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Retrospectives

Fifty-two

Not a transport post, but if you haven’t seen it, the PTUA State Election scorecard is out now. My paternal grandmother was born in Townsville to Chinese immigrant parents. My paternal grandfather was born in China but emigrated around 1900, prior to the White Australia Policy. So that they could travel overseas and be admitted  ... [More]

Categories
Retrospectives

The best thing this week

For those of us back in lockdown, hope you’re doing okay. Let me tell you about the best thing this past week. (No transport content here; if that’s what you’re after, you can skip this post.) In 1928, Gurney Slade wrote Lovers And Luggers, a novel set in Broome amongst pearl divers. The movie rights  ... [More]

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Friends and loved ones

Vale Uncle Frank

In the past week, I’ve flown to Brisbane and back twice. My Uncle Frank got very sick. My sister, my cousin and I are his closest relatives, and we all live interstate. Thankfully we were able to go and see him. He passed away on Sunday morning. It was peaceful in the end, but it  ... [More]

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Friends and loved ones

The fuzz!!

From my sister’s “Best of British” birthday party in October. I used to love The Bill (before it went all soapie), so I thought I’d go for it. I didn’t know until we were had all arrived that my cousin Justin and his girlfriend Valerie had the same idea. We’ve had the toy helmet sitting  ... [More]

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Friends and loved ones

RIP Michael

Marita’s dad Michael was the nicest bloke you could meet. Tragically he died in a farming accident on Wednesday afternoon. RIP Michael 1941-2012

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Friends and loved ones transport

The train network from a new user’s perspective

My cousin Justin’s move to Melbourne gives me an opportunity to see the public transport network from the perspective of a brand new user. He’s pretty well travelled, having spent extensive time in Europe recently, mostly based in London, but with plenty of travel to other cities. So he’s used PT systems in many other  ... [More]

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Friends and loved ones

My cousin’s in town (and a proverb updated for the 21st century)

I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to have my cousin Justin in town. He grew up in Brisbane, then Newcastle, before moving to Perth, so we barely saw him when growing up. He moved to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, and is now settling into his new flat and job here.  ... [More]

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Doctor Who Food'n'drink Friends and loved ones

My super-talented sister excels herself again

This creation by my super-talented sister, for Isaac’s birthday.

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Friends and loved ones transport

Tullamarine terminal 4 arrivals. What a dump.

So this is Terminal 4 Arrivals — where you greet passengers arriving in Melbourne on Tiger Airways: You can’t go in, they can only come out. There’s no shelter to speak of — if it rains, you’d better wait in your car (if you brought one). Inside there’s just luggage collection. No trolley until you  ... [More]

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Friends and loved ones Home life

Memories in the making

In 2008 I started a project I wish I’d started earlier: Every few months we get out the tripod, switch the camera to auto, and take a photo of ourselves in front of the house. I got the idea from a newspaper article. Some of them are taken just as we leave on a weekday  ... [More]

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Friends and loved ones News and events

Some resolutions

A bit late, but some things I plan to do this year: Teach my kids chess Try to declutter the house Get Jeremy into his own bedroom Get all of us more exercise Write a computer game (even a simple one) to get more enthused again about programming Replace the TV with something shiny, flat,  ... [More]

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Friends and loved ones

Merry Christmas

Quieter than usual due to my boys being away in Hawaii, but I chatted with them on Skype this evening. Presents are easier now all the adults in the family have switched to (non-anonymous) Kris Kringle… and of course we stuffed ourselves full of heaps of food. The only downer was being locked-out of my  ... [More]