60th Birthday party

2 WEEKS PRIOR

Was feeling spaced out. Alone. It was weird having like to do it all on my own. From concept to implementation but at the same time locked up doing nothing. Ben Webb came to the rescue and we chatted over a coffee and put together a plan. 

At that stage I think we had about 20RSVPs.  Added a few people we knew would be there and settled on planning on 40.

Peter Hayes from Centenary rowing swung past and by happenchance had 5 tables and a few chairs that he dropped off.   This was lucky because we did hire some tables but they were pretty scungy. 

THURSDAY EVENING

Totted up the RSVPs and we were pushing 90.  Little panic.  It's a small house with only one toilet.

FRIDAY

 Sanity check at rowing Friday morning and a couple of star pickets and a tarp were suggested. In the end,  ducked off and picked up a porta loo.

Henry and James came over and helped mightily.  We did some more shopping.  Discovered one can not buy plastic glasses anymore. Got paper. Unfortunately no real tech progress in that area so they go soggy.

Friday night - fish and chips at James' airbnb. AC non functional.

SATURDAY 

SUNDAY 

Early- observed we had 16 RSVPs for the family lunch. Only 12 places booked. 

7:30am coaching at Centenary. 2 kids in a double. 

9:30 called the regatta. Computers down.  Asked to call back in an hour. 

Back home and cleaning up. 

10:40 called regatta. Advised all ok.

12:00 Chris and I shared a car,  collected Jemma and onto the regatta for family lunch. 

1 Lewis & 2 Clare

60th speech

Thank you all for coming tonight. Really great to see you here. There are people from many facets of my life and I appreciate everything you've done for me. 60 years. Wow.

Tim & Ro who are effectively my adoptive parents who gave me a home while I was at uni. Their son Andrew and his wife Catherine. 

I am a bit of a moody emotionall person. Get down a bit from time to time. I was reminded recently that way back when I was 27, Andrew organised a surprise birthday party for me because he recognised I was in a bit of a down patch. Edit: apparently Tim Hills was there. 

In more recent times my divorce hit me hard and I got wonderful support.

Cybele koning for explaining the process. This I think was instrumental in helping Megan and I to reach an amicable agreement.

So there was a bit of a group of families centred on Sherwood Church who I guess had a very awkward path but I'd especially like to thank Cybele's husband Paul, fil & Fiona, Frank horky and Gina and Sean and Erin mawhinny, Daryn & Claire Newman and all their kids for maintaining friendship in a non judgemental way. 

ROWING COMMUNITY

Steve cleasby who recruited me in.

(Story about the Normanby.)

 Jeff Clark who was great support actually especially in the year or so in the lead up. Alan craft and Angus Blackwood amongst many. At Centenary Ros Hall and Peter Hayes who were on the receiving end of many sanity check phone calls. 

B2M MONDAY NIGHT GROUP

Tim Hills for inviting me along to a men's group on Monday nights. Rob, Ian, Aaron, mick, Tom, a couple of Steve's. 

Finally I'd like to thank Ben Webb again can't be here for helping kick the organising into gear by ordering most of the food and drink and just helping me talk through the plan. This flows onto Graham Thomas and finally my brothers and kids. James and Henry helped with the final buying and setting up and Chris taking care of BBQ and Jemma with cocktails. 

Now there's a ton more here than those I've named and please understand I've really appreciated everyone. Not quite sure how that works if someone has just randomly walked in but welcome anyway and enjoy. 

3 things

Three things to be thankful for today:

Got a quote out.

Briefed LH on software integration. 

RV & NC got pcbs out to the fab.

An attempt to look for some good. To counter negative thoughts. 

Although can get some quiet for a bit by writing them here (there or wherever) and also exercise. 

It may be true that, as I was told, you chose to feel depressed. 

I [unfortunately] chew on how there is in reality no forgiveness. Not in marriage.  Not in the church.  Not anywhere. So often discover people consumed by hurt. Incl people in business who feel screwed over.  Mind you the other side of the equation are the screwers.  Unfortunately there is no discrimination between:

Those who knowingly do wrong by or to others.

Those who do wrong unintentionally. 

Those who ostensibly actually don't do wrong but the receiver perceives out as wrong. 

And in all cases as far as I can see there is no forgiveness. 

conversation

Honesty.  Integrity. Truth.

 

 

When asked to help,  don't say "no problem" because that implies you are only doing it because there's no cost v saying it is because you are their friend and want to support them. Say "happy to help".

No blame. Rephrase to take the blame.   Eg I think there maybe a problem here.  Can you help me get to the bottom of this.   Makes a team. 

Don't put self down. 

Don't say you always

https://youtu.be/Q-zuTZuYeCg

Monday night Boys group

Monday night at Dave's place. 

This group that Tim invited me to had been a real lifesaver.  A group who care.  I guess in a way, most of us have our own needs that are met by the group.

m3gan movie

M3gan Megan movie

6:15 at event cinema 2 indooroopilly shopping town.

Smells musty.

Seats don't recline.

I wonder if owners consider that it's more comfortable to stay home?

Movie review:

OK.

Not as good as the Netflix series "better than us".

Bit of a slow start. 

Reasonably good tension build.  

An irrelevant distraction when the doll kills the next door neighbour. 

Ended up with one of those terminator never going to die endings.

Me:

The cinema was pretty empty.  Maybe 20 people. 

I was the Sad old lonely grey haired   bloke at the cinema on his own. 

I guess I've got to get used to this on my own life. But it's hard. Don't know if I ever will. 

I see a lot of people have given this movie 4 or 5 stars but I thought it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been. While it seemed to try to have social comment on all sorts of things - role of parents, people skills, kids growing up and the development of AI, it kind of missed here. It was kind of too obvious. 

SPOILER ALERT

I'll start by saying that I felt the kid, Cady did a great performance.

I felt that the step mum Roboticist Gemma was too much of a naive introverted geek. Like who adopts their sisters kid and brings them home to a house with no toys and then can't even tell a bed time story or simply talk and play with the kid. The doll Megan was great for most of the movie and it does make social comment on the traditional scifi idea that robots have a prime directive that prevents them from harming or at least killing humans. Let's not forget that in reality the vast majority of R&D dollars is going into developing robots to do that. Back to the movie, kind of does note the effect of rushed development and poor software development and of course the same worry that underpined terminator. A the key problem with Megan, changed from protecting the kid to protecting her own survival with a terminator type drawn out ending with the ruminants of her torso dragging it's self along attempting to kill both its creator and the kid it was supposed to protect. Maybe there is a religious social comment there after all. My issue was Megan switched from subtle smart responses to vilent psychopath behaviour and I think that was an attempt by the producers to switch from tension to gore. Gotta have some gore and nothing says gore better than a psychotic doll with a gash in its head. 

Tim and Ro came to dinner

Tonight Tim and Ro came to dinner.  I did Cottage Pie.  Chris joined us.  Magnus right hip has gotten worse.