I took my time getting up and about and was on the road at about half past ten. I stopped for lunch at Moonie Moonie and reached St Ives just after two o'clock.
I drove to St Ives Shopping Village to buy some supplies. I got a bit lost on the way,driving round for twenty minutes before I came upon a piece of road I recognised. I bought a new Sydney Street Directory to avoid a repetition.
The weather wasn't crash hot so I hunkered down in the Motley.
I went to the AWA Veterans Meeting at the Burwood RSL. They meet four times a year for a mornings chat, lunch and a post prandial speaker, or in this case, an AGM.
I was pleased to meet up with several good friends from my days at AWA all those years ago. I noticed that I was still a "youngster" in this company. Most of my fellow workers seem to have aged a lot in the last 25 years.
On the way back to St Ives, I took a look at the house we used to own in West Pymble. It hadn't change at all and one of the trees I planted dominated the front garden.
I went out for breakfast and a bit of shopping and returned to the Motley to sit out several hours of continuous rain. I did get a fair bit of work done so perhaps it was a good thing. In the afternoon, the sun came out to lift ones spirits.
I notice its raining in Barraba. Perhaps the tank will be a bit closer to full when we get back.
It was raining when I got up. I went to Frenchs Forest to get the paper. I had breakfast there and bought the bread and milk.
The caretaker came at lunch time to collect the fees. I tried to get in touch with some people I wanted to see but they were all out. I worked at the dump point analysis, retrieved the emails, uploaded the website and watched cricket, golf, and motor racing on TV.
Another wet day. I stayed indoors all day watching TV, working, futzing and reading.
It was still raining when I got up but it was a bit brighter so perhaps the weather will break today.
On the way to Chatswood, I drove around Killara past the house I used to live in in Powell St, Currawinya, when we were little children. My brother, Colin, had reported that he had done a Google Earth survey of Killara and had found that the old house had been razed and replaced with a modern monstrosity. I am happy to report that his information, like most of the "information" one gets from the internet, was wrong. Not only is Currawinya still there but most of the houses that were there 60 years ago are still standing. Indeed the place has only changed a little. There are many more cars and some blocks have been subdivided. The back half of the old garden at Currawinya has been sold off and another house built on it so there is a bit of increase in housing density. The overall effect was that I felt really at home and had no trouble recognising all the old neighbourhood. Sadly I forgot to take my camera so I haven't any record of what I found.
I had had a phone call from an old friend, John Crowley, from my Wormald Technology days. I spent a very pleasant afternoon with John and Linda. We hadn't seen one another since I retired so there was lots of catching up to do.
There was the inevitable conversation about the state of the nation. We agreed that things are not going well at the moment. As always, I ended this part of the conversation with my optimistic prediction that it would all be sorted out one day because humanity has always been able to break the shackles of the bad times eventually.
It was good to catch up with them and find them well and in good spirits.
Though showers were predicted, the day dawned a bit sunny which made a pleasant change from the past few days.
I went out to buy the newspaper and get some breakfast. I decided to go to Brookvale because I needed to buy a map measurer.
On the way I look at the house we used to own in Frenchs Forest. It hadn't change at all and the banksia trees Alain planted are now a feature of the front garden.
I searched Warringah Mall from end to end for anyone who could sell me a map measurer. I left after buying just the newspaper. I went to the Macas I used to frequent when I worked at Wormald. I was sitting doing the crossword when I recognised a nice lady who had served me breakfast many times in those days. She was pleased to see me and asked me all about my nomad's life. It was another little connection to the past.
I remembered that there was a funny little camping shop in Collaroy which might have a map measurer. I found what I needed and bought the only one they had in stock.
I spent the rest of the day measuring all the highways in each state for my dump point analysis.
I rang the Hastings, old friends from the Wormald days, but they were out again. They rang back when they got home and I arranged to visit them tomorrow afternoon.