July

Feeling a bit better now it's July. Half way through the year. Hope it warms up fast.

April 20

And I'm still here... The 6th came and went. I was served with an extension of my sentence. Now I have to go back to court on 3 May to find out if I can go back home. I have paid a solicitor thousands to represent me. I have pleaded and pleaded for mercy, but it seems like I will be suffering a bit longer yet. Pray for me and our situation, it seems like that is my only hope.

Beware the ides of March

On the 15th March I have to go to court again. I am hoping I won't have to live away from home much longer. April 6 is 47 days away. Never felt lower than this

Home

Worked out I can go home in 80 days. It still seems like a long time. Turns out this blog covers a wider subject area than I originally intended. But hey, if we are truly "fixing stuff", I've got to include the most important things too.
I'm not sure that relationships are best fixed by separation. But my hope and prayer is that it works. (I'll update in 80 days' time.)

Floods!

Feeling very sorry for everyone up north now. It must be especially tough for the leaders. Hope they find more survivors

Time gets by

Wow! Four months since my last post! Can't believe it, must have been busy! Going through an awful time at the moment, makes it hard to remember these things. Anyhow, just watching the terrible Queensland floods makes me think of the huge needs that will be left for the people up there, cleaning up, rebuilding homes, towns, lives. Already people have been found drowned, and many injured. It makes the plight of libraries seem very small in comparison. But even so, inevitably there will be libraries destroyed by this disaster, and that is awful for the local communities. I hope we in the south can rally together to help our northern friends to salvage & rebuild.
If all the other States gave Queensland just 5% of their income, that would surely give the rebuilding projects a good start?

Melbourne trip

A couple of weeks off, so I decided to travel down to Melbourne for a little while.

Visited some great local attractions, including the state library. Liked their beautiful reading room.

Also saw this interesting old poster about "Pharos", which was on one of the historic displays currently on show.

Watched some street performers juggling with fire & a chainsaw, down by the Yarra river, enjoyed the local coffee shops.

User group was great!

That was a wonderful user group experience. Learnt a lot about the new software, got advice from other customers & the vendor. It was good to see the performance of the software at Wagga, as well as their RFID system (a different brand). Enjoyed the company of the other delegates, made new friends & refreshed old friendships. The drive home was a bit quicker. (I didn't visit any libraries)

Driving to Wagga

On my way to Wagga for the Libero user group meeting. It's been a good day. Visited libraries at Goulburn, Yass & Gundagai. Yass & Gundagai have old buildings, tucked away from the main street, but their collections & facilities are great! All the libraries I've seen today have plenty of books, PCs, reading & study areas, plus specific collections & areas for various user groups, be they children, youth, or aged. And the staff are always friendly, visible & accessible.

It would be nice if the libraries were more visible from the main streets, but the good news is they are all well signposted, so it is easy to find them. Only one library I saw today was closed (it only opens limited hours). The rest were all open & serving customers.

I was particularly impressed with some of the collections I saw today, with one exception, none of the libraries appeared to have strong reference [not for loan] collections. Most appeared to have been absorbed by the non-fiction lending collections. Hmmn.. I wonder if we really need our reference collection to be quite so extensive (and spacious)? Especially as so many people are now depending on us for internet access.... and a place to do their homework? Things are changing. We have noticed a sharp increase this year in the number of people using our free Wifi access. ....free? Hey! Just remembered, as I write this, I'm using Gundagai McDonald's free WiFi access! Makes a lot of sense. I like the way you can login immediately, without any password. Maybe we should do that on our Wifi, certainly makes it easy & convenient for people.

User group

Hey! I had forgotten what a great bunch of people the Libero user group are! Checked into the motel & walked to the nearby library, where the 'delegates' were all starting to arrive. Evening refreshments were being served, as we all got re-aquainted. I had not seen most of these people for at least a year, and it was really nice to catch up. The software vendor was wonderful to talk to, as always, and there were a few new faces too. Sadly, our buddies from Canterbury couldn't make it, but we had a great meal at the pub together tonight. Tomorrow the conference starts in ernest. I am keen to see the latest enhancements & directions the system is taking.

Online slideshows etc

I'm real happy with the online versions of software I normally use on my own computer. The fact that there is no cost to use them is a plus. But more significant is the usefulness of being able to save your files on a shared server, without the responsibility of ownership of that server, is amazing. I saved about 50 photos in jpeg format on the Picasa site, while on holidays, as a backup to my own netbook. Those photos are still there, several weeks later. Being able to edit files & photos, and then save & email them, all without personal software or local email accounts, is a real bonus. The question in my mind: what's in it for these websites, if the users are not paying any money for the service?

Blogging 2.1

Since I finished the 2.0 course, I've been adding blog posts here as the mood takes me. A natural use for the blog was our trip to Cairns. I was able to upload photos & write commentary while we were away, which was great. The other thing I found useful was an online photo storage site "Picasa", where I made a backup of some of the photos we took while we were away. Have a look (attached).
I do like blogging. I guess it is a way of getting thoughts out of my head, & down onto the computer - a bit like keeping a diary (although I've never kept one before). There is something therapeutic about it. Plus of course, it gives me a record of what has been happening in my life, so I can go back over it later if necessary. So far, I haven't found other blogs that I read regularly. Just the odd one that pops up in a Google search on a specific topic of interest. Yes, I have commented on someone else's blog, but only once or twice. I think I find blogs a bit too personal, whereas message boards on specific topics I participate in quite regularly.

Creative

I think the various style options are great! They enable a lot more creativity, and I was very happy to find a "bookshelf" background for my blog. Suits me fine.

So many Blog styles!

I read through the 25 blog styles. I can see that they all have a place. I think my own style is pretty much narrative. Sometimes I link to things, sometimes promote things. Here at the library I think we are using blogs to promote our current & new activities & resources. Particularly by including a photo or two with each post, I think it becomes something like an online journal!

Social Networks

Well, social networks over the internet seem to be a pretty good idea. I like the way I've been able to catch up with old schoolfriends (through the old schoolfriends site, and via Facebook), and it's great to see faces that have matured over the last 25 years. I also like the corporate social sites, which seem to get us closer to the organisation, how it operates & the latest news. I can see how these sites would be a good way of promoting activities & events. I have only one reservation, and that is the potential for misuse that could possibly occur in this open environment. So I guess the main thing is to keep all information appropriate & correct. But overall, I've really enjoyed setting up & adding to my blog, photograph records from my holiday and Facebook site. The 2.0 course has been a real winner!

The old washing machine

Been a few weeks since the tropical adventure. Now back to reality. The Washing machine broke down (24 years old), main drive motor dead, giving off smoke. Spent all morning Saturday cleaning relay contacts, which were badly burned. Reassembled, and wow! It worked! Started washing a load of clothes, everything seemed fine.... until bang, it stopped again, more smoke etc etc. I guess that was it's last hurrah. The book tells me that when the relay fails, it causes the motor windings to overheat, shorting them out. So although I fixed the relay, the damage was already done. Fixing stuff...... oh well, I went down to the Good Guys & bought a new one, so far, so good. Sometimes you just have to junk it.

Cairns library

Had a bit of time to spare before our flight home, (and it was raining), so what better place to go than the local library...again.

I liked their drive-through book return chute.

But also the spacious foyer.

And the inlaid children's book excerpts in the pathway.

One of the library's best features is the building itself, with its high ceilings, large windows & spacious "rooms", all set in a garden of giant fig trees & other tropical plants. And the staff of course were very friendly, & happy for us to take the photos!

Catana Wetlands & Yorkey's Knob, 23 July

Today was a bit quieter for us. Drove a short distance to a lovely new wetlands area called "Catana", about 20km north of Cairns, and then on to the Beach & headland known as Yorkey's Knob.
The Catana area was previously a sand? mining area, and quite degraded, until the local council & other government bodies redeveloped the very large piece of land into a sizeable lake, with many tree & shrub plantings, lovely walkways, including a boardwalk through rainforest vegetation, and good signposting & information displays.

It took us about an hour to walk around the track, taking a few photos as we went. A nice feature are the bird "hides", where you can observe & photograph the wildlife on the lake without disturbing them. If I had a good camera, the pictures would appear here. I'll upload what I've got shortly.

Flying home tomorrow!

Cairns Library, & Kuranda - 22 years later

The Reference room (left) at Cairns Library - a beautiful old building in excellent condition gives this library a very spacious, light-filled feel, and seems to be well used, judging by the number of people browsing, borrowing & studying. Nice to visit.

(Above) Part of the interesting archeological display we also saw in Kuranda.

(Below) The old Kuranda markets

Kuranda Railway

The last time I was in Kuranda was at least 22 years ago, bwfore our first child was born. Now he's 21, and we've finally returned to this small highland town about 27km out of Cairns. Last time we were here, the town seemed to be overrun with alternative lifestyle people, many living in very simple accomodation in the forest. They were selling beads, necklaces & other trinkets to passers-by. I distinctly remember one man who had hair about two feet long, all bunched up in a big burr, that I guess was very cool.

Well, twenty two years later, the hippies seem to have become shop owners, tidied up their hair & taken on a more conventional lifestyle. There is a section of the town called the "Heritage Markets", with old-style shops, mostly vacant on the day we visited. I saw one lady hanging around the small library who looked a bit like a person from that previous era, but not much else.

The Butterfly Sanctuary was excellent, the largest in Australia.

The price of a coffee was about $4, so i guessed the town has become commercialised, and not a lot different to any other tourist site up here.

Kuranda was a great place to visit. Glad we went, the highlight being a wonderful museum of archeological artifacts & replicas, which cut against the general trend, by asking only for a donation....

Happily, we arrived in Kuranda just as the special narrow-gauge tourist train was arriving, so we got a few snaps at the station. (But not a steamer unfortunately).

Great Barrier Reef

Hey, probably the best thing we've done on this trip, but the one with the least number of photos taken (no underwater camera!). The photo above left, was taken underwater by the guy on the boat, and this is a quick copy of the print, taken with my camera.

Got collected by the Quicksilver coach at 8:15 for a ride to Port Douglas, where we boarded a big ferry for the trip to Agincourt reef, on the outer edge of the Great Barrier reef. Enjoyed demonstrations, videos & talks by the marine biologist as we went. The weather was cloudy, but not too hot at about 26, as we swam off the huge floating pontoon into the tropical water. Immediately saw lots of fish, swimming at a fairly deep area with sparse coral (it has been largely trampled & destroyed by other visitors...). Swam around for while searching for better sights & finally discovered a large, shallower area a long way out from the pontoon & boat, where the coral was extensive, colourful & teeming with fish of all sizes, colours & shapes. Just about everything we have ever seen in books or on TV, only better! The fish came up to us when we were still, sometimes right up to our faces! Beautiful striped, spotted, colourful fish, some with elongated, some with flat bodies. I'll never forget it.

But one highlight of the day was before we even got to the reef - we spotted an albino (white) humpback whale! Flippers coming up out of the water, and finally, a huge breaching leap up & over, only a few hundred meters away!

Breathtaking stuff for everyone on board.

What a day!