Archive
11-Mar-2016 Leaving for the UK
Today definitely didn’t start well although the damage was done last night (Thursday): I knew I would be home late from work and Dawn was working overnight so my aim was to pack and tidy up so I would have a clear run on Friday morning to go for a last run & swim at Jibbon, see Dawn and go to work and then the airport straight from work.
A great plan that failed failed failed.
I got home late on Thursday as expected maybe 8pm+ as I always get caught up trying to finish off work, and I had to buy some gifts for Kody’s Japanese exchange buddy who is coming next week (who I won’t see or be able to help with… that didn’t go down well). I got home late, felt like crap as I have been burning the candle at both ends, had a bath and went to bed at 10pm, thinking “I’ll sort it all out early tomorrow morning).
Friday morning I still felt awful. I drove to Jibbon for a cold but gorgeous swim. At home I made a half-hearted effort to clear up, and took work calls then went to bed till 11.30am and then worked & did chores & packed all the way till 4.30pm then went for a good swim with everyone except Kody, even Charley the dog came. I then almost missed the ferry as I was on the phone for work and even in the train and at the airport. Yuk. It just felt horrible. Was still emailing instructions all the way up until the plane left at 9.30pm.
18-Dec-2015 Last Day Of Work For The Year
Today was my last day at work for the year as I will be off until 11th January. It’s interesting as the last few years I have had 2, 3 or 4 weeks off over Christmas, New Year and the summer and had time off mid-year. However it feels like I have been hanging out for my break for weeks now or months even! The last few weeks it feels like there has been a gradual dis-interest at work (by everyone, not just me…) greatly exacerbated by the xmas party season. The kids feel it too, hanging out for school holidays. In fact its probably the whole of Australian society in the gradual slow grind to the break. Probably it being summer does not help.
Today started off early as I was swimming at Cronulla at 6.30am so was up at 5.15am. A great swim around Shark Island with Stu and Steve and a bunch of others, then breakfast & coffer overlooking the beach – a great start to a cruisy day!
Luckily today at work was just clearing the decks, setting my out of office notification, clearly emails and telling people I can’t do stuff or passing work onto my team mates. Me and my team went out for lunch for two hours over the road sitting outside in the shade just chatting, then we tried the new coffee place “coffee handsome”. I left work about 5.30pm – early for me. It was very hot 30C I reckon.
At home I went for a run and a swim at Jibbon and I could just feel the pressure lift iff my shoulders. 3 weeks ahead of… fantastic !!
7-Nov-2015 Leaving the City
Although I have been working for the same company for “quite a long time” I have always work in the Sydney CBD, but still managed to move offices more or less every year or two. So much so that moving is no big deal as I have few to no papers or files or anything. In a modern corporate job you are encouraged to be lean. Anyway after some long drawn out time (I have been split 50:50 between the CBD and a far flung southern Sydney suburb, Kogarah for a few months), today we actually packed up to leave for good. Or whatever counts as permanent in these fast-moving times. Probably till the next “flavour of the month” 🙂
Anyway this photo is of a little note that I had pinned up. I can put up a new photo at my new place of work, except, I don’t have an office or a desk but I do have a locker ! I guess it’s a bit like school where you just fight each day for a space.
It’s actually quite a good place to work, lots of cool areas to work, wifi everywhere, no desk phones only mobiles, but you know there is just this lingering thought that it’s not for my benefit, it’s to save money and squeeze even more blood from a stone productivity from the workers.
21-Nov-2014 Boules Social with work
Today was our annual Boules day at work where our company plays against Telstra, our main provider. We go late morning to a place near the harbour at Pyrmont and have lunch and play. Today was absolutely roasting and for once I remembered to take a hat and sunnies. Not bad as opposed to a day at work in the office, and it was free!
I left about 3.30pm and walked back to work for an hour or so’s work. It was a VERY hot walk back.
5-Oct-2014 Updated My Linked In profile
I updated my Linked In profile this evening. I completed my previous work experience replacing my placeholder text that I’d had there for over 4 years!
If you don’t know what Linked In is, it’s a bit like facebook for business people ! Many people find jobs through linked in now.
Each person’s profile is a bit like their CV.
5-Jun-2014 Pushing it hard
Winter in Australia starts 1st June and this week has been raining hard all week and has had cool temperatures. This morning, Thursday, it was really tipping down. really really heavily. But I like swimming in the rain so I dashed down to the beach in only my swimmers and a rain mac, barefoot even.
I had a quick swim in the pouring rain, although the sea was very clear and flat. It was great and even a little warm. Dashed home for a warm shower then went to work at Kogarah and had a busy day, then left to come home and drive out with Dawn to yoga.
I probably shouldn’t have gone as I had a headache before I even got home from work, and the yoga didn’t clear it. My arm and shoulder played up something chronic so I was in a fair bit of agony before the class had finished.
I felt quite rotten by the time we got home, in the pouring rain still.
Maybe I have been pushing it at all ends, it certainly felt like it!
7-May-2014 A long day
Today was a very long day. I had to complete my online hr training eg health & safety at work, and other banking compliance training. I decided to go in early with Dawn as she was working. It meant that Jaz would have the car later on for soccer training. We got up at just gone 4.30am and I was at my desk a bit bleary eyed by 6.15am, even allowing for a stand-up espresso from Mecca on the way. It felt like forever that I had ever been at work so early. Most people commented on my earliness !
I then planned to stay later and meer Dawn on her train at 8.15pm which I did. This made it a long day, not helped by being busy. I did flag a bit around 4pm and went out for a walk and some fresh air. I bought a honey & ginger hot drink from Chatime which I thought would be really sweet. It wasn’t overly sweet but the ginger had a real kick, and I like ginger a lot!
We didn’t get home till 9.30pm, both of us shattered. Watched the last episode of Puberty Blues season 2 then went to bed.
22-Apr-2014 Work again
After the 4-day Easter long weekend, it had to end, and I had to go back to work. So of coure it was a struggle to get up and get going, not helped by the “injury” to my arm/ shoulder. Work was quiet so I was able to do some chores, NRMA and RTA to handle the paperwork for the new car and the Bank to get cash out to renew our yoga. I did manage to book a remedial massage for 2pm just around the corner from work. Their website says that they specialise in sleep-caused pain and stiffness which is what I reckon mine is, but I wasn’t impressed with it, and it didn’t fix it either, and cost me $70.
In the end I didn’t leave work early at all, gone 6.30pm, and I was stuffed by the time I got home, so had a long hot bath, and a hair cut – a number 2 all over and went to bed early. Just before 11pm.
I did read this article today about food, I guess it just re-enforces my own views that processed food is bad and just un-adulterated fruit & veg is best, but you have to draw your own line as to what “processed” means:
They conclude that no diet is clearly best, but there are common elements across eating patterns that are proven to be beneficial to health. “A diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants, is decisively associated with health promotion and disease prevention.”
Among the salient points of proven health benefits the researchers note, nutritionally-replete plant-based diets are supported by a wide array of favorable health outcomes, including fewer cancers and less heart disease. These diets ideally included not just fruits and vegetables, but whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Katz and Meller found “no decisive evidence” that low-fat diets are better than diets high in healthful fats, like the Mediterranean. Those fats include a lower ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids than the typical American diet.
“If you eat food direct from nature,” Katz added, “you don’t even need to think about this. You don’t have to worry about trans fat or saturated fat or salt—most of our salt comes from processed food, not the salt shaker. If you focus on real food, nutrients tend to take care of themselves.”
17-Apr-2014 The day before Good Friday
I felt like today I was coming down with a sinus/migraine that I often get when I am stressed, at least that’s how it felt when I woke up. Friday is Good Friday this is a public holiday, as is Easter Monday and the following Friday is Anzac day, so if people take off 3 days next week they can get 10 straight days leave. Mostcompanies are encouraging this. Most of the guys in my team are doing this but I will work next week. Crazy thing is, everyone is trying to cram 5 days of work into 4 this week, so it’s hard yakka!
So it was a long day at work, Dawn was working overnight, Kody was having a sleepover so there was no great rush to get home, so I cleaned up some stuff at work and didn’t leave till almost 8pm !! At home I made some lentil soup for me & Jaz in our pressure cooker, I think it will get plenty use over winter. Chelsea even liked it too. I also bought the weekend edition of the Australian Financial Review and a copy of The Smith Journal as a treat to read over the weekend.
Late at night I posted to CoolRunning that I was looking to sell my entry to the North Face 100 as whilst my calf is pretty much better, I can’t see me being able to do Mt Solitary 45km on 26th and then tbe North Face on 17th May with re-injuring it or hurting something else as I have lost the last month of raining and I was barely do big miles even before that. Luckily someone wanted it and we struck a quick deal.
15-Apr-2014 A work Tuesday
I was at work today, so quite busy. Was in the city in the morning then bought lunch quickly before hpping on a train to Kogarah. After work I went to yoga with Dawn.
I am trying to take lunch to work, mainly for the cost. Today’s lunch of 3 sushi rolls and juice was $11. But it was a cheap juice. If I have the time I get a green juice from Sumo Salad and that alone costs $7. I don’t really like Sumo Salad as 90% of the menu is non-veg which is a travesty for a self-styled salad shop. I might even boycott them, but the green juice is good, although it consistently takes them 10 minutes to make!
However I probably only take lunch at the moment 2-3 days per week, allthough it goes it fits & spurts. Sushi is the lunch I usually get if I sit at my desk for lunch, which is the exception as I prefer to go for a walk and have a look. The salad at Iku is probably my most common and I fully trust Iku.
The photo below is of 3 sushi – 1) vegetable tempura 2) asparagus and 3) pumpkin & sweet potato but the shop has a reasonable range of other veg ones.
6-Dec-2013 Summer fun!
This morning, for the first time this summer, I made the 0630am swim group at Cronulla. Actually we started at 06 15am with Mick, Stu & Steve and swam from South Cronulla beach to North Cronulla beach. The water was pretty cool, maybe 18-19C (has been 21C or more, although the temperature signboard has been moved !). There were some neat surfing waves as we were coming back into North Cronulla. Photo is of flat sea at South Cronulla. Finished with Coffee at Grind … a perfect start to the day!
The day was hot – and later on we had a work function at the Moorefield Bowling Club, Kogarah. Very hot and exposed but surprisingly a better day than expected.
14-Nov-2013 Thursday Blahs
Well I had 2 days off sick and made it in today. I was just about better although I had a few nervous looks when I started coughing. I tried to keep it strictly 9-5 and then came home, no gym, no yoga, no running, no swimming etc as wanted to recover properly. I have done no exercise since a small swim on Saturday and a small walk on Tues – shows how unwell I was.
I saw an interesting article in the paper : Michael McIntyre: the biggest comedy star you’ve never heard of – I had seen his shows late at night on TV. Great English comedian.
There was also this article and video – I think I appreciate it as our youngest is now 12 and whilst it was good fun when they were younger, it’s good that everything is easier now as they are older (more difficult in other ways of course ..):
12-Nov-2013 Off work
Today I didn’t go to work as I was sick. I left work, or rather asked to leave work yesterday lunchtime as I was coughing and spluttering everywhere, so I cam home early and did a bit of work at home. I think it wasn’t so much them being worried about my health but not passing it round the office and see a general decline in output. Gotta keep an eye on the bottom line!
This morning I got up on time for work, but was probably worse than yesterday and to make it worse had a big headache so sent some txt to say I wasn’t going in and jumped back in to bed. I got up about lunchtime but didn’t do much as I was very lethargic. Had a few lemsips.
I did a bit of reading and in the late afternoon went for a walk along 3 of Bundeena’s 4 beaches – Hordern’s, Gunya & Jibbon. That was good but was very slow and just wandering along. It was good to get some clean air though.
One of things I like reading are other people’s blogs – you get raw info and it’s usually fairly short and snappy so you can follow lots of people. One of the best is Seth Godin that I have been following for years now. I read this today and it really struck me as important, and thankfully, I don’t live my life that way !
Thanks to technology, (relative) peace and historic levels of prosperity, we’ve turned our culture into a crystal palace, a gleaming edifice that needs to be perfected and polished more than it is appreciated.
We waste our days whining over slight imperfections (the nuts in first class aren’t warm, the subway isn’t cool enough, the vaccine leaves a bump on our arm for two hours) instead of seeing the modern miracles all around us. That last thing that went horribly wrong, that ruined everything, that led to a spat or tears or reciminations–if you put it on a t-shirt and wore it in public, how would it feel? “My iPhone died in the middle of the 8th inning because my wife didn’t charge it and I couldn’t take a picture of the home run from our box seats!”
Worse, we’re losing our ability to engage with situations that might not have outcomes shiny enough or risk-free enough to belong in the palace. By insulating ourselves from perceived risk, from people and places that might not like us, appreciate us or guarantee us a smooth ride, we spend our day in a prison we’ve built for ourself.
Shiny, but hardly nurturing.
So, we ban things from airplanes not because they are dangerous, but because they frighten us. We avoid writing, or sales calls, or inventing or performing or engaging not because we can’t do it, but because it might not work. We don’t interact with strange ideas, new cuisines or people who share different values because those interactions might make us uncomfortable…
Funny looking tomatoes, people who don’t look like us, interactions where we might not get a yes…
Growth is messy and dangerous. Life is messy and dangerous. When we insist on a guarantee, an ever-increasing standard in everything we measure and a Hollywood ending, we get none of those.
Went to bed early whilst Dawn was at yoga.
9-Sept-2013 Working off work
I have the week of work, mainly as Dawn is off also and she suggested I take the week off, so it will be a rare happening for us to be off together, not at Xmas and not during a school holiday. However I spent the whole of this morning finishing off some work stuff I just did not have time to do before the weekend. At least I can rest easy for the rest of the week that I left off at a fair point. I can deal with any crap when I go back.
It’s funny but there was an article in the paper today about people taking work home with them when they went on leave ! so funny. I like the idea of being able to work anywhere, anytime, but the hard thing is to decide whether you should or not. It’s all a bit of a trade-off – it’s good to have the flexibility and it absolutely is really handy, and I guess there is a cost that goes with that.
The good news is that after I did eventually finish I went running, swimming in the sea AND then yoga. I definitely slept well afterwards!
14-Jul-2013 Sunday Sport
I wasn’t really able to go to Jaz’s soccer in the morning as we couldn’t really all go out and leave all the dogs whilst Dawn was home in bed (after working night shift). Also Chelsea was working for Multisport Australia and I dropped her off at Sutherland station for the 6.40am train as she was working at the Sydney Harbour 10km. So it was perfect timing to go to Cronulla for the 0730 swim group.
The water was 17.2C – very cold – but quite clear. There were about 20 swimmers, and only about 3 of us not in wetsuits. I really enjoyed it. really really. Then I had a hot shower and a doppio at Grind, made on the special machine whilst chatting with the owner.
I then got home and had to go back out to pick up Chelsea as she was coming home from work. By the time we got home the dogs had been picked up. It didn’t really work out as Charley felt the other dogs were ganging up on him.
I THEN had about 15mins to get ready as I was going to see the footy (Rugby League) at the Olympic Stadium to see the Dogs versus the Storm. It was good to see work people in a different setting, although I did feel a bit embarrassed (again!) to be the only vegetarian there and have them make a fuss over the food.
I drove to Lidcombe and caught the shuttle train to Homebush, and reverse on the way home, arriving approx 7pm just in time for Sunday’s family dinner.
29-May-2013 Working at work
Even though everyone has a good camera on their phone, it’s rare to get a picture of me at work not posing. This photo was taken unbeknowst to me at the time.
29-Apr-2013 First day back at work for 5 weeks
Obviously I was dreading getting up and going to work. Having time off travelling is great – no matter where you go. Having time at home with the family is great even if you don’t do a lot. Going to work – Nein Danke.
I was sore after the weekend’s running so it felt like old times.
I hadn’t logged into vmail or email since I’d left 5 weeks ago so much of the day was spent doing that and repeating my updates of how my trip went so the day passed pretty good.
My only thoughts about work are:
- Need to ensure I get plenty of time off
- It’s important to cut to the chase, make firm decisions quickly, be efficient and move on
- I want to make time to go to the gym with Dawn
At home in the evening I went for a run and bumped into Adriana and family (Ashtanga yoga teacher).
21-Mar-2013 Friday talk
Work has been very busy this week – getting in early and leaving late as one of my team members was away. On Friday we had a big team meeting with maybe 100+ people and I was asked, with zero notice to get up and talk about my run for 5 mins. I did ok, as you know I quite like talking, but I do find it quite stressful.
It’s a bit of a dilemma, I am quite happy not to talk about my run, or send out emails etc, but if you are trying to raise money you need to get in front of as many people as possible. I am not a good salesman and would prefer my good works just sell themselves. Anyway most people seemed to be happy.
22-Jan-2013 repeat
Sad to say but today was virtually a repeat of yesterday : up late, rush out to work, home, shopping, swim, tired, bed. A sad day!
The swim was stunning with a red sky, overloking green trees. I almost went back to grab a camera.
I also got jazmin to rip some music cds to mp3 – approx 50 – which I paid her for. This is part of the ongoing quest to digitised my life and make it simple – cds are definitely dying out. She did a good job in sticking to the naming convention and correctly tagging all the files.
21-Jan-2013 not much
It was dawn’s first day at royal north shore hospital (after moving back there after 4yrs at Sutherland hospital) – so she was up & out early. I was up later and washed up & fed the rabbits etc. Then work. Afterwards I picked up some groceries on the way home, and spoke to mum, dawn & kids.
I wanted to go for a run then a swim but by the time I would have finished running it would be too dark to swim, so I just swam and missed the run. I felt really tired anyway. I was swimming by moonlight as it was!
Kevin Tiller 
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