amazing aeroplane dancing
It's been busy times... but really fun times...
I went to Splendour in the Grass two weekends ago with Amber and Magda. Had an awesome time at Splendour... it was really really good... like I can't emphasis that enough... so much better than the byron version... The site was amazing and there were loads of things to keep me entertained when the music was a bit lame. For starters... food. So many amazing food options. I really needed two weeks to sample it all. And the bars... so cool. Smirnoff cocktail bar overlooking a pond (we spent a lot of time there, sipping cocktails in the sunshine). Jager lodge with rocking chairs (mm... jager for breakfast). A Strongbow boat (yes a boat). We also had access to Gold Bar which was some wanky vip bar. Often the lines were longer in there then the outside world and it was filled with people like Wil Anderson who didn’t want to actually step outside and deal with the public. So we didn’t end up spending that much time there. The main stage was this massive amplitheatre. And I mean massive. Seriously it took forever to get to the top of it... amazing views / sound from everywhere. The crowds were sometimes a little insane but we always seemed to find a way to avoid them. Musical highlights included The Hives, The Grates (Patience did a massive crowd surf), Gomez, Pulp, Kaiser Chiefs (surprise highlight, not usually a fan), Dananakroyd (I’ve probably spelt that wrong), Does it offend you yeah? (awesome dance-offs), Jebediah (even though they didn’t play Teflon), Friendly Fires (I did amazing aeroplane dancing and somehow managed to hurt my shoulder). Overall a great festival. I even got a little bit sunburnt, which for the middle of winter is so wrong.
I'm still working at the Gippsland Water Factory. As usual my list of things to do as expanded and now includes:
* cogeneration engine commissioning
* balancing and optimisation of the odour system
* desulphurisation system redundancy
* commissioning the defoamer unit at a storage site
So lots to keep me busy at Gippsland... I'm actually really happy about it - the work is interesting and I'm learning lots of new stuff. I'm still working 2 weeks in Gippsland and 1 week in Sydney, which is a great arrangement. Less travelling, more time spent in Sydney, interesting work.
I caught up with Ben last week. It had seriously been years since I'd seen him. I lived with him in my final year of uni and he had only just come out as gay, in fact I don't think he'd even told his parents then. He was a bit insecure at the time and still finding himself. How times have changed. Since then he's been heavily involved in the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby and even been the convenor. So he's been politically active in many gay issues and interviewed on tv about many of them and of course he's been actively involved in the mardi gras. It was really great seeing him and seeing how confident and happy he is in who he is and to hear about all the amazing things he's been doing.
I went to the AWA (Australian Water Association) NSW dinner last Friday. It was my first AWA function and it was pretty good. Sure there were some boring speeches and lots of networking chit chat about pumps and membranes, but there was also some really good catch ups with people. Kate was there, who I crazily I first met on here and then at a party during my uni years and now she works in the water industry. Katherine was also there, who I went to uni with. It had been years since I'd seen either of them so great to catch up. I also ran into a few people that I had met through my time at Gippsland. I didn't realise that I knew so many people in the water industry. I guess it's a small world. Quite a few people (industry leader type people) came up to me and said "ohhh Gemma from Gippsland". Ahh how nice to be "famous" for working at a poo plant. After the dinner (which was at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre) we went to the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel and then somehow I ended up at the casino... at 5:30am. Sigh.
Magda left Australia on Monday. She's heading back to Europe to be closer to her family in Poland and will probably be working / studying in London after spending a few months first in Poland. I can understand her reasons for leaving but it was still so sad to say goodbye. She'll be back at Christmas time for Jackie's wedding so we'll get to see her again soon.
I went to Splendour in the Grass two weekends ago with Amber and Magda. Had an awesome time at Splendour... it was really really good... like I can't emphasis that enough... so much better than the byron version... The site was amazing and there were loads of things to keep me entertained when the music was a bit lame. For starters... food. So many amazing food options. I really needed two weeks to sample it all. And the bars... so cool. Smirnoff cocktail bar overlooking a pond (we spent a lot of time there, sipping cocktails in the sunshine). Jager lodge with rocking chairs (mm... jager for breakfast). A Strongbow boat (yes a boat). We also had access to Gold Bar which was some wanky vip bar. Often the lines were longer in there then the outside world and it was filled with people like Wil Anderson who didn’t want to actually step outside and deal with the public. So we didn’t end up spending that much time there. The main stage was this massive amplitheatre. And I mean massive. Seriously it took forever to get to the top of it... amazing views / sound from everywhere. The crowds were sometimes a little insane but we always seemed to find a way to avoid them. Musical highlights included The Hives, The Grates (Patience did a massive crowd surf), Gomez, Pulp, Kaiser Chiefs (surprise highlight, not usually a fan), Dananakroyd (I’ve probably spelt that wrong), Does it offend you yeah? (awesome dance-offs), Jebediah (even though they didn’t play Teflon), Friendly Fires (I did amazing aeroplane dancing and somehow managed to hurt my shoulder). Overall a great festival. I even got a little bit sunburnt, which for the middle of winter is so wrong.
I'm still working at the Gippsland Water Factory. As usual my list of things to do as expanded and now includes:
* cogeneration engine commissioning
* balancing and optimisation of the odour system
* desulphurisation system redundancy
* commissioning the defoamer unit at a storage site
So lots to keep me busy at Gippsland... I'm actually really happy about it - the work is interesting and I'm learning lots of new stuff. I'm still working 2 weeks in Gippsland and 1 week in Sydney, which is a great arrangement. Less travelling, more time spent in Sydney, interesting work.
I caught up with Ben last week. It had seriously been years since I'd seen him. I lived with him in my final year of uni and he had only just come out as gay, in fact I don't think he'd even told his parents then. He was a bit insecure at the time and still finding himself. How times have changed. Since then he's been heavily involved in the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby and even been the convenor. So he's been politically active in many gay issues and interviewed on tv about many of them and of course he's been actively involved in the mardi gras. It was really great seeing him and seeing how confident and happy he is in who he is and to hear about all the amazing things he's been doing.
I went to the AWA (Australian Water Association) NSW dinner last Friday. It was my first AWA function and it was pretty good. Sure there were some boring speeches and lots of networking chit chat about pumps and membranes, but there was also some really good catch ups with people. Kate was there, who I crazily I first met on here and then at a party during my uni years and now she works in the water industry. Katherine was also there, who I went to uni with. It had been years since I'd seen either of them so great to catch up. I also ran into a few people that I had met through my time at Gippsland. I didn't realise that I knew so many people in the water industry. I guess it's a small world. Quite a few people (industry leader type people) came up to me and said "ohhh Gemma from Gippsland". Ahh how nice to be "famous" for working at a poo plant. After the dinner (which was at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre) we went to the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel and then somehow I ended up at the casino... at 5:30am. Sigh.
Magda left Australia on Monday. She's heading back to Europe to be closer to her family in Poland and will probably be working / studying in London after spending a few months first in Poland. I can understand her reasons for leaving but it was still so sad to say goodbye. She'll be back at Christmas time for Jackie's wedding so we'll get to see her again soon.