I'm getting a little bit bothered about the potential for spiders on this Venezuela trip!
I'm OK with ones of up to about an inch across - those are my absolute limit, and while I can cope with having one of that size in the same room of me, I'll be keeping a very close eye on it, almost to the exclusion of looking anywhere else. Anything bigger than that, and I can't really even look at pictures of them - a friend I told about this said he'd scared himself stupid looking at a photo of a bird-eating spider, about a foot across.
I'm worried how I'll react if one drops on me in the jungle, or I wake up and one's on my bed, or my face...
No - I need to sleep this evening, so I'll have to stop this train of thought!
In my usual style, I have yet to do any packing whatsoever, despite leaving tomorrow lunchtime. I've also got several things to do in town tomorrow, including getting the haircut I didn't get last week, faxing the last bits of my visa application off and getting toothpaste, towel and other little things I've forgotten.
Oh, and the Oz bank account application too.
And my MFI furniture.
And...
Friday, September 15, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Sadness, Part 1
The first of my goodbyes has happened this weekend - to Neil, an ex-colleague of mine from Preston. I haven't seen him face-to-face for about 2 years (although we've spoken to each other by phone, e-mail and text pretty frequently). I've little doubt I'll see him again around this time next year - he was already planning a climbing trip to the Grampians in western Victoria before my Oz job was even advertised - but there's still that little twinge, as it now becomes impossible for either of us to just drop in on the other unexpectedly, or with little notice.
I'm expecting those twinges to become more painful with repetition.
On a happier note, Mazimaz was as good as ever yesterday evening, and I got my usual extra-hot soup without asking for it. And my little sidebar in researching exactly where in Victoria the Grampians were has given me some ideas for a long weekend break when I finally get out to Oz.Also had a pretty decent 3-hour tennis match with Neil, and I finally took a set off him!
I'm expecting those twinges to become more painful with repetition.
On a happier note, Mazimaz was as good as ever yesterday evening, and I got my usual extra-hot soup without asking for it. And my little sidebar in researching exactly where in Victoria the Grampians were has given me some ideas for a long weekend break when I finally get out to Oz.Also had a pretty decent 3-hour tennis match with Neil, and I finally took a set off him!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
C189Z7
36 days and counting; at least, according to the current plan. Still can't actually book a flight or commit to much else until I've got my visa, the application for which is as progressed as I can make it, given I was too cold-ridden to get Tom's scanner into a working state last night. That's a job for tomorrow morning, after my desperately-needed haircut and visit to the milkshake shop to try something less bizarre than the chocolate and chilli one I had last Saturday.
Visited York Maize Maze tonight. Excellent fun - it was a haunted horror night, so we were wandering round largely in the dark (bright full moon notwithstanding), beset frequently by werewolves, witches, Freddy Krueger and several men dressed as Jason from Friday 13th films (or possibly Halloween - not a horror buff), complete with chainsaws! I really enjoyed it, although I think I probably would have liked it a little more had I been able to see properly - the viewing platforms were all closed, due to pointlessness, so we could never get a good sense of the size of the maze or where we were in it. Still, a good time was had by all.
In case you're wondering about the post title, one of the Maze challenges is to find and answer 6 questions around the maze, the answers from which form a code which opens a safe into which you can place a competition entry - the title is the code for this year's maze. I'm not spoiling anyone's fun though, as this year's maze closes on Sunday.
To-do list items knocked off today : 0
Visited York Maize Maze tonight. Excellent fun - it was a haunted horror night, so we were wandering round largely in the dark (bright full moon notwithstanding), beset frequently by werewolves, witches, Freddy Krueger and several men dressed as Jason from Friday 13th films (or possibly Halloween - not a horror buff), complete with chainsaws! I really enjoyed it, although I think I probably would have liked it a little more had I been able to see properly - the viewing platforms were all closed, due to pointlessness, so we could never get a good sense of the size of the maze or where we were in it. Still, a good time was had by all.
In case you're wondering about the post title, one of the Maze challenges is to find and answer 6 questions around the maze, the answers from which form a code which opens a safe into which you can place a competition entry - the title is the code for this year's maze. I'm not spoiling anyone's fun though, as this year's maze closes on Sunday.
To-do list items knocked off today : 0
Getting to Know Me
A bit of background for random surfers and people who don't know me.
At the moment, I live and work in York in the UK, but in July I was offered a 2-year secondment to my company's sister office in Melbourne in Australia, starting in October. While it's taken me about 2 months to get it started at all, I'd like to keep a record of everything (for certain values of "every," at least!) that happens over the next few years. My last blog lasted about 2 years before it fizzled out, let's see if I can manage that long with this one too.
At the moment, I live and work in York in the UK, but in July I was offered a 2-year secondment to my company's sister office in Melbourne in Australia, starting in October. While it's taken me about 2 months to get it started at all, I'd like to keep a record of everything (for certain values of "every," at least!) that happens over the next few years. My last blog lasted about 2 years before it fizzled out, let's see if I can manage that long with this one too.
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