Tuesday 27 December 2022

Christmas Roundup

This post may be a little self-indulgent, so to those averse to self-indulgency read no further.

I always look forward to a couple of weeks off at year's end as a time to unwind, relax and shed the latent stress that seems to build up over the course of a working year. Christmas Day is a highlight with children, and now grandchildren, dropping in, accompanied by the usual panic from the wife as to whether we have enough food only to find, as usual, we could have easily fed three times as many. 

Christmas was a lovely day and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. However, as the day wore on I began to feel increasingly "off". The catered food which I had criss-crossed Brisbane to collect the day before and which had looked so good when I picked it up now began to look unattractive. At around 2pm Tracey looked at me and suggested I have a lie down, which I thought was particularly generous as it left her being the single hostess for around the fifteen remaining people. Around 4pm I did the test and, of course, on Christmas Day of all days, my first dose of COVID was officially confirmed. Thank you, Universe.

Now, as much as I like Christmas and my wife's supreme efforts to make it as enjoyable for everyone concerned, I always look forward to some downtime on boxing day in the form of an extended painting session while listening to the Australian cricket team take on the current year's touring side. This year I woke up to a mass evacuation as Tracey and the kids decided to hightail it out of here to holiday in Noosa, citing health reasons as they exited. To be fair, we had all planned to go, but of course the most sensible course of action was for them to avoid the current infection. That said, I'm not sure I would want to be caught on a desert island with that lot if there was no obvious food source.

Speaking of food, my wife pointed out how well provisioned I would be. Which is quite correct although as most reading this would know COVID has a way of destroying the appetite. I have just cleared out the fridge and tipped the equivalent of a Perry 28mm Napoleonic Danish eight battalion and three cavalry regiment army in the bin. I suspect the profiteroles and left-over croissants which I will round up tomorrow will be enough to cover the artillery.

Not that the last few weeks have been bad. Quite the opposite. I finally managed to complete the law degree I have been chipping away at over the past seven years and achieved a decent Honours result (an upper second to those familiar with the English system). I have attended two previous ceremonies in the form of a BComm at the University of Auckland and an MBA at the University of Queensland, but I ended up asking QUT to just post my degree out, not wanting to be the old bugger that stumbled up on stage to grab his piece of paper among a crowd of twenty-somethings. 

Aside from the above, I have managed to complete 20 elements of German Knights and sixteen elements of German spearmen. I'm hoping to photograph these before the year is out. Until then, take care all.

16 comments:

  1. Attaining a law degree and COVID in December is a noteworthy milestone. Congratulations on the former. My condolences on the latter! Sounds like your illness, besides destroying your appetite, allowed for some meaningful painting sessions. Most storm clouds have a silver lining.

    Take care of yourself and Happy New Year!

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    1. Thanks Jonathan. Unfortunately the painting has suffered as I find it too much of an effort when I'm not feeling 100%. So three lost days so far, but I'm feeling better by the day and am hoping I should be able to pick up the brushes by tomorrow.

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  2. Oh no not the Plague! And at Christmas! I laughed at imagery of you up on stage with the young ones, your grandchildren looking on… of course you would have to go out clubbing with your classmates after the event and get plastered…maybe you could share some of those party tricks of yours back from the ‘80s…I seem to recall something to do with marshmallows. Get well Lawrence, enjoy the peace and quiet and here is hoping that your experience is like mine was, not much more than a heavy cold.

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    1. I don't remember the marshmallows to be honest Mark, but there are quite a few chunks of the eighties of which I have no recollection which is probably just as well. Studying again did take me back in time though. I did get a fever for the first twenty-four hours, but day four and it has now reduced to a light cold so I'm definitely on the mend.

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  3. Oh no! Sorry to hear about the dreaded Covid, at least the Mrs and kids escaped it.
    Well done on the degree though and save the profiteroles if at all possible!

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    1. Cheers Ray. I have never seen the kids move so quickly to be honest. I think it may be profiteroles for lunch as I am starting to run out of options.

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  4. Congratulations on the degree Lawrence. Well deserved after all your hard work.
    I hope you recover speedily from covid, not the best of gifts that Santa could bring you... you must've been on the naughty list!
    Take care of yourself

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    1. Thanks Richard. I think I was on the naughty list, and would have settled for the usual socks.

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  5. Oh dear covid at Christmas 🙁 whilst I have had a slight sniffle both my wife and son have had a horrid cough/cold all through Christmas. Me and my son even had to step in to take over the Christmas cooking. We have had some nice family time but a distinct lack of hobby time. Hopefully you recover soon 👍 congrats on the degree as well, I decided some time ago I had had enough formal education🙂

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    1. Cheers Matt. I think this degree will probably do it for me for formal education, but it was nice to sharpen my mind a bit for a few years and use it in ways that don't get exercised at work. I hope the wife and son are starting to feel better at your end.

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  6. Well done on the degree Lawrence, I am assuming it's been done for " interest/to do it" rather than as a precursor to a career change? We are all a bit long in the tooth for that kind of malarkey ....or I am only talking for myself?
    Covid has certainly taken off again this side of the Tazzy...a couple if work colleagues succumbed in the week or two prior to Christmas, and I have certainly been aware if many more people catching it in the last couple of months....I have still avoided it...so far!

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    1. Definitely not a career change Keith. I wouldn't fancy starting out in a new profession and having to learn everything. It will come in handy for various aspects of our current business though, although I'd still go to our lawyers for anything serious. Just about everyone I know seems to have caught COVID over the past few months. My father is still recovering from his bout five weeks ago, which saw him spend a week in hospital. Hopefully this will be COVID's last hurrah.

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  7. Sorry to hear about the Christmas Covid, Lawrence. Illness has been rampant in the US - RSV is subsiding, but lots of COVID (fortunately few hospitalizations from it), tons of Flu, and plenty of old fashioned colds. Most drug stores are out of many cold medications, Acetaminophen, and Amoxicillin. Our emergency department had a 5 hour wait by 9 AM Tuesday (unheard of for us!), and I saw a record number of patients that day myself. I worked most of the following day when I was theoretically "off", too. Biggest thing is that younger kids, having had few viral illnesses from 2022 until this Fall, are susceptible to just about every virus that comes around. Hopefully you are well on the mend by now... Counsellor, JD, etc!

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    1. Sorry, missed this comment Peter. Definitely on the mend, but still experiencing coughing fits and find I get tired after doing things like mowing the lawn, even though it is nearly two weeks on. I have lost count of the number of friends who have come down with it, so it is definitely rife here at the moment.

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  8. Terrible timing, I hope you're feeling better and lost painting time, now that will hurt!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, the lost painting time is what hurts the most.

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