Post-jab selfie

Are you *actually* vaccinated if you don’t take a post-jab selfie? :)

#JabDone

Close-up selfie of a bald man with glasses who is wearing a light blue surgical mask on his face. The man is sitting in what appears to be a large hall. On his black puffer jacket is a round sticker that reads #JabDone.

(To be fair there’s not much else to do while you sit around in the waiting area for 15-20 minutes post-jab in case you have an immediate adverse reaction to the vaccine.)

In case it’s not clear yet, Nadia and I got got our first doses of the Comirnaty vaccine (the one made by Pfizer) at the Melbourne Showgrounds vaccination hub early this morning.

An 8am vaccination booking has its pros and cons. Yes it’s cold and dark – particularly on a rainy day like today – but the queues are super short and the whole process is pretty quick. We parked our car at 7:49am, got processed by 8:18am, and made our way into the post-jab waiting area by 8:31am.

Photo of a large hall with several rows of chairs set out in a cordoned-off area. A pull-up banner in the foreground reads ‘COVID-19 vaccination hub’.

So to those of you over 40 in Melbourne who haven’t been vaccinated yet: come on down to the Showgrounds and get jabbed! (I’m sure the rest of you will get your turn very soon.)

Photo of the outside of a large hall. A large sign on the wall reads ‘COVID-19 vaccination hub’ and ‘Walk-ins are welcome’.

Lemon tree

Lemon tree; very pretty.

Photo of a fruit laden lemon tree in a residential garden.

(For those of you who don’t get that song reference.)

Speaking of trees, it’s a windy week in Melbourne and our neighbour’s tree – the one most responsible for me buying an electric leaf blower - is threatening to dump another load into our back garden. *sigh*

Photo of a tall tree (taller than the double storey house it stands next to) that’s about two-thirds full of leaves, most of which have turned yellow, orange, and read and are threatening to fall.

Sunny winter morning plans

Someone in my neighbourhood has the best plans for this gorgeous sunny morning. Whoever they are, I hope they have a lovely day.

Photo of a brightly coloured lawn chair and a raised dog bed lying in the front garden of a house. It’s a bright, sunny morning and the chair is set facing the sun.

Back to wearing face masks indoors

Working from the office today – with indoor mask restrictions back in place across Melbourne – is going about as expected. #tumbleweeds

Selfie of a man wearing business attire and a face mask. The man is standing in an open plan office with all the desks behind him unoccupied.

(To be fair there are about ten people working on this floor, they’re just mostly on the other side of the building.)

On the plus side I got to wear my all-blue work ensemble, including a blue face mask, so that was nice. That’s, like, the opposite of the regular pandemic blues :)

Mirror selfie of a man standing in a lift. The man is wearing business attire: black leather shows, a navy blue suit, a blue check shirt, a blue sweater, and a blue face mask. He is carrying a brown leather bag.

The walk to the train station early this morning was lovely too.

Selfie of a man in front of a public garden and netball court, both of which are empty. The man is wearing a suit, dress shirt, sweater, scarf, and hat.

And there’s still plenty of fruit left even at lunchtime. (Usually at least all bananas are gone by 10am.)

Photo of two wooden boxes lying on the counter of an office kitchenette. The boxes are filled with fruit: apples, pears, and bananas.

Importantly, I got to welcome my new team member on her first day of work. So that was the obvious highlight of the day.

So win some, lose some with the whole having to wear masks indoors thing. But that’s okay: health and safety first.

Photo of a sign framed and mounted on a portable stand that’s been placed in the middle of a corridor at the entrance to an office. The sign say “Please wear a mask at all times”. Behind that is another stand installation that dispenses hand sanitizer and says “Hand sanitising station”.

Commuting life

Back on the commuting life at Southern Cross Railway Station.

Photo of a train approaching its platform at a large train station. You can only see the lights and vague outline of the train that has just entered the covered portion of the station building. Another train is parked on the tracks next to the approaching train. A man in a silver puffer vest stands in the foreground, looking at his phone, while he waits for the train.

Autumn leaves

Autumn + neighbour’s tall tree + wild, windy night = (electric) leaf blower time.

Photo of a residential back garden showing a wooden deck, a pathway next to the lawn, and green grass growing in the lawn. There are yellow, orange, and red leaves scattered all over the ground. There is also a red dog sniffing around on the path.

That was a lot of leaves! (Also, I love electric leaf blowers so much.)

Photo of a residential back yard showing a large collection of red, orange, and yellow leaves that has been blown onto a cemented area next to a fence. Placed in front of these leaves is a black and bright orange AEG brand electric leaf blower.

There’s a lot you can accomplish during your working-from-home lunch break :)

Autumn in Newport

When you're different from your neighbours it’s good to be loud and proud :)

Photo of a residential footpath and street. All the trees along the road and in the houses have green or brown leaves. However one tree, which is the focus of this photo, has bright red leaves of different shades.

Footpath carvings

Not what you expect to see carved into cement on the footpath, but I suppose it’s nice to live in a neighbourhood (Newport, VIC) in which people express this type of sentiment. Especially during the month of Ramzan.

Photo of a square of cemented footpath into which someone has carved the letters ‘GAC’ and then ‘Muslims are good’. Below that a stylized graffiti tag is also carved into the then-wet cement.

Stunning Melbourne graffiti

Ah Melbourne. Your graffiti and wall art never fail to impress. Especially with art like this.

And not only is this gorgeous, you can really only see from the train just before you reach Footscray Station!

Photo taken from a train window of a large exterior wall of a double storey warehouse. Spread across the wall is a vibrant painting for a futuristic city and an astronaut above that city who is reaching out to touch a bird that’s flying into the starry night. The painting’s background colours are those of the rainbow: going from the red of the city to the violet of the night sky.

Nadia at BBB lifting party 11

Today was awesome! I got to watch Nadia lift her personal best powerlifting weights at the Barbell Babes Brigade lifting party :)

Photo of a woman wearing a brightly coloured singlet beams at the camera while holding her hands up towards the photographer to show her palms coated in white chalk. Behind her is a weight lifting rack with a weighted barbell across it.

Photo of a woman in shorts, a singlet, and socks with her hair tied back in a ponytail. The woman is leaning forward and gripping a barbell with heavy weights on it. Her expression is serious and her muscles are tight because she is about to start deadlifting this barbell. In the background is a weight lifting rack bolted into the floor and hooks bolted onto the wall with assorted weight on them. You can deduce from her environment that she's in a gym.

Photo of a woman in shorts, a singlet, and socks with her hair tied back in a ponytail. The woman is standing up, having successfully lifted a heavily weighted barbell. Her expression is one of joy and bewilderment as if she can't believe she just successfully lifted that much weight. She is looking at another woman, also in gym attire, who is clapping and cheering as she walks towards the powerlifter as if to give her a celebratory hug.

This is BBB’s eleventh lifting party and the third I’ve attended. It’s such a joy and rush to watch so many fantastic powerlifters achieve so much and have that much fun while doing it!

Also, happy fourth birthday to Barbell Babes Brigade!

Photo of about four dozen women in powerlifting gear gather for a group photo in a warehouse gym with the worlds 'Barbell Babes Brigade' painted on the wall behind them. The women and smiling, cheering, and shouting. There is a balloon in the shape of the number four behind them.

Perfect timing

Perfect timing with the delivery! I’m heding into the long weekend in Melbourne with the latest Seanan McGuide book :) #WinningAtLife

(Not that it'll take me the whole weekend to read it, of course.)

Photo of a man holding up a paperback book titles ‘Calculated Risks’ by New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire. In the background of the photo is a red dog, sitting on the grass, looking up at the photographer.

2021 annual Australian Open selfie

Given the year we’ve all had, our annual Australian Open (tennis) selfie is a little different this time.

Our round 3 tickets got cancelled because of the snap five-day lockdown in Melbourne, so we just went to the women's singles final instead :)

Selfie of a man and woman, both wearing face masks. They have their backs to the Rod Laver Arena tennis court, which is about half full of spectators. On the tennis court itself is Naomi Osaka, winner of the 2021 Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup – which is awarded to the winner of the women’s singles tournament. Osaka is holding that cup and is getting her photo taken by a large group of photographers gathered at one end of the court.

Rod Laver Arena is such a gorgeous venue to watch matches in. And even at 50% capacity we managed to make plenty of noise.

Wide angle photo of Rod Laver Arena, a tennis arena with a rich blue playing surface. The seats, which are also in shades of blue, are about half full with spectators. The sun is setting behind the photographer so there is a golden glow on the seats on the far side of the arena.

Speaking of venue capacity, it was super strange seeing Grand Slam Oval so empty! But with only two matches tonight, and the whole place strictly divided into zones anyway, it makes sense.

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing masks, with a mostly empty food and retail sports tournament space behind them. In the background is a building a smaller tennis arena.

Give this was a finals match we got to watch a short musical pre-show, complete with bisexual lighting.

Photo of a large tennis arena with its roof closed. The arena is bathed in blue and purple lighting while a trio of singers perform from one end of the court.

As for the match itself, well here’s Naomi Osaka’s serve in slow motion.

Of course at any modern sports venue the Spidercam is da real MVP.

Photo of a Spidercam camera mounted on a 360-degree gimball that’s attached to the ceiling by wires. This lets the camera zip around above the heads of the players, capturing the action from lots of different angles.

And even though we didn’t need these this year, Nadia is still a big fan!

Photo of a woman hugging a large metal fan that’s mounted on a wide cylindrical pedestal. Combined, the pedestal and fan are 50% taller than she is. On hot days these fans spray a fine spray of cold water over people passing by.

Anniversary week!

Kicking of our anniversary week with brunch at our local café. Of the seventeen years Nadia and I have been married this last one has been the strangest, but also the best.

Selfie of a man and a women in front of a tall wooden fence. The two are wearing almost identical straw hats and are smiling at the camera.

Stretching to get away

That feeling when you’re in the same field as you parent (in this case, literally) and you have to lean farther and farther away to get out from under their shadow!

Photo of two trees growing in a field behind a residential property. The younger tree is growing too close to the older one, so it has had to bend its trunk and extend its branches sideways to get the best direct access to sunlight. The end branches of the younger tree have bent so far away that they are literally touching the ground several metres away from the root of the older tree.

Nadia's tomatoes

The blackbird that keeps trying to steal Nadia’s cherry tomatoes can only get at the fruit lower down on the plant so the tomatoes in the upper branches are coming alone nicely!

Close-up photo of a tomato plant branch laden with cherry tomatoes at various stages of ripeness.

Close-up photo of a backyard cherry tomato plant with three bright red cherry tomatoes on it, along with a couple of smaller, greener ones.