now a thirtysomething from Brisbane
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Very much looking forward to the physical release of Volume Two next week, in the mean time I’m loving the album streamed on NPR. I don’t think I can count how many times I’ve listened to Volume One this past year!
We’ve started doing a nine day fortnight at work and today is my day off. Those extra 50 minutes a day a worth it for a day like today. I’m getting my hair chopped, going to the Camera on the Somme exhibit at the Ipswich Art Gallery and 100 other things!
I along with oh perhaps half of Brisbane drove through the Clem7 tonight.
Few things to note about the opening. The radio stations were reporting that all four entrances were open…. No only the northbound entrances opened at 22:00, the southbound entrance is not opening till roughly 00:00. They also closed the ICB south/west bound as it shares the same entrance to the Clem7 southbound, there was no signage that I saw and nothing on the radio about that been closed. This resulted in a build up of cars on Lutwyche Rd mainly wanting to head south on the Clem7. As the build up continued a cop walked amongst the cars and advised us to head to one of the southern entrances … Off to the Shafstone Ave entrance I went 😀
And I went for a drive!!! My lights and radio were on. I was sort of hoping they would do a broadcast over the radios but no… It was quite dusty and sort of foggy in the tunnel, will be interesting to see if that diminishes in the next few days.
Oh Clem7, I don’t think that I will get much use out of you currently living at Auchenflower to head to the eastern or southern suburbs/Gold Coast as I don’t think the times will be that much different to using the Riverside Expressway. I will however in the next month or so when it is free do some experiments to see the times…
Oh Clem7, I’m so happy you are open. Yay for infrastructure!
Day 238/365 also known as Saturday, March 13 2010.
Had brunch and went shopping with some friends who used be at work.
Did some washing and some cleaning.
Decided to let the grocery shopping wait till today…
Watched a movie it was ok
Most importantly I bought a new printer/scanner. Quite happy indeed. 😀 It’s a Canon Pixma MP990 picked it up for $348 from Officeworks.
I spent a fair bit of the afternoon scanning paperwork. My expandable file of important paperwork is now about half the size it used to be, still a way to go but happy with progress.
Working on a meal plan for this week at the moment and then I will have to do some grocery shopping.
Going to have dinner with the family tonight and picking up my stash of photo paper.
For a silver box, it sure is pretty!
Easter in the Myer Centre, 237/365
A very lovely hanging Ferrero Rocher Easter egg in the Myer Centre that is about 3 stories high. At Christmas they hang a very nice Ferrero Rocher Christmas tree in this space.
I will once again say I had no intention of 11 days passing between posts. Oh well. Photos, we all like photos.
Curtains!! 226/365
Yep, at last I’ve finished my curtains and they are up. I went to Ikea between Christmas and New Years. Amongst the things I picked up was this fabric, I had planned to purchase a more “demure” fabric but there was no way I could say no the slightly kitsch, slightly folksy fabric that is Annamoa Fabric … I picked up lining at Spotlight a week or two later… Then the wait happened whilst I tried to find curtain eyelets, eventually I found curtain eyelet tape at Lincraft. I made one curtain at my house on a Saturday. Yeah, let me tell you it was quite an adventure using the kitchen floor as a cutting table. The next day I headed over to Mums and borrowed the kitchen table (such bliss for cutting fabric) and some of her advice. I didn’t quite get the other two curtains finished that day but did the rest of the sewing the following Sunday when I was next over.
They make my room feel so cheery! And oh for lining as well now my room isn’t so bright in the morning and slightly warmer at night.
Yay for new curtains!
Patterned Legs, 227/365
There a few fashion rules I have for myself, one of these is no tights/stockings in Spring and Summer. Really because unless they are 8 denier or less it is just too damm hot to wear stockings in Brisbane during those months. I picked this pair up from Coles over the New Year for a very nice sum of $3.something!
Romatherapy Tomatoes???? 228/365
Yeah this is what Woolies calls baby Roma tomatoes…
Peach Upside Down Cake, 229/365
At what point did it seem like a good idea to make an upside down cake in a spring form pan….. Common sense did question it but no I was going to be good and follow the recipe. Let’s just say I had a ball cleaning a black sugary mess in the oven…. Upside down cake + spring form pan = mess!
Other than it was quite a success. The recipe is off Taste and here is the link Peach Upside Down Cake. I had almonds on hand but really didn’t feel like breaking out the blender to make almond meal so used hazelnut meal I had on hand instead and I think it made the cake even nicer. Had a slightly nutty flavour. One thing to note though is that I made this cake Thursday night to take to work on Friday. For morning tea, the cake was fantastic, just the right amount of moistness. When it came to divying up the last few slices for afternoon tea the cake was a bit dry.
Looking Up, 230/365
I saw The Blind Side on Friday night – man oh man what a movie. I was happy to see Sandra Bullock win the Oscar, man oh man that dress was gorgeous and the hair!
I was kicking back on my bed when I got home with a million thoughts going through my mind and I was struck to a degree by the way the posters look from below.
A single flower, 231/365
A single flower, a single plant. This dahlia is the only thing in the front garden at Mums currently.
Sore Toe, 232/365
A change from photos of metal adorned teeth… For the last week or so the tip of the toe next to my big toe has been quite sore. I thought my toenail was digging in but trimming the nail didn’t help it all. I just tried to ignore it, thinking that yeah it will get better. It’s no longer sore but when I decided to change my toenail polish on Sunday I discovered why it had been so sore! Check out that bruise! Four days after taking this photo, I can tell you it is a bit darker as well.
Welcome Lights, 233/365
On the same trip to Ikea as the one when I got the curtain fabric I also picked up these Welcome Lights/Christmas Candolier from Ikea for something like $3 after Christmas. I love them! I’m keeping these out all year! A much more modern version than the set my parents brought out from Iceland with them.
Melbourne snow dome, 234/365
I picked up this snowdome for next to nothing at Borders one day. I was going through photos the other day and finally found the perfect photo. In saying that, I’m still trying to decide what photo to put on the other side!
This hat, 235/365
I’ve posted photos of this hat before but I love it too much not to share more. I’ve moved it from hanging on the curtain rod to a hook on my door. Now it greets me when ever I walk into my room! I do wish my head was a few cm smaller so it did fit me.
Yeah, that is a whipper snipper, 236/365
Our lawn had a hair cut today or really it got a buzz cut. I’ld call it a number 4. Before it could be mown they “trimmed” the lawn with a whipper snipper!
It’s hard to believe that I am 236 days into my 365 day quest! When I tried in 2008 I lasted 75 days. I’m just about two thirds of the way through now, really happy with that. 😀
And that is a wrap!
Well I did it.
10 and a bit km in 1:27:04.9. At the end of the race I wasn’t happy with my time as I did the Bridge to Brisbane in 2008 in 1:24:16. Talking to people after the race and comparing times when they released this afternoon I feel better about my time. Still I want to my next 10km in under 1:20:00.
Leading up to the event, my #1 concern was the humidity in the tunnel. Turns out that concern was very well founded. It was an absolute stinker in the tunnel, the fans are quite spaced out and they were operating at different speeds. It was an absolute relief passing under some of them and no relief passing under others. This is what it says on the Clem7 website.
Will it be humid or uncomfortable in the tunnel?
Conditions inside the tunnel are dependent on conditions outside the tunnel. There are a number of jet fans inside the tunnel which will be operating to keep air flowing through the race.
Yeah the tunnel is designed for motor vehicle traffic typically with aircon not 5000 people completing a 10km!
These are the time comparisons I mentioned before. Quite interesting to see, would be cool to do a bigger comparison but it is a slow task.
Name_______________Clem7 2010_____Bridge to Brisbane 2009
HINTSA MEBRAHTU_____00:32:56.2 _____00:31:25
PATRICK NISPEL________00:37:19.7_____00:32:25
KEITH WILLIAMS_______00:36:49.8_____00:34:50
DENNIS FITZGERALD____00:36:35.2_____00:34:52
MASAYUKI ATSUMI_____00:36:40.0_____00:34:58
ROB GARDNER_________00:39:15.2_____00:35:57
MATTHEW BOURKE_____00:38:30.4_____00:36:04
TONY SHAW__________00:42:45.8_____00:36:13
JOHN TUCKER_________00:40:04.3_____00:36:30
My time also might have been a little quicker if I didn’t take photos (I only took one photo doing the Bridge to Brisbane) but we have to have photos!
Waiting for 6am to come around, isn’t the dawn light glorious?
And we are off
Halfway point
Ohh shiny!
To those who sponsored me a really big thank you!
Till next time 😀
In 9hrs time I will be a few minutes into the Clem7 10km! Excited just slightly but also a little bit nervous!
This is not your ordinary 10km run, it’s in a tunnel! I’m going to be jogging under the Brisbane River! How cool is that?
Whilst the fun run is been held to celebrate the community opening of the Clem7 tunnel, it is also been used as a fund raiser for the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Since it is a fund raiser, I would of course dearly appreciate any donations. If you wish to support the cause, you can head over to my fund raising page.
I’ll be back tomorrow, most likely slightly exhausted!
And because there is always something else, have you seen the Tsunami Warning that is out for SE QLD tomorrow? Far Out Brussel Sprout!