luckycanuck

I had an interview in Sydney for a job that would last for three months and go for two days a week. It would pay a premium because of the odd scheduling, and I would earn in two days not that much less than I earned in Parliament in five days. I'm not really sold on the idea. I think I would rather stay in Canberra for now, especially as my cousin and her family will be staying at the Collaroy Castle for about a month during that time and this would mean living with her, her husband, and her two kids. I like them, but that would have an impact on me.

The funeral last Friday was very well attended. I still don't know what happened to the guy, but I heard that my rugby teammate came home and found him dead. Here was a guy who was ten years older than me, who had everything going for him, and out of nowhere he just died for no apparent reason. I've never worried much about death not being "fair" or questioned why God would take an individual like some people do. Having an important life or lots of friends doesn't really stack up much against the apparent randomness of mortality. I did, however think about what my funeral would look like. It struck me that having spread myself all over many places but never really settling anywhere like most people might mean occasions in different places that would include my various circles of friends.

So thinking of mortality has continued. I had a long chat with Mitzi about my gloom. She was more blunt than most people have been, and I think it might be getting to be time for that. Advice was to get back to therapy, to consider anti-depressants, and to get bothered about getting better. It was an ideal conversation to go along with a post Nepalese food glow and a couple of hours spent taunting her cat with a laser pointer. There were plenty of things said that I know, but that just don't stir me up. I suspect they will though.

It was also a weekend of footy finals, and I spent the whole of Sunday in the Collaroy Castle as it was exceptionally rainy and surprisingly cold. After three days of being busy, footy, drinks with ex-girlfriends, Sunday was a quiet day.

On Monday I turned 34. I had a swim, I visited Minou, I got home well after midnight. It was possibly the most isolated birthday of my life. That doesn't actually bother me. I spent last Christmas Day alone, barely speaking to a single human being all day. It has, however, been appropriate for how I spent the past year.

TW: A delayed birthday workout was based on my age. 34 minutes to do as many pushups as I could. Total:1,286.

I've had three of them in the space of a week, and all of them seemed quite telling. I made a special effort to remember them.

On Wednesday morning I woke up from a dream based on Inglourious Basterds. I was the Bear Jew and another basterd and I had just taken out the guards outside Hitler's cinema box. Before we could charge in and do some Fuhrer shooting, a friend of mine came around the corner with nothing on. She wasn't a Nazi, but she was going to interrupt our plans and I couldn't have that, so I tied her up with some twine that happened to be nearby. She didn't fight back or struggle and I managed to tie her up pretty well but I woke up before we could go in to kill Hitler. Throughout, I had an vengeful attitude, just like the Bear Jew in the movie. I was angry and quite determined to finish my job, killing Hitler and as many Nazis as I could, and bringing down the Third Reich.

On Saturday morning I woke up from a dream that was set in New York. I was visiting a friend of mine where she worked, and afterwards we went to a park where there was some gym equipment. This friend of mine has recently been working out more, and we decided that I would do some personal training and we would work out together. I put together a Crossfit workout that involved pushups, kettlebell swings, and sprints across the park and back. We were about to begin when a tall, drunk guy came by and started harassing her, making suggestive comments and getting quite grabby. She got angry, and so did I. I wound up applying my rugby skills and tackled the guy to the groud before pounding on him Ultimate Fighting style. Again, it was a dream where I was angry and violent.

Last night I had another dream, this time that involved me visiting a new church for the first time. I was in a wistful state and didn't want to talk to anyone. One of the regulars asked me if I was ok, and I said I didn't want to talk about it. Someone next to him asked the same thing and said I was welcome to chat with them, but I pointed out that this would mean talking about it, and that I had already gone on the record as not wanting to do that. Immediately, someone else made a joke about getting me to talk, and I snapped, asked "are you deaf? I said I didn't want to talk about it." Then I got up to leave, aspie stressed beyond my tolerance level. As I was walking out, I started having trouble breathing (much like I did once back at work on a bad day.) I had a panic attack and collapsed on the steps outside. I don't know what I was so wistful about in the first place, but I had noticed that it's been a long time since I went to church. It used to be rare that I would miss a Sunday, but now I rarely attend. I have noticed that my increasing gloom has come at a time when I have been going to church less and less, but I also remember that I stopped going because I so often found myself annoyed and/or frustrated at services.

So there you have it. Three dreams, all of them quite vivid, and all of them unpleasant, or negative, or full of anger and violence.

There was a recovery on the market today, at least there was for me. ARX jumped, and the sell sides of KKT and PVE are virtually non existant so the chance of a surge is there. ALK is looking better every day, and BOW may be getting a better offer than the lowball one. CCV was going to be a worry today, now that Government legislation is threatening a major part of their business (payday loans) and a partial takeover has been abandoned because of the risk associated with the regulatory changes. It did drop about 20% from an already low base, but went no further and recovered almost all that was lost by the end of the day. There is also a very strong buy side and a lot of interest in the stock. I am still down on it, but I was very pleased that it held up as well as it did.

I noticed something today. I've noticed it before, but when it comes to the trading, making a profit is good, but the feeling I get from holding my nerve is better. There has been no panic selling through the recent volatility, and today a lot of things went well because of that. I also contacted VMG again to inquire further about their recent capital raising and got some swift and useful answers, and this afternoon spoke to a former colleague about the proposed changes to payday lending that may impact CCV and the approach the opposition would take towards them. I felt like I was accomplishing something.

Tomorrow I will cut the lawn. Hooray! Also I badgered the internet people into sending someone tomorrow rather than next week. Hooray again!

YW: I started with a deadlift centric circuit, but wound up getting a twinge in my upper back and didn't want to push it. It hasn't come back. The rest of the workout involved a lot of leg work including lots of leg presses up to 202.5kg and bench jump burpees (just what they sound like) and a 1km farmer's walk on the treadmill with 10kg in each hand. I like doing that and will do it again.

I must remind myself to be careful of what I say to myself when working out. The woman on the treadmill next to me wasn't offended when I said through heavy breaths in a gutteral tone "come on baby." I mean I was saying it to myself and she understood that, but not everyone would.

TW: At home, using Esky's ski machine in the garage. AMRAP 20 minutes - ski 10 calories, 10 burpees - 13 rounds + skiing + 4 burpees.

Everyone will be home tomorrow and we should have Helga's room filled by the end of the day. I've spent a fair amount of time chatting with Helga this week. We are the closest in the house and I will miss her when she's gone. She said she was more worried about how I would take it than anyone else in the house. We will be fine, and we will remain friends I'm sure.

This morning a prospective housemate came by and when I led her out into the backyard she closed the door behind her and we were locked out. She felt bad but the whole episode was no problem. We had a good chat and she seems like she would be a good fit for Chez Canuck. She plays the harp for a living which is certainly interesting, though she would be giving lessons in the front room and practicing for a couple of hours every night. Roxy seems fine with that, but Esky sounded a bit more reluctant. We will try to get her back on Thursday so she can meet the others and possibly put any concerns to rest. In the meantime we are getting plenty of other inquiries of varying quality.

After the house tour (during which she didn't get to see the lounge room and the kitchen except through the windows) and a chat she rode her bike alongside me as I walked barefoot to Dickson to pick up a key from the real estate agent. Going places barefoot is something I had never seen much before I came to Australia. I spend a lot of time barefoot in Collaroy where the beach makes it more common and acceptable. Here I wondered if I looked like one of the public housing tenants that frequent the Dickson shops.

TW: Pushups. Lots and lots of pushups. To be specific, 1,000 pushups for time. My time? 25:23.

The market was up today. CCV is in a trading halt while we wait for news, ALK seems to be turning around and is developing a lot of positive buzz, ERA has been steadily rising from recent lows, and best of all, BOW is now trading above the recent takeover offer, which means the buyer will have to come up with a higher offer (and indicates that a lot of people think another offer is out there.) I was happy that a profit was on the cards even with a lowball offer, but now it looks like more is on the cards. This week, I suspect I will be watching the market less intensely.

I got some bad news on Friday evening. The new housemate we had arranged bailed on us to take a place closer to the city, so we are looking again. Over the course of the weekend I think I have managed to arrange someone else who will come by tomorrow morning.

The party conference was on this weekend, and on Friday I stopped by to pick up some things I had left at party HQ and also popped in to the drinks function that kicked off the weekend. It was good to see some people again knowing that I was there entirely by choice. At the drinks and at the dinner on Saturday night (where the food was excellent and plentiful in four courses comprising prosciutto salad, grilled snapper, lamb and ratatouille, and white chocolate pannacotta) plenty of people asked me what I was up to and I mentioned being unemployed and my stocks and possibly going overseas next year given that there is a Government I can work in in Canada and an election in America that could provide some valuable experience. I was told I looked more relaxed than I've looked in quite a while.

I've got sore muscles from some intense workouts over the last three days.

FW: Rowing challenge - 1:34.2 the fastest time of the day. Then "Cindy" - AMRAP 20 minutes - 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 air squats - 28 rounds + pullups + pushups.YW: Legstravaganza. 10 130kg leg press, 10 burpees - 5 rounds - 8:30. 20 openers, 20 closers - 5 rounds - 4:11. 10 80kg deadlifts, 10 bench jumps (with plenty of dizzy feeling after each set of deadlifts) - 5 rounds - 6:54. 1km farmers walk w 10kg in each hand - 9:42. It was about five minutes before my hands felt normal again.

I've had a lot of the music on my laptop on this weekend. A lot of it is music from Canada from the 90s, and the artist I've probably got the most of in my library is Matthew Good. The lyrics often tend to be quite cryptic. Have a listen.

( Click here for Canadian Content )

I got a call from Coffee Snob this morning. She is in Perth for work and asked if I could send her a workout similar to the one I gave her earlier in the week. I did one involving rowing, deadlifts, pushups, and burpees, and again she is quite keen to get on it (though she still got some delayed muscle soreness from the last one.)

I also got a call from Andrew Broad, CEO of the VDM Group. I e-mailed six questions about the capital raising than I am considering yesterday, and today I got a response. The CEO and I chatted for over 15 minutes and he answered every one of the questions I asked in a quitte satisfactory way. Apparently they are soon to announce $60 million in new work, their property sale is going well, all the directors are participating with their own money except for one who legally cannot, and this CEO was until last August one of the higher ups in a company that has done quite well recently (and which I considered investing in.) He was with them a decade ago when they were in dire straits and now they are trading at many multiples of their old value. In that case, within a year they had jumped sevenfold. All in all, it was an impressive phone call. If I am going to participate in this capital raising, I will have to rearrange a few things, but I am now more confident that it is a good idea.

I also had my first foray into margin loans today. I bought shares in ERA, a uranium mining outfit that has recently been hammered and I think oversold. The market on it is showing signs of a turnaround. I'm not getting into margin trading too heavily, and I've put up a lot more security than I needed to using shares I don't plan on selling any time soon so I should be pretty safe from margin calls even if bad things happen.

It struck me today that as my time in Parliament winds down, these things are far more interesting to me than what I actually doing for a living. I wonder if I will end up doing this for a while.

The Convicts are in the semi-finals this weekend. I'm still not sure if I will be playing or not. My neck is pretty good and I am back to doing full on workouts and taking a muscle relaxant when I get home and another right before bed. I may not know right away whether I will be playing. It's hard to tell.

YW: AMRAP 15 minutes: Max 30kg shoulder press, max pullups, row 200m. 5 full rounds plus shoulders and pullups. Totals: 117 shoulder presses, 84 pullups, row 1km.

Also, I have decided that in addition to one of the business reporters on Sky News, I have a new secret celebrity girlfriend.

( Click to discover the identity of Luckycanuck's secret girlfriend )

There is a bit of an IT related problem regarding my margin loan. I have been granted it and they can see it, but it's not showing up on my account so I can't do anything. For the second day in a row I rang them to tell them as much and they are working on it. It should be good to go within 48 hours, but I am quite keen to get deeper into CCV and every day I don't have access is a lost opportunity.

I'm in the process of clearing everything work related so I will have a clean desk (so to speak) when I leave in August. I'm getting there.

I've also made another appointment for next week with the psychologist. I'm still not quite clear on how this whole thing is meant to work. From what I've read they place a lot of emphasis on living according to your values, but I don't really know what my values are. They also put emphasis on stepping outside of yourself to say things like "I'm having the feeling that my life is pointless" rather than saying "my life is pointless" but I'm not sure how I will take to that.

Last night I was at the gym with Coffee Snob and I had put together a Crossfit workout for her. I showed her how to work with kettlebells (which she had literally never done, perhaps on account of feeling they were all foreign and scary) and then set her loose on the workout while timing her.

YW: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 4kg clean and press left and right, 6kg kettlebell swings, 8kg SDHP. Her time: 12:06. I was impressed. She didn't complain once. Then I gave her the finisher of tabata situps. I held her feet down and she managed 80. She said it was the best workout she had done in a long time and told me I should be a personal trainer. I don't think that would suit me, certainly not in a gym context, but I could possibly do it on a freelance basis with people I know and can trust not to annoy me and get all whiny and slack. It's something to consider.

I did the same workout with four times the weight (CS thought her weights looked very cute in comparison to mine) in 11:55 and promptly collapsed to the ground. My lower back is all fatigued today. I'm sure I will have other chances to demonstrate workouts in the future. It was fun.

Things are quiet at work and are likely to remain so for the rest of my time. There has been some talk with the party director about me doing some of my demographic work on a freelance basis which I would like.

I finally got back into doing proper workouts yesterday. Naturally I am limiting myself to some degree as I don't want to aggravate my neck, but there are plenty of things I can do that don't cause me any problems. Legs, core, running, these things don't bother me at all.

YW: Run 600m, 5 rounds (10 pushups, 10 situps, 10 squats), run 600m, 4 rounds, run 600m, 3 rounds. Today it's good too feel sore muscles (sore in a good way) again.

I spent a whole lot of money this afternoon in the space of half an hour at the dentist. I like my dentist. If there are any dental imperfections, he doesn't assume them to be a personal insult to him, which is something my dentist in Canada used to do. Anything less than perfect wasn't enough for him. If I had a cavity, I had gotten a cavity out of spite.

The housewarming/farewell for Chez Canuck is on this weekend. (We've been there since December so it's more of a farewell for Alleluia before she goes to Cambodia.) Our theme is "it used to be cool." I was going to be going as one of the members of ABBA but we may not be able to get a full four so I may have to think of something else. Anyone who is going to be in Canberra is welcome to come by.

Today's workout was adapted from a Crossfit workout named after an American Paratrooper who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009.

TW: 3 rounds - row 1km, 50 burpees, 40 situps, 30 hand release pushups, 20 kettlebell swings, 10 ring pushups, run 800m. My time: 51:37. I tried to do the 50 burpees in one set without rest, and in the first round I made it.

I was having tea with Cupcake Goddess and she had some advice.

She advised me to quit my job and travel around the world. A month here. A month there. I could live in Canada for a while, I could live in America for a while, I could pop back to the UK, I could travel to some places that I've still not been and go back to work when I'm ready.

I can't say the thought hasn't crossed my mind. I've saved up plenty over the years and I've got plenty of investments that could potentially provide some income. She even suggested I should use trading as a source of income using the rationale that once your investment income equals your living expenses, working becomes an option.

To be honest, I don't think I could not work. I would need to do something. I could do temporary or voluntary work here and there and develop some of the contacts I currently have. On my last trip I was pretty much always doing something. Becoming that awful self centred woman from Eat Pray Love would be a terrible fate for me. I'm not interested in laying about and "relaxing". The idea of roaming around the world "finding myself" sounds, on some levels, to be hideously indulgent and wasteful.

I can afford to do this, and as I pointed out, I can make more money but I can't make more time. As CG pointed out, I'll only be young once and in a few years I will be 40 which is "less hot that 30."

This is an idea that I am not just going to leap into. It has some definite benefits though, and I am going to give it serious consideration.

Rugby last weekend was short lived. I was fine during the warm up provided that there was no contact and I didn't have to change direction. Because those things rarely happen in rugby. They wanted me to start at Number 8 but I said I would probably be better off on the bench. They did put me on mid way through the second half and in my first ruck my ankle got knocked (not turned or twisted but just bumped) and I foud myself limping to follow the play. I did get thrown the ball and suddenly felt no pain as I ran it forward into contact. Getting up, however, I felt all sore again and realised that I was going to have little impact on the game like that in addition to needlessly risking myself. We were up by three tries late in the game anyway and an injury could have put me out for the season if it went wrong. I did, however, enjoy the fact that I am one game closer to making 100 appearances for the Convicts.

I drove a teammate with a broken hand (that I may have broken in the first ruck where I knocked my ankle) to hospital before going on to the next game. Both our teams wound up winning in solid displays, and I told some of my teammates that I was looking for work, possibly in Sydney.

It was nice to have a whole day in Canberra for the end of the weekend and I spent a fair amount of it at the gym in a pretty intense workout.

SunW: The Filthy Fifties: 50 shoulder press, 50 kettlebell swings, 50 calorie row, 50 bicep curls, 50 dynamic pushups, 50 toes to bar, 50 bench jumps, 50 pullups, 50 dips, 50 burpees.

I was reminded during the workout that I like girls. Also, I am always impressed by girls who lift. I think not enough of them do. One of my fellow patrons and I had a conversation about borrowing Crossfit workout principles into creating our own taxing and brutal workouts.

On Monday I picked up Coffee Snob from the airport which made me late for work, and also picked out a fabric and a design for my next new suit. Apparently they are going to narrow the lapels by about half an inch because that is the fashion now. Fine. I wouldn't have known but I'm happy to go along with that. Shopping for suits is much easier when this is all I have to do. The tailor remembered me and was pleased that I had given him referrals.

Then it was another full on day at the gym, but not before I prevented a woman from disrobing in the mens changing room. Somehow a woman got almost to the point of taking her shirt off before I asked "are you sure you're in the right place?"

YW: 5 rounds of: Row 400m, 30 seconds L-hang (which was VERY hard), 30 kettlebell swings. Then I practiced my form on squats a bit, then did 50 burpees (I have decided to do 50 burpees in every workout in the hopes of improving at them) and 10 heavy bag getups.

When I got home dinner was on. This is becoming a regular Monday evening thing it would seem. Roxy had made a very nice stirfry and we all ate together. I think I would be quite happy if we continued doing so. I contributed som chocolate I had around and I also made the tea and did a bunch of dishes while they watched Masterchef.

I managed to sleep five hours straight aided by nighttime cold medication and then a couple more hours after watching Black Swan (which was awesome) so I arrived back in Australia more rested than I normally would be after a flight across the Pacific.

Cupcake Goddess picked me up from Canberra Airport and we had plans to meet up for afternoon tea, but I dozed off on the sofa just after noon and missed it. We will have to reschedule. I was delighted to see that someone had left a chocolate bunny on my bed and a number of chocolate eggs hidden around Chez Canuck. Nobody was home when I got back and I had to take care not to eat all that I found.

I managed to stay up until 11, a reasonable going to bed time, but couldn't sleep past 4am. So I figured the best thing I could do would be to get back to the gym with a vengence.

TW: 15-14...1, half clean and press, kettlebell swings, pullups. My time was about 35 minutes which was longer than I would have liked. There were more pauses than I wanted to have, I guess on account of not having been to the gym for a while, still being fatigued (though unable to sleep) and being a bit hungry. Still, it was good to get back to serious crossfitty workouts again.

The day at work was not bad. There are plenty of letters to write and I will get through that, and it looks like I will be flying to Dubbo tomorrow (exotic after I've been to New York perhaps?) and spending the weekend in Sydney. I've been devoid of work stabulence today, though perhaps the leftover happy from holidays is keeping my spirits up. There may yet be time for me to get back to being my bitter and jaded self soon.

Overall, I'm feeling better than I did after my last trip last year. Maybe I feel like I have more on the horizon now.

FW: Improvised. Run 1km, 30 pushups, 25 kettlebell swings, 20 situps, 15 pullups - 10 rounds. Reduce run by 100m every round. It took me just over an hour of consistan physical effort. 300 pushups, 250 kettlebell swings, 200 situps, 150 pullups, and running 5.5km at an average pace of over 15km/h. I was quite pleased with my improvised workout, and had a really solid endorphin high.

I was up early on Saturday to do some electioneering with Coffee Snob and boyfriend of Coffee Snob. We hit Bungendore in the morning then Coogee and Maroubra in the afternoon after driving up to Sydney. The results were fairly unsurprising. It was a resounding Liberal/Nationals victory. The degree to which Labor was smashed is hard to overstate, and it will not be easy to come back from such a drubbing. I will have the chance to send in my CV to the new state Government and see what comes of it.

I was trying to decide what the best story of the night was. The change in government overall is, of course, a pretty big story, but it was so expected that it was anti-climactic. A couple of Independent federal MPs who put Labor back in last year saw their allies on the state level smashed in favour of people on my team. That could be a warning of rough seas ahead for Windsor and Oakeshott at the next federal election.

Of course, I still am fairly disengaged from politics (or more accurately a lot of the people who get up in arms about politics.) This article reminded me of a quote from Winston Churchill. "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter." Is it odd that I am cynical about people who are cynical?

We stayed at the Collaroy Castle. My uncle was reluctant to have people over, but he didn't show it. CS and BoCS were quite impressed by the place and the neighbourhood. I though it was going to be tough to get CS back to Canberra.

I drove most of the way back to Canberra and it looks like I may have converted BoCS to thinking along the lines of Crossfit. I'm always happy to see people willing to take working out seriously.

Oh yes, and on election night I ran into a girl I dated in my first year in Australia. At the time I was really smitten with her as she seemed to tick all the boxes, but five years later (has it been that long) I came to the conclusion that being involved with her would probably have been exhausting. Also the new MP for Coogee is openly gay and there was a pretty high proportion of gays in the crowd including a few surrounding my former crush (who seems to have taken on the role of a fag hag) and one creepy guy who groped me a bit.

This election "bill" seems to be a catalyst prodding me to think about career changes again.

Last Friday I considered a radical career change that I am surprised had never struck me before. This would not be in politics. It would be the first non white-collar job I had done in a very long time.

I thought about joining the fire brigade.

A lot of kids want to be firefighters. When I was five there was a very minor fire in my mum's oven, and I ran to the closet and put on my rubber boots and raincoat, then dashed outside and got the garden hose. Luckily mum intervened to stop me, and I didn't think about it again for 28 years. But last week the thought crossed my mind (I'm not sure how or why) and there seems to be plenty of positives to it.

I had a look at the recruitment section of the NSW Fire Brigade website and I'm pretty sure I could handle the job. I also saw the physical requirements and the obstacle course they put recruits through as part of the process, and it looked like fun. I'd like to have a crack at their Physical Aptitude Test even if I didn't join up!

It would be a pretty big change from what I do now, but I think it is certainly worth considering. It's the first job I've thought of in quite a while that hasn't seemed entirely negative. I'm not saying I will definately do it, but at the moment I am hard pressed to think of a reason not to try it.

I kind of get the feeling that there would be a level of satisfaction in being able to say "someone is alive because of me" rather than being able to say "some loudmouth got to shoot his mouth off because of me."

If nothing else, I hear chicks dig firefighters.

This certainly warrants further investigation, probably after I get back from my holiday.

TW: For time: run 800m, 50 pullups, 100 pushups, 150 squats, run 800m.

Monday: At the old gym which is older and less showy (and has more kettlebells): 5 farmer's walk flights of stairs with 24kg in each hand, 50 kettlebell swings, 50 situps, 4 flights, 40, 40, 3, 30, 30, 2, 20, 20, 1, 10, 10. Then 100 chest contractions.

YW: 1,000 pushups. Yes, 1,000. I thought it was a nice round number and I had seen a few workouts that dealt with large numbers of pushups to be broken up into whatever sets are most convenient. The format was maximum pushups in 1 minute, then 1 minute of rest, continued until 1,000 pushups had been done. My total time was 36:20. That's an average of 54 pushups per minute during the working minutes.

I am quite sore in the chest and shoulders and triceps today.

Today: I haven't decided yet. Maybe burpees or sit ups (or both.) It will probably be done at home as I am planning to go to church for Ash Wednesday.

It's good to be back at the gym. I liked having my odd challenges but it meant giving up the daily workouts that do so much for me (mentally probably more than physically.)

YW: Bench press then sit ups - 15,14,13... 1. I had to stop the bench press after the set of 10 because the twinge in my back came back. It's basically gone and I am able to bench press again, but obviously I'm not yet able to bench press as much as I used to. I switched to kettlebell swings for the remainder. Then it was maximum pullups, and running 400m at the end of every set until 100 pullups were done. I managed it in four sets, doing 35, 30, 20, 15. 35 is a lot of pullups and I was coming very close to kipping, which always felt like and awkward action for my clumsy self.

I'll have to take this format on in future. It was a good way to get a lot of work done in a short time.

I was given a gift. It's not my birthday or Christmas or anything, but Coffee Snob came back from Japan with this.

Now I just have to get some sake.

Tonight I will do battle with my technological ignorance in trying to set up the internet.

The week of quiet at work has continued, and the level of frustration at the work I've got to do has been improved somewhat by a small victory. Someone wrote in to us with an eight page rant complaining that Australia lost the recent soccer world cup bid because there is not a soccer league devoted to inland Australia. He also suggested that towns like Cloncurry, Walgett, and Bruce Rock (population 526) are locations that FIFA would insist that world cup matches should be held.

My response was some pleasant words about the importance of sport to Australians before pointing out that no inland towns have the population base to sustain a team in any of the football codes in Australia, and that a league devoted to soccer in inland Australia would not be feasible given that the A-League struggles to bring in crowds in major cities. I also pointed out that the smallest stadium used in the most recent world cup had a seating capacity of 73 times the size of one of the towns he mentioned as a possible world cup venue.

I was of the opinion that the man had come up with an idea that was clearly absurd and that we should not respond, but W specifically wanted to. (Apparently this guy is a member of the party.) I felt that my response might have been a bit too sarcastic and that W would want some major changes. He's very polite and would be very much disinclined to respond with my preferred words of "Dear Stupid Prick, You're a fucking idiot. Sincerely, W"

Well it turns out that W has approved my response with only minor changes. My research indicating what a shitty idea he is proposing has been kept in full. Hooray! A small victory against the forces of wanky timewasters!

Although I do rather like this as a means of responding too.

My workouts this week have been pretty good. Very much Crossfit inspired, and my back hasn't given me too much grief.

YW: AMRAP 15 minutes. Max pullups then run 400m. Total of 121 pullups and running 2km. Then max pushups in 2 minutes: A bit over 100. Max flat situps in 2 minutes: 54.

DBYW: 10 pullups, 10 pushups, 5 rounds. 10 kettlebell swings, 10 standing shoulder press (I can do standing but not seated), 10 lateral over bench jumps, 5 rounds.

Tomorrow will mean a long run, though not as long as last weekend. Maybe running to a couple of gyms up around Collaroy and maybe a run on the beach and a swim. Maybe running and pushups on the beach. Oh yes, I like the sound of that!

I was just finishing breakfast this morning when Helga came in from a walk and collapsed on the floor with a painful sprained ankle. I got her some water and ibuprofen and made her breakfast and then drove her to work. I'll take her home tonight as well. We take care of each other in Chez Canuck!

Oh, one more thing, I saw this scene on Family Guy earlier in the week, and laughed for about five minutes straight.

The compassion fatigue at work (and on a variety of other issues in the news, like the floods) continues, but I am getting through the letters. One of my colleagues is on his second day back from holiday and is on the verge of quitting over the issue as the prospect of a new job is looming. I ownder if there will be a rebellion over this, or more likely, some changes in our procedures like allowing us to ring people rather than draft letters which takes far longer. Apparently one of the other offices allows phone calls rather than written responses as it's quicker and has less of a paper trail, but W is old school.

YW: 50 kb swings, 50 pushups, run 400m, 35 kb swings, 35 pushups, run 400m, 25 kb swings, 25 pushups, run 400m. I do get a bit of discomfort when breathing hevaily with my twinge in the back and around the ribs, but it's not too bad. Certainly not enough to stop me from going.

Helga and I are really getting into True Blood. Today I have had this song stuck in my head.

The market keeps going up. About 10% so far this year for me.

I went to a physiotherapist this morning for the first time in my life, hoping to sort out the ache that come up across the front of my left ankle when running/walking very long distances and the twinge in my back that I've had since before the new year.

Apparently my left leg was slightly longer by a few millimetres than my right, and that meant it was hitting the gorud with more force and rolling more, leading to the ache after I've gone 40km or so. He adjusted things so that misalignment was sorted and also advised that taping my ankle to reduce rolling might help on the day.

My back was blamed on a muscle that locks up when the vertebrae turn. He gave me a couple of acupuncture needles that were supposed to have sorted that and showed me some exercies theat might help calm that muscle. There were also a couple needles in my left calf which was considerably tighter and more stressed than the right. I was able to see the needling in my calf. The needles were so thin you could barely see them and they went in with just a tap, but then he plunged it deeper a few times which felt odd. It still feels a bit sore, but I will wait to see how things turn out. I've never encountered acupuncture before and I'm not sure how it actually works, but they want me to come back in two weeks for a follow up. That will be just before my 12 hour race.

The physio place was actually within a Crossfit affiliate, which means for the first time ever I have been in a Crossfit gym.

A visit to the beach was made today. The water has been really quite warm. The weather has been warm this week, but the water is often quite cold even when it's summer. Today it was wonderful, and the waves were breaking just enough to enable me to bodysurf a little bit.

On one visit to the beach this week I came across a man in his 80s who thought I was a pommy, but I told him I was half Canadian half Australian and that my father had grown up just up the street. He responded "oh he must have known the Luckycanucks (not my actual family name)." It turns out that about 50 years ago my grandfather hired him for a job, and he had been inside the Collaroy Castle long before my father left Australia and even longer before I was even born.

The view from the Collaroy Castle probably didn't look quite like this back then, but the good parts of it certainly did.

I also had an interesting dream that involved me getting married... to

minxyminou. It was at least twenty years in the future, for whatever reason the two of us were single at the same time, and in our late fifties it seemed like a good idea.

I went shopping today after returning the digital set top box I got earlier in the week. It works but we only got some of the new digital channels and in the process we lost a number of channels we once had. They tested the unit at the shop and apparently it's an antenna problem. We will need to bring someone in to look at it, and that will have to be done another time, probably by someone else. It would be hard for me to arrange from Canberra.

I did pick up some DVDs. I've never collected many, but I saw some that I couldn't pass up. One was of a very clever TV show from New Zealand called Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby which is quite un-PC, and I also got The Godfather, which I am watching tonight.

I went to the gym too, and did a nice Crossfit workout. It was good to get back to the gym for a workout that involves something other than rowing or walking absurdly long distances. I hadn't been at it for quite some time.

TW: Deadlifts, pullups, thrusters 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Then I was hoping to do some chest presses, but for some reason I felt a crick in my back on one of my ribs which made them very difficult to do. So I did a set of arm smashers and 100 bicep curls in large sets.

I stayed in Canberra this weekend. Dad left on Saturday morning and I was going to go up to Sydney to take him to the airport but I was going to see him again soon anyway, and in the end staying in Canberra was a better choice, especially given that I leave next weekend. I'll have enough going on without driving up and back to Sydney.

On Friday I got home from work and Malice, Roxy, and Helga were into our dress up box. As soon as I walked into the room I was in a very good mood. They got a pair of bunny ears and a pink feather boa and fairy wings on me, which I wore in my typical masculine fashion.

(Picture to come... hopefully.)

We then made plans to go out to a friend's house for cocktails they were having, and I quickly went from "extraordinarily good mood" to "periodically rocking with stress" just before we left the house. It was aspie time and there was a minor freakout. The evening had gone from being spent with people I know and like to being in a foreign and far more complicated environment. I did go with them, and felt a bit stressed in the early stages of cocktail night, but eventually relaxed a bit. I did spend more than my share of time outside alone on the balcony where there was nobody to talk to. (I decided that aside from my housemates, I wasn't all that interested in speaking to anyone else.) I did have a mojito for the first time in my life (and possibly the last as I'm not really a cocktail guy) and I chose not to go out to a bar in the city with everyone afterwards.

On Saturday, there was footy to be played. It was Politicians v Press in a pretty fun game.

(Team photo to come... hopefully)

The Sydney Swans donated their training tops for our team to wear, and I discovered after the fact that the guy who normally wears number 8 (chosen by me because it is 2*2*2 and therefore one of my preferred numbers) is the same height as me, but is 17kg lighter.

(Not pictured, Luckycanuck)

They put me at a key position at centre half forward and I nearly managed to kick a point in the first half but the play had already been whistled dead. The Australian Capital Territory Minister for Sport kicked all three of our goals in a match that ended Politicians 3.2.20 Press 1.4.10.

I also got to use my rugby tackling skills to good effect and caused a couple of turnovers, one of which led to a goal about ten seconds later. I wasn't allowed to play in my rugby boots as they have metal studs, but a borrowed pair of more appropriate boots were found just in time.

Later that night the girls came to the pub where we were having drinks after the game, and after I went home for a shower, I joined them at a pub frequented by university students. I was at least a decade older than most of the people there, and Helga's assurance early in the evening that I would "pick up for sure" was ultimately unfounded. It was really not my scene. Coming home and having sausages and poached pears in mulled wine made by Malice was much nicer.

Today I picked up an electrical adapter for my trip to America and went for a big session at the gym.

TW: Tabata "Pushing". Bench press, wall ball, dips, kettlebell swings, pushups, corner presses. Then practicing thrusters to improve my form and my willingness to go deeper in the squat part of it, and later 100 more pushups in the sauna. HOORAH!!!

I think I may do tabata workouts for pulling, legs, and core for the remainder of the week.

Also, the housemate formerly known as Malice really doesn't like the name, so I think I'll change it.

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luckycanuck

June 2012

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Entries tagged with crossfit

Aging

Odd Dreams

Watch what you say at the gym

Barefoot fun

I hear Matt Good is a real a$&hole

What interests me

People can surprise you

It used to be cool...

One solution... Get out of town!

Keep occupied with something...

Back to the grind is not so bad

The Election Went as Expected

Now here's an idea

Workout Redux

Back to Sweat

Here's what I think of your pathetic idea

Buy me a whisky, get yourself stoned. We're gonna have a good time...

Odd ailments, hopefully fixed

Obscure connections and a wedding

Luckycanuck is heavier than Trent Dennis-Lane