General update

So Ruthie and I took a trip two weekends ago.  Tonight's pretty much the first night I've had a chance to sit down at a computer to catch up on some internetting, including posting to here.  Fortunately, while on the road, I typed as we went.  Unfortunately, I decided I would try to put some more layers to the blog posts - which require a bit more post processing if you will.

This inspiration dawned upon me after spending some time reading a friend's new blog, tomhavegroup.com/road-scholar-blog/ [and her hubby's tomhavegroup.com/sound-vision-2/].  I realised that I'd been reading plenty of other blogs with a bit of additional content other than words and the very random picture.  And then I decided it's about time to try and add that stuff to TFAAB.

So those entries are coming, hopefully starting tonight or tomorrow night.

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In the mean time, a quick update on acupuncture.   We've now gone to three sessions.  Just like when the doctor asks, I find it hard to describe how things are going.  After each session, and generally for the day after, my legs feel incredibly tired.  The first session, I was worn out for two whole days; when my legs feel exhausted, I feel worn down - which is part of the reason I've gone in the first place.  Anyways, it's difficult to say if I feel any improvement that simple R&R wouldn't've done for me and my knee.

Ruthie, on the other hand, apparently wasn't telling the needle guy the right thing on the first session, and flinched really prematurely.  She's corrected this, but she more or less detests the actual needles and the twirling of them to ping the nerves.  And I think she's fairly convinced it's not helping.  Meanwhile, her physio has decided it's time for a more aggressive approach and has started her back on some activity - including a bit of skating last night.  When prompted, she doesn't really claim that her leg is feeling better; perhaps this is due to increased amounts of activity - or perhaps this is due to a really slow healing process.

Generally speaking, though, being injured sucks - especially when it's a lame injury that just won't heal. 

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In other news, March 1 marked the first day of Autumn.  However, while last year it felt like the season changed with the flip of the calendar, this year, summer's holding on strong.  It's been in the mid 30s all week, and it seems to be staying that way.  Apparently February was the driest it's been since the middle of the drought season, and the weather now is very much like what Melbourne experienced during the ten-year drought.  While I'm not excited about drought prospects, I am kinda tickled by the fact that we're more or less experiencing two weather patterns in two different years in the same city.

As the weather currently is, blue skies and hot days, this is exactly the weather we naively thought Melbourne/Australia had every day all year.  Clearly we were wrong, but it's nice to know we're getting a good dose of it any ways.

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Lastly, work has been an interesting world as of late.  Having to deal with not one, but two governments seems to have been unnecessarily tricky the past little bit.  First off, I've added a new term to my diction with this sequestration business in the US.  If the doomsday clock is not delayed with some sort of financial agreement in Congress, it is getting increasingly likely that I will be required to reduce my work to 4 days a week.  As if dealing with one country's fiduciary restrictions wasn't enough, the coffers haven't really been overflowing down here either.  So much so that when a maintenance contract was supposed to be signed back in October for some equipment for which I'm responsible, they said no.  [Thus risking all kinds of serious damage and a massive repair bill by not simply ponying up the money for the maintenance.]  It's now March, and the contract just went through.

Silver lining: 4 days a week will mean more time to play video games and explore the city [hopefully for free] or spend time with friends.  And if I play my cards right, we'll have saved up enough money, taxes won't be terrible to us this year, that I might even be able to use the regular 3-day weekend to our advantage and we can do some paid exploration.

Anyways, that's all I've got for the moment.  Time to spice up the road trip blog and get it ready for posting here.

Cheers
-EP

A year in review, part 2

So this blog is called Two Fools and a Bike on the notion that we’d be spending a fair bit of time on the motorcycle down under.  However, it’s pretty safe to say that I’ve spent more time on another two-wheeled vehicle instead.  When we got to this city, it was pretty quickly obvious that bicycles were a bit more accepted.  [Though, as time has gone by and I’ve learned a bit more, I’ve learned that there’s still the cultural triangular war of bicycles vs cars vs pedestrians that’s present in any location that “welcomes” bicycle traffic.]  We actually purchased me a bicycle before we purchased a car.  Ruthie specifically found us a place at a pretty close proximity to work so that I would have an easy ride to work: a whole four kilometres. 

While it’s very easy to say I’m a fair-weather rider when it comes to the motorcycle, I’d like to say that I’ve done my part to prove [to myself mostly] that I’m less of a fair-weather rider on the bicycle.  This has happened for a couple reasons.  One, Melbourne weather is crazy [see above] and while it might call for rain during the day, you just are never quite sure when it will hit.  Two, it’s only 4km.  Three, contrary to riding the motorcycle, riding the bicycle in cold or poor weather still requires exertion on the part of the rider – meaning my legs are pumping and my body does a better job of staying warm.  So if you combine all of those with the likes of my orange parka, and I reckon I can handle just about whatever cold rain Melbourne has to offer.  [I have yet to get caught in hail, though, so I bite my tongue on making that a more general “bring it on” statement.]  In looking back on the year, I’d like to take a moment to be proud of the fact that my ability to ride in poor weather has gotten better over time.  The first time it was bucketing while I had the bicycle, Ruthie came to get me from work.  The next time it was bucketing, I started my ride while it wasn’t, but then lost my ID along the route; an hour later, it had been found, I had taken a hot shower, toweled off, and Ruthie drove me to work.  Then the orange parka arrived and I learned of the driers at work – it’s been pretty easy since then, rain or no. 

As far as work itself goes, while I won’t discuss what I’m actually doing, it’s worth pointing out a few things.  First, there have been quite a few times where Ruthie’s been way more qualified to do my tasks than me.  To that end, there was a time when we tried to get Ruthie a job as a contractor here, but that never panned out.  Second, the nature of my work is pretty good.  I’ve had moments on both ends of the spectrum, where I’ve spent time wondering why I’m even necessary on to actually trying to get my head around the month’s challenge.  Through all of it, I’ve got a pretty love/hate relationship with my colleagues.  One, they’re awesome.  I generally have a good time at work because of them.  The level of camaraderie and good-natured jesting is really high, which means I find myself laughing with or at them at least once a day.  Two, I hate them because they all make me feel dumb.  Without going on too much of a tangent, the R&D nature of the work combined with the education system in this country, almost everyone has a PhD.  Generally it’s like being Walowitz on Big Bang Theory: I’m *only* an engineer *without* a PhD.  Third, while looking back, I can say work here was good and I learned a few things, but I have a hard time looking forward and guessing what I’ll be doing when I return.  Lastly, speaking of returning, I’m pretty sure the work culture here has ruined my ability for the 9-hour grind that I once knew.  In addition to most people here only working 8 hours in a day [fortunately due to their in-house system called Flex, I still try to observe a SDO schedule] with a 30-minute lunch break, they stop for tea at 10a and 3p.  I’m really going to miss those breaks when I get back to working for Uncle Sam. 

-EP