G-n-L Ganesh and Lauren

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Update on the 3 week challenge

Saturday, 24 October 2009

In the midst of recent excitement - Riding Around the Bay in a Day (the 100km challenge was a fabulous success), Ganesh's return from home and today's exciting 350.org protest - what do we want, climate action! When do we want it? NOW! - I have neglected to update you on the results of the 3 weeks to a better life challenge.

Health & fitness: I feel fitter and stronger - Around the Bay in a Day, Ride to Work day and other bicycle adventures are testimony to that. Moreover I now have no fear of hills! Even the steep steep hill near the Austin hospital! I haven't lost much weight though - just 1kg overall - but my diet has improved as well and I feel much healthier so I count this as a success!
Ideas & Business: Well the ideas side is certainly strong, however hiring is obviously a weak point of mine. No matter who I seem to hire, they are never as committed and seem never to be as skilled as if I just did the work myself. Unfortunately I don't have much time to do everything so I need to improve. I've already attempted to hire 3 separate people for trash2treasure.com - all unsuccessful! Clients are abundant though and new jobs are coming in for ecoIT which is positive.
Household Improvements: A big tick of approval. The home improvements look great - exactly as I anticipated! And there are lots more projects on the list to keep me busy.
Relationships: Mixed results here, but overall I've improved in my ability to be open, to converse with a range of people and to care more about the people I'm close to. Further work is required but I'm pleased by the progress made just by being more open to opportunities.

So you really can turn things around in a mere 3 weeks!

Labels: 350.org, climate change, new years resolutions

Mini-Adventure 5 Recap: Around the Bay in a Day

Sunday, 18 October 2009

Riding Around the Bay in a Day is actually one of the achievements I'm more proud of this year... Of course we only went 100kms but we did go riding each weekend beforehand to slowly build up a level of fitness that would get us up the hills in Mt Martha! Not only did we build up a good level of 'bike fitness', but we also learnt useful tricks like how to remove bike pedals... the type of alan keys required to turn handle bars parallel to the frame... and the best place to park in the city at 4am on a Sunday morning!

We were off to an early start, and there was a long queue of riders waiting to pack bikes onto trucks and load into the buses to head down to Sorrento... The atmosphere was great though, everyone helping each other to prepare bikes for the trip. 15000 riders participated - that's a logistical nightmare in a city with only 4 24-hour car parks! We arrived a little late in Sorrento, and sadly missed the 8am grand start but we made good time over the first 20km to Dromana for a quick bite of breakkie and some water. The second leg to Frankston was the longest and included all of the hills but we were still hyped on race day excitement so we pressed on after a quick orange stop.

I have to say the 70km point was the worst... My bottom started to hurt... I began to feel my muscles and my wrists were feeling the pressure of the tight grip over the bumps in the road... But a short stop for lunch completely revived us and the last leg of the journey began... We'd done this part of the ride before so it was a smooth run into the city, though it slowed near south melbourne as we began to run into multiple traffic lights and cars. We completed the ride at around 2pm, approximately 5 hours after we'd started... and though tired, I was entirely proud and excited to try for the full distance in 2010!

Labels: around the bay in a day, bike, mini-adventure

Jonathan Creek Returns

Monday, 12 October 2009

For those who don't know, I'm a committed Jonathan Creek fan... So committed in fact that I considered writing a script just to cut out the majority of the work so it would be filmed again! (Each episode takes approximately 6 months to write)... But, my time (and perhaps the general public!) were saved when the screenwriters decided to bring Jonathan Creek back to tv!!! Last night the movie length episode, The Grinning Man, aired on ABC 1... and rumours are already circulating about another movie length episode to be aired in 2010! I knew next year was going to be a good one ;-)

The episode got off to a good start... though both Maddy and Carla were sorely missed... Adam's move from stage to tv seemed to be in character, but the 3d porn and the snow white lady were a bit tasteless for a traditional Jonathan Creek episode... The mystery was good, but not quite as precise as previous episodes... Of course, I'm not complaining in the slightest! I love having Jonathan Creek back on tv and I hope the series will one day return...

I think what makes Jonathan Creek such a good watch is the blend of humour and mystery... and the fact that Jonathan himself is essentially a good person in an increasingly bad world. His sure sense of right and wrong combined with his nerdy competence at solving crimes make him one of the best characters on tv!

For those who've missed it I have, of course, pre ordered the dvd (out on oct 19th) so you are more than welcome to borrow it (or the rest of the collection!)...

And to my friends who've put up with my excited babbling all week, it must be a relief that it's finally over!

Labels: jonathan creek

Honesty and a Week 2 recap

Sunday, 11 October 2009

Week 2 of the "3 weeks to a better life" plan has been more of a spiritual quest than a physical transformation - though I did finally manage to lose 1kg! Yay!

I think it's all about being open to ideas... to share more of oneself and to be honest about everything! When dinner with Catherine turned into a surprise game of competitive netball (filling in for some missing team mates) - I had a blast! :-) and despite not being very good at netball anymore the subsequent bbq invitation was a welcome change... It turns out that a saturday night spent with chemical engineers (all with phds!) is actually rather entertaining :-)

I also took a conversation class run by a rather inspiring lady, Jacqueline Wise, who clawed her way back from a complete mental breakdown in South Africa (where she couldn't even buy tissues at the shops) to become a world renowned conversationalist and counsellor (though with a terrible memory from the electric shock treatment she received)... I found her honesty refreshing... she's 62... divorced... her house is worth a fortune now, though she bought it when it was worth nothing... etc etc... It made me wonder why I've ever been embarrassed about my age... or my skill levels... or what I have or haven't done... No one can be perfect... and it's actually quite selfish to be shy and nervous and anxious. It made me feel much better about instigating conversations in the streets. I had quite a good chat with the mechanic about the bulbs in cars and how it all works together and how to change them...

I made a small amount of progress with household improvements, though Dad and I hit a major road block with the study shelves - apparently the entire wall is a mess of pipes, electrical cables and indented bathroom shelving... I have high hopes for my steel road through the brackets suggestion but Dad thinks it's too much of a technical challenge... he's off to Darwin this week anyway to get some sun and run a lab up there for a week - funnily enough he's considering a permanent move while Will is still young... (and yes, the rumours are true - I really saw him crawl!)...

Overall a positive and productive week!

Labels: home improvements, honesty, new years resolutions

Yaaaaaawwwwwwwnnnnnnnnn

Thursday, 1 October 2009

I would have to say the most unexpected side effect of trying to lead a better life is exhaustion! I've been crashing around 11pm-12pm and flirting with the idea of a sick day every single morning at 6am just for a few more hours of peaceful slumber! I'm sure I didn't always need so much sleep... what happened to all nighters spent coding for my old workplace?

So how has it all been going? Well Sunday was off to a good start with an 84.6km bike ride on the brand new Merida (picture here!). It really is a dream to ride, I feel like I'm floating along an ideal theoretical frictionless surface... The exercise bike has been getting a workout, but not every single day... Last night I got home from a friend's at 11pm and just fell asleep after the normal household duties, so I'm glad I held off on the gym membership! I did cook up the vat of veggie soup and have been diligently eating it for lunch in the lunch room every single day... combined with lots of fruit and cups of tea it's getting me through 'til dinner when I'm either out (mum's, grace's, ikea etc) or I end up having a mug of hot chocolate and a couple of oranges. This entire process has had absolutely no beneficial effect on my weight whatsoever... Disappointing! In fact, I appear to have gained a kilo, but that may be due to digestive troubles.

The projects for the house have definitely made progress... I have most of the materials and just need to polish off the painting before saturday morning... I've even managed to obtain some of the missing '100 best books' from the library to add to my list... I'm still pretty behind for the web work I need to do though... Will keep an eye on that as it should be finished asap...

Just wish there were more waking hours in the day!

Labels: bike, merida