Slowly getting it right at crickert

After a terrific season with the bat in the UK I returned to Sydney cricket with a knowledge that conditions may not suit me quite so well as they did in the UK. The tamer bowling in London, combined with less bouncy pitches suit my batting style.

My efforts at GWRCC for 2007 were 212 runs @ 35.33, ending up eighth for the club for those who had batted a minimum of 7 innings.

Now in Sydney after four batting efforts I have a total of 14 runs. But things are starting to come together. With a bit more concentration and effort over the coming matches I should start to score alot more runs.

But in spite of my efforts with the bat the team is looking good. We recorded another win this weekend, which gives us four on the trot, and play the comp leaders next weekend.

My holiday is over

The last time I was officially employed was early to mid July. That was in the UK. Since then, we have packed up our lives, toured part of the midwest USA and headed home. We have also caught up with family and friends here in Australia.

Now, I start work.

Since the false start of almost a month ago I have worked hard to find another job quickly. And now I start on Monday for a leading IT distributor here in Sydney. It should be a great role, focusing on marketing the products of one of their key vendor partners.

It is going to be a little strange getting up Monday morning to head into work for the first time in ages but I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into it and I am sure Natalie will be pleased to see me productive again - though I should point out that we may have a slightly different opinion of productivity where high scores on the Nintendo Wii are concerned. :)

A win? Not so fast!

What a crazy way to finish a college football game!

A job? Not so fast!

Last week I wrote about how I had a new job lined up to start in early November. That was before I got a phone call on Friday to say that the company, due to some unforeseen circumstances, was pulling the offer from the table and leaving me unemployed again!

Crazy!

I am going to get a severance payout, which is nice, but I am now in the position of having missed out on another job because I chose this one instead. So it is back to square one for me.

D'oh!

Feathered Friends

Since we moved into our apartment in August we have been lucky enough to have rainbow lorikeets visit us on our balcony. We have bought special food to feed them. They are nectar eaters so they don't eat seeds. The only problem are the Indian minar birds which want to get to the food first!

Houses

Natalie and I have taken the opportunity to look at houses in the area which are for sale. This gives us an idea of what we might need/want to spend once we are ready to buy.

We certainly have a few choices in terms of the style of place we can buy, as well as options such as buying a block of land and building on it.

Natalie had Monday and Tuesday off - flexi days - and so we were able to take a trip out to Kellyville to look at HomeWorld, more for a bit of fun than serious research on houses to build. But it gave us more ideas on what we like and don't like which I think will be helpful down the track.

A job!

I now have a job, though I haven't started it yet. I will be working in the IT hardware side of things, a bit different from what I have been doing for the past eight years - software.

Also the target market of this product is consumers rather than business, so that will be a challenge for me too. But I really like the feel of the company and there are opportunities to be had in the market in which I will be working, which is personal GPS devices.

I received the job offer a couple of weeks back but because of various senior people at the company being away on business and leave the company has decided not to start me until there is someone available to show me around. I just want to sink my teeth into the role. I haven't been at work since July and am itching to get going again. Still, it is nice to be able to relax knowing I have a job rather than worrying about trying to find one.

Down with a fight

Natalie and I went out to Penrith for the last game of the season for the NRL.

There were a number of players moving on so it was good to see them play for the Panthers for the last time.

For a while tonight it seemed like Penrith were going to win another game and avoid the wooden spoon. However, the opposition - NZ Warriors - were too good for a Penrith side who seemed to switch off mentally just before half time.

We had great seats and were able to sit with our friends, Stu and Rachael. The four of us made plenty of noise and were able to turn around and get the reaction from the Panthers' coaching staff whose box was only a few rows behind us.

So while we lost tonight it was great to be back at a Panthers' game and hopefully things will improve in time for next season and we can enjoy future trips to Penrith a little more.

Go the Mighty Panthers

It has been a bit of a 'dud' year for the Penrith Panthers this year. For much of the year they have been down the bottom of the ladder. But since our return home they have won a few games and look like avoiding the wooden spoon.

So we are getting out to the last game of the season to cheer the Panthers on. Looks like we will also have some great seats to watch the game from, so that will be great too.

Gardening

Who said you couldn't have a vegie patch in an apartment?

We have two large tubs with four tomato plants and some herbs. The Parsley appears to be doing well, the spring onion not so good. But all in all it looks like we will have some home-grown vegies in about two months' time.

Settling in and tidying up

The weather of late in Sydney has been terrific. In fact it has been more like summer than anything we experienced in England in the lead up to our departure. I just wonder what it will be like when summer comes along for real.

I am still jobless, but things seem to be progressing slowly. Overall there seems to be plenty of jobs in the marketplace though there isn't as much as I had hoped in marketing in IT.

However, that has given me the chance to do some sorting. You see, when we left Australia three years ago we kind of just left everything and didn't do much sorting out, especially of my stuff. SO that is what I have been doing. Going through old paperwork, books, odds and ends, and getting rid of stuff we don't need.

Some of it is going to the garbage, other things are going to charity.

Home again

Natalie and I have been home for about two and a half weeks. It has been a crazy time for us, hence the lack of writing here. We have now moved into a place of our own and have organised the purchase of a car. We have sorted some things out (though there is alot of things to go - at least for me).

Natalie started her job today and I am busy looking. I have had a few appointments and have more to come.

We really enjoyed our time in the US on the way back from the UK. We had lots of fun in Nebraska, seeing Lincoln and the surrounding areas and catching up with the Wackers.

Anyway, that's all I have time to talk about right now.

More soon I hope.

Flying the friendly skies?

Natalie and I are at the airport waiting for our flight.

We are flying with United Airlines. I have been flying with them for several years and am a member of their frequent flyer program. I know that for many years United's motto has been 'fly the friendly skies' but based on our experience this morning that has been firmly booted into oblivion.

Firstly, we HAD to use self service check-in. This was tedious and hardly the efficient service they make it out to be. They asked for info we had ALREADY provided.

Next was the bag drop. One of my bags was 3kg over their limit of 23kgs. But my other bag was 3kgs under. Instead of recognising this averaged out to the correct weight we had to rearrange things in my bag. The alternative was to be charged for the excessive weight. Crazy! Especially when you consider Natalie weighs between one third and one half of the average American. I am hoping that United prove to be more friendly between here and Sydney.

This is London calling

Well, we have made it, almost.

Today has been the final day of our stay in the UK.

Natalie and I have been packing and tidying up in preparation to move out of our place in London and hop on the plane tomorrow morning.

Packing and tidying up isn't a big headache. The biggest problem we have faced is trying make sure our bags are under weight for the trip home. Even though we are going via the USA and therefore allowed to take 2 checked items weighing 23kgs each, we have filled that very quickly! It is a drama. Actually getting things disconnected and final bills sorted out has been slightly painful but no worse than expected.

But what an adventure! Next stop, Lincoln, Nebraska, where the weather is very warm - mid 30s!

There are going to be aspects of life over here that we miss but we are both very much looking forward to returning home to our family and friends in Australia.

And so we say to this old land, "Toodle-ooh!... Au revoir!... Auf Wiedersehen!... Ciao!"

Going out on top

Last Saturday saw my last game of cricket here in the UK. What a difference it was compared to my first game.

We won the toss and batted on a pitch which the locals said was a little unpredictable but looked pretty tame. The opposition bowling was, for the most part, lacklustre and we made 5 for 294, declared after 35 overs. I was lucky enough to be at the crease when a good friend of mine scored his 100. That was memorable. I fell a little short of 50, making 43. My season has finished with 212 runs at an average of about 30.

We made early breakthroughs in the opposition innings, including a run-out whereby I hit the base of leg stump from a throw from a deepish square leg. My view was obscured by the square leg umpire and so I wondered why my team mates were so excited.

I also picked up a second run out mid-way through the innings. By that time the opposition were playing for a draw. Very boring but we were slowly making progress.

Finally, with just a few overs remaining and two wickets to get I took a catch at a shortish square leg. Our spinner had bowled a loosish ball which the batsman pulled well to go past me. I got my hand to it but it ballooned up forcing me to take a diving catch to recover.

In the end we got their skipper who hand fought most of the afternoon for the draw.

Probably my finest effort in the field over here and I am really pleased as I have had some rubbish form in the fielding while over here but know what I am capable of.

The countdown is on!

The preparation for our London departure is well and truly on.

We have sold our car, along with numerous other items: the TV, DVD player, coffee maker, pots and pans, amongst other things.

We had a BBQ with some friends yesterday as well. The rain held off for most of the day and we even got a round of golf in before dark.

While we have been slowly cleaning the house one of the biggest jobs has been undertaken today: carpet cleaning. We hired a machine and walked it home about a mile from the shop.

There is something to be said about people who put light-coloured carpet in rental properties: dork!

But the job is going well and the carpet is drying nicely.

In three days time we'll almost be in America and on our way home.

An Alpine Hike

When Natalie and I were in Zermatt last month we did a hike one day up the lower reaches of the Matterhorn mountain. The Hike, which you can see at the Zermatt website (trail 29 up - yellow and red - and trail 28 - pink- down) saw us travel from the altitude of Zermatt of 1,620 metres to Schwarzee Paradise at 2,583 metres.

We went up via the small villages of Zmutt and Stafelalp and then came down via Furi. Below are various photos we took throughout the hike.

Much of our hike, as you will see, was above the tree line and we had to work our way through several hundred metres of unmelted snow just before we got to the top of our hike - Schwarzee Paradise.

During much of hike we saw few other people because the ski runs were closed and the cable car up to Schwarzee Paradise was closed.


That way!: Finding our way through Zmutt, a small village just up the hill from Zermatt.


Village life: Little ski villages such as Stafelalp are tucked away and you come across them very quickly on your hikes.


Flowers: With the weather being warm it prompted the flora to bloom and we saw all sorts of interesting flowers during our hike.


More flowers: High up, above the tree-line we came across this waxy, white flower, Lots of them! It's not Edelweiss though.


Lunch with a view: It was a great place to have lunch. We could have been the only people in the world at that stage. We had seen one other couple just before we stopped for lunch. They had turned around before they got to Schwarzee Paradise because of the snow.


Sheep: We started our trip down from Schwarzee Paradise and almost immediately came across these sheep roaming the side of the hill.


Streaming: Hiking up and down the lower parts of the Matterhorn we were able to collect drinking water from streams such as this one, caused by the melting snow.

washed out

Hmmm.

I am looking outside at blue sky but have just received word from my skipper that tomorrow's cricket game has been 'washed out'. The groundsman has apparently taken the decision to close the ground.

It is frustrating but will give me the chance to do a few other things which I need to do.

Water Polo

While our cricket might simply be washed out on Saturday it wont be drowned out as it is in Worcestershire.

More can be found at the BBC news site.

Cricket

It has been good to get into cricket this year after last season's early efforts.

Having now played six games I have had one 'not out' and five other innings for a total of 150 runs. This is quite good for me and I am really enjoying my cricket.

I was a little sore after the latest game. The batsmen kept hitting half chances in my general direction. I did lots of diving around and only had muddy trousers and sore muscles as a result - no catches.

The big question for this week is whether we will get a game in as the weather has been very poor lately and we were lucky to complete our game last week. The weather went around us. However, this week's weather forecast is looking worse.

Job Hunting

While Natalie has a job lined up when we return to Sydney I am now in the process of looking for work.

At this stage I hope to stay in the IT industry, working in marketing. I have been enjoying what I am doing. While it has its moments, like any type of job, it is an exciting industry to be in, especially when you are with a young company.

So if you know of an IT company in Sydney looking for a marketing manager point them in my direction, please. :)

Home, James

You may have heard some rumours that we are coming home. Well, I am here to tell you that yes, unlike 99% of all rumours, this is one of the 1% you can trust.

We leave London on July 19 and fly via the USA before arriving back in Sydney on July 27. It is very exciting for us and we are looking forward to seeing our friends back home.

Here in London we have already started the process of saying 'goodbye'. It is sad in some ways because we have some really good friends over here who I know we will miss.

My big hope for our return is that the Penrith Panthers learn how to win NRL games between now and then because at this stage the prospect of returning to Penrith Park to watch them get thumped is unappealing. That said, it will be good to watch the game which still holds greater appeal for me than English football.

Tomato

We have a bit of catching up to do around here.

There has been a bit on in our lives lately, so here are the details:

My Mum's Visit
My Mum had to go home early because she tore ligaments in her ankle when she fell down a stair at the train station in Brugge upon her arrival there.

The Cotswolds
We took Neil, Holly and my Mum up to the Cotswolds in the first weekend of June. We had great weather and we ventured onto Bath on the Sunday. Bath was a very short visit because really, unless you want to spend hours wandering the streets or staring vaguely at the Roman baths there doesn't seem to be a lot to look at. Oh yes, Jane Austen lived there. But really, why get so excited about the life of the precursor to Barbara Cartland?

Wicked
Natalie and I saw 'Wicked' the musical on Wednesday night. It was a terrific show. I didn't quite get so excited by the music, but the story was good, the acting very good and the lighting and special effects were awesome.

Back in London

After an amazing ten day trip around Switzerland and Paris we are back in London.

While the weather in Paris wasn't as good as what we experienced in Switzerland it was far better than what London received for the long weekend - a deluge!

Despite the on and off weather we got to see the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées, Notre Dame Cathedral and more. We also got to catch up with our friends, Wolfgang and Connie, over dinner at a nice Parisian restaurant.

Now we are settling back into work, but with more trips to come.

Alpine travels

For just over a week Natalie and I have been travelling around Switzerland. Accompanying us on this trip has been my Mother, who is visiting us for a little while.

It has been a busy but fun trip with every day rewarding us with fantastic weather and terrific scenery.

Switzerland is a beautiful country with an amazing landscape. We started in Geneva and Montreux (also on the lake) and then moved into the magnificent Alps: Interlaken and Zermatt before moving on to Lucerne and Bern.

Now we are on our last leg of the journey: a couple of days in Paris before returning to London.

welcome back here...

Cricket season kicked off last weekend (hang on, what game are we playing...?) with a warm up game in north London.

It was good to be out in the sun on a very pleasant Saturday afternoon, though now I am a little worse for wear.

I am pleased to say that my season has started far better this year compared to last year's efforts. While I am a little sore from over using muscles I hadn't much used lately, I have no injuries.

We batted first and I got to spend quite a bit of time in the middle while magaing to score 66 not out out of our side's 4 for 262. I also picked up a wicket bowling late in the opposition's innings.

Next week we venture to where it all happened last year in our final warm up game before the season proper begins. And while I will be a little nervous I know my finger is much better and I will be keen to put the events of last May behind me once and for all.

Something Wicked this way comes

We recently booked tickets to 'Wicked' - a new musical in London. We will be going to see it in June. Wicked is the untold story of the witches of Oz. I am really looking forward to seeing it as I have heard good things about the show.

Easter in the country

With brilliant sunny spring weather across southern England over Easter, we timed our rural retreat well.

Natalie and I, along with Natalie's sister Holly, went down to Somerset on Friday afternoon and stayed at a B&B on a dairy farm on the border with Dorset.

The farmhouse sits on the top of a hill with uninterrupted views for miles. We will post some photos soon.

While on the farm we walked around the paddocks, watched the cows being milked - with explanations of the process as it went along. The farm has about 230 cows, some chickens, ducks and guinea fowl.

Aside from the farm, we ventured to the coast, visiting Bridgport, Lyme Regis and West Bay.

The time spent lazing around the area was a welcome change from the hustle of London and I think we were all a little disappointed that we had to head back.

Natalie still sick

About a week and a half ago, Natalie started developing flu-like symptoms and sure enough came down with a nasty cold. But unfortunately it has badly knocked her around. Attemptes to get back to work last week lasted an hour before Natalie had to either go home or was sent home by her employer. It seems to be similar to something I had in early to mid-March.

I had a cold for about 36 hours and then took another week or so to actually get over the illness. This particular virus really does seem to drain you of your energy. And Natalie and I are not the only people who have been hit hard by this bug. I have heard of others who have taken two weeks to get over it.

Natalie saw the doctor yesterday who confirmed that her being rundwon was nothing more than the results of the virus and gave her a doctors certificate for the rest fo the week. So she will continue to recover, hopefully, and will be fine by Easter.

Spring is Sprung

Our garden has signaled the arrival of spring weather with the blooming of the tulips.

Last year we had just a few flowers come through, but with the wetter winter and improved soil the tulips have greatly increased this year. Below are photos of some of the show they are putting on for us at present.

Warmer weather

The weather has turned bright and warm over the last few days.

Last weekend was great just to sit out in the backyard in the warm sunshine while earlier this week I had to go for a walk at lunchtime the day was so bright and clear and the sun so lovely and warm. Yesterday got up to 15 degrees.

But while spring has signaled its welcomed arrival unfortunately we are still in for a touch of winter early next week. Hopefully it wont be too long.

Bring on the warmth!

Stomp

Last Friday was the birthday of Holly, Natalie's sister.

To celebrate we went into the city and saw 'Stomp'. It is percussion performed on stage using unusual everyday items including brooms, 44 gallon drums, bins, and more. It is hard to really describe but you can learn more about Stomp through its official site.

I really enjoyed it. There was some great interaction with the audience as well which made it more than just a performance. But while the performers got the audience involved they spoke not a word. Everything was done through their percussion playing.

We saw Johnny... get injured

Last Saturday Natalie and I visited our good friend Jo, who lives out at Reading. As part of our visit we all went along to watch London Irish play the Newcastle Falcons in the local rugby competition. The Newcastle team featured former Wallaby, Matthew Burke and Wallaby nemesis, Johnny Wilkinson. There were also several other England representatives in the two sides.

Unfortunately Burkey didn't play his best and lo-and-behold Johnny Wilkinson got injured (which seems to be all he can do since he single-handedly won the last Rugby World Cup for England.

There was some good rugby played though the game overall wasn't great, with the Irish always looking like comfortable winners.

But that didn't spoil it. It was a fine, sunny day and the stadium was nice and the company even better.

A right royal treat

Towards the end of February I treated Natalie to a night out in London. We had thought about getting away but the hassles of traveling on a Friday night and then returning Sunday meant that we wanted to stay local.

So I found a really good deal at a 5-star hotel in central London. We were treated to a champagne breakfast on the Saturday morning (with far too much food for Natalie and I to consume) but not before having nice chocolates, a dozen red roses and champagne waiting for us in our room when we arrived.

We had a great dinner also at a restaurant called Rhodes W1. It is a funky environment but the food is great.

Pictures soon...

Winter Wonderland

Images of the snow in London and High Wycombe. Up to 10 cm fell in the space of 6 hours last Thursday morning.

Weather Update

The weather has come.

The snow was quite deep this morning in our street, with the accumulation on the ground close to what was predicted (5cm or so).

I will put up some photos later today once I get back from work.

Traffic wise, everyone on my trip was pretty well behaved and the roads for the most part were pretty good. The small streets near our place had obviously not been cleared so it was a little fun at times.

It's 9am and the snow continues to fall quite steadily in High Wycombe. Since my arrival about 45 minutes ago it has been quite heavy at times. I would truly love to spend alot more time outside playing in the snow, as the children were doing with their parents out on the golf course behind our place this morning. Unfortunately, work calls. Maybe at lunchtime!

Blizzard?

The forecast for London for tomorrow is for heavy snow in the morning, especially in the lead up to rush. It could be very interesting getting to work.

The other week when we had a small amount of snow there were quite a few disruptions to public transport and the roads. If the forecasters are right and this is the biggest dump of snow London has seen in about seven years things could get ugly.

Guess we will know in less than 24 hours time.

Beer Goggles explained

It's good to see the Manchester University answering the big questions which keep us awake at night.

Researchers have come up with a formula which explains the effect of 'beer goggles'.

Soccer: Australia v Denmark

Oh those Socceroos.

Now I know what it feels like to be a Tottenham fan! (Ouch!) Watching them play is wonderful fun as long as you don't care if they win or lose.

Last night we went along to Loftus Road and watched Australia play Denmark in an 'international friendly'. This was always going to be a tough game against a quality opponent but it was made harder by the withdrawal of a number of players through injury or personal reasons.

No matter, there was hope for Australia, thanks to the likes of Aloisi and Cahill in our starting line up.

Australia did look impressive every time they attacked in the first half. Patience and probing runs made great in-roads into the Danish defence. However on no occasion could Australia convert without the linesman ruling against them. The mainly Australian crowd was unforgiving towards the officials for the continual lack of reward.

However, despite Australia's classup one end, they looked horribly outplayed when the Danes attacked our goal. The Australian keeper earnt the nickname 'cut-out keeper' with suggestions that a cardboard cut out of Schwarzer may have been as effective.

The defence seemed to have similar problems to what it faced against Ghana in November. Sadly they allowed attacking players plenty of room and left some unmarked until it was almost too late to do anything. Unlike Ghana, however, Denmark have the attacking options in which to make Australia pay for their sloppiness.

3-1 in favour of Denmark was probably a fair assessment of the game. Australia certainly didn't deserve to go home empty handed but Denmark made far more of their opportunities than we did.

If I had to choose one Australian player as best on pitch, it would probably be Aloisi. He played more than three-quarters of the game and never gave up trying throughout. He was involved in many of Australia's best chances.

Cricket Training

Here in England the cricket season has already commenced, in a way.

In early January our cricket training started and so I have been batting and bowling for four weeks now.

Usually in the lead up to cricket season in Sydney we get about four or five practices before the competition season starts. In that time you really only are able to get yourself back up to speed and that is all. Here in London we still have almost three months before the competition season begins. So this is giving me plenty of time to work on aspects of my batting and bowling.

Already, I am seeing an improvement and I am hoping this will continue throughout the coming weeks. The only thing now is to make sure I don't get injured.

All wear bowlers

Last night Natalie and I went off to the theatre.

I saw a review for a small theatrical production at the London Barbican centre recently and decided it looked like fun. The show is titled 'All wear Bowlers' and is the story of two silent movie characters who escape of the screen and end up in front of the audience in real life. The two characters are at first confused then scared and then try to plan an escape, without much success.

The show consists of alot of magic-style tricks and slapstick, including eggs which seem to continually appear out of nowhere.

It is amazing to watch two performers (that is the entire cast) go for 70 minutes. It must be draining and they are amazing to watch.

It was alot of fun and Natalie and I both agreed a good find. On the link above you can watch film of some of the antics the two performers get up to.

Snow Fun!

Overnight winter truly arrived. It was only a month late!

The last few days have seen the weather cool to true London winter temperatures. We have seen days of top temperatures below five degrees centigrade and overnight temperatures below zero.

A clear night eventually gave way to cloud and this morning we awoke to the most snow we have seen since we arrived in London.

Before driving to work I dusted off about two centimetres of snow from our car. And while the local streets were a little tricky once I got on the main road there was little trouble.

That was virtually all the snow we have seen since. While at work I saw one brief snow shower but it was bright and sunny for much of the day.

Overnight there may be more snow but the forecast is for south-eastern London to receive most of that. We will see.

Off to work: Natalie walks down the street in the snow this morning.

Proposed changes for the next Ashes series

There are suggestions that there should be a handicapping system for the next Ashes series so that England can be competitive. Some of the suggestions include:

• All Australian batsmen have to bat in the opposite way to their normal batting. Eg. Right-handed batmen bat left-handed.
  
• While England are fielding, the one bounce, one hand rule will apply.
  
• In a move to particularly target the likes of Andrew Symonds, during Australian innings’ the “six and out” rule will apply.
  
• Australia will be limited to bowling their ‘real’ bowlers to 20 overs an innings. The rest of the innings will be bowled by either:


• A bowling machine


• The wicket keeper


• The Australian batsmen


• Billy Bowden


• Billy Lawry’s pigeons


• England will start each of their innings with a score of 100.