Grateful (2024)

Iceland

• Found passport.  Martin: "Between books?"  Did not tell Gavin.
• Getting to go, Gav pulling out all the stops.
• No need for Dr health check.
• Flights for $2450 (Flight Centre), not $3300. Insurance < $200.
• I did not fly with others. Their bags didn't make it. Mine did. 
• Tania got sick, no blog. Took all pressure off me. 
• 2nd day rain. Chance to regroup, edit photos.  Saw puffins later. 
• 2nd night of potential psyche on fire.  I slept.
• Good photos for competition on 1st day (group silhouette and cliff texture).
• Grimsey. Close views of puffins and amazing photos. In flight. Beaks touching.
• Matt gave good photoshop advice. Cut as layer. Beware of sides so I cut in middle. Aware fill.
• Ended up using bills further apart. Much better actually plus less stress of being found out. 
• Topaz sharpening and enlarging: True game changer. 
• First in competition and gasp at puffin in flight. 
• CEO and Justin there. Extra buy in for future trips. 
• Hotel extra night $190, not $270. 
• Airport:  Taxi came at 4 am. Needed time. Found booking reference no.
• Wrong boarding gate at Keflavik. Nearly went to Copenhagen, not Oslo. Scanned so knew. Not late. 
• Taxi driver in Singapore. Where bag?  Managed to get. Taxi waited.

Return to Sydney

• Flight delayed but all easy to get eve flight. Nice hotel for sleep.
• Managed to open balcony door
• Car started
• No mould in Fran's room, Martin only in bathroom.
• Back wall crack looks fine

Jilly

• Got to express love on day she passed away. Mandy was there.
• Visited and expressed love several times during year
• Phoned Jilly. It was her birthday.

Cosgrove

• Iceland:  Got Dr Cosgrove 1 day before going on leave. He ok'd two months.
• Realised mistake with booking thanks to "30 min appointment?":  Dex issue ok and able to make 1 month closer appointment.

Financial

• Did Jan audit and not nearly as bad as expected
• Invested for 1st time before a rally: > $ 600 profit
• Garage leak  $ 20,000 was reduced to $8,400  ($11,600 saving)
• iPhone charging issue fixed by Apple genius
• Antony got a project in Jan
• Dom lift home, save $45
• Lost and found airpod on street.
• Body corporate not increase this year
• Not spend much this year, went up $10K. Reassured me greatly.
• Found my glasses & ok (washing machine)
• Mum pay back Cape Town flight ticket
• Mark and 400 mm lens. Not a scam !  Made $950.
• Mum paid R2800 for my Afrikaburn ticket

Sam's site

• Beautiful connection & collaboration
• Good, cheap local hosting
• Jo's photos
• Google Ads: 20 clients in 1st week and a bit

Car

• Not put water into oil
• I drove car far enough to find there was a problem. Coolant leaking at rapid rate.

Dex in order

• Power of 4 + 2 (+1)

Health

• My shoulder ok after chasing dog and slipping
• Did not hurt back or head on St James wall
• Did not leap into Die Hel rock pool  → terrible injuries.
• Skin check: All clear including one on my face
• Shoulder blemishes, lumps (arm & above chest) not cancer
• Mole on my back removed, benign
• Pulse resting rate is 75 (normal)
• Got watch reconnected to iphone

Tennis

• Slice serve
• Joy of playing (Free)
• Tennis elbow feeling better

Life Trove

• Edit post bookmark stopped and restarted working
• Managed to get pencil back

Photography

• My external hard drive corrupted but I had backed all photos up elsewhere just before.

Home

• Trees not chopped down, traffic lights still covered
• Warned about leaving water on in courtyard, not left all night

Wisdom Trove

• Error discovered soon
• Rujuta sorted it out

Travel

• Afrikaburn tickets despite challenges

Dex

• Matthew in 3x in a row

Watch

• Get it synced

Martin

• Did not bring up teasing

Grateful (2023)

 
Finances

• I found my iPhone 13. Had written off the $900.
• Refund for Argentina tickets? $550
• My Asus screen was not defunct
• Stove and Martin light only $236

 

Tax

• Not a trick. No audit. Routine if > $1000.

Wall

• Ed saw it when did. 
• Ed found it, not me.
• Not $100,000
• Not told when in Nepal or South Africa
• Saw Greg and chatted. Not need email him or body corporate. Held off.
• Falling stump not break neighours gate
• Martin & Dennis: Just fill it up
• Chris: Support, saw, took me to waste place.
• Did not notice overhang at first.
• Ed so easy and non formal.
• Other units not damaged. Other ceiling band also lifted off. 
• Dennis. Not move further now tree gone.
• Billy not come round.

Dex

• Nov 16, Cosgrove not sick. Had been in hospital. Had run out of dex. Able to get 4 lots.
• Got dex from Bloom Pharmacy. Could not get one lot from Chester’s thankfully. 

Nepal

• Little altitude sickness. Slept ok.
• I didn't die in the Lukla flight (crystal) or hike
• Despite high pulse & age, got further than anyone else.
• Russell came and Gavin loved him.
• Didn’t ruin things with Gavin though irritated at times. 
• Beautiful people on hike: Rajesh, Mo, Pillar, Jo, Russell.
• Could have lost my phone twice, in taxi and at ice creamery. 
• Tiger Tops for $ 150. 

Photography

• Camera iso issue sorted at Pickleball + Chris pointed out Donna
• Blower removes dust

Mack

• Not go on balcony in 35 degree heat, locked outside room.
• Able to go to Nepal
• Passed when he did, so ready
• Painting gift from Hiking friends

Wisdom & Book

• Chat GPT
• Not lose Wisdom Trove. Just space issue.
• Wisdom Trove traffic doubled to 100

Movies

• Watched original The Vanishing, not the remake.
• Bflix, so many free movies

Home

• Stove fitted into space

Health

• No blood in stools (test)
• Skin check and growth cut out
• Cosgrove not in hospital for my app (no dex)
• Dex under control (online prescriptions increases visibility)
• Power of 1 dex
• Dentist no fillings

Antarctica

• Never needed to be airlifted.
• Got shot of leaping penguin early on. Got biggest reaction in slide show. 
• Tanya reassuring with photos.
• Did not take extra Dex. 6 per day when return. No need for Cosgrove. 
• Had own sleeping tablets and extra dex.
• Dr gave me extra sleeping pills. 
• Having own cabin.
• Got Topaz photo AI working to make porpoising penguin sharp.
• No life jacket:  Not noticed.
• Found wallet twice (Falklands & mountain).  AirTag. 
• Slide show poor photos, no names. 
• Photography expeditions with Renato. 
• No need to do video interview. 
• Matt and Jordan. Not Richard. 
• Mum gave me another donation of $8000. 
• Fell on ice on mountain climb. Not break arm or iPhone.
• iStock images and shared passenger images.
• Tanya loving message.

Gratitude (2022)

Macbook Pro with M1 Max chip

• Incredibly fast (e.g. Lightroom,  Excel)
• Touch authentication
• Battery is amazing: 1 hour used 3% !!

Canyoning trip

• Managed to do scary bit - not stop the trip

Health

• Avoid COVID after weekend away, in the Arctic, with mum and Mike
• Neck after physio: Muscular only
• Blood test and tool test negative
• My hand is ok

Movies

• The Flixster etc: Movies, movies for free
• An abundance of movies with twists
• My movie list, so many movies seen. Get to share it.
• Francisca recommendations

Floors

• In my room, faded - can hardly see them
• My room better without mat

Finances

• Mum's $8000 + $5000 gift Arctic.
• Issues with house.  Mum ok to contribute
• $11,000 + $6000 dividend payment
• Give up dex: Save $960 per year
• $5000 interest income (Maquarrie Bank)
• Extra $1200  per year for small room
• Found a housemate before going to South Africa for a month (save $1470)
• Martin not have cancer
• Didn't crash my car when changing lane (so close)
• Finances in order
• Car overheated but not a problem.
• Realisation mum gets all income, feel fine re her donations.

 

Arctic photography

• Got R5, not R6 - allowed cropping. 
• R5 and animal eye detection
• 100 - 500 lens.
• I had the funds for camera.  If had invested, would I have bought camera ?  Was sinking very fast.
• Richard asked for gear list. I got to mention Canon R5!
• Back button focusing.
• 16 mm lens cheap - decider
• iPhone takes amazing wide shots and people photos.
• Back into wildlife and birding photography with a vengeance. I’m good at it. 
• Mount works with other canon lenses
• Success of Taronga gave me confidence
• Tanya helped me select photos.
• Nailed first polar bear with R5.  Mum and cubs. Great for confidence. 
• Polar bear & cub,  Boat on shore,  Puffin,  Guillemots in 
• Slideshow on ship. Amazing feedback.

The Arctic

• Gavin making it happen
• Wonderful team: Gavin, Tania, Richard
• Time to prepare and research
• Expedition not effected by strike.
• My MacBook Pro - Lightroom lightning fast with big files
• Got flight out of Longyearbyen by refresh
• Got flight back landing only 1 day later (ok for Liza) flying partly with Quatar (gold so put bags through, lounge, use credits so Gavin not need to pay)
• Chris look after Mack.
• Only one in group not to get sick.
• A triumph photographically and socially
• A time I wondered if I could. Dark night of soul. 
• Pulled the lessons off using experts.
• Not delayed in Arctic for extra weeks: Liza not off side. 
• Richard not snore much.
• Richard not scary at all.
• Come home: finances 170 k, expecting 150 k
• None of us had COVID before

The Arctic:  Strike and meds 

• Not think about possibility of strike at end effecting meds. Or at beginning (would have ruined the start.)
• Got meds in The Arctic. Had in stock. Friendly Dr. 
• Only 1 day of low dex and a day of stress in Longyearbyen. 
• Gavin find out about meds - mind easier, allow to go to dose of 7. 
• Gavin researched and assured.
• Got 100 Dex in Longyearbyen

Gratitude (2021)

Various

• Chris fixed watering system
• Did not buy MacBook Pro - before new chip
• Extra 3 supplies of dex! 9 per day for months
• Keys left in garage, returned to me (label)
• Did not get Covid from Christina

Mack

• Mack teeth - ok
• Mack lost and found (and Liza not home)

Financial

• Michael: $10,000
• Extra dividends $3K not expecting

Wisdom Trove

• Wordpress security: hacked but no spyware, no account taken over
• Staging slow because of different plugin

Christina

• Wonderful housemate
• Gets on so well with Martin

Finances

• Still got $178 k after buying Macbook ($5500) and Wisdom Trove development

Partition

• Partition is so great. Perfect for work from home.
• Glass partition:  Jo for idea,  3 responses,  cheaper than expect,  installed over flooring,  partition not too wide
• Electricity problem upstairs not partition
• Glass partition great and electrical issue solved in few hours (not from roof, or needing partition out)
• Partition no charge $600

Car

• Getting car out of Bunnings
• Steve and car ($600)
• Car engine overheat (only $200)
• Accident miss in car (so close) 

Finding Mack after he got lost

Gratitude (2020)

Computer and software

• Evernote redesign with great search
• Did not have Google accounts suspended and Google slides deleted
• Found Jilly great computer. Office Work had.
• External hard drive ok (thanks Martin)

Finances

• $20000 super payout

Lost and found

• Lost phone on Manly Scenic Walk, got back
• Left phone in cinema. "Find my phone" gave me peace. Got it back.
• Thought I’d lost keys, gave to Lydia

More

• Reissued ticket for plane flight, booked in ahead of airport
• Flu vaccine at Jilly - able to get certificate
• Stove working (tripped)
• Car battery: got started at RNP
• Double booked Marion and Liza: solutions
• Mack glucose ok
• Car crash avoided - such luck
• Airpods Gavin

Next door going up

Thankfully its not as high as I feared and does not effect my sunlight in the slightest.

Gratitude (2019)

• Mum $ 20,000
• Labor didn’t get in (capital gains on house, trusts taxed, dividend credits)
• Left iPad at Nic, not on train
• Didn’t lose Wisdom Trove - backups worked
• Health: prostrate fine, blood pressure ok, neck ok
• Building next door not too high and up quick
• Air conditioning not need $2000 electrical circuit
• Airconditioning: looks good, colour matches walls
• Dani baby

Grateful (2018)

Financial

• Tax clearance from SARS
• 165. Dreamed of 42. At one time, expected -20.
• Went with Finglobal.  Imagine I had gone solo !!
• Market and exchange rate very kind to me. If not delayed, $10 K less on exchange rate alone.
• Markets smashed just after got RA money.
• South Africa shares down 25% and Rand from 9.00 to 11.00.

More

• Wallet on bus
• Reducing dex and getting a high. 
• All conducive for coming off dex.  Just happening.
• Not get fine for U-turn
• Not lose car keys (jacket round waste)

Thank you poem

A beautiful poem Aimee wrote to say thank you for helping her with her site.

Gratitude (2017)

Housemates

• Did not rush to make Srini leave
• Sharmista paid her rent without threat
• Martin and Kate: Two beautiful new housemates

DIY

• Wood right size for hole in dining room & found exact varnish.
• Bath paint came off.

Financial

• 60 K for RA
• Did not lose my iPhone on beach
• Don’t need to pay tax on mum’s money

In Cambodia

• Did not jump first at Kiev Island.
• Didn’t get lost without water on Kiev.
• Got safely through jungle in dark.

More

• Mack’s paw fine
• Warrenbungles
• Hot-spotting with iPhone for Mac and iPad
• Aimee not see porn.

Gratitude (2016)

Grateful for

• Srini moving in
• Gaia not hit head
• Resentment not expressed to Sue and Chris
• Didn't smash nose or worse at Silvermine
• Glasses - replace long distance ones
• Mum money nearly 50 K loan

DIY

• Milly peeing - no rush to do floors
• Did get black vanity (thought I'd got white)
• Found discontinued floors
• Grey caulk fills cracks
• Abundance opened by renting 3rd room
• DIY budget not into red  ($20K)
• Bunnings receipt found

Gratitude (2015)

Computer

• Got my Mac computer
• My Mac not destroyed by concrete

Safety

• Didn't hurt myself in DIY.  Blade closed on finger. Stand on blade. And more.
• I didn't hurt myself during mania. Could have, so easily.

House

• Balcony ended up ok
• Chris cleaned yard
• Balcony done before storms

More

• Mum's gifts of flight, shoes, cash
• Feet let me hike
• Memory cards and car keys not lost
• Millie peed, taking pressure off floors.
• Didn't waste money on useless purchases

Gratitude (2014)

• Chrisel didn't see pills
• Didn't get hit by the car when jumped for Mack. 
• Dani on track for kids. Heard about relationship when I was strong. 
• Lights in dining room ok. 
• Meeting Srini
• Meeting the hiking gang
• Car not fried (battery charge) 
• Leaking ceiling - not copper pipes. 
• The wedding photos were not corrupted. 
• Staggered pill so much better - doubled my ability to work, increased sense of well being. 
• Dani got back to me (after usb, after book.)  Liked my post. 
• Dylan better. 
• Shooting stars on Breede when bless Dani.
• Russell in South Africa when I was

Gratitude (2013)

Safety

• Eye not poked by balcony plant.
• Didn't hit the rock when I jumped into Hawkesbury. 

Finances

• No late fee from ATO ($800)
• $4,500 in tax refunds

More

• Being asked to show my photos by Hans 
• Neri's gift of Game of Thrones and Walking Dead - perfect time.
• Asked Essence for help with what to do re Xanax running out - turned out to be 5 mg, not 2.5!!!  Miracle! 

Gratitude (2012)

Wisdom Trove starting

• Part time - so able to focus on Wisdom Trove.
• Came across Brian Johnson's Entheos

Kruger

• Saw leopard in Kruger, so very close 
• Did not go back to Cape Town but stayed in Kruger and saw leopard 
• mum's calls in Kruger 
• There was cash and food in Kruger 
• Got to Kruger gate in time 
• 300 mm lens was much better than 500 mm in Kruger 
• Wild dog in Kruger on last night 
• Animals had babies in Kruger 
• Camp sites not full in Kruger - flexibility 
• Neck was ok in Kruger despite heavy lens 
• Giant Eagle owl, cheetah, European bee eater (great photo) in Kruger 

Gratitude (2010)

A new lease on life

• Teaching provides a new lease on life
• Meds.

More

• Liza into Mack's life.
• Russell visit and the Wentworth Falls experience 

Gratitude (2009)

Ally

• Ally left by her own choice
• Ally found someone quickly
• Having Ally in my life

Photography

• Photography and photo editing to sustain me

Gratitude (2008)

King Street

• Got gazumped on Neutral Bay, so got King Street
• Buying our house when we did (before prices started to rise fast beyond our budget)
• Mum's generosity

Home life

• Getting Mack
• Andreas and Ingrid in our lives

Travel

• Uluru
• New Zealand
• Tasmania

Gratitude (2007)

Work

• Merging with Blackglass and our new offices after Agency Fusion 
• Fabricmatcher creative experience
• Fabricmatcher turned out ok

Photography

• Getting my 300 and 500mm lenses

Home life

• Brendan and Eva coming to Australia
• Rugby world cup experience
• Inspiration to get letters and journals typed up for the blog