What a weekend just gone. Firstly, K got her orange belt at Karate - I continue to be amazed at this little 4 year old’s capabilities; I know they’re probably only doing the belts for the sake of hitting milestones for the kids every 6 months, but looking at how hard she focused, how much she wanted the belt, how she worked at it & practiced for it… I’ve been so happy with her attitude to this sport, and I look forward to seeing her kick butt in future.
And then we headed off to the cricket to see Australia vs India, where my spouse had gotten some corporate box tickets from work… which turned out to be not just any corporate box, but the highest level of corporate box available. Coming into the room and finding a full table setting for a three course dinner to be served in the interval between innings, we got a pretty good inkling that this wasn’t just the fancier version. Looking around, there were some Very Serious People in business suits chatting away, a couple of which would have been familiar to readers of business media, which I guess you could expect from a fancy corporate box.
About 2 hours in to the match though, a certain former prime minister known for his love of cricket came down the steps and asked if the seats next to us were free, to which I stammered out a “yes of course of course.” And that was how I found myself two seats away from John Howard.
At this point I proceeded to keep my mouth well shut, as I didn’t quite know what would come out of it - let’s just say my politics are not compatible with Mr Howard’s, and I have enough respect to not bring it up in this context. We were just a few guys enjoying the cricket on a perfect afternoon in a fancy seat. Others were definitely not as circumspect in speaking with him, but I have to think I’ve got some strain of the Aussie spirit when I see someone like that and I pointedly don’t bother them when they’re there in their private capacity. Oh and there was also Steve Waugh, and a few other former international cricketers there, but again, acknowledge and move on. These people are human (and also almost all far shorter in real life than I expected), and seeing them up close cemented that notion for me.
The icing on the cake though was very much in seeing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli chase down the Aussie total with 11 overs to spare and only 1 wicket lost for their efforts. We even got home at a respectable time :)
And then on Sunday, up at 5:30 in order to go do the 7 Bridges Walk, a spectacular 28km walk around the north shore & inner west of Sydney, looping around Sydney Harbour. I didn’t break any records, but for me personally, it was the first time I did 28 kilometers in one stretch, and as I sit here today 2 days later, I’m quite happy with the fact that my legs are not completely destoryed by the effort.
All in all, a beautiful, busy weekend full of new memories; now to turn my attention to my job hunt.