the birm*

You lose some, you win some…

So after being delayed by a few hours in Singapore (and then waiting in the plane for about an hour before take-off) the plane touched down in London at the time my connecting flight to France was leaving.

The alternative one they re-booked me on leaves 6 hours later…

At the BA desk where they were re-issuing a ticket, I asked if I could use a phone to call my “appointment”, which I evidently would miss, leaving 3 hours after I was supposed to arrive. The dude at the desk was very kind indeed and allowed me to do that. So I called Candide and left a message on  her machine. It really sucks for her, as she took the arvo off work to come and pick me up.

I then asked the kind gentleman if there were any meal vouchers for people like myself, who would be waiting an extra (and un-planned) 6 hours. He told me that I should check with the Qantas desk, in terminal 4 (which is where I’d just come from).

18 minutes (or so…I didn’t count but that’s advertised time it takes to go from T4 to T5) later, after going through security AGAIN, I was at the counter being told that if there were meal tickets available, they should have been given out. They checked anyway and I found myself with a 14 pound meal voucher. As they say: “there’s no harm in asking”, or “if you don’t ask, you won’t get”, or “seek and you will find”. Anyhoo, that was definitely a bonus!

So after another 18 (or so) minutes on the bus from T4 to T5 and passing through security AGAIN (having to empty my whole pack this time due to my 750g pack of Ovomaltine and some toothpaste), I treated myself, sorry, Qantas treated me to a very tasty lunch and coffee at Giraffe Restaurant.

Thinking about it, I was probably the only one to get that meal ticket, as I don’t think anyone else was booked on the flight to Lyon (not coming from Singapore) and I saw nobody else ask. I tell you what though, I’m not usually one to complain or ask such things but I’ll certainly do exactly the same if the situation arises again. So although I’m super-bummed I have to wait around for 6 hours and I don’t get to see Candide ‘til later on this evening, it’s good to have had a bit of a win!

“Don’t sin in your anger…”

I can finally understand that verse. Right now, all I want to do is sin: tear the place apart, make a scene, shout obscenities, lay into someone… evidently, being in a place with tons of security, my sin would result in me missing my flight and probably getting in big trouble (let alone making me look like a complete moron)...

I knew that my fuel stove would be picked up by the screening machines, as it has been before. Because it has no fuel in it, though, it’s ok.

Also in my carry-on bag were other heavy items: some sun screen (a brand new bottle), 2 rolls of duct tape (brand new never used), and some books.

After a full cavity search of my bag, the security guard (just doing his job) said “you can’t take that”, pointing to the sunscreen (brand new) and tape (unused). Evidently he inquired (to his boss I guess, or just someone else who would agree with him that these items needed to be destroyed) about the security zip-ties (actual airport security standard zip-ties) that I use to tie my suitcases with. They were a present from a friend last year and I’ve used them many times before, including today. As always, I carry them on, after securing my bags. They were obviously a security threat as well, though funnily enough the string I had as well (which, unlike the zip-ties) has a breaking point of about 300kg.

It’s not so much the cost that bums me, although the total value of these items was about $20, north waste (did I mention that these were unused and bought specifically to take back to France, as they’re much more expensive in France, though not with the added expense of getting them thrown out, and they were in my carry-on luggage so as to save weight (about 1-1.5Kg), cause I didn’t want to pay excess for silly small items I could carry on. What really bugs me is the always-changing-never-the-same-overkill-stupid-dumb-waste-of-time-security-measures that seems to be augmenting, unwritten and meaningless. I guess I have to be glad that the security is so finicky, as it prevents evil people to hop on the plane with potentially fatal items (like nail clippers (which they didn’t take this time!!!), tweezers, bottled water, string, cork screws, tape, deodorant, after shave…).

Once again, none of this will matter in about 10 minutes and it won’t change my life in any way (except that I will take 10 extra minutes when checking in to make sure that every single item in my carry-on is legal. I am relieved (due to how well/bad the security was doing their job) that I still have my stove. I hope some scumbag gets good use out of the great sunscreen and superb quality duct tape I bought…

Do dogs even get sick like this?

I dunno what it was, but it certainly had an after-effect on me! I was walking home after an evening at Doorbell and Bec’s and knew the whole way that it would be messy.

Thinking back on it, I reckon I’ve blogged every single time I’ve been SICK over the last 5 years. I guess it’s cause I hate it so much and because it only happens to me every year or two.

Last night wasn’t too bad, the being sick part was actually relieving, compared to the huge cold sweating, light headedness, loss of vision and almost passing out. Oh well, I guess I’m good for another year or so…

Purpose.

What with waiting around (not doing nothing, but not having a definite purpose here in Australia, awaiting an imminent return to France) for my visa to come I’ve had a lot of time to do some thinking (more than usual). It hit me that whatever we do in life, we need motivation (be it intrinsic or extrinsic). At this stage I can’t think of any bigger motivation than purpose.

I also believe that without purpose, most everything we do (or undertake or think about doing) is meaningless…

Washed out.

Due to masses of rain in a short period of time, the pristine mountain bike track out at Kilingsworth have been almost all washed out. I went out there with Chris and John to do some sweet single-track riding and was surprised on a few occasions (especially coming round corners) at whole parts of track just gone (some were chasms over a meter deep, others super rutted out, other underwater).

We still had a great ride on the portions that were ride able, despite getting horrid chain-suck (leaving me without a middle-ring) and eventually breaking the rear derailleur cable (making it a tough ride home in one strenuous gear). What a place! I was glad I was able to share that one with some good mates who hadn’t been out there before.

Between two coasts…

Weird how small things in life can seem huge, and in a sense if it wasn’t all relative, there would be no small and big things, just things which affect you in different ways.

Today was my last possible day to check my PO box for my visa. I’ve been praying and hoping that I’d get it in time to catch my scheduled flight (leaving at 16:45 today) and because it didn’t turn up this week (I’ve been walking down and checking every morning), I feel like my world has been shaken to its very foundation. I can and will still sing “despite my lot, though hath taught me to say it is well with my soul”, because all is well with my soul. It’s just the other parts of me that are a bit confused and wondering what next…

As I was walking back from the post office I was thinking about all this and the fact that, to date, this is possibly the hardest and strangest time I’ve been through. And then I was thinking about friends in crazy places where people live and die because of their faith in Jesus, about friends who’d just had their lives rocked by sickness, death, separation, theft, or whatever else. Compared to these situations, my life is RELATIVELY unbelievably great: I am loved, I love, I am healthy and things, on the whole, are going great. I’m glad I realise that things are relative, if not all “small” things in life would become huge mountains!

Oh and on a different note, thanks to Mike McCarthy for the title of this post (which is a fantastic musical track of his on Wisdom is Delight)…like most things he writes it’s profound. It also just happens to describe my situation well at the moment…

Music for all the senses

Breathing in gallons of crisp deep-blue sky air, loitering out bare footed on the dew-wet fresh grass, the warmth of the early morning sun and the soft cool autumn breeze caressing my face, momentarily distracting me from the sound of birds gently waking the city-suburb neighbourhood…

Dreaming reality?

So there I was, setting up my tent in the middle of nowhere, at least now it was. I’d started setting it in the midst of friends’ tents, but as I looked up, I was now far away. I walked over to where Bake, Doorbell and Bec, Lachlan and a whole bunch of other friends I can’t remember or recognise and felt in a kinda haze, sort of half awake and puzzled as to why they’d let me set up over where I had been…

Evidently there was much more to this dream than I recall (as it is always with dreams), as it seems clear in my mind but then when I start to recount what happened it becomes all blurry. What I do remember though is the feeling of waking up and thinking that I would be saying good-bye to my Australian friends and family soon. They would still be friends, but they would continue their lives without me, like a train you can hop on and off but that just keeps going. It’s been great to re-integrate such a great bunch of friends (or great bunches of friends who do different things) and, as I’ve said previously, it has been like it used to be. I’ve been waiting and praying on my visa for the last weeks and months now and everyday it gets closer to being done. Last night I was chasing up some paperwork I need (so it was obviously on my mind), but I hope that this dream was a vision of needing to say good-byes.

It’s unreal to have such great friends here (and in friends I include family as well, who are to me like friends) and I count it as a blessing that I can have such great friendships. It’s also been amazing to catch up “where I’d left them” and do the things I used to do with them (playing music, biking, hiking, chatting, going to home groups, Church, feasting, having a pepper…). As I get ready to go (and I’m still praying that it will be the 1^st May) I want to take the time to thank them (you) for their ongoing friendship and support of what I’ve been doing and will continue to do. It’s amazing and overwhelming!

Frustration:

When you are waiting on things that are beyond anything you can do…

I guess that’s when/why Paul tells us not to worry but to pray, thus turning anguish and negativity into something positive. So hard to do, and yet when I do, it does change my whole perspective and attitude…

Timeless.

Because of the rough seas, big swell and southerly winds (which, for you non-australians who don’t know that southerlies make the surf all choppy and blown-out and bring big waves) at the moment, most beaches are too rough to surf (and the water is a murky brown colour, which isn’t very reassuring ‘cause sharks like those conditions). We still managed to catch a wave or two at The Pass in Byron Bay. The Pass is an amazing sandy point break, which, on a good day, peels off the point for hundreds of meters. What’s amazing is that this wave is timeless, part of surfing history and yet still breaks much the same way as it did in the 60’s (when people started riding it) and probably for thousands of years before! So we joined the very [agro] big crowd (due to the way it faces it was still glassy and beautifully and evenly breaking) and caught a few fun little walls. It was really amazing to see the good surfers/locals ride it to its full potential, but really disappointing hearing and seeing the abuse amongst surfers. The crowds also made it dangerous to paddle out and to catch, as it became a slalom course (and boards are harder and sharper than most human bodies, so clashes are never fun…). Still, despite the amount of people there it was timeless: cloudy windy skies, rain and mist over the mountains, tropical trees, warm water, amazing waves…