Back In The Saddle

Back into the swing of things again after the departure of the kids last week. On Monday I dusted off the Asics and got back into an exercise routine. Of course being another year older since I last exercised just before Xmas made it so much more difficult.

No build ups for me straight in at the highest level and consequently almost killed myself. It has been a lifelong story. Get fit and enjoy it, then get injured or go away for work or just get plain lazy and lose all the fitness and then have to start from scratch all over again and again.

I am also back in the editing saddle. As usual I buggered around for ages until I actually sat down at the computer to edit. It has always been like that with writing or university assignments. I always find other things to do but once I commit myself to the task it works out fine. In two days I edited 36 pages which is the most yet. I should (will) have the edit completed by the end of the month.

The weather is still pretty murky here, just the one sunny day in the past 3 weeks. It is like living in London, except with scenery. Apparently because of the geography of the Okanagan Valley and the angle of the sun the weather won't start to improve until mid-February. That said it was 11c here on Tuesday. 

Off to the movies tonight to see Sherlock Holmes. The Penticton Cinema may not be the most salubrious cinema in Canada but seats only cost $6.95 which is a huge plus. When you consider that cinema tickets in Australia are now $16 or more $6.95 is a huge bargain. 

I have seen a few movies over the past few weeks. Avatar, Up in The Air and The Blind Side. Each one was worth the price of admission.  

It is school exam time here at the moment so there is a bit of stress floating around the place.

TOMMY TIPPETT

As regular readers to this blog will know I started this to promote a book I was writing. I had read that every aspiring author had to have a platform to promote his or her book. A platform can be a blog, website, Facebook or Twitter. Just one of them or if possible all of them.

You would also be aware that very little of this blog has pertained to my Tommy Tippett book. I finished the 85,000 word draft of the book in November after six weeks of writing and soonafter started the first edit.

I had completed around 70 pages of editing when I just got sick of it. I placed the book away and have just today returned to it after six weeks away.

I am now ready to go full-steam ahead to finish the editing process by the end of January.

To celebrate I am going to include an excerpt from the book.

Any comments, queries or questions would be appreciated.

Christmas school holidays were always a favourite time for Tommy, it wasn’t just that there was no school, it was a whole range of things. The days were long and hot so he had lots of time to play and explore. Some days he would walk down to the beach, whilst on other balmy, summer days he would just make up games and play with Ace. But the favourite of all summer pastimes was going to work with granddad on the truck.

In the summer granddad left home very early in the morning to do the first beach run. He had to empty all the garbage bins on the beach before the summer crowds arrived. Tommy would get himself up and dressed and have a bowl of cereal or a slice of toast before running outside to where granddad would be filling up the truck with petrol which was just a little bit of a chore.

There was an ancient petrol tank located at the back of the house the tank was necessary when granddad had a fleet of trucks and rather than fill up at a petrol station granddad had the fuel tank installed. Even though the fleet of trucks were gone the tank remained and it was filled every six months or so.

Tommy followed granddad to the pump. “Granddad, can I come with you today?” Tommy always asked if he could go with his grandfather even though he already knew the answer.

“You want to climb on board a dirty old garbage truck, ride around the beach picking up rubbish with your old granddad when you could be swimming at the beach or playing with your dog?” Granddad said this as he placed an oversized watering can on the ground near the petrol bowser.

Tommy automatically went to the long handle of the petrol bowser, grabbed it with both hands and started pumping petrol from the tank below the ground up through a pipe and into the glass bowl high up on the bowser. Tommy loved watching the honey-coloured petrol rush into the bowl and fill it.
“That’ll do Eck, we only need two gallons.”

Tommy stopped pumping and watched as granddad released a valve that allowed all the petrol in the glass bowl to escape, down a rubber hose and into the watering can. The can filled, granddad started to walk up the driveway towards the truck, the heavy petrol-filled can in one hand, the other arm thrust out to the side to balance the operation.

“Well I suppose if you don’t have any more pressing engagements or you don’t have to go to school or meet the Prime Minister, you can come.”

“Oh granddad you know it is school holidays,” Tommy said laughing.

“Well I forgot.”

“No you didn’t granddad.”

“Well I might have, you don’t know everything Eck.”

This was a well practiced ritual between them both. Granddad wasn’t the sort of man who would answer with a simple yes or no when the conversation could be dragged out somewhat.

They arrived at the battered old Ford tip truck, a truck that granddad had owned for almost 10 years. It was a sturdy old truck with a red cabin and green painted wooden sideboards on the tray.
On the drivers side door a skilled sign writer had penned the words in sturdy, black block letters: Thomas Tippett, General Carrier, Wellington Street Bondi, XY873408. The same sign writer had adorned other parts of the truck with scrolls and swirls, which gave the old Ford a jaunty look.
Granddad had once told Tommy that he had every truck he ever owned decorated by a sign writer.

“Why granddad?” Tommy had asked.

“Why Eck?” Well to make the truck attractive and to stand out from other trucks of course. What would you rather ride in a plain old sad truck or a truck like ours that is decorated and happy?” Granddad stood hands on hips looking at Tommy waiting for his answer.

“A truck like ours.’ Tommy answered without hesitation.

“Of course you would. Why when I had a horse and cart I used to get a sign writer to put all manner of swirls and lah-de-dah’s all over the horse, to make him happy and noticeable,”

“Really granddad?” Tommy was looking at his grandfather thoughtfully trying to weigh up the pros and cons between truth and tale.

“Oh Eck when have I ever told you anything that wasn’t absolutely a hundred percent true?” Granddad gave Tommy a hurt look.

“Yesterday when you told me at breakfast that too much honey is bad for you as it can make buzz instead of talk.” Tommy had now placed his hands on his hips and looked directly at his granddad.

“Well I thought I had read that in a scientific magazine, I must have got my facts mixed up, I was probably thinking of elephants.”

Tommy did not even try to fathom granddads response as he was so used to his wonderful nonsense.

HITCHIKING - NORTHERN TERRITORY STYLE

Before I came across to Canada I worked for the Australian Government in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is a different world. This is just one encounter.

And not under any circumstances are you to carry civilians in your government vehicle, nor will you transport goods or animals. Your vehicle is to be used expressly by you for government business. Does everyone understand that failure to comply with this directive can result in immediate dismissal from government service?” The facilitator glared at the class daring any student to challenge his meager authority.


“Do you all understand?”

The class provided him with a few nods and a couple of yes sir's.


So why was I driving down a pool cue straight gravel road in the Northern Territory of Australia, in a government vehicle occupied by three Aboriginal passengers as well as their four hunting dogs?


I can say that I really didn’t have that much of a choice in the matter as the trio had planted themselves in the middle of the dirt road and basically demanded that I drive them and their dogs to their community.


Unfortunately this scenario was never discussed in my training to be a government worker in remote, Australian Aboriginal communities. Reluctantly I allowed them to climb on board.

“Hey, what does this one do?” asked the Aboriginal man sitting beside me in the front seat as he leant forward to press a button on the car stereo system.


He did not wait for my reply, he pressed down on the button and the music was cranked up to its maximum warp factor of sound.


The music boomed and filled the vehicle.


His buddies in the rear seat thought that this was a fantastic replacement for silence and they started to pound on the back of the front seat.

“I am stuck in Folsom Prison,” they sang along with Johnny and with each uncoordinated bang on the back of my seat my entire body was thrust forward.


It was around the time of “I hear a train a coming,” whilst trying to stave off concussion, mingled with dread thoughts of losing my job that the dogs in the far back of the vehicle began to fight, no doubt thrown into a web of excitement by their master’s off-key singing.


I was looking in my rear view mirror at the sing-a-long in the seat behind me, and the dog fight in the back when the bloke beside me said ever so calmly, “watch out for that big roo.”


“What roo?” I said flicking my eyes back to the road to catch sight of a large red kangaroo bounding across the road in front of the vehicle.


Now kangaroos are notoriously stupid. Cute, but plain out and out dumb.


This particular kangaroo must have been the cream of the crop because he had hundreds of thousands of acres to roam in. Within that acreage there was just this one single-lane road and on that one small road just was just one vehicle and this kangaroo had to launch himself across the road there and then.

There was a large thump as I hit the kangaroo broadsides. Nothing could survive that blow.


The music was forgotten and the dogs stopped fighting.


“Hey stop, stop,” the man beside me said urgently as he put his hand towards the steering wheel.


I bought the car to a sliding halt.


“You guys worried about the roo?” I said feeling pleasantly surprised at their act of concern.


“No mate we wanta get that roo and take him home for dinner, he’s a big one and will give us a good feed.”


“Oh,” is the only reply I could muster.


Later I drove into the Indigenous community with the large kangaroo tied to the roof of the vehicle, the unfortunate animal having bled all over the car on the way. The combination of blood, dust and wind had turned my formerly pristine white government vehicle into something that belonged on a cheap and nasty slasher film.


My passengers got out of the vehicle without a word, untied the kangaroo, placed it over a broad, black shoulder and wandered off.


I looked at my gore splattered government vehicle and tried to recall if we were warned about the carriage of dead animals and bloodied and battered vehicles.


No such warning sprung to mind which meant that my first day, of my last job wasn’t a total disaster.

LONG HAUL

Just back today from a return trip to Vancouver to drop my kids off at the airport. Their last full day in Canada was spent doing some shopping in Penticton. My daughter Kellie was particularly impressed with Wal-Mart and considered the makeup a steal. They also bought last minute gifts for home as well as a few odds and ends for themselves.

My son David stood out as he wore shorts and a Cronulla Sharks shirt. No one in Canada wears shorts and short sleeves at this time of year. They all looked at him as if he was crazy and he continually proved it by opening his mouth. Jessie was a little better though she couldn't abandon her penchant for wearing thongs.

We had a really nice farewell dinner on the Monday night and the big winner was the dog who scored a nice piece of steak and assorted vegies when Cameo dropped her plate on the kitchen floor.

Final farewells were spoken on Tuesday morning and we headed off for the four hour trip to Vancouver around lunchtime.

The weather was pretty miserable for the first part of the trip and we encountered dense fog on the first part of the journey over the Rocky Mountains. Not that the kidds really cared asa they were watching Lord of the Rings on the on-board DVD player and I had to drive along listening to Gandolf and battles with Orc's.

We encountered sunshine for about 80k's and then as we drew closer to Vancouver the fog and rain set in again. I have been to Vancouver 7 times now and on all but one occasion it has been raining. It maybe a pretty city but the weather is abysmal.

We checked into a hotel near the airport and had 6 hours to kill. I gave the kids their choice of dinner venue and not unsuprisingly they chose fast food. A & W to be exact. This Canadian chain is an institution here and pride themselves on their family of burgers. Hence they name their burgers Mama Burger, Papa Burger, Uncle Burger, well you get the drift. They also serve root beer in huge frosted steins. I have to admit A&W are my favourites as well.

Afterwards we went to the movies, a huge cinema complex near the airport that houses 18 cinema's. I have never seen so many people at the movies before and there was a Burger King as well as several other food outlets inside the cinema. We saw The Blind Side which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

It was back to the hotel time for a quick shower and off to the airport. There was a huge line up for the China Airlines flight to Taipei. The flight from Vancouver is a brutal 13 hours and then they have a ridiculous stopover of 17 hours stopover in Taipei before a 9 hour flight to Brisbane. Whoever came up with this schedule needs to give themselves a good, swift uppercut.

I couldn't stand seeing them waiting around the airport for that amount of time so I had to book a hotel for 2 nights to give them somewhere to put their feet up.

As always the fearwells were hard, I halways have a degree of guilt when I leave my children or they leave me. That said I was happy in the knowledge that all three said that they had the time of their lives whilst in the USA and Canada and I think at least one of them will be back fairly soon. It was a bit of a sad haul as I drove back to the hotel alone at 2330.

The trip back to OK Falls was much quieter today, no distractions or fights. Just traffic and miserable rain for the first part of the drive and thick fog over the Rockies. I arrived back at OK early in the afternoon to spend the rest of my birthday with Tammie.

So the house is so much quieter now and I have to start planning my next adveture. At the moment the only thing on the radar is the Vancouver Olympics in mid-February.

Stay tuned.

CANADIAN WINTER - ICE HOCKEY AND SNOWBOARDING!

Tammie and I took the kids to the local ice hockey game on Saturday night. None of us except for Tammie had ever been to a game so there was a degree of curiousity surrounding the game.

We attended the game in the town of Penticton and watched the local team, the Penticton V's play Quesnell Millionaires. The guys who play in this league are juniors aged between 16-19 and it is considered a nursery for the National Hockey League.

The Penticton Entertainment Centre is relatively new and the facilities are great. As you would expect there is a lot of razzamatazz surrounding the game but I find that adds to the attraction and excitement. We had great seats and sat back to enjoy the action.

The game is played over three periods with 6 players on the rink at any one time. The action is fast and furious, with players being changed regularly, ice hockey must be one of the fastest sports on the planet.

The V's who are leading the competition won the game 6-2. The consensus from the girls were that the players were hot and my son a rugby league diehard grudgingly admitted that he enjoyed the game and the skill and hardness that the players showed. It is definately a sport that we would all watch live again.

The next day we took the 50 kilometre trip to the Apex Mountain ski fields. The temperature was a mild -6c and the weather on the mountain was a sunny haze.

As the kids had never snowboarded before they took a two hour lesson. They had a ball and after many spills and crashes they gained some modicum of control of the snowboard. The weather turned sour later in the day but it didn't curb their enthusiasm ast all for snowboarding.

We picked them up late in the afternoon, tired a little sore and cold but with broad smiles upon their faces. It appears that most of the workers on the ski fields are Aussies and now a couple of the kids are considering a winter soujourn to Canada later this year to hone their new found skills.

My children rreturn to Australia late on Tuesday night so tomorrow we drive to Vancouver to meet the plane.

BACK IN BC

Well so much for constant updates whilst I was on the family roadtrip. Life and other things got in the way of writing my blog, oh and a touch of laziness as well.

As stated in the last blog we spent New Years Eve at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, Nevada. A huge monstrosity of 900 rooms. This was the first time in a casino for most of the group and they were overwhelmed by the buzz of the place, lights, noise and constant action. Being New Years Eve the place was packed, with all types of patrons from the well dressed to drunken 'good-ol-boys.'

Only one of us hit the tables and that was my son David. The drinking age is 21 so only three of the seven could legally drink. The tables and slot machines were packed and thick cigarette smoke hung in the air. Drunks were everywhere and security was having a fine time ushering people here and there.

We all gathered on an upper level to welcome in the new year. It gave us a birds eye view of the gambling and dance floor below and it was fun to watch everyone make full or semi fools of themselves. It was great to be able to see in the new year with some of my family and I certainly had a better time than last new year which was spent alone.

We all retired to our rooms in a good state as we had to be on the road early next morning. I think we were all glad to leave the glitz and glamour behind and get back on the road again.

We had another long day in the saddle and this trip consisted of a trip of the Sierra Nevada mountains which were clogged with snow and guys were making a killing placing and taking off snow chains. We went across the mountains on our all-season tyres without any dramas at all. The scenery was stark white everywhere and the temperature dropped as we climbed higher.

In the early evening we approached Los Angeles and of course the traffic. I have been to LA several times but never really driven there so it waas an experience driving from one side of LA to anaheim on the other. The traffic was dense and the speed was a constant 120-130kph, you really had to be atuned to what was going on around you as cars were zipping this way and that.

I miscalculated on the petrol and we had a few scary moments when it appeared that we may run out on the freeway but we managed to get off and fill up.

We found our Anaheim hotel okay and checked in. Basic and within an easy walk of Disney. We walked up on the first night and entered Downtown Disney, a road full of shops and eateries where you don't actually enter the park or have to pay. Full of tourists spending lots of money, a real melting pot.

I had come across a Disney ticket deal on eBay and after some negotiations and a little legwork I ended up saving almost $1000 on entry to Disneyland which was a huge saving.

We spent two days at Disney and that was more than enough for me. It is great and as they say it is "the happiest place in the world," but it was hot and there appeared to be scowls everywhere. The lines were usually long, but they have a system called fast pass where you can bypass lines. Everyone loved the thrill rides as well as some of the more sedate, character driven rides.

Nightime was special as all of the Christmas decorations were alight and the Magic Kingdom and It's a Small World were ablaze with colour and light. It's hard to beat a night at Disney!

After two days at Disney we drove to Universal studios and spent the day. The studio tour was great as were some of the other attractions and rides. I really thought Universal was better than Disney and there were way more characters walking around the lot and more shows to watch. There weren't as many people there either so the lines weren't as long.

Our last day in Los Angeles was a trip to Hollywood Blvd. All I can say about this place is that it is a bit of a freak show. All the action centres around Grauman's Chinese Theatre and this appears to be a magnate for various weirdo's who mingle with a large bunch of tourists.

One of the attractions is the stars on the footpath but after you have viewed a few, you are basically over it. The names and inscriptions in contrete outside the theatre are much more interesting but so to are the 3 guys who stand there with banners condemming just about everything in the name of god. Add to that Star Wars stormtroopers, Yoda, Catwoman, Marilyn Monroe and a couple of blondes dressed in tight fitting police uniforms....well you get the picture. You also have to dodge numerous black dudes who are pimping their CD's. If you listen they will tell you that they are the next 'big thing.'

All in all it is a bit of a rock show and not to my mind a great place to visit except to say that you have. That night we went and saw Avatar in 3D on the big screen and we all enjoyed the film, it was a good way to wind up our stay in Hollywood.

At 0630 the next day we departed LA and got caught in peak hour traffic, but soon enough were out on the highway again where bright Southern Californian sunshine gave way to a bleak mist and fog that stayed with us the entire day. We stopped in the mid-afternoon in a small town and saw a sign for a flea market and went along for a look. The funny thing was that it was basically for the Mexican community, it was a huge market but we appeared to be the only Anglo's there. Most of the advertisments were in Spanish. And this was in a small community in Northern California, it seemed more like we were in San Salvador or some other far off place.

We did the trip back in three days of driving through all conditions and all types of country from high mountains to stark, white plains. The biggest thrill for everyone was when I got pulled over by the Highway Patrol in Northern California. I had just passed a slow vehicle and was doing , by the troopers calculations 87mph in a 65mph zone. After taking my license and asking a few questions he went back to his squad car and returned with the sweet words of, "I am not going to give you a ticket this time, " and proceeded to give me a lecture which I listened to attentively. I must admit that it did slow me down for the remainder of the trip as this is the second time I have been pulled over and let off in the last 5 months in the USA.

We took the kids to Wal-Mart for shopping at Omak on the way to the Canadian border and they were impressed with the guns on sale and just how cheap some of the things were. The car was full to overflowing for the last 90 minutes of the trip to OK Falls.

To our suprise OK Falls had recceived a heavy snowfall the day before and the driveway was clogged with snow, we couldn't get the car up. To the Aussie kids this was wonderful and the daylight hours were filled with snowfights and one brave fellow went cavorting in the snow in his underwear. I disowned him at that time.

Tonight we are off to a ice hockey match. A first for most of us.

ROAD TRIP

When seven people in one car set out on a 2000 kilometre plus road trip, ones patience, tolerance,endurance and love of children can be sorely tested. When five of the seven are aged between 12 and 22 all of the above are tested that wee bit more.

Three of my kids flew in from Australia to join with my Canadian partners two children. We were a little worried about how they would get on, but we needn't have as they got on famously. In no time at all they were talking about music, the superiority of Australian fast foods and trying to work out just what each other were saying. To date, togs, ta and jumper appear to be favourites.

As we Aussies outnumber Canadian's on this trip I am sure that we will soon have them all talking very good strine.

After an exchange of Christmas presents and a introduction to Canadian beer and chicken wings the aussie kids hit the fart-sack to have a well earned sleep after their long flight. We spent the night at White Rock a lovely seaside town which is only a few minutes drive from the United States/Canada border.

Early the next morning we crossed into the United States at the Peace Arch crossing. We probably waited 15 minutes in the car line to get to the actual checkpoint. The US Border Security guard was taken back a little by the number of passengers in the Uplander van. As my kids had flown into Vancouver they had to pass through US immigration. So we were told to park the van and move inside to complete the registration.

We were directed to a parking lot by a gun-toting guard and everyone was ordered out of the vehicle and we were told to place the keys on the windshield. We moved inside the small building to be confronted by a long line of predominately asian people who were waiting to have their US visa's cleared.

I had forgotten my wallet and wwent back to the car to get it where I was stopped by a border guard and questioned about what I was doing. I was then escorted to my car to get the wallet. Sniffer dogs were being lead around the cars by handlers, poking their noses into wheel wells and along the sides of the vehicles.

I headed back for the long line and wait. The guy who processed us was very polite and accommodating which was a pleasant suprise. My three children were fingerprinted and photographed and I then had the privilidge of paying $18 for their entry into the USA. It was with a degree of relief that we left the building and exited the border crossing with freshly stamped passports.

So the real roadtrip south began.

Washington State was lush and green with tall trees and mountains, oh and rain, lots of it. We stopped at an Arby's restaurant to give the Australian kids their first taste of American fast food. The results weren't very complimentary. 

It was a happy car that headed south as stories were told and iPods were switched on between bouts of DVD's.  The kilometres were chewed up as we sped through town after town. Now you would think the highlight of the day would be the beautiful countryside or perhaps even some of the quirky Americans we spotted along the way.

But no. The highlight of the day and it appears the trip was the dead body they spotted beside the road on Interstate 5. We were caught in a huge traffic backlog the cause of which was and accident on the other side of the road. There must have been a fatality in the accident and the man was laid out on the road with a rough shroud thrown over him. We were going slow enough for them to have a good look and instead of fear or sorrow there was only curiousity and intrigue. In no time at all everyone was speculating on what had occurred. Almost the first words to their friends and family on the phone were, "guess what we saw a dead body." Charming!

We stayed at a town called Roseburg, Oregan on the first night. There was nothing particularly special about the place, just one of hundreds along Interstate 5.

An early start the next morning, well as early as can be expected with five young adults, I thought we did well to be on the road by 0830.

The day passed pretty much the same as the day before, lots of towns beside the road, some spectacular scenery in Oregan and a lot of traffic flashing past either way, hurrying no doubt to get to where they were going to spend New Years Eve.

The highlight of day two was a visit to the town of Weed, Oregan. Yes no misspelling, there is a town called Weed and boy do they cash in on it. Oncce again there is nothing special about the town except for the name and you have to get off the Interstate to visit it, but it appeared a large proportion of tourists do just that. A multitude of souvenirs filled the shops cashing in on the name which apparently comes from the town's founder. Or was it just a great marketing ploy cooked up at a town meeting years ago?

Just outside of Weed we spent time dodging various sized tumbleweeds that were blown everywhere by the strong winds. One attached itself to the car and was a decoration on the hood for many kilometres. We hit snow country as the three Aussie kids hadn't experienced snow before.

It was really a poor excuse for snow, just a small melting drift but it was enough for my son David to cop some down his pants and a snowball in the ear. Girls one, David nil.

We went into the high country as we deviated off Interstate 5 on our ay into Nevada. The road went from multilane highway to sigle lane road through farming communities. The trees were laden with snow, it was as though we were back in the Rocky Mountains again.

We arrived at Reno just after seven pm. It is a large gamling town but nothing at all like Las Vegas no strip of garish lights and fabulous casinos. That isn't to say that there isn't bright lights and large casino's in Reno, it is just that there isn't that many and they are spread out.

We checked into the Pepperemill Hotel and everyone was amazed by the size (900 rooms) and the bright lights. Our New Years Eve countdown had began.