Resort for coffee and cake cortesy of a gift voucher Carolyn received from the school as a thanks for the volunteer work she does. I enjoyed a very rich chocolate mousse, as dod Sport Boy, while Carolyn had a latte and sticky date pudding.
It was very pleasant, the weather is warming up a little, Summer is not too far away and the beauty of Busselton is once again flowering. Before long we'll be watching sunsets and walking on the beach again.

This evening Carolyn and Jordy have gone to see a movie, Sophie's still at work and Sport Boy and I are at home on a lazy Sunday evening, I'm blogging and dubbing old video tapes onto DVD's. I haven't heard from SB for a little while, it won't surprise me if I find him asleep on the sofa when I go out there in a minute. 

Saturday Night Drive

 
I did my second nightshift in the cab tonight but it was very quiet, much quieter than last night, thus I only made about half what I did on Friday night. I get 45% of the take for a nightshift so the busier the better.

I am amazed at some of the behaviour, especially the complete disregard for others. The level of swearing is astounding, from the complete range of customers, old blokes to teenage girls, they certainly don't hold back.
There are plenty of innebriated customers but I don't mind that at all, I'm just glad they take responsibilty and catch a cab home rather than driving.
There've been a few surprised looks from some of the younger customers who recognise me from school but it doesn't inhibit them from the same behaviour I've just mentioned!

The hardest parts are finding my way around town, learning all the street names, and finding time to get food/drink/or toilet breaks. I pulled up outside the noodle bar to get some dinner tonight and a couple jumped in the cab and asked to go to Geographe Bayview Resort! I managed to get my Thai Green Curry Chicken noodles at the second attempt and to eat them in between customers.
I finished a couple of hours earlier tonight so there's a bit better chance I'm going to make it to church in the morning.

This afternoon I took Sport Boy and his friend Jack to the movies to see The Antbully which was pretty good, the boys really liked it.

For those who may have been concerned, Mum rang from Iowa today and spoke to Jordan and Carolyn, and she found out the truth about the footy and that West Coast won the Grand FInal, and that "my chickens came home to roost"!! 

Night Shift Debut

I've just gotten home from my first night shift driving the taxi. It went well although it's a long shift. I made more money because at night the drivers get paid a percentage of the take rather than an hourly rate. I had my fair share of drunk passengers but thankfully no-one gave me any grief and I made over $25 in tips to boot. Just as well I'm earning some extra money because Sport Boy and I went to Bunbury this morning and I bought a new push bike for me (a bargain at $98 from Big W!!), several frames and a couple of large canvases for my painting, and a psychadelic pink ottoman sofa! These last items were from WA Salvage which is closing down and thus discounting everything in the store 30% off! I find it hard to resist those sort of bargain hunting opportunities! The frames will pay for themselves if I sell more paintings because they add a lot more value to a painting than they cost to purchase (that's the theory anyway!)

It's very late and I'm driving the cab again tomorrow night so it's time for bed!

Wonderful Women

 
This afternoon I was the guest speaker at the Busselton Branch meeting of the CWA (Country Women's Association) and as you can see, they were a lovely bunch of young ladies. I spoke to them about my work in chaplaincy and they gave me a lovely warm reception, asked questions, and indulged me as I shared a few extra stories and anecdotes. Their newest member is a sprightly 94! No kidding! She's the one seated on the right.
I don't know a lot about the CWA but they have a great creed which I will find and add to this post. 

Cash Converted, One for You Pop

 
Anyone who knows me knows I have no affection or taste for Country Music, the matching twanginess of country style guitar playing and singing are usually sufficient to put me off. But. There are exceptions to most rules and there is to this one too, I like Johnny Cash. In fact, I've always liked him and his music, ever since I heard "A Boy Named Sue" back as a kid in the 60's. The whole idea of a boy named Sue grabbed me and I could just about write the lyrics verbatim, despite not having heard the song in 20 years. Dad, who used to masquerade as a Frank Sinatra fan but was obviously revealing a glimpse of his true colours even way back then, had a couple of Johnny Cash albums, including the classic "Live at San Quentin" and those songs became standards. I love some of his later soulful gospel ballads and his work with other artists is wonderful. North Country Fair is my favourite but I also saw a stunning video of one of his songs on Rage a few weeks ago, I think it was Redemption but I'm not sure. He was a unique artist, with his deep voice and man in black image he was right up there in the pantheon of all time music greats. His death sparked something of a revival and last year's movie Biopic "I Walk the Line" starring Joaquin Phoenix was superb, especially considering Phoenix did all the singing himself. Similarly Reece Witherspoon did a fantastic job playing and singing the part of June Carter Cash.
So, it was fortuitous that recently when I went down to the record shop with Jordan who wanted to buy the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, I should happen to come across a couple of Johnny Cash albums in the discount bin, and I bought them both, "Cash" and "The Esssential Johnny Cash" a double album. So now I'm "Cashed up" and enjoying the only country music artist I really like. (Admittedly there are a few odd songs here and there that I'm partial too, and I did once buy The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, but as a genre, it's not in my list of favourites.)

I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I fell down down down and the flames went higher
And it burned burned burned
That ring of fire, that ring of fire 

Fish Meeting

A quiet day, mainly devoted to working on the fish project. I collected some of the money promised by "investors" when I was lobbying around town, and had a meeting with Ray from Pro Busselton and Barb from The Mail to work out what needs to happen next. To my relief they are going to pay the outstanding accounts, $2000 for transport and $500 for loading. (Thanks for the tip re Jayde Transport Gaz, they did the job, let them know they should get their money shortly!)
The fish has arrived in Busselton and is in storage at Busselton Freight, I hope to call in tomorrow for a first hand look.
Our next step is to get the right people from council on board and some decisions and actions taken towards installation, hopefully without it getting bound up in red tape!

Tonight we had a visit from Julie and her two girls, Nick (an old school friend of mine) is still at home working, the girls came down for a short break in Busso. Carolyn and Julie talked for ages. Jordy entertained the girls who were very quiet. I listened and painted, interjecting witty comments at irregular intervals.

I'm doing another shift in the taxi tomorrow, with an uncomfortably early start so I need to get to bed!
Good night.

Taxi Encounter

I had my first shift in the taxi today as a practice run for Saturday night. It went well, with an interesting mix of passengers, lots of elderly people, pick ups from medical centres and the hospital, shopping errands, people going to work and so on.
But, one fare was quite out of the ordinary!
A young bloke in his 20's got in at the taxi rank and proceeded top make a call on his mobile phone.
I won't quote the exact language, suffice to say it was on the extreme end of colourful and the tone was aggro to the max. The part of the the conversation I heard from my end and went something like this! (My comments are in brackets)

Hello!

I can't believe that __________

He left me in town

Get him on the phone!!

Tell him I'm coming round and I'm gonna ________ kill him!

I'm gonna go round and kick his door down and slit his _________ throat!

I'll kill the ____________!

Some of the same threats were repeated then the phone number was given to the person on the other end who I summised to be a girlfriend.
He then hung up.

This town's gone to _________

It used to be a good place but people really suck here now.
(You mean other people?)
I dunno what's happened but I can't stand the people here now.



I made a comment: You sound a bit upset. (Oh the insight!)

He went on: People think I'm just quiet and won't get mad or do anything.
(Which people? Surely not anyone whose encountered you in a mood resembling the one I'd just observed!)

Then, the kicker, I would have burst out laughing if I hadn't been so concerned that he was about to do some serious damage!

I can't stand violence. I really hate it.
(Yeah, that's what I thought too, all that stuff about threatening to kill someone didn't fool me!!! No sir!)

As he got out I said to him, don't do anything dumb will you mate.

He assured me he wouldn't! I didn't feel that assured!!

Vote For Pedro

 
This very cool T-shirt was my present! If you don't know why it's cool you haven't seen the cult comedy movie, Napolean Dynamite. If you haven't seen it be warned, it's an acquired taste, a truly polarising movie which you'll either love or loathe. 

Jordy's prize purchase.

 
A scale model VW Kombi. He thinks The Gardener will be impressed. 

The Prodigal Returneth!

 
Jordy is home from his shopping expedition to Sydney and Canberra. He went under the guise of it being a school trip but as he pulled the evidence out of every pocket and cranny of his bags it was clear what hie priority had been!! The ever diminishing bank balance had been transformed into loot, clothes, CD's, badges, hats, toys, wristbands, belts and assorted other trophies of teenage consumerism.
To be fair, there are a couple of very cool items, and he did remember to buy presents for the family, pics to follow.
He is full of excited stories and happy memories so it sounds like he's had a wonderful time. Hopefully the effects of his last hit of caffeine will wear off soon and with the aid of a shower to cleanse and calm him he may even get to bed before midnight.
He gave me a great big hug when he arrived home, in front of his friend Realz and her parents too, so I'm pretty sure he's glad to be home.

(I also tend to go on shopping splurges when I travel and come home with bags full of clothes for Carolyn and the kids, and toys for me!) 

Katherine and family celebrating the Grand Final result

Scenes from the weekend

The enclosure set aside for Cam and I, the only two people barracking for Sydney!




Watching the footy with a bunch of very nervous/excited Eagles fans.




A familiar sight on the way home, stopping to refill the radiator every 20 minutes!




Birchy and I in unfamiliar garb, prior to the wedding.





The Birch's "ferocious" guard dog on duty! I retrieved and replaced the keys from their hiding place without Fido here so much as moving or making a whimper! The extent of his defensive actions was to lazily open his eyes, look at me and close them again, either disinterested or hoping I hadn't noticed him!!

Scenes from the Wedding on Saturday

 
Check out the green sneakers the groom and best man wore, very cool!
Also the football I held aloft to start proceedings.
It was a relaxed and enjoyable service in a lovely setting and as I mentioned the other day, the weather cleared up just in time as we requested.
Joanne looked lovely and a special touch was that she was accompanied down the aisle and given away by her 9 year old son Joshua, resplendant in suit and green sneakers too.
I even remembered to use the introduction to the exchange of rings which I've forgotten at the last two weddings I've done!
Darren was good value as always, making sure the paper work was all taken care of and the official declaration was done in accordance with the law.
We get along very well and it's great to be able to work together with him in this way. 

David and Joanne on the Big Day

  

Plans Scuttled!

I had a rotten day!
I packed up and loaded all my stuff in the car (Mum's car) for the trip home and left in good time to get back to Busselton for Brendan's memorial service which was being held down at the foreshore at 2.00pm. Unfortunately I never made it! The car played up all the way home, turning the usual 3 hour trip into a 7 hour marathon! It was losing all the water in the radiator and overheating but I couldn't work out where all the water was going at first, the radiator was intact, the hoses were sound, there was no water in the engine oil! But the nystery was revealed when I spotted coolant dripping from the body work near the passenger door!!! Further investigation showed that the carpet and the floor in the front of the care were wet which led me to the heater housing, sure enough, it was dripping out of there! Unfortunately there was no way to turn it off or disconnect it and I couldn't get access to the hoses to try and isolate the heater from the cooling system, I tried putting a bottle of stop leak in the radiator but that had no effect. All I could do was nurse the car home driving at about 70km and stopping every 20 minutes to refill the radiator! Needless to say at that rate I was never going to get back to Busselton in time. I was pretty disappointed about that because I was supposed to take the facilitating role in the memorial service so I had to ring Lisa to let her know I wasn't going to make it. She recruited her brother Mike at late notice and he was thrown in at the deep end. I talked to him on the phone to give him a few ideas and guidelines and help prepare him for the task. As much as anything I'm just disappointed I couldn't be there to share in remembering Fitzy on the first anniversary of the Bali bombing that claimed his life.
I finally limped into Busselton at 5.00pm, tired and dejected and smelling like a hot radiator.

The Two Biggest Events in Australia Today

It's been a big day as predicted.

The wedding went very well this morning although the signs were not good early, it rained the entire time we drove to the service. The wedding was being held outside,under cover but not exactly weather proof.
Darren and I sat in the car and prayed for the wedding, and asked God to clear the weather in time for the service! The bride was 10 minutes late, but one minute before it started the rain stopped and by the end the sky was blue and the sun was shining. I'm posting the text of my message which had particular relevance for David as we met at a RYLA seminar 13 years ago. I commenced the service by saying, I think it's fitting that we recognise the second biggest event being held in Australia today" as I held aloft a football and blew a whistle!
That seemed to set a relaxed and friendly tone for the proceedings and everyone seemed happy with the outcome. Certainly happier than I was with the outcome of the other big event, West Coast winning the Grand Final.
At least it was another classic thriller of a game with the final margin just one point! Birchy and his assembled family were barracking hard for West Coast while Cam and I did our best to maintain the Sydney cause. In the end the Eagles fans were the ones celebrating. The result signalled the predictable arrival of several text messages taunting me about the result!
I can only hope that next year or some time soon, it's the Cats who are dancing and singing on the last Saturday in September.

Here is my message from this morning's wedding.


Message for David and Joanne

I first met David in 1994/5 at RYLA, a youth leadership seminar sponsored by Rotary. He was one of the awardees and I was the director, working with a team of talented and dedicated people to run what we hoped would be the best leadership training and personal development experience the awardees had ever had. RYLA was a wonderful program to be involved in and left a lasting impression on the people who attended.
I guess this must have been the case for David because some dozen years later, when he and Joanne decided to get married and they were trying to think of someone to perform the service, David remembered me. It came as a big surprise to not only hear from him but to be asked to officiate at his wedding. I took it as a compliment and consider it an honour to be involved today. I believe in marriage and that despite a trend away from it in modern society, consider it to be a very significant and indeed sacred thing, something not to be entered into lightly or without due thought and consideration. It was created and designed by God as the relationship for men and women to share their lives together.
I believe that marriage is a serious and life-long commitment that requires a great deal of time effort and hard work to make succeed. Marriage is not a frivolous arrangement to be treated as unimportant. It should be treated with the utmost respect, for in marriage men and women find the deepest connection and most intimate relationship possible between two people.
In the Bible when man and woman were joined in physical union, the word used to describe this union was gnosco, which means to know. When you are joined to another person in marriage you truly come to know them. Marriage is all encompassing, there is a physical and sexual union, an emotional union, a family union and a spiritual union. It is the coming together of heart mind body and soul.
God created it, God blessed it and God wants it to work.
He wants this marriage to succeed and therefore he will support, encourage, teach, challenge and bless each of you in order to strengthen you and enable you to grow together in knowing and loving one another.
As I was preparing this message I reflected on some of the elements that made RYLA such a special experience and how they may apply to the topic of marriage. Although Joanne hasn’t been to RYLA, I’m confident that the things I’m about to talk about will resonate in her heart as much as David’s as he remembers his RYLA experience.

At the start of RYLA, after the ice breaking process, the participants were taken to Margaret River for three days of camping, abseiling and caving. They soon found themselves rapelling down huge cliffs overlooking the Indian ocean and crawling through dark narrow caves searching for a way out.
Standing on top of a 50 metre cliff with just a harness and an 11mm rope between you and certain death takes faith, courage and trust.
Marriage also requires faith, courage and trust.
Faith in each other, believing that each of you has the other's best interests at heart and is there to support you whatever happens. Courage to face difficult situations and hard times. Courage to be open and honest with each other and be vulnerable, trusting that your partner will not abuse your trust. Marriage is not easy and at times only the support you give one another will hold you together.

A key component of RYLA was small groups, sometimes known as D&M groups which provided a safe setting for a small group of participants to get to know one another, to talk and share at a deeper level, to discuss their values and attitudes with an emphasis on listening to one another. In your marriage, the ability to communicate and particularly to listen is critical to the success or failure of your relationship. If you don't take the time and make the effort to really listen to each other and understand how your partner is feeling, what they are thinking, what their hopes and dreams and fears are, you will end up living separate lives under one roof. Listening will give your partner the assurance that they are important, that their thoughts and feelings matter, that you are interested in their happiness and well being, and not just in being right or getting your own way or proving them wrong. Marriage invariably encounters conflict and arguments. If you commit yourselves to listening and wanting to understand one another you will have a much better chance of effectively resolving conflict.

The most intense experience at RYLA for many people was the One World Dinner in which participants randomly received a meal representing either first world second world or third world food in terms of both quantity and quality. It was designed to make people more aware of what they have and take for granted, and what the majority of people in the world have to survive on. It had most impact on people whose eyes were opened to see beyond their own situation and to get inside the experience of another person.
In marriage, selfishness is an assassin. If you only really care about yourself, seeking your own wants and needs, wanting your own way, and failing to find ways to please and serve one another you will doom your relationship to an endless battle for supremacy and a source of frustration to both of you. When you put your partner's needs before your own and look for ways to care for one another you will build a foundation of love so strong that no force of will or self will ever bring it down.

The final act at RYLA was called affirmations where the small group members would take the time to speak openly and honestly and affirm one another. People acknowledged and honoured group members for the things they had done and said and highlighted their positive characteristics and attributes. It was a long and emotional process and at the end of it group members came away feeling built up, encouraged, supported, affirmed and cared about.
In your marriage you have the same opportunity, to create an environment in which you affirm one another. You can develop an atmosphere of safety and mutual support in which you actively and deliberately look for ways to build one another up, to encourage each other, to look for the good in your partner and take the time to tell them what you appreciate, what you value in them and how important they are to you.
If you do this you will grow so strong together that the success and longevity of your marriage will be guaranteed.

All of these actions and strategies offer an insurance policy against your relationship breaking down. The reality is that many marriages do not survive, that people give up when it gets too hard or they stop caring or they find someone else.
Marriage is meant to be for life, not just for as long as it feels good.

The last thing I said to the awardees at RYLA each year, after a week of fantastic experiences and growth together, was that our intention in running RYLA was to create a temporary community in which the values and attitudes we lived by reflected the values of the kingdom of God.
The principles of courage, faith, trust, communication, listening, unselfishness, empathy and affirmation, which worked so effectively at RYLA and give a great insight into the way God intended people to live in harmony, are also totally applicable in marriage.
If you invest in your relationship by implementing these principles you will find your marriage growing stronger, happier and more secure.
With God's help I pray that will be your experience.

Tomorrow is the Big Day

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Last day of term, two weeks of school holidays, that's always a pleasant thought, and although I still have work to do during the break there is a chance to rest and recharge and a change of pace and scenery.

I'm back up in Perth, staying at Birchy's place. Tomorrow morning we are doing David and Joanne's wedding service out in the Swan Valley. I've just been putting the finishing touches on the service and am glad to say it's now done.
We had a rehearsal tonight which went well, no dramas or concerns. The biggest challenge will be getting up early and being out there and ready to go for a 9.30 wedding, a pretty early start by Australian standards, but necessary in deference to culture and common sense seeing as tomorrow is AFL Grand Final Day. (My countdown clock will have reached 0 by the time most of you read this.)

I have not used my crutches at all today although I am still moving slowly and gingerly. I will be able to stand up to do the service in the morning which is a relief, it would have been awkward balancing on crutches and trying to conduct a wedding.

I stopped for some wok in a box seafood nasi goreng for dinner and also picked up some Baskin Robbins ice cream to share with Darren and Katherine while we watched Before the Game on TV.
The traditional Grand Final marathon is on TV now, a warm up for tomorrow's big game.

Carn the Swans.

I Can Walk!!!!

While I'm not claiming a miracle of Biblical proportions, I am rejoicing that for the first time in two weeks I can walk again!
Two painful and awkward weeks on crutches has been frustrating but today saw a big breakthrough.
I had my second physio appointment this morning and it was torturous as the physio aggressively massaged the fluid out of my swollen and bruised foot. Ultrasound and interferential electric therapy followed before another agonizing massage left me gasping! She finished off with some vigorous stretches and showed me a couple of exercises to work on and I was free to go though I wasn't feeling that good by the time I left.

However, I began "shadow walking" with the assistance of my crutches and was gradully able to bear more weight. I was moving slowly, but moving all the same.
Then this evening when I got home from work I walked from the car to the house solo, no crutches! Hallelujah!
I'm still limping, moving very carefully, and can't make any sharp or sudden movements, but the improvement is substantial and for the first time in over a week I feel optimistic about my recovery! PTL!

I went back to work today and tried to catch up on things that had fallen behind, phone calls, messages, emails and some paperwork.
The good news is our Fish Sculpture is about to make the last leg of it's journey to it's new home. It arrived in Perth late last week and tomorrow morning will be loaded on a truck and brought down to Busselton. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in the "flesh". Next week there will be a meeting of the stakeholders to discuss where it should go and what will be involved in getting it installed. It has been more expensive than I'd hoped or anticipated although in reality it has been cheap for such a large and iconic piece of art. I really hope it receives a positive reception in the town and becomes a local landmark and adds to the tourist attractions in the town.

Tonight was my final session with the kids from Emmanuel on their year 7 camp out on the Holy Mile. I finished the second part of last night's session, the sex component of "sex drugs and rock n roll" before summarising the whole week and highlighting the main points, that they are entering a period of significant change in adolescence, there will be many challenges and choices for them to make and that their actions will be the result of the decisions they make and that those decisions will be strongly influenced by their attitudes values and beliefs. In light of this, I asked them numerous times throughout the week, "How are you going to make those important decisions?" At the end I encouraged them to seek God's help with the challenges and choices in their lives safe in the knowledge that he loves them and wants the best for their lives. I then offered to pray for any of them who would like specific prayer and it was very encouraging when 6 of the boys remained behind and asked me to pray for them.
The whole camp then moved out to the volleyball court and the camp fire to toast some marshmallows and sing silly songs. They've been a great group of kids to work with, bright and responsive and friendly and open to think about the topics I've raised. Phil (Mr G) their teacher has given me plenty of feedback on how my talks have been received and that they have generated quite a bit of discussion amongst the kids in their small groups and dorms. My style has been quite different to the previous few years but he has been happy with it and said it has brought a different perspective and helped the kids think about real issues that they are going to confront as they get older. My mate Stu dobbed me in for the job and I'm glad because I've really enjoyed talking to the kids and being a part of their camp experience. Working with primary school kids is a bit of a departure from the norm for me and I've enjoyed their openeness and innocence and the fact they haven't needed to try and be too cool.

I've only got one more day until the end of term. Tomorrow afternoon I leave for Perth because Saturday morning is David and Joanne's wedding at Swan View. We've got a rehearsal tomorrow evening so it will be a busy day. Thankfully the wedding will be finished in plenty of time for Birchy and I to get home and watch the Grand Final between West Coast and Sydney, Carn the Swans!

One more bit of news is that I have recently gotten my taxi driver's license and as of next work I'm taking up a part time job as a taxi driver, doing one evening shift each weekend. I don't know how I'll go but I went for an orientation with Jeff, the boss, yesterday arvo and he made it all sound fairly easy and straight forward. I do my first shift next week. I daresay there'll be a few bloggable stories arise out of this new venture. We've been struggling a little financially of late, running two cars and the price of petrol have been part of the problem, so some extra income will be very handy, and hopefully it will also be fun and a bit of an adventure, I'll be sure to keep you posted.

You Tube pros and cons

Holt Press
I don't know what the deal is with YouTube. It's great that it allows you to put videos on your blog, but it's pretty poor that they only play back 2 seconds at a time!!!! At least that's what it does on my computer!! I wonder if it's any better/quicker for you? See what you think with the post below.

Sport Boy's team winning the Leaderball

Sport Boy's Triumphs

 
Sport Boy's nervous excitement was well placed it seems because he did very well at the inter-school sports day at Bunbury. By the time Carolyn and I arrived he had competed in his first event, the Turbo Javelin (throwing a turbo ball javelin style, definitely a safer option for kids, as it would have been for the sports official on the news tonight who was speared through the foot by a javelin she failed to get out of the way of!!)
Sport Boy came first and proudly showed us his blue ribbon.

Later he was part of the leaderball team (hopefully You Tubed on the blog soon) and they won that event too, with Sport Boy moving the team from 2nd to 1st place during his run!! (Proud Dad blogging here!!)

Later on they came third in the spry-ball! Funny name!

He had a great day and declined the offer to come home early with us in the car so he could come back on the bus with his friends.

In my study this evening he brought his ribbons in and displaying them proudly told me, "When I'm 80 I'll be able to show my grandchildren these ribbons and tell them how I won them at my first ever inter-school sports day in Bunbury" !! 

Sport Boy goes to the inter-school carnival tomorrow

Sport Boy had trouble getting to sleep tonight because of his nervous excitement about going to Bunbury tomorrow to compete in the inter-school sports carnival for the first time.
No nickname was ever more apt than Sport Boy!

I dubbed some old home video yesterday of him when he was just a toddler, watching a football game on TV with Sophie and he was so excited and into it, yelling out, running around kicking an imaginary ball, imploring one team to kick a goal, it is an amazingly prophetic record!
If I can find a way to You Tube some of it I'll put it on Holt Press so you can see for yourself.

A Major Problem requires Radical Action

I spent all day flat on my back in bed with my leg raised in a concerted attempt to reduce the swelling in my foot.
I took the day off work.
I slept.
I read.
I listened to music on my MP3 player.
I listened to the ABC news hour on the radio.
I sent texts to my wife.
I ate cereal and biscuits in bed.
I put the cryo-cuff ice pack on.
I struggled to find the right level of tightness for my compression bandage and tubi-grip.
A couple of times I had to take them off because of the throbbing pain they lead to.
I painfully massaged my foot and ankle trying to get the fluid moving and free up the joints.
I did the stretching exercises recommended by the physio, and actually saw some improvement of range and movement.

And, my swelling diminished!
Not completely, but certainly significantly.
It is not gone but it is at least more like a sprained ankle now and less like elephantiasis.

I had to get up to go to a meeting tonight but was able to spend most of it with my leg up on a chair as we planned for a forum in October.

I came home and watched TV with Carolyn and Sophie, with my foot perched on the extended footrest of my now sadly broken recliner chair. Something went crack underneath it yesterday and I now sit at an angle and the reclining feature does not work as well as it used to. As Carolyn said, we got our $30 worth out of it.

I've just been reading the text of a speech entitled "Come September" by a woman called Arundhati Roy, in America, a year after September 11. It is powerful and compelling and well worth reading.
If you've got the time and interest you can find a transcript of it here.

Now I'm going back to bed for some more elevation.

Emmanuel Campers

 
The kids at the camp I've been speaking at the last few days. Tonight's topic was September 11 and responses to terrorism, a pretty heavy subject I know and I'm not sure how well it went but the kids are great and the camp seems to be going very well.

Here they are garbed in their Survivor bandanas.
Mr G their teacher is in the right hand corner of the pic, a good bloke and the kids seem to respond well to him. 

Sunday mornings used to be sacred

Holt Press
The phone woke me this morning, that's never a good experience, either there's bad news or I'm so late getting up other people have already reached a point in the day where they think it's safe to telephone people. It was a Sunday morning too, no longer sacred.
The bad news was that my 11.00am speaking engagement was being brought forward to 10.30.
After the long day and night on Saturday that was not welcome news but I bravely consented, set the alarm and rolled over to try and steal another 35 minutes sleep.

Next comes the agonizing transition from horizontal to vertical. With my foot elevated all night to try and reduce the swelling, going to vertical sends the blood rushing south again and my whole foot and half my leg starts to throb. It's been 10 days since the injury and not only can't I walk, the swelling is not diminishing at all.

Hopping around the bathroom in the nude as I manouevre myself onto the stool in the shower is a challenge fraught with danger. So far no accidents but I live in fear.

A hurried breakfast of Promite toast in the car and I'm off to Camp Geographe for my appointment with the year 7's from Emmanuel. They are in good spirits, and the hall is decorated with banners from their own version of Survivor. TNT are just ahead of the Flaming Pyromaniacs on the scoreboard, with the Eliminatorz a distant last.
After some worship music and communion I gave my talk, The Gospel of Steve, looking at the life and example of Steve Irwin, highlighting his many admirable qualities, including enthusiasm, positivity, conservation, love for life, love for friends and love for family.
It seemed to go well and Mr G, the teacher, said the response to my first talk, on popularity, had generated a lot of follow-up discussion in their small groups.

After lunch I headed for the gallery at Art Geo for my afternoon shift on the roster. Sadly I didn't sell a painting today and with my foot slowing me down didn't get much done on my newest picture either.
The worst moment of the day was easily when my wooden box of paints fell out of my backpack as I was adjusting my crutches and landed right on the sorest part of my ankle!!!!!!!
Any wonder it's not getting any better!!!

Back home, foot up, watching TV, chilling, the disappointing news continued. Following hard on the heels of Tottenham's 3-0 loss to Liverpool came the result of the VFL Grand Final in Victoria with Geelong going down to Sandringham by 3 goals. It had been our last chance to salvage something from an abysmal season and it was gone!
All I need now to completely ruin my year is for West Coast to win the AFL Grand Final next Saturday!! Carn the Swans!!!!




The rest of the family are watching Finding Nemo. Carolyn's had a long afternoon doing Jordan's junk mail round. Talking of Jordan, here are a couple of progress pictures from his school trip to Canberra. The daily reports filed by Miss Cam are well worth reading, follow this link if you're interested.

I've got a physio appointment tomorrow morning, let's hope it has some effect in helping my bulbous foot.

Tired and relieved to be home in one piece

Holt Press
We've just arrived home after a VERY long day.
It started with a 7.30 departure for Mandurah, via Australind to pick up 20 boxes of fund-raising chocolates, and the Augusta Beach Mission training day. The training day went well although our numbers were down with many people not able to make it today. There was the usual mix of program overviews, discussions, planning times, team building games, studies and prayers, with lunch and dinner and the now customary preliminary final between West Coast and Adelaide to keep track of. The same two teams played on the same day last year, with the same result, a win to the Eagles, which made evryone except Sport Boy, Carolyn and I happy. About 20 of us squeezed into a small room with an even smaller TV to watch the last quarter. The Crows very nearly got up and snatched it in the last two minutes but it wasn't to be.

After pizza for tea and the pack-up and clean-up everyone set off on their different paths for home. We took the most different path of all, goingg via Bridgetown to pick up Mum's car, an automatic, which I can drive without needing to use my dodgy left foot.
That added about 150km and two hours to the trip home which was painfully slow because of the huge number of kangaroos on the road. We didn't hit any thankfully but it wasn't for want of opportunity, they were everywhere. Carolyn was following close behind me and at times I slowed down to 20km/hr in order to avaoid a marsupial hood ornament. We left Mandurah at 6.45 and have only just gotten home at 11.20!!!

Thankfully there is no church service in the morning so we can both sleep in for a while although I'm speaking at the school camp at 11.00 and Carolyn has to fold and deliver Jordan's junk mail round!

It's been a VERY long day.

Cornerstone Canberra trip travel blog

For regular progress reports and some very funny accounts of Jordan's school trip to Canberra go here.

A bad day and an even worse night

I spent a very miserable day today, following a very uncomfortable night.
I woke up at about 3am with my foot hurting dreadfully, the worst it's been since I injured it a week ago.In the end I had to take two lots of painkillers just to be able to get some sleep, something I never have to do normally.
I don't know for sure why it was so bad but I may have brought some of it on myself in an attempt to speed up the healing process.
While I was watching TV last night I tried some more vertical elevation and some massage to try and dissipate the swelling but I must have stirred it up too much because it was dreadfully painful when it woke me up at 3am.

I stayed home from work and slept till lunchtime before going to the doctors. On the way I became very nauseous and while seeing the doctor almost threw up. He prescibed an anti-nausea injection and oxygen and I laid down in a treatment room for over an hour feeling weak and sick.
He was concerned about the swelling in my calf and ordered an urgent ultrasound to check for deep vein thrombosis. Thankfully the ultrasound came back negative for DVT. Back to the Dr. to get a referral for physio, prescriptions for anti-inflammatories and pain killers, and a letter to cover my time off work! By the time all that was done I was feeling a little better but $150 lighter in the pocket (which added to my nasty ambulance bill for $330 has made this whole thing not only painful and inconvenient but also expensive).

I started to feel a little better once I got home which is just as well because I then had to go out to the SU campsite to give my first talk at the Emmanuel School camp this evening. I thought I had already printed my notes so had to hurriedly do that before we left (Carolyn is still chauffering me around at the moment). Unfortunately I forgot that the printer prints from the last page to the first, thus the page I grabbed turned out to be the talk for session 3 not session 1!!!
Therefore instead of introducing The Gospel of Steve I had to improvise and give my talk on popularity instead! The kids didn't seem to mind and I thought it went pretty well, especially considering the sort of day I'd had.

I had put the footy on timeshift-record so when I got home was able to pick up where I had left off.
Sadly the Dockers lost but it was a good effort against an exceptionally good team.
Needless to say I will now be barracking for the Swans regardless of who wins tomorrow's other prelim final between the Crows and the Eagles.

Tomorrow we've got an all day team meeting and training day for the Augusta Beach Mission team at Mandurah, which means an early start and 150km drive to get there. I hope I sleep better tonight!!

Dockers beaten but not disgraced

In the end the experience and skill of Sydney overwhelmed the inexperience of Fremantle, but it was a good effort and an impressive achievement for a club and coach roundly criticised and condemned half way through the season.

3/4 Time The Dockers are still in it but only just

Holt Press
The Dockers had a great 3rd quarter yet Sydney still outscored them!!! Just shows how good a team the Swans are.

Come on Freo!!

Preliminary Final

Holt Press
The Dockers are about to start the biggest game in their history, the AFL preliminary final against the Sydney Swans at Aussie Stadium in Sydney.

Carn the Dockers!

Grand Final Night

 
This is Woobla, the team who beat us in the semi-final last week following my ankle injury. We were 2 sets to 0 up at the time but Woobla came back to win 3-2!

Fired up by this good fortune Woobla went on to beat the more fancied Breakaways in the prelim final on Tuesday night.

Thus they are set to play the Grand Final tonight against 6 Pack, the hot favourites, having lost only one game all season.

But I'll be cheering for Woobla, even though they have been a thorn in my side for a long time, this picture was taken after they beat us in last year's A Reserve Grand Final.
One of these blokes is the one who stuck his foot under mine as I came down from a spike thus precipitating my nasty injury!
A week later and my foot is still massively swollen, painful, tender and showing little sign of improvement.

To add even more pain to the whole experience I found out today that my SGIO health insurance does NOT cover my ambulance ride!! Too late I discover that they only cover life-threatening emergency ambulance cover!!!! My ankle, painful and debilitating as it was, was not deemed to be life threatening!!
While at one level that is a good thing, the really bad news is that I am now faced with a bill for $330 for my ambulance ride to the hospital, a journey that could have been easily done by car, for nothing had I known!!

Not happy John!!!!!!!!!!!

Be warned, check your health insurance for the fine print. One of the reasons I took out private cover in the first place was because it included ambulance cover. Prior to that I'd been a St John's member which provides full cover!!!

AAAGGGGHHHH!!!!! 

Back to Work

Today was my first day back at work since I hurt my ankle so of course I had to answer the same question 27 times “what happened to you/what did you do?” It’s fascinating to see different people’s reactions, especially those who upon hearing that it was a sports injury seem to dismiss it as self-inflicted nonsense! Most people were sympathetic and suitably impressed upon seeing how swollen and enlarged my foot is and how bad the bruising is.
For my part, I’m not enjoying the pain or the inconvenience at all, the new crutches are much better but it’s still awkward and slow to get around.

Thankfully I can sit at my desk most of the time but collecting papers from the printer or taking forms to the photo-copier present a new challenge for a menial task.
Sorry if I seem to be complaining, I appreciate that many people are way worse off than me but I guess everything’s relative and when you’re used to a certain level of freedom and mobility, losing it is hard to take.

I managed to get most of the tasks on my list of things to do done, albeit slowly. I even managed to complete the preparation for three out of the five talks I’ve got to give at a camp next week, done. The camp is for year 6-7’s from Emmanuel School in Perth. I don’t normally work with that age group so trying to get my content at the right level is important.
The topics I’ve chosen are Steve Irwin: The gospel of Steve, September 11, Popularity, Sex Drugs and Rock n Roll. I haven’t decided what the fifth one will be yet. The teacher who asked me to be the camp speaker says the kids are very bright and to use questions in order to get them thinking and discussing issues so I expect they’ll be able to handle the topics I’ve chosen.

Jordan and Sport Boy signed up for the coming basketball season this afternoon but the large gap between age groups mean they are playing in the under 18 and under 12 ‘s respectively, that will be interesting!

Jordy leaves on his school trip to Sydney and Canberra tomorrow night and will be away for 12 days. He’s not feeling all that well and had a bad headache this morning. I hope he’ll be well enough to enjoy the trip.
He’s sleeping on the sofa tonight in the hope of getting a better night’s sleep, I hope it works for his sake!

A little joke at my dear mother's expense!

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Mum rang tonight from Germany, they're having a wonderful time.
She hadn't had any news of the footy scores and asked me how the Eagles game went.
Siezing my opportunity I told her the Bulldogs had played brilliantly and won by 10 goals! Wonder how long it will take her to find out the truth?!! I expect I'll hear about it moments after she does!!! hahahahahaha!
I did tell her before she left to look out for blogging opportunities and internet cafes! It's not as if she couldn't have found out for herself now is it?!!

Armed and Dangerous!

 
Literally!
Despite my warnings one of the boys did manage to drop a bowling ball which bounced onto Sport Boy's toes!! 

Who'd have thought 6 little boys would be so competitive?!

 
They had a great time bowling, and they competed over everything, which ball they would use, what order they would bowl in, where they would stand while waiting for their next turn,how many spares or strikes they got and of course who was winning!
They were glued to the overhead monitor throughout and 3 of them complained to me that their score hadn't been added on properly. I had to placate them by explaining the bonus scoring system for spares and strikes!! 

Sport Boy's first time at 10 pin bowling

 
Celebrating a strike! 

Not broken, just badly damaged!

 
I had my foot x-rayed today which revealed no brake, good, but 5 days after the injury it is still massively swollen and badly bruised and very painful, none of which are good signs, and may in fact indicate ligament damage. This I am informed by more than one person can be worse than a fracture, requiring longer rehabilitation and less certain recovery!!
The plaster was taken off for the x-rays. I had the opotion of putting it back on but there seems no advantage to that except for supoort and protection.
It is more painful and sensitive, and vulnerable, as I found out while I was reffing volleyball tonight and twice got hit in the foot with a ball! 

Keys For Life, Friends For Life

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Having spent all day at a pre-driver safety education course called Keys for Life learning how to teach high school students how to be safer when they start to drive, I figured it would be inappropriate if I were to crash the car on the way home due to fatigue so I have stayed in Perth for the night and will head home in the morning.

This has enabled me to visit two lots of friends. I'm staying at Sally and Warren's place in Willetton, in the nautical section, which of course looks down on the bird section. (That's a reference to a private joke between Sal and I, I can't divulge any more but trust me when I tell you it is hilarious!)
Warren had just received a package in the mail, an old fishing reel he bought on ebay, he has a big collection of fishing reels, and a growing collection of knives, all ebay originated.

I proceeded to brag about the big fish I recently bought on ebay. Having said that, I am anxious to find out whether I was successful in coordinating the forklift and driver to be at the warehouse at the same time as the truck and the person with the keys to let them in to enable our African Bonytongue to be loaded ready for transport across the Nullabor. I made the call this morning but I haven't had a confirmation that everything proceeded today as hoped.

Here's a challenge for you.
Where is Gambia? Can you find it on a map?
Let me tell you that it's not easy to locate! Let me know how you go, and don't just google Gambia, that's cheating!

Sally has had a brainwave regarding my paintings, she believes they will "go off" as pillow covers and soft furnishings! Without wanting to be sceptical, I had not thought of this and am not convinced it would work, but with Sal's enthusiastic marketing and patronage, who knows what might happen?

After dinner and some blog and painting discussion, I went over to see Phil and Julie in Vic Park. Julie was in fact leaving for New Zealand tonight to go to a wedding so it was mainly Phil and I who sat up till after midnight talking and catching up on one another's news. He is a writer and has just finished the manuscript of his second book, his first novel, and is meeting a publisher next week where he hopes to be offered a contract. We talked about the similarities between his creative outlet through writing and my recently discovered passion for painting and mutual struggles to see ourselves in a new light as artist/writer rather than our conventional roles as defined by our employment.

We talked about fatherhood, our Dads, our kids and the differences and similarities between the three generations. Phil's Dad has had some significant health struggles the last couple of years which probably prompts a bit more reflection and introspection on Phil's part. (Just as well my Dad is as fit as a mallee bull, albeit a very well fed one!)

Next time I visit, Phil is going to give me a crash course in making picture frames. He is far and away the most practical and clever-with-his-hands man I've ever met so it will be good to learn from him.
Having made that bold statement I will now immediately qualify it by saying that Birchy, with who I satyed last night is also brilliant with his hands and can make all sorts of cool stuff out of timber, last night he showed me the new TV cabinet he had just made, a very impressive piece of furniture.

Maybe this is the germ of a new reality TV show, A Bloke's Backyard Challenge, pitting two home handymen against one another in a battle of ingenuity and creativity using only scrap and salvaged materials!!
I can see it now! What's Reg Grundy's phone number?....

BBQ, Bowling and Birchy

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Blogging in from Birchy's place at Banksia Grove.

After church this morning Noel made an announcement on my behalf requesting the loan of an automatic car that I could drive to Perth for a training course I'm doing tomorrow. Three different people came and offered me the use of their cars. I swapped mine with Steve's Nissan for the next couple of days.

We headed up to Bunbury for the soccer team wind-up, a BBQ at Big Swamp Park. Unfortunately our arrival coincided with the rain and a cold front moving through! There was shelter in a rotunda while the blokes and Carolyn cokked the sausages. My injury and dependence on crutches meant I was relegated to sitting and watching rather than taking my rightful place as a man, at the BBQ!

After we'd all eaten we headed for the 10 pin bowling alley. All the boys were on one lane, the girls on the second and the adults on the third. Sport Boy had never bowled before and it took him a while to get the hang of it. He had confidently told me this moning that he was going to get a strike, but after a couple of frames he admitted that it was harder than he'd expected! However, sure enough he did bowl a strike, the only one of the boys to do so! He ended up bowling 88 (they did have the gutter guards up!) The boys were just as competitve with the bowling as they are when they play soccer, which is one of the reasons they are such a good team I guess, they are very determined.

Graeme had put together a DVD of the team, combining his video footage and some of my photos, set to music. With a little persuasion the lady at the bowling alley agreed to put it on their in-house system. It was fantastic watching the kids playy soccer on the big screen while they were bowling. We had another look at it after the game on Graeme's laptop, he did a great job with it and is giving a copy to each family.
I didn't bowl but I'm pleased to report that Carolyn bowled 123 and beat Clive!!

From there Carolyn and Sport Boy went home to Busselton and I continued on up to Perth for the night so I can get to the course by 8.30 in the morning.
I started to get pretty tired about half way to Mandurah so I pulled into a roadhouse, laid the seat back and had a nap for about an hour. It really helped revive me though I did wake up with a bit of a headache.

I stopped at Mandurah to buy some seafood noodles. getting in and out of the car with the crutches is quite awkward and I'm finding it quite painful on my hands and under my arms so when I get to Joondalup I asked a guy coming out of the service station if he'd mind buying a vanilla diet coke for me and he happily obliged.

I'm staying at Darren and Katherine's tonight. They've got an early start and a big day tomorrow for Jerome's birthday, the whole family are taking the Avonlink train to Northam for a picnic lunch. Jerome's love of trains makes birthdays easy to buy for!

I'm going to bed for an early night, as soon as I check how Spurs are going against Fulham, it's been a very disappointing start to the season so we really need a win to get back on track. They did beat Slavia Prague in their first European game on Thursday night which is an encouraging sign.

You Tube Experiment

Sport Boy on the Ranger at last year's Busselton Show

Tom, the customer relations officer at Subiaco Oval who took such good care of me at the football tonight

For those who haven't heard, I injured myself badly at volleyball last night and have a suspected broken ankle so getting to the footy and in and out of the ground was going to be harder than normal.

Tom was extremely helpful and friendly, transported me to my seat, checked in on me at half time and came back at the end of the game to wheel me out and around the ground to rendevouz with my friends for the trip home. He even ended up pushing me about 500 metres up the street and through the park to the car. The wheelchair had developed a flat tyre by then and at the end he had worked up a sweat, all without complaint and with good humoured dedication to the task. It was very nice to be on the receiving end of such caring service. If you spot Tom at Subi any time, say g'day and tell him I said thanks very much. 

Comfortably settled in one of the disabled zones, feet up, earphones plugged in, binoculars at the ready, what more could I want?

There are some compensations for having a broken ankle and at the footy in Perth tonight I was given excellent treatment and assistance so that I could enjoy the game in comfort.
I never would have made it up the three flights of stairs or into the narrow aisles and confined seats of the grandstand so I rang Subiaco today and requested their help with my predicament.
They were very helpful and obliging and both Collo and I had a very good view of the game from behind the goal at the Subi end. They brought a wheelchair to take me around the ground, set aside two chairs for us and even brought me a milk crate so I could keep my leg elevated during the game. The icing on the cake was Freo's triumph.
I got a lift up from Busselton and back with Tyso from the footy club and his wife Jill who also took good care of me. 

Collo Celebrates a Famous Victory

I went to the game with my mate and fellow chaplain Grant Collins who got the tickets via a friend who is a member. As you can see he was very happy with proceedings!
Freo Heave Ho! 

The Purple Haze

The banners and flags enveloped Subi Oval as the siren signalled Fremantle's victory over Melbourne, their first ever win in a final. It was great to be there.
I went to every derby for 6-7 years just waiting for Freo to win their first one, and have seen them win several since. Carolyn and I were there the night they played (and lost to) Essendon in their first ever final. But tonight was the best night in Dockers history so far, a breakthrough win which puts them into the preliminary final v Sydney next Friday night.
After years of heartbreak and under-achievement, it is fantastic to see Fremantle finally starting to produce the goods.

I don't think they'll beat the Swans in Sydney next week, but the reality is they are only one win away from playing in the Grand Final and anything's possible.

Go Dockers!! 

Things were going so well .....

Volleyball semi-final, Miffy the Cow v Woobla.

Things were going very well in tonight's game, until....!!

Let me start from the beginning.

Admittedly we started shakily, falling behind 8-1 in the first set, but a time-out to regroup and re focus helped us begin to get back into the game and we clawed our way back to level by about 15-all. It was neck and neck for a couple of minutes then it was my turn to serve and my serve came back! It deserted me a couple of weeks ago, forcing me to resort to serving underarm just to be sure of getting them in, but tonight it came back and I reeled off about 6 in a row to get us to withinn two points of taking the set. We held on and won it to take a 1-0 lead in a best of 5 set game.

The 2nd set went even better, we got out in front and stayed there the whole way through to win it quite comfortably.

We were 2-0 up in the knock-out semi, one more set and we were through to the preliminary final.

The third set didn't go quite so well. Woobla started to get some spikes in and we fell behind. We made a couple of rallies and were trying to fight out the third set although it was pretty clear Woobla were going to take it and make the score 2-1.

Then it happened!

Disaster struck!!

They got a set-up on the net, I was on the front line; having made a couple of point winning blocks already I was in good form, I jumped up for the block but as I came down I landed on my opponents foot and my ankle gave way beneath me, completely rolling it sideways, I hit the floor in an agonizing heap, the pain shooting up my leg and leaving me rolling around on the floor in excruciating pain. I yelled loud enough to attract the attention of everyone in the gym, from all 4 games in progress!! My whole ankle swelled up like a balloon. My night was finished, and I knew as I lay there that our chances had also taken a nose-dive. Not that we're a one-man team by any means, but I was playing well and it was going to be very difficult to hold on with 5 players and a ring-in.

My left leg, in a cast, ironically pictured with a volleyball trophy and mug from last season!


John Duthie from school administered first aid. After a few minutes to allow me to bring the pain under control and compose myself from the quivering wreck thrashing around on the gym floor, they carried me off, put ice on my ankle, strapped it and elevated it on a chair with me laying on the floor.

They restarted the game after about a 20 minute delay but although the remaining members of Miffy the Cow fought hard, the tide had turned and Woobla siezed control of the game, taking the third and 4th sets in quick succession. I was trying to watch the game and deal with the pain at the same time. Sadly, our season came to a very disappointing end 5 minutes later with Woobla coming back from 2-0 down to win it 3-2, taking the final set 15-12!

We had started so well and were on track to win when disaster struck.

By this time an ambulance had been called and finally they arrived to collect me and take me to the hospital.
I spent the next 3 hours being assessed and treated. Although they didn't take x-rays the doctor suspected that my ankle was broken and put it in a plaster cast to protect it and contain the swelling. I need to go back tomorrow for x-rays. If it is broken they'll leave it in the cast and may need to operate to put a pin in it to hold it together. If that's necessary it will happen in about 10 days time.

So, my leg is encased in plaster to just below the knee. Actually it's a back-strap half cast which allows for some swelling. We lost the game but even if we'd won I would not have been able to play anymore this season.

Things were going so well ...... 

Big Night at Busselton

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Tonight is semi-final night in the local volleyball competition and my team, Miffy the Cow play Woobla in the 1st semi 45 minutes from now.
The winners progress to the prelininary final, the losers hang up their knee pads until next season so it's do or die tonight.
We've beaten Woobla a couple of times this season but they beat us last time we played. It should be close. We can win but it depends how the team gels, we have not been the most cohesive of outfits with some real variation between our best and worst performances. A few of our players are inconsistent, only Ross plays well every week. I've been hot and cold, my last two games have been ordinary so I need to step up tonight.
I'm very competitive and tend to get anxious and up tight in big games so it would be helpful if we took the lead and won the first set to ease my nerves. Stu is playing tonight which is a good thing, he's good value and I enjoy having him on court.

Time to get ready and head up to the rec centre for a decent warm-up before the game.

Go Miffy!!!!

Mark and Jill

I went to high school at Carine with Jill in 1978-79 (stop counting, you don't have that many fingers and toes). We now both find ourselves working at Busselton. A couple of months ago she asked me whether I'd be able to do their wedding service in January next year. I was of course honoured and delighted to oblige. Tonight I went round for dinner and to talk with them about the wedding. We had some great Chinese takeaway (which was doubly good cause I cooked dinner at home tonight due to Carolyn not feeling well and it was very hard to resist eating any of my favourite meal, chile con carne). It was really good talking to them about their attitudes towards marriage, why they want to get married and what it means to them, as well as what it means to me.
They want a relaxed and informal service which suits me fine. Hopefully there'll be 1-2 old friends there too so it will double as a school reunion.
About the only stumbling block I can see is that Mark is a lifelong Carlton fan! 

Are you Number 10,000?

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As I write this I've had 9997 hits on Holt Press (about 500 of them have been mine!!)

If you happen to clock it over to 10,000, leave me a comment to celebrate the milestone!

Here's to many more posts and hits along the way!