November 2007 Archives

The first annual "Junee Rhythm 'n Rail" festival will be held on the weekend of 7 - 9 March 2008. The festival will be a celebration of Junee's strong railway history and of the depth of artistic talent in the area.

Vintage and steam trains will bring visitors from such places as Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Griffith and Cowra. Organisers estimate some 2,000 - 3,000 people will visit the town with accommodation provided by local hotels and motels, private homes and Tent City.

Local organisations have the opportunity to benefit directly whilst helping to make the festival a success. Proceeds from the festival will go to local drought relief charities, CanAssist and Variety Australia.

Broadway Museum will be assisting in the festival by conducting a display of handmade knitted, crocheted or woven rugs. So bring along your Granny Rugs, your Baby Rugs, or even your Fanciest Rugs. Prizes will be presented in four categories - Prettiest, Most Popular, Oldest and Most Unusual.

Three days of activities have been organised with two Guinness Book of Records attempts to be held on Saturday 8th March. The first is a record attempt for the Longest Licorice String, and second, a record attempt for the most guitars playing a single tune. Junee's Vaughan Logan has written a piece of music for many guitars to be played in the attempt.

If you can help in any way, want tickets, need accommodation, want to join in the record-breaking guitar playing attempt, or just want to know more about it, please vist the Rhythm'n'Rail website and use the contact form.

Tonight I'm celebrating and stress free for a while. I completed the rest of my TAFE assignments and can breathe easy until the end of the week when there may be one more. I'm hoping there isn't but there's still one module to go until I complete the course and I guess there'll be some sort of assignment at the end of it. I'm not sure if I've answered all the questions satisfactorily or not but I'm feeling pretty good about it so I won't worry any more. This course is pass/fail and the criteria is to give it your best shot which is what I've done.

It's certainly been beneficial as far as work goes. I've had a substantial weekly wage increase (though it's still coming, hoping for this week), but at the same time the expectations have increased for my output. I'm responsible for a few more things, for example, street stalls and itinerant vendors are my baby now, to approve or deny as I see fit. Usually it's a case of finding a date for the street stalls that doesn't clash with another community group, so it's not that big a deal. And I don't think any have ever been denied! It's also alot easier to sign off on them myself and send the approvals straight out. I know exactly where I'm up to so it made sense.

Later down the track I'll be approving minor developments like car ports and gazebos. Since most of them come in kit form with very straight-forward plans I don't anticipate many problems with that either.

I went to Wagga today to do some Christmas shopping and found it difficult getting a park anywhere. Shops are already packed and there's still 5 weeks to go. I'm nearly done with my gift buying and just need to wrap a few things now. One benefit today was the air-conditioning in the stores. It must have been high 30s outside and the relief walking into a cool shop was wonderful. I found a great little shop that I hadn't known existed until just recently called "Footy Fever". I think I could have bought something for everyone, the range of goods was great: from towels and quilt cover sets to stubby holders and football jumpers. I spent a little there (can't say too much, want to keep things a surprise for Chrissy) and was pleased with my purchases. Alex was with me and naturally wanted half the store.

Remember...
The best things in life.…
Are not things.
........

We got the motor for his petrol car this week and he spent an afternoon fitting it, so today I took it to Uncle Pete's to get tuned. It'll be another week before we can collect it and another few dollars. This little car has turned out to be an expensive hobby for Alex (or rather for me!!), there's so many intricate parts that can get lost or easily broken.

Thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon and I'm hoping it will cool things down a bit. Last night was another shocker with little relief from the heat. The flies at touch football yesterday were the worst I've ever known them. Both kids were so red-faced after the games, and it was so hot I thought I would die from heat stroke, and I was sitting on the side-line!!

Well, Labor won the Federal election yesterday but it came as no big surprise. They've been ahead in the polls for the last few months and the change might be refreshing. I have to agree with this news site commenter who wrote:

Bad luck for John Howard who lost his seat as well as his job, but I think he'll be able to retire comfortably. He was in a pretty well-paid job after all. I also agree with his departure speech where he reminded Australians that the Coalition has left Australia "prouder and stronger and more prosperous" than it was 11-and-a-half years ago when he took power from Paul Keating.

We only have one polling booth in Junee and I chose a poor time to go and vote. The line extended into the street for a few hundred metres and it took a good half hour to get inside. I chatted with a friend while waiting to vote and she told me about an acquaintance who had died in a plane crash earlier in the week. I know the woman's brothers quite well and it was sad news. I had even read the news story but the didn't make the connection.

I've got four assignments due in the next two weeks and I'm starting to feel quite panicky about it. I've read and re-read the notes and still can't work out how to put my words on paper. I'm struggling with the flow of a building inspection. I have to write what to check at each of the critical stage inspections and how the work complies with the Australian Standards.

I've got a rough draft of what to check and another list of the Standards, but I was never good at writing and seemed to be just staring at the page, so here I am at the computer instead. A good diversion from what I should be doing, I know. Perhaps tomorrow night I can look at it with different eyes and know exactly how it should all go together.

The other three assignments are more difficult, and I need to get together with the Building Surveyor at work and discuss how I should tackle them. One of them requires me to sit in on an interview like a pre-application discussion so I need to line that up. Then I need to assess the impact of a residential building on adjoining properties and the neighbourhood with respect to a list of criteria.

The third task is to assess an application for a construction certificate against the Building Code of Australia, Australian Standards and conditions of development consent. I did something very similar to this in a previous module but for a whole development.

I'm running out of time and this time of year doesn't help. Why I always leave everything to the final countdown is beyond me.

Today is a very special day because it's Anthony's birthday and although he's up there in Queensland, he's been in our thoughts all day. After all these years it's so lovely to celebrate with him, and today is all about celebrating Anthony. Happy birthday Son, I'm so proud to be your mum. I'm looking forward to accumulating many many wonderful memories with you in the years to come.

It takes wonderful things to make a son like you, generosity and kindness to name just a few. You're really very special; I want you to know, and each day my feelings continue to grow. I'm mighty fortunate to have someone like you, a son that is loyal, caring, loving and true. Warm thoughts and wishes I'm sending to you, a wish that all of your dreams will come true.

The Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga is hosting another "Mapped Out" conference tomorrow and six people from work are attending. The conference showcases the use of Spatial Data to enhance the operation and delivery of Government services, and last year we saw some amazing applications that different councils have used.

Our Manager for Planning and Development is one of the speakers, to talk about Junee’s new ‘Landsurfing’ project, which was designed to stimulate business and economic activity by providing answers to critical questions quickly and effectively. The tool will be beneficial for property developers, solicitors and surveyors to quickly locate land with particular criteria. For instance, if you need a large block near a railroad head, with a sealed road nearby, on flat land, you tick the boxes that apply and the program returns all the blocks of land in the area that meet your criteria. It's very innovative for a small council like Junee, and we're all very proud.

Junee Public School won the NSW Primary Schools Touch Football Knockout for the third year in a row on Tuesday, with South Wagga Public School winning the girl's competition for the second year in a row. It was another huge win for the Riverina.

Junee won the quarter final against Minnamurra Primary School 15-5, they won the Semi final against Ross Hill Public School 8-1, and won the Grand final against Calare Public School 8-3. In 2007, 704 schools participated in the girls and boys competitions, with the top 8 schools playing off at Nepean High School on 7 November. For me, this is the second year in a row that the Melbourne Cup has taken a back seat to touch football.

The day was quite warm but with showers on and off for most of the day. It didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the big crowd that gathered to see some of the best touch football around. Alex and I drove to Sydney around lunchtime on Monday and we stayed with the rest of the team at the Emu Plains Caravan Park, where we stayed last year. The boys' coach shouted MacDonald's after the game where we watched the Cup, but I didn't know one horse from another and didn't have a bet.

Back: John Clune (coach); Back Row: Drew Duck, Michael Punch, Hamish Dunbar, Adam Clune, Alex Hambilton
Middle: Bailey O'Rafferty, Taran Scott, Lachlan Landrigan, Jake Calf
Front: Hayden Bradley, Matthew Clune, Adam Bradley

Coach holds up the cup with Alex, Locky, Bailey, Jake and Taren in the foreground.

It's been raining on and off since Wednesday and it's great. Much colder today, with a drizzle coming down all day, but last night it poured down and my bird bath is full for the first time in ages. This is great rain for filling the dams around the countryside too.

We were lucky yesterday with the cricket in the morning and later the touch football, and managed to get both over before we got rained on. It started to rain at the end of Carly's game, but not so bad that it was a problem. Both kids had great wins at touch: Alex's team won 23-0 and Carly's won 11-0.

Lauren and Daniel went to a birthday celebration last night so we brought Zeke home with us to spend the night. He's so easy to look after that it's no trouble at all. Carly and her friend Keely had a bit of fun dressing Zeke up to look like an old man. It was a change from dressing him up to look like a little girl, why is it that girls love to do that to little boys? Normally I hate these kinds of photos where they show babies with cigarettes or bottles of beer, but this one was pretty funny. I think it was the comb-over that prompted it.

The painting is finished on the house and it looks great. I'm really happy with it. The roof has been painted the same grey as the trim and looks great when you turn the corner into our street. There's still a couple of little touch-ups to do, but you can't notice. The back of the house looks great too, so now I have a big urge to get in and do the gardens. Finding the time is the problem, I just don't seem to have any of it. Saturdays are totally shot with sport, and every second weekend Alex will be playing rep cricket on a Sunday. I don't think he has much choice, it's a case of too few players so we're stuck with it. I have to remind myself that this will be the last year for rep, he'll be too old next year (sigh of relief...).
 

For a comparison, see these posts.