I know this is really really silly, but...

...I've just checked my Qantas Frequent Flier status and I'm Silver! Woo-hoo!

I realise this will make no difference to my life in the immediate future and very little in the long term, but for this airliner nerd, it's something to make me sparkle with pleasure.

Kerri's boss is trying to get her to go to Geneva in September after Beijing. Kerri isn't quite the travel junkie I am and is not entirely happy, as she would rather one of her staffers did that particular trip. Trouble is that her boss hates the underling and is unlikely to approve it, though he is quite happy for Kerri to go to Beijing and then spend four days hanging around in either Beijing or Geneva before the UN thing begins.

I wouldn't pass up a week in Geneva, but I can understand her attitude as a manager - she wants to reward her senior staff and get them involved in building up networks.

Apparently the Chinese thing is all networking - they have invited people in the field from all over the world, footing the bill for fares and accomodation, but really the objective is to raise China's status in this area, make them into one of the major players. Personally, I think the Chinese have a long way to go in the field of drug regulation, not to mention human rights, but they are increasingly a major player in world affairs, and they have the population to justify inclusion at the highest level.

Lifted from Amberlee

OK...here are the rules:

List five songs that you are currently digging... It doesn't matter
what genre they are, whether they have words, whether or not
they're your favorites, or even if they're any good. They must
simply be songs you're really enjoying right now.
Post these instructions along with your five songs.

1. Casey Jones by The Grateful Dead
Drivin' that train
High on cocaine
Casey Jones you better
watch your speed
Trouble ahead
Trouble behind
and you know that notion
just crossed my mind

Trouble with you is
The trouble with me
Got two good eyes
but we still don't see
Come round the bend
You know it's the end
The fireman screams and
The engine just gleams

2. Moon River sung by Frank Sinatra
Two drifters,
Off to see the world,
There's such a lot of world
To see.
We're after the same
Rainbow's end
Waitin' round the bend,
My huckleberry friend,
Moon River
and me.

3. Sand in My Shoes by Dido
I've still got sand in my shoes
And I can't shake the thought of you
I should get on, forget you
Why, why would I want to
I know we said goodbye
Anything else would've been confused but I wanna see you again

4. A Man of Constant Sorrow by The Soggy Bottom Boys.
Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face you'll never see no more
But there is one promise that is given
I'll meet you on God's golden shore

5. If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out by Cat Stevens
Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
'Cause there's a million things to be
You know that there are

And if you want to live high, live high
And if you want to live low, live low
'Cause there's a million ways to go
You know that there are

A quivering mass of grey jelly

You really want to eat this?

Convention Tags

Rarsberry, busy organising the 2006 New Zealand Convention, has asked me for some pictures of the convention tags for Fort Worth and Brisbane.

( Three largish photographs - about 750K total )

Cold and wet

Overcast and drizzly in Canberra today. Good to get the moisture, not so good for drying clothes.

I must have picked up a cold in Brisbane. Only a mild one, but enough to make me feel like I should curl up in bed with a good book and a hot-water cat.

Kerri is going to China followed by Switzerland, and so will be away about two weeks. Her underling gets New Zealand as a consolation prize. Not the best time of year to visit NZ unless you like skiing.

Kerri likes my new cellphone. I picked it with her in mind, so that's good. She'll probably take it overseas with her, so I'll have to work out how to turn roaming on.

DD came back from prac teaching with pictures of her lessons, which involved the students doing a mural of the solar system and building bridges out of drinking straws.

DS is doing work experience and complaining of boredom. He dusts the displays and then stands around watching the movies on the TVs, trying to "look professional". He looks the part in his dark trousers, shirt and tie.

We're all off to Sydney this weekend with Kerri's younger sister and family. Should be fun, and we'll stop at Picton on the way back.

Voting has begun for the 2006 Australian BookCrossing convention. Looks like Adelaide and Canberra are neck and neck.