Leaving was pretty traumatic - the prospect of outsourcing had been looming for some years, but the arguments against it were so many and so irrefutable that we hoped it would never happen. When it did, it was very quick - not much time to think about the people he was leaving behind and the change it would make to his life. He's been offered several jobs since, but claims to be having too good a time to stop yet. In July, Helen and I nipped up to Sydney to meet Amy, and to share in another visit from Dad and Eva. The little temporary house was pretty crowded, so H and I stayed at a bed'n'breakfast in Burwood where, as a result of the elegant but noisy wooden floors, H introduced me to the virtues of industrial-strength earplugs. At four weeks, Amy was pretty grumpy, but liked to see everything that was going on, even if it meant standing up in people's laps.
At the beginning of August, I had a visit from Jill and Andrew B. who were over from England with their 10-year-old son, Will. They slept a rainy few nights in Helen's caravan, the only guest accommodation available here, managing to stay dry only because Will's legs didn't reach the end of the bed where the worst leak was. It was good to see them and catch up, and Dac kept Will entertained with PlayStation games, a feat he repeated later in the month with Trevor, Phil's 10-year-old son, visiting from Switzerland.
I made another quick Sydney trip later in August with my friend Jo. We stayed at Formule One, part of an international chain of identical motels offering cheap and fairly basic accommodation. Once again the industrial-strength earplugs proved their worth - the denizens of the smokers' wing rioted all night long. We whizzed down Liverpool Road to Fiona and Ricky's place as often as possible. I nearly had a swim at the Olympic Centre at Homebush, but was daunted by a long leaping queue of teenagers. Still, we got to see the Olympic site, which I have to say reminded me a bit of the Third Reich.
In September it was off to Queensland again to see Dad and Eva. Much cooler this time, and we had the benefit of Dac's digital camera.
