January 2010 Archives

A couple of surprises this week: Who says "No, thanks", when you are asked if you would like a ticket ( and dinner) at the Australian Open Tennis? Certainly, not me.  First match of the evening will feature Rafael Nadal, ranked 2,  playing Philipp Kohlschreiber at 7pm, followed by Svetlana Kuznetzova, ranked 3,  v Angelique Kerber.

Living in Melbourne at this time of year is fun, some of our team managed to be only a few steps away from the second in line to the British throne last night at the tennis, and there are many other celebrities and sportspeople in town.

And in another unexpected, but welcome surprise: two tickets each for Gold Class Cinema have arrived on the desks of my colleagues and me.

A long weekend is about to start, too, which I hope will mean several long sleep ins, if the cats allow. Sometimes, they just want to get up and play. But if the morning is cool, they love to luxuriate in the bed, liking nothing better than a slumbering human to smooch up to.

Australia Day is the official reason for the long weekend (on Tuesday) and of course , there may have to be a lamb chop on the barbie to celebrate....(BBQ)

Heading for 43 or maybe more

Melbournians spend a lot of time talking about the weather, in my experience. Maybe one reason for this is the fluctuations in temperatures that you can experience, from one day to the next, and even in the proverbial "four seasons in one day".

We're now facing a predicted high temperature today of 43 degrees C, the hottest, and most extreme fire danger day we have had since Black Saturday, 7^th February, 2009, when 173 people lost their lives on one of the most dangerous days of fire danger since European settlement of this vast country.

Today is not expected to be as hot as Black Saturday, which according to the weather  bureau reached 46 degrees. Nor is the wind as strong. But it is bad enough, with campers and locals being asked to leave camping grounds in the Grampians, Little Desert, Wyperfeld National Park and other forested areas in the North West of the state where the fire danger has hit the new "catastrophic" rating. What does that mean? Click here to find out...

Here in our office, we hope that the morning "hissy' fit by the office air conditioning system will be rectified, as at is at least working on the upper floors of the building. Once again it seems a little petty to be complaining about air conditioning not working properly, when people are risking their lives fighting fires, even if there has been nothing catastrophic to date. Let's just hope it stays that way.

The hot conditions also threaten to play havoc with the public transport system. The thought of sitting in a train that is not going anywhere, with air conditioning not working, somehow does not appeal.