Happy belated anniversary

... to me!! With too much going on at work and on my mind, I forgot to wish myself a happy anniversary on Aug 20 (I celebrated last Thursday night without knowing it :) ) . 1 year ago I became a temporary Australian resident. One of the best days of my life!!... just thinking about it I could cry!

It felt so good to spend the past 12 months without worrying about finding a job with a sponsorship offer, then putting up with all the paperwork and then waiting anxiously for the department of immigration's decision to grant me a 4-year visa.

I'll have to go through that again when I apply for permanent residency - oh.. in case you had not worked it out by now I confirm that I want to stay in Oz forever and ever :) - but you know what?? I can't wait!!! It's not going to happen just yet though, I'll spare you the details of why/how but I will definitely keep you updated!

Happy anniversary to moi!!

Thank you rugby

Most of the time I don't do go out on school nights, but last Thursday I couldn't miss Gin Wigmore performing in Sydney. Caribou #2 couldn't say no to the cheapest concert in town ($11.50) and joined me for an evening to remember, all thanks to rugby.

Just after work C#2 and yours truly make their way to the Civic, and kick off the night with a couple of glasses of bubbles for C#2 and vino fur mich, a bit of chit chat, a bit of a laugh (by the way C#2, what's that thing we said and laughed so much about?? I can't remember... was it another SYFA quote???).. then we were hunting the place for food - the Civic has a few levels of restaurant, bars and pokies - and were told by a waitress that we would have drinks and nibbles at our Universal function. Our what?? What's that woman talking about??? If she says so...

Anyway, we go downstairs, the doors have opened, we take our seats, C#2 gets us some drinks and when she comes back she goes: "they were FREE" That's brilliant!!! This is indeed an industry party to launch Gin's album in Australia and they were kind enough to let some fans mix with them! Awesome! While Gin was gracing us with her amazing voice we had more free drinks and a bit of free food, thank goodness for that because alcohol and empty stomach spell disaster for your truly.

After only 4 or 5 songs it's already over. Pity though Iwas just starting to enjoy myself. Oh well, let's have one last drink before we go. Then I fobbed off C#2's recommendations to take a taxi after all it's only a 10-15 minute walk home, it's only 9pm and I feel good enough to do it or so I thought but I did get home.

Then it's all a bit of a blur. Next thing I remember is waking up at 4am, head pounding, parched and worried that C#2 would be worried because I did not text her when I got home, as per our agreement.

2 hours later I don't really feel any better. It was such a struggle to get up, get ready for work. The weather was on my side: heavy rain meant I had an excuse to take the bus to go to work, my usual stroll to the CBD would have felt like climbing Mount Everest. I check my mobile and read C#2's text message "Me 2!"... Oh.. that means that I DID send one to say that I was home safe but not quite sound. Wow, I'm impressed with myself.

Anyway... you're probably still wondering about the title of the post. Rugby brings so much joy to my life and it does not even know it! Had I not travelled to Christchurch for the Super 14 final back in May, I would not have bought Gin's CD and loved it, I would not have joined her fan page on Facebook, I would not have heard about this gig thanks to an update from her Facebook fan page and I would have missed out on a bloody good time. So.. thank you rugby. Thank you.

News of the baby whale

Earlier this week I was telling you about a baby whale that was found befriending a boat thinking it was its lost mum. Well I'm the bearer of sad news, Colin - yes, that's the silly nickname it was given, had to be put down (read the article). How sad. I would have loved to see a happier ending but unfortunately you can’t take a baby whale back home and leave it in your bathtub and bottlefeed it. I guess it’s just nature following its (cruel)course.

Sydney v Melbourne

From the Sydney Morning Herald (the photo is mine!)

Sydney is the only Australian city to be included in the first international version of the famous board game, Monopoly.

The harbour city will appear on the game's red strip alongside New York and London, following a world wide poll on which cities should be included.

Voting was conducted in 58 countries earlier this year and Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition was unveiled today naming the 22 cities which made the cut.

Among the other cities in the running was Melbourne, which did not record enough votes for inclusion.

"Eat your heart out Melbourne ... nowhere to be found," NSW Premier Morris Iemma said at the board game launch in Sydney today.

Cities included in the world edition are Montreal, Riga, Capetown, Belgrade, Paris, Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing, London, New York, Vancouver, Shanghai, Rome, Toronto, Kyiv (Kiev), Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona, Tokyo, Taipei, Gdynia (Gdansk) and of course, Sydney.

More than five million votes were made during the poll.

The World Edition will include some changes to the traditional monopoly, including houses and hotels reflecting styles and icons from around the world, and a new currency.

The game is due to be released on August 26.

The 22 cities which won spots on new international Monopoly board:

Dark blue - Montreal, Riga

Green - Capetown, Belgrade, Paris

Yellow - Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing

Red - London, New York, Sydney

Orange - Vancouver, Shanghai, Rome

Magenta - Toronto, Kyiv (Kiev), Istanbul

Light blue - Athens, Barcelona, Tokyo

Brown - Taipei, Gdynia (Gdansk)

Do I really need to tell you how delighted I am that Sydney was included and not Melbourne??? .. Yes I do... I'm ecstatic!!

Isn't ugly the new beautiful??

The mayor of Mount Isa in Queensland caused a bit of a stir a few days ago. His town is experiencing a shortage of women for the single male population and he came up with this idea.

That's Australia for you, they tell it like it is :) Anyone wondered what the single guys in question look like??? Who knows, they might be beauty-disadvantaged too... Anyway .. it looks like the dude's plan is doomed to failure. A couple of suggestions: a new TV show "Mount Isa guys want a wife", or a charter plane full of Eastern European women.. how's that???

Today's word

Cranky ... from the Macquarie Dictionary:
ill-tempered, cross

Throw in the F-word with that and you'll know how I feel. I'm having one of those days when you hate the whole world or 99.9% of it and wish you hadn't got out of bed in the first place.

Aaaah ... it's good to vent a wee bit though.

Still on the whale theme

I'm warning you... there might not be a happy ending...

From: ninemsn.com.au

A humpback whale calf has lost its mother and despite rescue efforts will most likely beach itself over the next few days, a whale expert says.

The calf is only one month old and it has injured itself — most likely by rubbing up against boats at Pittwater off Sydney’s northern beaches.

Observers say the calf has mistaken an 11m yacht for its mother, swimming around the boat and nuzzling it.

The National Parks and Wildlife has stepped in and towed the "mother substitute" yacht away from the harbor.

"We’ve successfully enticed the calf to deeper waters between Broken Bay and West Head, Barrenjoey," said regional manager Chris McIntosh.

"Over the next little while, we’ll experiment to try to separate it from the yacht." But Mr McIntosh said the outlook was not good.

"Most likely it will move around the entrance to Broken Bay and in the next few days will strand itself on a sandbar or beach itself," he said.

"There is a slim chance it might move out to sea… but we can’t predict exactly what might happen."

"It is only one to two months old and would not have been weaned yet from its mother. "

“It can’t be fed, and in fact we wouldn’t know what to feed it."

Helicopters in the area have not yet sighted any other whales but Mr McIntosh said they were hoping later this afternoon it may hook up with another whale or find its mother.

A NSW Department of Environment spokesperson urged the public to stay away from the young whale.

The annual whale migration season is underway and several have been spotted off Sydney beaches in recent days.

Humpbacks breed every one to three years, with a gestation period lasting up to 12 months.

Scientists believe the mammals can live up to 80 years.