Life back in Australia

This last week was HOT, HOT, HOT. From last Sunday through Thursday the daily high was between 98 and 103 and it wasn't cooling off at night. My house (and the school) heated up like a kiln. There is no a/c in either place. I was spraying down the brick wall inside and outside my bedroom to try and reduce the heat a little because the brick just holds onto that heat. Luckily the temp dropped a little by the end of the week.

My gym is not air conditioned and working out has been like taking a sauna while exercising - very wet.

Despite the heat work has been pretty good. I am working with several teachers in integrating various technology strategies in their classrooms. The downside is that the technical issues are still occurring and our process for dealing with them needs refinement.

I was checking up on some electrical and cabling work to be done in one of the classrooms and one of the teachers showed me a photo of an osprey that was hanging out on his car. He got so close to take the photo that I was worried about the bird. Then I read in Friday's local paper that two osprey that had been rehabilitated were released. I guess it was one of them. It doesn't bode well for them if they are not displaying normal wild animal behaviors.

My bike finally seems to be fixed. It was in the shop for over a week due to a problem with the spokes. Apparently most of the bikes sold in 2006 has bad spokes. It was finally fixed under warranty. I then had to take it back for adjustment because the tire was rubbing on the brakes. All seems well now so I have two forms of transport available - my feet or the bike.

You would think that I would be used to the different traffic patterns here by now but on Thursday I rode my bike over to a friend's house for a birthday drink. I only had two light beers but on the way out I heard her yelling "get on the right side of the road" which was, of course, the left side of the road. I was riding along on the right. It was a small side street and there was no traffic.

Friday night I went to the outdoor cinema (a projection screen set up in an ampitheatre) to see the original Hairspray. Several of my friends went and one brought colored hairspray for us to get in the feel of the movie. It was a good time. I am keen to see the newer version which I understand is a musical.

I just finished Michael Crichton's novel Prey about nanotechnology. I am now reading The Unquiet by John Connolly. I recommend both.