He does....except in this case he's the pilot! Poor Al-baby had to get up at 2am on his birthday and go flying. To make him feel better I promised him a 'Marilyn' style Happy Birthday Mr President when I got home from Gove (now all my family members are thinking "too much information!")
Well, as the chaos of our lives continue we are moving to another chapter, and another suburb. Its bye-bye Milton and hello Nundah. Its also bye-bye fabulous restaurant strips, Suncorp Stadium and walking to work BUT its also goodbye trucks air brakes and really loud motorcycles whizzing past our doors at 3am.
AND we're moving into a house so there will be space for you to come and stay! Yes I'm referring to all those lazy people who haven't hauled butt up to BrisVegas yet.....there may not be a bed in the room, but there will be a room at least.
I'll post some photos of the new Chez DeRooy after we've relocated.
21 March 2008
Back to the future
I have this strange feeling every time I arrive in Gove now. It's not deja vu and it's not air sickness from the plane either. It's the remembrance of the very first time I touched down on that tarmac. Blonde city girl goes to remote Indigenous community.
I remember feeling nervous, but I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because when I arrived in October 2006 for a visit, I hadn't seen my husband in over 6 weeks. More likely, it was the realisation in my sub-conscious that this was where I was going the spend the majority of the next few years of my life.
And just when I thought my 'time' living in remote Australia was over I'm back. Every second week I'm on that plane landing in Gove. Looking out the window for lights that don't exist until the shining mass of the refinery comes into view. Disembarking the plane and breaking into an instant sweat. Smelling that unique smell of my Indigenous brothers and sisters (only if you've been to Gove will you know what I'm talking about there ;-)
And you know what....I love it! I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, at the moment I'd like a little less stress at work, but as far as Gove continuing to be a part of my life....I couldn't imagine my life now without this community and its people!
So here's to Gove!
I remember feeling nervous, but I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because when I arrived in October 2006 for a visit, I hadn't seen my husband in over 6 weeks. More likely, it was the realisation in my sub-conscious that this was where I was going the spend the majority of the next few years of my life.
And just when I thought my 'time' living in remote Australia was over I'm back. Every second week I'm on that plane landing in Gove. Looking out the window for lights that don't exist until the shining mass of the refinery comes into view. Disembarking the plane and breaking into an instant sweat. Smelling that unique smell of my Indigenous brothers and sisters (only if you've been to Gove will you know what I'm talking about there ;-)
And you know what....I love it! I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, at the moment I'd like a little less stress at work, but as far as Gove continuing to be a part of my life....I couldn't imagine my life now without this community and its people!
So here's to Gove!
07 March 2008
Walls and everything
It has finally happened. I have my own office....with walls and everything! I have walls. Its so exciting. I've waited so long for this, argued and challenged and watched others get offices before me. Mwahahahahaha now its finally mine, all mine.In fact, if you want to get technical I have two offices. One in Gove and one in Brisbane. I am the subject of much controversy in Brisbane as I moved into my ex-boss's office when he left, which is classed as a 'Director's office'; ie it has a window with a view. Mind you its a view of the stinky brown Brisbane river, but a view nonetheless.
From the picture you can see that my Gove office even has my name on the door. The moment when you know you've truely made it in life is when you have your name on a door!
03 March 2008
Political confessions of a taxi driver
I spend a good deal of time in taxi's these days. To and from the airport mostly leaving at least 15-20 minutes for random conversations with the driver. The conversations I have had range from the mundane to the bizarre but today's was somewhere in between.
My taxi driver, come political commentator, decided to lecture me on the ins and outs of federal politics after listening to a story about Kevin 07's 100 days in office on ABC radio news.
His astute observations of the Australian political climate, interesting as they may have been, were a struggle to listen to at 5:30am sans caffeine. What was most interesting were his 'taxi driving' analogies that he used to explain his theories.
An example.......one of his biggest issues in the change in Government was that we seemed to vote out the liberal government solely based on WorkChoices without actually knowing what Labor's alternative was for workplace relations.
His analogy....."its like they're saying we shouldn't go via the intercity bypass to get from Milton to the airport but they're not giving us an alternative route. They are saying 'don't go this way' without offering another route to take. Now if they said 'you shouldn't take the ICB you should go via Redcliffe' then we could judge whether they had a better route or not."
**For non-Brisbane residents - Redcliffe is a LONG way out of the way if you are going from Milton to the Airport**
And they kept on coming.....our naivety as a nation (politically) was likened to Taxi Drivers who have not taken a defensive driving course and Anna Bligh's rise in popularity whilst she was actually on holidays was likened to the cleanliness of taxi's - don't ask me to explain that, I had trouble understanding it myself!
If you want an opinion on anything, from the current political climate in Queensland to the best Indian restaurant in Brisbane (A Night in India - in case you were wondering) just ask your taxi driver. They know everything!
My taxi driver, come political commentator, decided to lecture me on the ins and outs of federal politics after listening to a story about Kevin 07's 100 days in office on ABC radio news.
His astute observations of the Australian political climate, interesting as they may have been, were a struggle to listen to at 5:30am sans caffeine. What was most interesting were his 'taxi driving' analogies that he used to explain his theories.
An example.......one of his biggest issues in the change in Government was that we seemed to vote out the liberal government solely based on WorkChoices without actually knowing what Labor's alternative was for workplace relations.
His analogy....."its like they're saying we shouldn't go via the intercity bypass to get from Milton to the airport but they're not giving us an alternative route. They are saying 'don't go this way' without offering another route to take. Now if they said 'you shouldn't take the ICB you should go via Redcliffe' then we could judge whether they had a better route or not."
**For non-Brisbane residents - Redcliffe is a LONG way out of the way if you are going from Milton to the Airport**
And they kept on coming.....our naivety as a nation (politically) was likened to Taxi Drivers who have not taken a defensive driving course and Anna Bligh's rise in popularity whilst she was actually on holidays was likened to the cleanliness of taxi's - don't ask me to explain that, I had trouble understanding it myself!
If you want an opinion on anything, from the current political climate in Queensland to the best Indian restaurant in Brisbane (A Night in India - in case you were wondering) just ask your taxi driver. They know everything!
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