Speedcam Hijinks

JSR sent this to me yesterday and I thought you all should know about the ingenuity of the youth of the ACT.

Enjoy,
Mondo

Friday on my mind

Friday started with a visit to the Dr for Mondo and a day off work
Next AJR's school asked that as many students as possible stay home today, as the school is not safe, so he's at home. Here is the report on what made it necessary for him to stay home. AJR and all the year 6 kids will spend all of next week at the Erindale College, I have no idea why they cannot send the year 6 kids to Wanniassa High, where they have all been for an orientation, and the kids are closer in age.

JSR comes home early to study on Friday, although today study is mostly the inside of his eyelids on account of how sick he feels. I fetch MLR home and JSR discovers she is covered in hives, we sprint back to the same Dr to have her checked out, then off to the chemist for some antihistamine medicine. MLR's torso was covered in blotches and whole areas were white and raised. The Dr could write letters in the hives using the pressure of his finger!!! She also has hives in her scalp, and parts of her legs and arms. Very pretty. I am pleased to report that after just one dose of zertec, MLR's hives started to calm down.
Tomorrow has to be better.

Retirement

Retirement seems to be the buzz word this week.

Michael Klim, at 30, has decided to hang up the togs, he is going to concentrate on his swim school and he regrets that he did not win an individual gold medal.

John Laws yesterday announced his retirement in November 2007 after 55 years on radio - I cannot imagine doing the one job for 55 years!!!He is going to write and travel- lets hope he has invested his $14million a year pay packet well. For more info check here.

Michael Parkinson, born in Barnsley, Yorkshire in 1935, is set to retire after his last show which will be run this Autumn in the UK. He plans to write his biography and continue to host a Sunday lunchtime radio show. Saturday nights will not be the same without him.
Here is a potted history of him. Parky has been married to the same woman, Mary Henegan since 1959!

Happy retirement guys!

Bikes, Rain, stuff, etc.

Here is MLR (being Dorothy the dinosaur) on her bike that she got for her birthday.

Well it is raining in the capital and we are loving it (except for the temporary Australian's who continue to drive as if in Monte Carlo), Goulburn is loving it more as they have had more rain this week than in the past two years - they are thinking about having more than one shower a week now!!! We had snow on the Brindabella's as we came home last night. What is not to love about winter. On the 14th of June we had road closures due to snow between here and Bungendore - kids could not go to school and workers had to stay home, I thought about moving to Bungendore!!

School holidays are rapidly approaching and the newly tarmacked car park beside the National Library and Questacon is going to host a snow dome for the the kids. MLR has been invited to a party there, followed by a sleep over. She already has her bag packed.

Canberra goes blue for refugees!

From the 18th of June for one week we saw several of Canberra's national treasures lit up in blue to celebrate world refugee day.

For more information go here. And here.
For a picture from Flikr go here.

Sicko is coming

As you are probably aware, Sicko, the new movie/documentary by Michael Moore, is being released on the 29 June 2007 in the US and then here soon after. It has already been shown at Cannes, where it met with acclaim (15 minute standing ovation).

This expose is about the problems the US health system has, with under insurance, the lack of a government funded health care safety net and some of the consequences of these issues.

Here is what Mother Jones had to say.

Here is a review of Sicko from Cannes Film Festival, and another from the American Society of Registered Nurses.

This review includes a You Tube promotion of Sicko.

If you find the release date in Australia, then let me know.

Mondo

The rain started as the school bell went and the rain continued on into the evening making the trip home slow again, although not as slow as yesterday, when, after negotiating the car crash, I had to pay a fine for being late at afterschool care! Tonight the Monaro Highway and Yamba drive outside the hospital were banked up or stopped, while the Parkway was slow but steady and no accidents.

MLR had to walk from her school to the afterschool care centre, which is based at another primary school, when the ACTION bus service failed to turn up! 45 minutes of walking through the rain with no raincoat or umbrella!!!

On a completely different tack, an incident at Erindale where I shop regularly was slightly alarming, see here.

Let's hope that the weather is kinder to you and that you lack angry "shop lifters' in your area!!!

Mondo

Rain and Road Rage

Good news today, stage 4 water restrictions have been delayed until August. Keep your fingers crossed for more rain. Here is the Canberra Times report.

Coming home tonight I encountered long delays on the parkway due to a multi car crash. By the time we got to the crash site, just before the Sulwood Drive exit, all the cars were off to the side and we were able to drive past easily, however in true Canberra style we had to do the travelling at 10-20 Ks an hour, why do we have to watch cars on the side of the road? Thinking about this and looking for a report that would confirm the delay of stage 4 restrictions I found this site Canberra Road Watch. This lists bad drivers in the ACT by their number plate, got to be worth watching, if only to ensure that we are not on it!!!!

Cheers,
Mondo

Update on where to send AJR to High School

In the end we asked AJR to make the decision about which school to go to. He thought about this for three days and then declared that he wanted to go to Wanniassa. We hope that he enjoys this school.

Fireworks Night

The family gathered at the MonashMob mansion to enjoy good food

wine and beer

and fireworks.

Where to send ARJ to school

In the ACT all the high schools go from year 7-10 and then you go to college for years 11-12. Each school has a speciality or focus and so kids often go to an "out of area" school. Here is the story of our exploration of the high schools in the ACT.

This last three weeks we have been looking at High Schools for AJR - can he really be that old? Apparently yes. We started with Mackillop Catholic College, which was in favour with AJR as his best friend was going there. I went to the information night (along with lots of other parents I knew) and did not see anything that made me want to send him there more than anywhere else. Apparently AJR's best friends parents had the same thought and now the friend is going to Wanniassa High, and AJR too if he can persuade me. I am not keen. Next I dragged AJR to Lyneham High, this school was recommended to us by Uncle Paulie and another teacher, however in the end I think it is too far from home. Next we all went Alfred Deakin High. We all ended up here because JSR had left work too late and had to go straight to the school. The tour was well organised and the school seems to have a lot to offer. It is closer to home than Lyneham and is well resourced for all levels of student. Last week we went to Melrose High, which is near where we used to live in Pearce. MLR went to LR's for the evening. We were impressed with this school, and we would be happy to have AJR there. As we went to leave Melrose, we discovered that we had locked ourselves into the neighbouring school carpark. So we taxied home and then I went to collect MLR, at nearly 10pm. Our last visit is to Wanniassa High on Wednesday night and we hope to have no new adventures. Wanniassa is the school that AJR has automatic entry to, as Monash is a feeder school for Wanniassa. We have decided to rank the schools, Alfred Deakin, then Melrose then Wanniassa. Hope you found all this illuminating!!! I found it tiring, but interesting.

JSR

So that you all know how wonderful he is, I am sharing this photo with you. This is what came home on tonight, they are so beautiful. Thank you!!!!!