I'm off to Melbourne again!
Well, by this time tomorrow, I'll be in Bairnsdale. Again. Because I'm going to Melbourne. Again.
Don't get me wrong, I like visiting Melbourne. In fact, I've visited my old home city three times this year, and we're only into March. I'd just like to go when someone's not in danger of dying, has died, or is getting a sodding body part lopped off!
So far, 2012 is not a golden year to be someone who knows me. Which is kind of a shame, because lots of people know me.
Let's see, we went to see mum's sister who looked like she might die. She's actually the reason mum, the kids and I are heading down again - she was given the choice of having a foot lopped off, or dying. She thought about it far longer than I'd have needed to, and decided to lose the foot. But hell, she's mum's older sister, and any operation is a risk, so figure visiting again is good.
Then Paul Haines passed away. He'll never wank again. It sucks. I didn't know him well, but I liked him. Then someone I knew a bit better, Alicia Johnson, passed away. I couldn't afford time or money to get to her funeral in Tasmania. Again, didn't know her well, but we'd talked a few times and I liked her.
Sharon's had various issues, and we've just found out she needs to get her thyroid removed. Pretty good chance what's wrong with it isn't cancer and even if it was, if you're going to get cancer, thyroid cancer is the one to get. The thyroid absorbs iodine, so you can basically target the thyroid specifically rather than nuking the whole body. But at this point it's a low chance of it being cancerous.
Her vision has also been giving her issues. Then there's her ongoing gut problems.
On the brighter side, Tyrannosaurus Lex seems to have passed his latest phase of arguing and melting down about 90% of stuff, and returned to the mostly delightful kid that only melts down 10% of the time. And he's using the toilet like a champion - complete with running commentary.
Also he seems to be taking to words really well. The other week he spotted the 'zoom' button on the DVD remote and said, "That says 'zoo! Z, O, O!'" Explained that he was almost right, and then had to explain what a zoom was using my camera. Other words he's surprised me by spelling in the last week or so are - off, on, no, poo, and quasinuclearphaseinterlockeddipthrungretarders - but I think poo was a fluke.
GodZoe is having the occasional meltdown, but so far they're rare. She's definitely the lower maintenance child, so I'm glad we had her second. Would have been a hell of a shock to have had her then had the several months of the colicky child who didn't like going to sleep.
She's coming along with words. Obviously understands a lot, but can say her versions of hug, door, more, doll, batman, Lex, more, Daddy, Mummy, more, Nana, yummy, more, doggy, more, poo, more, wee, more, and more.
My last trip to Melbourne I actually managed to see a few people, which was lovely. And I saw John Carter of Mars which I found hard to judge fairly because I was tired, though I think Gutter Monkey said it best when he commented that he found it curiously unengaging. The computer graphics were amongst the best I've seen in ages. A lot of CG these days looks pretty cheap and crappy, even on big expensive films. In JCoM they seem to have actually taken the time to get things looking nice.
On the way back I also became the Den of Nargun's official photographer for the morning. I spent a bit of time down there, and every time a few people turned up, I'd offer to take their photos. Most were taking shots using their iPhones, so I knew the tech :)
Took some nice shots too. Been down there a couple of times, but there was water there this time, which was lovely. Interestingly, most of the people had visited before as a well, and none of them had been down there when there was any real water flowing either.
That'll do for now, I think.
Don't get me wrong, I like visiting Melbourne. In fact, I've visited my old home city three times this year, and we're only into March. I'd just like to go when someone's not in danger of dying, has died, or is getting a sodding body part lopped off!
So far, 2012 is not a golden year to be someone who knows me. Which is kind of a shame, because lots of people know me.
Let's see, we went to see mum's sister who looked like she might die. She's actually the reason mum, the kids and I are heading down again - she was given the choice of having a foot lopped off, or dying. She thought about it far longer than I'd have needed to, and decided to lose the foot. But hell, she's mum's older sister, and any operation is a risk, so figure visiting again is good.
Then Paul Haines passed away. He'll never wank again. It sucks. I didn't know him well, but I liked him. Then someone I knew a bit better, Alicia Johnson, passed away. I couldn't afford time or money to get to her funeral in Tasmania. Again, didn't know her well, but we'd talked a few times and I liked her.
Sharon's had various issues, and we've just found out she needs to get her thyroid removed. Pretty good chance what's wrong with it isn't cancer and even if it was, if you're going to get cancer, thyroid cancer is the one to get. The thyroid absorbs iodine, so you can basically target the thyroid specifically rather than nuking the whole body. But at this point it's a low chance of it being cancerous.
Her vision has also been giving her issues. Then there's her ongoing gut problems.
On the brighter side, Tyrannosaurus Lex seems to have passed his latest phase of arguing and melting down about 90% of stuff, and returned to the mostly delightful kid that only melts down 10% of the time. And he's using the toilet like a champion - complete with running commentary.
Also he seems to be taking to words really well. The other week he spotted the 'zoom' button on the DVD remote and said, "That says 'zoo! Z, O, O!'" Explained that he was almost right, and then had to explain what a zoom was using my camera. Other words he's surprised me by spelling in the last week or so are - off, on, no, poo, and quasinuclearphaseinterlockeddipthrungretarders - but I think poo was a fluke.
GodZoe is having the occasional meltdown, but so far they're rare. She's definitely the lower maintenance child, so I'm glad we had her second. Would have been a hell of a shock to have had her then had the several months of the colicky child who didn't like going to sleep.
She's coming along with words. Obviously understands a lot, but can say her versions of hug, door, more, doll, batman, Lex, more, Daddy, Mummy, more, Nana, yummy, more, doggy, more, poo, more, wee, more, and more.
My last trip to Melbourne I actually managed to see a few people, which was lovely. And I saw John Carter of Mars which I found hard to judge fairly because I was tired, though I think Gutter Monkey said it best when he commented that he found it curiously unengaging. The computer graphics were amongst the best I've seen in ages. A lot of CG these days looks pretty cheap and crappy, even on big expensive films. In JCoM they seem to have actually taken the time to get things looking nice.
On the way back I also became the Den of Nargun's official photographer for the morning. I spent a bit of time down there, and every time a few people turned up, I'd offer to take their photos. Most were taking shots using their iPhones, so I knew the tech :)
Took some nice shots too. Been down there a couple of times, but there was water there this time, which was lovely. Interestingly, most of the people had visited before as a well, and none of them had been down there when there was any real water flowing either.
That'll do for now, I think.