G-n-L Ganesh and Lauren

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Google Wave

Friday, 27 November 2009

It's the dawn, or perhaps the late morning tea, of the technological age and G has once again proven himself to be committed to technology and innovation. He secured a google wave invitation from his boss and deemed me worthy of it's splendour so I'm now google waving along with everyone else who has been doing it for weeks... He has also managed to secure a secondhand iPhone from a colleague at work who has decided to purchase a super new windows phone so all in all he's having a good week technology-wise.

I'm extremely excited about his iPhone... A mac plus an iPhone leads to enormous potential for green apps... I'm thinking T2T and Green Card! Check out Tree Hugger's guide to the 100 coolest Green Apps for the iPhone.

Well, it's time to press send and see if I really can blog from my wave account...

Well it turns out I can't... Bloggy is currently only working with the Developers Sandbox but stay tuned for more on this.

Labels: google wave, iphone

Learners Permits!!

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

G-n-L now have motorcycle learners permits!! We passed both theoretical and practical riding tests today and we are licenced to learn :-) I'll admit it was touch and go for me there for a while. Apparently you're supposed to have ridden quite a bit before you take the course... Mid way through the course the instructor told me I was hopeless and was going to fail, but I improved quickly after his words of caution and managed to complete the entire test without a single mistake. Ganesh was fine of course - he was strong all day and received glowing praise from the instructor, but we were expecting that! Another step towards my 43things goal of "Obtaining a motorcycle licence" :-)

Labels: learners permit, motorcycle

Mini-Adventure 6 Recap: Kathmandu Maximum Adventure

Saturday, 14 November 2009

Outdoor sports and activities that get me out into the bush are a welcome change from city life so I signed team 'genloz' up for our first adventure series race through Kathmandu Maximum Adventure. The race essentially consists of 28 markers, in this case spread out through Lysterfield Park which you use different means - mountain biking, kayaking, running (or a short swim in once case!) to navigate to.

As it was our first race we weren't trying to come first, just not last! But we were off to a shakey start 5 mins in when, having reached the lake for the initial kayak G decided to change clothes... We waited patiently while all the other kayaks moved off the shore and as we pushed our kayak into the water absolutely last. Fortunately this was short lived. By the start of the first run we'd caught up to larger group at the back and were back in shape!

Our adventure series buddies were Caitlin and Lucy - we seemed to be keeping pace and they were always smiling no matter how hot it got. Both on a gap year over from the US they seemed to be making the most of their time in Australia and certainly looked very athletic and prepared for adventure. All 4 of us found the first stretch of mountain biking the most challenging - though Ganesh was loving it by the end! Mountain biking on small narrow paths through beautiful green bush is amazing fun. What's not fun is the tree crossings. I don't think it had anything to do with my bike and everything to do with me but on the whole day I think I only managed 5 successful log jumps - every other time I just fell off the bike! It's harder than it looks... Because I was looking at my pedals in that first stretch rather than at the road we overshot the elusive marker no. 9... Whoops!

There were a few quite serious looking injuries people had sustained on the course - gravel burns from coming off the mountain bikes - but I was so impressed that people continued on through the entire course anyway... obviously a tough and determined group.

The final kayak was quite tiring but I'm proud to say we finished the 35km course by lunch time, a little tired but very proud!

Labels: bike, mini-adventure

Which electorate are you in?

Thursday, 5 November 2009

Someone asked me recently which electorate I was in, and the answer completely eluded me! Despite my aversion to much of politics there really is no excuse for political ignorance... I admit I usually catch up with details around election time and anytime there's a pressing climate change issue (like Copenhagen!)... but I've decided to do a bit of research about my electorate, which happens to be Ivanhoe. There are over 37 000 voters in my electorate - that would require at least 100 door knocks a day for a year if I was going to visit everyone to discuss voting green in the next election. A rather sobering thought! Though I am impressed that so many candidates door knocked the neighbourhood when I lived in Malvern - a mammoth task.

Craig Landon is evidently the man of the moment, but not just the moment - the last 13 years! He stormed the 2006 election with a 60%/40% result. I guess this is a pretty safe Labor seat... though I was thrilled to discover that an independent has previously held the seat of Ivanhoe (it was in the 40s though). Craig appears to have completed high school in the area, but never attended university, going straight to work as a bank officer. He has been caught up in a number of scandals, including being accused of having a secret gay lover, inappropriate political conduct including pressuring prospective mayoral candidates to drop defamation suits against him and he has even been accused of trying to run over a councillor's son!

Most of his previous major projects have revolved around the Austin hospital and development of police labs, court houses and schools, with future and current projects all falling under the same pattern. In fact, to date he has not been involved in a green project at all. Very disappointing. I think I'll have to organise a meeting with this fellow - it's time to take on the challenge of the Australian Conversation Foundation and ask him to be accountable for climate action!

I'm really glad I undertook this fact finding mission - though extremely disappointed to find out what sort of leader we actually have in here in Ivanhoe.

Labels: electorate, politics, self improvements

Motorcycle chic

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

I've never really been much of a 'biker chic'... Not quite rebellious enough or coordinated enough I suppose! Especially after the unfortunate incident of injuring my leg in thailand after crashing a hired scooter in the curb and requiring daily dressing changes for the rest of the trip. I have always been a fan of being driven around on a motorcycle though - the fresh wind, the high speeds, the feeling of freedom... Incredible! And of course it's impossible to deny the environmental benefits of single person transport over large cars... so when Ganesh finally decided to purchase a motorcycle (after weeks of discussion) I was actually thrilled. I finally had a chance to learn to drive properly!

Unfortunately my enthusiasm was short lived when I excitedly told my boss at work that I was to be a 'biker chic'... He was thrilled for a moment until he found out that I really don't know anything about bikes... "But you're a technical person" he cried in despair... So I've downloaded the equivalent of "The idiot's guide to motorcycles" and I'm all set to read up. If I'm going to be a biker chic, I'm going to do it properly!

Here's to the future of g-n-l biking!!

Labels: motorcycle

The Spice of Life

Yum! I think I have a new favourite restaurant... We went out to the Moroccan Soup Bar last Saturday with a few friends for an absolutely delicious 3 course moroccan meal... One of my new favourite foods is the Moroccan Chickpea/Yoghurt Bake - one of the 7! main course dishes brought out for the 5 of us ~ and all for $20 each. The restaurant inspired me to take on a challenge... Cook all the recipes from a cook book - a Moroccan cook book! I'm going to master the art one recipe at a time, and of course have officially added this goal to my list of 43 things.

I'm actually quite excited today because I've come closer to finishing all my outside-work work than ever before.... Only 2 items remain on the list... and of course there are 3 new potential clients/jobs sitting in my inbox but it's exciting all the same. This has been hanging over my head for quite some time and I've been desperately trying to catch up... and now it's almost happened!! :-) Nothing like a day off work to get ahead (thank-you Melbourne Cup Day)...

I'm thinking my next restaurant to try will be the Wild Yak... Momos here I come :-)

Labels: moroccan soup bar, recipes, self improvements