So there he was, standing up there, so tall and particular with his nose in the air...

When mining first began in the Brisbane area, one of the areas that produced coal, was Collingwood Park, where Wayne and Bernadette's house is, and where we've bought our little rental house.
The manner in which Australian authorities sanction development is similar to the manner in which the authorities in frontier America did before they realised that they'd pissed away a paradise.

So it was a bit of a worry when last week, a street nearby was closed because of subsidence. We wondered what was going on, I thought it must be a film set or something...but it was because several houses in the street had suffered significant cracking overnight.



It turns out that these houses, and hundreds of others in the area have been built on disused mines! Oh 'she'll be right' mate... I can imagine it! The map shows the mines in grey, and i've ringed our house, and Bernadette and Wayne's. OK we're outside the 'alleged' area of the mining, but we're still in Collingwood Park, and its been on national telly for the week. Good for house values? I don't think so.



So what do you reckon? I mean how come nobody mentioned it! Not the solicitor, not the surveyor, no one local that owns a house here... When it came onto the telly that night, everyone seemed to be unsurprised! Turns out there was a collapse a few years ago! Ipswich deputy mayor Victor Attwood said the area of concern had a history of subsidence owing to a fault line running through the suburb and underground mining years ago. "This is the likely cause of the ground movement" he said. Smart bloke this deputy mayor eh! But then the mayor said " I suspect it's an old mine shaft that's collapsed"....not to be outdone. Guess what the mayor is called?

Paul Pissale! Yeah that'll be right. (Where do they find 'em?)

The local shopping centre, finished in 1985 at a cost of $20m was actually $14m plus $6m for filling in the mine shafts under it! I dunno, call me old fashioned, i'd have thought that there must have been other places that would have been better to build on. Perhaps it was cheap...? Well it MUST have been cheap eh!



Opposite the shopping centre is a large area of bushland. I'd estimate that it's in excess of 80 acres.



A couple of months ago, driving past it as I do on the way home, I noticed a truck with a large tower on the bed. It looked like a drilling rig. A few days after that, the diggers moved in, and they flattened 4 or 5 acres.



Last month I noticed it in a different location, but so far there's been nothing cleared down there. Then today I saw it again. Its like the grim reaper for wild areas.



....and nobody gives a toss.

Then tonight I realised this is looking for mine shafts! If it doesn't find any, they flatten...and sell on. I assume that nothing happened with with the second one I saw because there's a hole under it. But hey... money talks. Bugger me, they never learn do they! What do you think they'll do with the land over the mine? Er... maybe I should ask, what do you think the chances are that they'll do the 'right thing'?

In memory of Walter Martin

Today is ANZAC day which stands for 'Australian and New Zealand Army Corps'. It's a national holiday. The country is out on the streets in an impressive act of remembrance.

We went to a remembrance wreath laying ceremony this morning at 4.30 AM. Matilda had been made aware of this by her school, and has been learning about the 'Diggers' as the infantry were called in the first world war (and still are called) here.

There was a surprising number of people gathered around the little monument in Goodna, a small suburb next to ours. There were young and old, pretty much as we see at the Armistice parades in the UK, and whilst it was very respectful, it was much more relaxed, as most things are here.



It's 93 years since the battles at Gallipoli in 1915, but it is remembered with emotion and pride here, and the names of the fallen were read out by a member of the local RSL (Returned Services League). There were no surviving members of those actions, the first time since it has been commemorated here.

Popular 'memory' of the Western front (Palestine) tends towards an appreciation of the waste of lives, the mud, the unrelenting horror, and the blithe condemnation of thousands of men to their deaths by priggish generals safely beyond the range of enemy guns. Particularly, people talk of Lone Pine, a trench based battle in which Australian and New Zealand troops sustained the loss of more than 2,000 men in five days. The Turks lost over 6,000, and the bodies of both sides littered the open ground and trenches so that it was impossible to move through the trenches without treading on bodies, sometimes several men deep. The only respect that could be paid to them was to avoid treading on their faces.





However, notable to me was the fact that whilst the first and second world wars were mentioned, nothing was said of subsequent Australian military involvements, surprising since their tenure in Vietnam was the longest in their military history. Perhaps it's because the loss of life by comparison was mild. The total body count over the 10 years of the conflict was 500.

The reason that I noticed this in particular was that one of the men where I work was explaining to me why he'd not been into work for a couple of days. He explained that he was having to see a psychiatrist - and that it was to do with Vietnam. I didn't want to pry, but sensing that he needed to explain further, I asked him a little about his role. He was moved to tears, and I very nearly was myself. He's a gentle and warm man, weary with life, and obviously fighting a difficult internal battle. One can only imagine what he's been through. He mentioned that he's unable to face ANZAC day, and it is a day indoors with the TV off for him. He can't stand the sycophantic presenters.



And in another military link this week, I interviewed a Pom for the role of Project Manager. He's been 23 years in the Welsh Guards. He had a pretty stellar career, ending as a Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM). I was concerned that he might be too institutionalised. I thought that he might find it difficult to handle the casual labour that we use, particularly the fact that it's difficult to get any 'traction' with them if you're wanting them to do difficult or unpleasant tasks. However, he was very impressive. Most of the questions that I've asked of other candidates were irrelevant, in-as-far-as i would have felt churlish to ask them. He carried himself with such presence, and had such obvious maturity, that I have him at the top of my list. He doesn't tick many of the boxes that I'd set up in terms of 'actual event and exhibition installation and management' experience, but he's head and shoulders above everyone else I've seen for BALANCE. I'll be honest, we tend to have a fixed view of the military these days, and its more often a negative view. This man was quiet, introspective, warm, and 'complete'.

So all in, its been a bit of a military week, and I'm dedicating this entry to the memory of my paternal Grandfather Walter Martin- also an RSM - and a man of distinction. I didn't know him all that well because I was too young, but I wish I had, and I miss him.

Zest for life....

I just have to show you these pics - which I think illustrate Matilda and Phoebe - and their personalities.

Matilda actually picked up Phoebe from Nana and Poppa's bed where she fell asleep watching the telly. She came in (like a Kangaroo) and declared proudly that she'd put Phoebe into bed...and could she watch one more program. I said that she could read a book for 10 mins, but not watch any telly.... which she was fine with cos she loves to read...and doesn't usually allow herself enough time.

Anyway, half an hour later, I went in to find this...





Matilda does this... she fills up her bed with teddies and books and torches and snacks etc. Then she tries to find some space... often not very successfully. Phoebe on the other hand sleeps (at least initially or on warm nights) perfectly well like this. Every night we put her to bed and tuck her in, and in the morning, she's kicked off the covers cos she's too hot. Now this isn't all that bad, except that she THEN gets too cold and wakes up. Then she comes into our bed, and finds a space between us. Again, not the end of the world, but then she gets too hot again, and kicks the blankets off the three of us! Aaargh.

What does that all say about them?

Control over our own destiny... an illusion?

The walk of a preying mantis is more like a drunken swagger... It's a sort of two steps forwards, and one step back sort of affair with a jiggling sideways eccentricity. It reminds me of the character 'Jack Sparrow' in Pirates of the Caribbean. You know how he sort of wobbles...whilst at the same time scrutinising his problem?... well... like that.

Now I've got NO idea why they walk that way... but I presume that it serves some evolutionary purpose that has ensured their survival over the millennia. It isn't however, a particularly good survival mechanism for crossing the road.

This morning, I woke up at Andrew's house, having flaked out at about 10.30 last night with Phoebe on one side of me, and Matilda on the other. We'd gone to theirs for a meal, and, since its an hour away, we usually stay. I woke up with my feet sticking out under the enormous blanket that we we had all fallen asleep under at about 5am. Phoebe was not under the blanket, and was obviously not settled, and had probably kicked me...which was why I woke. When I covered her, she snuggled in. I fell asleep for another half hour, then got up and made tea for Daile and I. Daile is ALWAYS up for tea, at any time of the day or night. If I wake up and make myself one, and don't make her one because she's asleep...she gets pissy! She was asleep in a different room, and needless to say, was awake when I took the tea in to her. She has kettle radar.

The previous night, Andrew had mentioned that Jimboomba has a market on the third Sunday of each month. Its a reasonably big affair, (two or three football pitches in area) and has a proliferation of plant stalls. We are, as some of you will know, doing our rental house up, prior to re-renting it. One of the problems it has is that it is surrounded by, and shares boundaries with no less than four other properties. The fence between every one is the same 5 ft high wooden one, and three of the adjoining properties over look our garden. We felt that we should buy some fast growing hedging, and so I went off to this market at 6am on the way back up to Brisbane to continue the house decoration.

I found a really good and cheap stall selling just the thing (Blushing LillyPilly) at $10 per 5ft high plant! I called Daile, (who was still in bed) as she knows the Latin names! I didn't feel confident to buy them without her say so.... When she arrived, co-incidentally parking her car right by the stall, the stall vendor, a 70 year old man named Jurgen, instantly took to her.

I always like characters like Jurgen, a man who says crass things like 'James' to the question, 'What is this one called?'. I liked him because he was genuine. OK, he WAS flirting with my wife....but she took to him despite that, she looks for the same things in a personality that I do.

I loaded them into the Ute, along with a couple of well manicured 'Emeralds' (Greenfire - or Ficus Benjamin to you Mum), covered them against the wind with my tarp, and set off to our house. It was later, after unloading, painting for several hours, and after I'd had lunch back at Wayne and Dette's, that on the way back to my Ute, I nearly stepped on this fella:

He was doing that walk....

Oblivious to how close he'd just come to death.

There he was, swanking across the road...like a drunk pirate. And I thought, I wonder what he makes of himself?

Then he decided to attack me and reared up... so I decided to see what he'd do if he was provoked further. He actually lunged at my trusty (2") cutting in brush! I didn't give him a finger to attack, as I had no idea if it might hurt. Wayne reckons that I'm a wimp. I just reckon I'm cautious.

After a minute or so, a car came past, giving me a look for lying completely prone in the road.... but the Mantis, followed it with his head, and then his body turned too, to follow for longer. He looked like he'd have had a go at the car too!

I picked him up in my hat, (which he attacked) and put him on the other side of the road, where he'd been heading. After about 3o seconds, he continued to walk across the grass.... probably thinking that he'd seen me off!

And the moral of the story for me, was that he THINKS that he had some control over that outcome.... just like we all do in our lives!

Notice how even when he's attacking the brush, he's still got one eye on the camera too...

Locked out

I'm sitting outside the building at 5 am, without a key. Got Internet access via my mobile phone, and got 240 volt supply via my inverter, but no key! So so close to being in control...but no cigar!
I sat up until about 10.30 last night despite a 3.30 am start to get here....and planned the meeting that I'm hosting at 6.am. Then the connection to the Citrix server failed, and now I can't get back on line. I'd done about an hour and a half of work, but not saved it...so now I'm in the dark about whether I need to write it again....in the remaining time.
Normally there are people swarming all over this place at 5 am....but not today...
Good being ops manager eh...?

Incidentally, I got passed the 3 month trial period, and I got the first quarter bonus!....

Urban miff

The other thing that's been happening here over the last couple of weeks is decorating. Our tenant declared that he was leaving about a month ago, and his contract only required that he give us a couple of weeks notice. You'll have noticed from the pics in the 'Joshy' post, that Daile was wearing a paper suit, and that Josh and Emma were covered in paint. Its a mixed experience, by which I mean that its satisfying, AND frustrating.

We're trying to pretty up our house and we're painting it inside using the same sort of colours that we used in the house in London. The difference is that the substrate is cheaper, and the basic design is working against us. There are no lintels above the windows, and the holes in the walls are plugged with aluminium sliding windows that are anodised in dark brown, with no other 'frame' around the windows. Its not required. The aluminium does all that is really needed from a functional perspective, but nothing that is needed from a visual perspective. I can't really express it.

The house is a fairly classic mass produced Australian house. Its made from brick and cheap fittings, and suffers from the same utilitarian design standards as almost all the houses that comprise this kind of stock, both here, and to a different but similar degree, in the UK. I don't think we really appreciate the way that British Architecture is influenced by earlier periods of design. Even the modern UK stuff that is built really cheaply is 'based on' the more solid building concepts that were used in earlier times, but it could be that just because modern British houses are mixed in with older houses, that the effect is less obvious. Over here, the architecture is relatively lightweight - governed by the heat. From the 60's to the 80's the then premier of Queensland was not sympathetic to such 'flimsy' concepts as quality design, rubber stamping the destruction of many of the older, and notable buildings, that otherwise would have represented some heritage to ameliorate the lack of any in the new stock. I'm not saying that we build them better in the UK, because that's not true. But there are almost NO buildings that are 'inspirational' here. SOME of the houses on the street in Shailer park where our land is are from a personal perspective.... but aside from one or two official stone faced university buildings in central town, there isn't any stuff that has an air of history, an air of substance - of a time when things were done properly.

Its funny, but the lack of heritage really alters the 'experience' of living somehow. I can't really pin it down, but I suppose its a bit like the recharging effect that you get when you hang out among trees and nature for a day or two. If you hang out amongst beautiful buildings, you have a sense of balance. Without the copious trees that characterise the Australian suburbs, it would be even more stark. Hey I'm just a Pom.... Its the way I'm built.

On the other hand, I do think that many of the newer houses are really great. They do take into account that we need to feel at home, not just be at home - and that this is a function of the design, the aspect, the flow of one area to another, the appropriate use of materials etc. The local councils are very protective of the trees and the local fauna and as a result, the housing density is lower, allowing for lots of trees - and that is really good. But we'll never have the architectural heritage. It's like living in Stevenage... with more trees.

So long, and thanks for all the ...vegetarian dinners!

I can't sleep! Thought i'd put fingers to keyboard instead.

Josh and Emma went off to Thailand yesterday, (via Singapore) but not quite as planned! We arranged to get up reasonably early to get them to the airport since the airline was recommending a 3 hour check in buffer and it's an hour and a half to drive there if its rush hour....which it was. We got them to the airport for 9am for their 11.45 am flight to Singapore. Daile and I drove both cars, since I was going to go on to work directly. We dropped them at the departures drop off, leaving the little kids with them whilst we went off to find parking. (I know you're supposed to find the parking first...but its not well signposted so I took the turn to 'departures' rather than 'arrivals / car park' ... I mean its a bit vague). Anyway, we made our way back up to the departure lounge, expecting to find them all in the queue for the flight....

Instead we found this:



Ok....... now click on the image...and look for 'Singapore'..!

Found it?

No, neither did we! The flight was at 11.45 PM...not AM!

Had we suggested that they check their flight? Yes. They declared that you don't have to do that these days....a look of disbelief adorning their young faces. Did they download the flight details...YES! Did Josh look them? No of course not... because if he had he'd have seen that it said 23.45.

So we went and had coffee....



and Emma played with my camera....





I went to work, and Daile took everyone back home.

At 4, when I left work, I went to the pub to kill the four hours until they came past again, and made a pint last for about 3 of them, deciding to get some more paint for our rental house in the other hour. I would have been home for an hour or so before having to drive back otherwise...

I had some work to do... but I didn't feel like being in the office, its too cold - with its air con and all that.

The departure was relatively quick, and they were through check in within about 25 mins, leaving two and a half hours to wait. We sat down for another coffee, but the kids were on their last gasp, so we didn't stay beyond that. Matilda was grief stricken - sobbing like a child...oh she is a child! Bless her. Phoebe tried to make it better - she hugs for England!

Daile said all the right things...a bit teary...

I just gave them all a slap. This IS Australia after all! TOUGHEN UP!





Good luck both of you. I WISH it were me and Daile. I can't IMAGINE that much time - with nothing to do.

Joshy

Well, the time is rapidly approaching when we will have to say goodbye to Josh. He leaves with Emma on Friday morning for Phuket, and that will be the last we see of him for some time. It is a bit upsetting, and Matilda in particular seems to be feeling quite put upon by the impending separation. I think it's the fact that we don't know when we'll see him next that makes it so difficult. The girls have spent quite a lot of their time hanging out with Josh and Emma, and over the last week in particular, they seem to have been living in each other's pockets. Josh isn't working this week, and they've all gone down to Carlene's house. I'm not entirely sure when they're back, but presumably it will be in time to get all the necessary washing and packing done.

I've really enjoyed having Josh around. He's a good kid, and quite amusing too. Dame Edna once said that you 'have to love your kids, but you don't have to like them'. Well I like him quite a lot, which for a grumpy old fart like me, is quite a rareity. I don't like kids his age as a rule. He has something reassuringly balanced about his personna, and I'm sure he's going to be really fine in his life. It's funny, but as a parent, these are the things that you find yourself thinking. 'How will they cope...with LIFE?' I know I've tried to put a bit of pressure on him whilst he's been here to work and set himself up for the travelling a bit more, and he's gone some way to where I'd like him to be, so I'm happy that he's learned something about how hard it is to come by money. You can't learn the lessons for them can you....but when you push them into the hard yakka, you run the risk that they just wont get what you're trying to show them. I think he has...sort of. He travels with our thoughts, and our love. That ought to do it!