Thursday 14 January 2016

After 2 fun-filled weeks of sorting through and divesting remnants of a long- terminated dirtling existence, Jan has slipped the surly bonds of earth (apology to John McGee) and relinquished a storeroom that cost over $10k since 2011. Done and dusted. All we both possess will now dwell on Anthem including everything we desire except, of course, for the Samsung 88", LED, Curved, 2160p, Smart, 3D, 4K, Ultra HD TV, Bose® Lifestyle, SoundTouch, 535 Entertainment System and Home Theater... oh, and a helicopter for the aft deck.

As we're cheap and weren't sure to get done by yesterday, tickets back to Langkawi were purchased for cheapest travel day, Sunday, giving 3 extra days in Oz to, among other things, get breast screening. Just Jan's as mine aren't worth the effort and she didn't trust my X-ray vision - looks too much like perving. Observers might get the wrong impression.

Sunday - ostensibly cheating death on an Air Asia A330-300

Home again, home again, jiggity jig. Had a delightful stay with Jonathan & Dot, expat Brits from S/V Bali Hai, at their condo in Brisbane, but 2 1/2 weeks off boat is more than too much. Extra time in Oz, however, did allow a night at the Sit Down Comedy Club with terrific headlining comedy magician, Christopher Wayne and a great Indian meal with our hosts. Given any luck at all we can spend the rest of eternity without ever having to enter the country again, ever. Don't let that deter you however. If cost is no object, you have a high tolerance for paternalism and can work through a version of English that uses slang or abbreviation for everything (some of it pretty funny) and doesn't pronounce trailing 'r's have a go. Vast expanses of it are unsuitable for habitation. Sydney's OK.

Recently experienced the epiphany that flying to foreign locales for a few days to see interesting things is over-rated. Lots of places have really cool stuff, but to a surprisingly large degree they're interchangeable, especially if all you do is parachute in, take a pile of photos you'll hardly look at again and leave. Alternatively, living in one place with exceptionally cool stuff (highly useful, multipurpose word that can be employed when you're too lazy to find the right one) is great for awhile, but after the kick wears off you become inured and could be anywhere. We attack the quandary by going to the cool places we want, staying as long as we want then jumping fence to the next pasture which is habitually imagined to be greener. That last is, of course, blatant rationalization for a lifestyle that many find either dreadfully aberrant or unrealistically romantic. It's neither. In truth we love it, but (as the foregoing implies) for reasons that remain recondite. Likelihood of getting back to you with full disclosure makes the unwarranted assumption that we actually know or ever will.

Jack