Deja vu

8 years ago, almost to the day i stood in Canoe SA and spoke about kayaking. Yesterday i did it again. 8 years ago Jill and I left CSA and headed to glenelg for oysters and champagne. 8 years ago it was an interstate work trip (apart from the oysters). Today Adelaide is home. Still love the freedom of a kayak, still love talking to people about kayaking.

New climbing wall takes shape

We recently moved and unfortunately a number of things, including the tomatoes, took precedence over reestablishing the climbing wall. At our previous residence I opted for a simple climbing cube; four walls, free standing, fairly simple.
This time I am going for a more complex design, anchored off two of the house's walls.

Here it is during construction. When complete there will be a further vertical panel above the overhang, a vertical V shaped section on the near end and a finger board suspended in front of the V section.
Obviously I am committed to outdoor adventure activities (some would say "over the top").

I harp on constantly about the benefits of these activities and like all good zealots, I am sure I am right.

To be honest, the benefits are not what drives me - its the enjoyment; conquering a technical climb, rough paddle, remote bush walk, gritty mountain bike ride gives a feeling of satisfaction with a burst of adrenaline and endorphins.

Eighteen months ago I started work as the Executive Officer of Recreation SA. Its fantastic to be in an organisation that promotes the things "you would rather be doing". But it is also a trap, time gets spent "promoting" when I should be "doing". The reality is that since I started in the role I have been putting on weight and doing less exercise.

Why did I stop doing things when I was getting such pleasure from it? Its a deep question, the common answers are "lack of time", "other priorities", "restrictions placed by third parties". Sitting here typing I run through the last 18 months and wonder why I made the various decisions I did?

However I am freely throwing this onto the net because my weight, shape and health are now heading back in the right direction. So what has changed;

1. I am being selfish; I drive a calendar that lets me (and hopefully the whole family) do physical activities
2. I ride to work (and structure my calendar to make sure I can ride at least 3 days a week)
3. I look for "active" family activities (so its inclusive and we are getting our exercise)
4. I support Jill and Zoe in their physical activities

"Hey" you are probably yelling; "that is what your doing, not the why and how of change". You are right, the why is simple; Zoe and a mirror - I want to be able to do everything with Zoe and I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. The how is not much more complex; its back to 101 time management; plan your week and work your plan.

What is the "take away" from this; A doctor specialising in chronic disease recently told me that if she can get a person to give up smoking and do 30 minutes of exercise a day, she has reduced their chances of chronic diseases by up to 73% (not taking into account genetic factors). To bring it back to my world; if I want to keep doing outdoor adventure activities with Zoe, I had better be doing something active for 30 minutes everyday (I don't smoke).

So back to the climbing wall, I can swap (to follow the latest federal health campaign) 30 minutes of "unwinding" in front of TV for 30 minutes climbing (and even watch the tomatoes whilst I climb)

Ticking the boxes

I am compelled to blog :) I have just returned from a visit to WA where we stayed at a motel which ticked every box;

• Got the booking wrong
• Got our friends bookings completely wrong
• Everything was slow, "too hard" or "not possible"
• We kept looking for Basil - he had to be somewhere
• however the greatest act was when we were informed the restaurant wasn't open yet so we would have to wait outside; as we walked out of the restaurant we were followed (yes within 2 metres) by a staff member carrying the "open" sign. The staff put down the sign and invited us in - within 3 seconds of us walking out the door???
• and the motel was right under the flight path, on a main road, near the rail line......

I love camping

4 Horsemen

One of my favourite bits of weather lore is "if it looks like you could see the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse in the approaching weather, then its going to be a BIG day".
Today was one of those days in Adelaide so we put on the wet weather gear and walked down to the sea.

I have always been a storm chaser, I love the power of nature. Zoe has caught the bug from Jill and I. She loved it.

However I also knew it was a big day a couple of hours before. I didn't have to go outside, I checked my weather apps on my iphone and knew it was cold wet and windy. Right from my seat in the car park at harbour town I knew exactly how strong the wind was at the airport next to me. I could look at the weather radar and know it was raining on my car, tell the car was being buffeted by the information in my phone.

This year i want to drive a program making wind swept hair (make that gale blown hair), salt spray or sweat and mud sexy. join me.

Avatars

I recently signed up on a forum that required I submit or choose an avatar. I didn't get the option of having nothing or using the standard "shadow" format a lot of forums use. I didn't like the options they offered and so  I chose to upload a photo of our dog, Shelley.

I was going to use a picture of my cat, Stripe, but I find often people decide that cat owners don't care for the environment. This is far from the truth.

I am told that the choice of avatar tells a lot about the type of person you are, probably the same information you get from choice of pets. I find every time I see the word "avatar" I think of the movie Pocahontas (if you have seen both you will know what I mean). 

Why am I blogging this twaddle? To answer the question of why I used a dog as an avatar? Because its a cute photo and it may get people to read my forum post.

Zoe conquers the south wall of Henley

 Zoe in training

 Conquering the juggy south wall

Training for The Doctor last summer

Doing the impossible

We bank with one of those big banks who spend millions each year telling you they are different from every other bank who also spend money telling you they are different. One of my last tasks before Easter was the fortnightly payroll. I entered everything, hit the button and waited for the screen to tell me it was all done. "Transaction failed, you have exceeded your daily transaction limit".
Interesting, this was the only transaction on Thursday and our payroll is lower than last fortnight?
So I rang my local manager - you know the one, their name, photo and mobile number is emblazoned across the front window of the bank. the one who "knows your business", "has the answer for you today", etc.
"Sorry she is on an RDO, wont be back till after Easter - can I help you?"