A Sad Hot Wind

Kate and I officially cemented our status as a ‘pair’ of traveling volleyballers with a trip to Melbourne, Victoria last weekend for the Vic Open. What was meant to be a carefree sporting trip instead became a sobering brush with a terrible reality. I’m not sure how ‘international’ this news is but on Saturday – our tournament day – in a climactic finish to a half-month long heat wave, the city of Melbourne experienced the hottest temperature ever recorded: a dry 47 Celcius. Appalingly, and in a very rare circumstance, this heat was accompanied by 50 km/h winds. For roughly five hours in the middle of the day, the outdoor experience was surreal. I felt like I was standing in front some giant hot hair dryer. Beach volleyball became quite dangerous and our games were postponed until Sat evening and Sunday. Kate and I were fortunate in an air conditioned hotel room during the worst of it. And to make the experience even stranger, the maximum temperature on the following day (Sunday) was just 23C.

Sadly, one bad Saturday was enough to cause the worst natural disaster in the Aussie history. Sparked and fueled by the extreme heat and wind, dozens of bush fires tore through rural communities in the beautiful state of Victoria. The fires moved very fast. Multiple towns were leveled in hours. Thousands of homes were destroyed. The death toll, now at 170 people, is expected to continue rise for several more days as fire fighters search through the ashes. I can’t even imagine being tasked with such a responsibility. I find it difficult even to think of the many Australians who died in their cars as they tried in vain to outrun the smoke and heat.

It brings an overwhelming sadness. And I can’t help but realize that Kate and I have been living a fortunate life in recent months. We laugh and enjoy the daily things without need even for much formality or reserve much less any serious concerns. The terrible news streaming in from Victoria, of the unsuspecting and the innocent, is sobering. Surely I am meant not only to appreciate and be thankful for the good times but also use them to prepare for the unexpected troubles to come.

Federer - Nadal

To put it simply: if you follow tennis then you must respect Roger Federer. It is an earned respect. He is jaw-dropping impressive on the court, humble and gracious off. Thirteen grand slam wins, and a record four and half years as world number 1. He is a flawless winning machine with that precious quality every athlete wants – to elevate under pressure. When a three hour contest is suddenly tied just seconds before it ends he does not flinch, worry, or make a mistake.

But in 2006 a fiery new Spanish kid named Rafael Nadal smoked Federer on clay in the French open final. Then in 2007 he did it again. And in 2008, he did it in just 108 minutes, 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. In 06 and 07 Federer replied by comfortably schooling Nadal in Wimbleton finals. I think at this point many fans were starting to realize something special was happening. In 2008 they played the longest Wimbleton final in history, twelve minutes short of a full five hours, and Nadal won 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7. I didn’t see this match but I imagine it is one that an eye witness will have trouble forgetting. It has been called by many the greatest tennis match ever played.

Last night Federer (now 27 years old) and Nadal (23) met in Melbourne for the final of the Australian Open.

On Thursday night Federer had smoked Andy Roddick 3-0 in his semi-final and retired into air-conditioned comfort to wait for Nadal. On Friday night the story was different. Nadal fought to earn his spot in the final by winning the longest match in Aussie Open history - 5 hours and 12 minutes - against another young Spaniard. The temperature in Melbourne has been in the 40’s for the entire two weeks of the tournament. The mid-day court surface could fry an egg. Seriously. Nadal played FIVE HOURS of superb tennis - in the heat – and finished with less than two days to prepare for a final against a human winning machine. Five hours! After leaving centre court Nadal attended to his interview commitments, then some therapy, massage, cold tub (hopefully some good anti-inflamatories) and he did not get to sleep until after 4 am. He then slept all day Saturday, probably waking up briefly for food and physio. And last night he stepped onto centre court and beat Roger Federer. It required 4 hours and 23 minutes and five more sets of sprinting in the heat. Who is this kid?

All tennis fans know that Federer needs just one more grand slam title to tie the Sampras record of 14. Already, many people, myself included consider him to be the best player to ever play the sport. But it is no longer lonely up there for Roger. Nadal now has six grand slam wins at an age at which Federer had just two.

The reason I write is because I would like to share my appreciation for this: Nadal and Federer are both much better than anyone else. If you compare them to the rest of the 'crowd' they both hit far too many winners relative to their errors. They are too fast, too strong and too accurate. It’s not right. It's not really fair. So how lucky are we to have two of them!?

I can’t wait until the next final. Those bandwagon jumpers who are convinced that Federer can no longer beat Nadal are dreaming!

Electric Wheels

Although I try to keep this blog light, I do like to read about the world’s big issues now and again. You probably do as well. One of my favorite news topics these days is that of ‘modern electric vehicles’. This issue has a fascinating history woven together with nice blend of economics, politics, and lots and lots of science. I'm going to tell you a bit about it today. First, here are Kate and Lib in our fun little gas-guzzling Suzuki.

Contrast that with these two younger (and more environmentally aware) ladies in a battery-powered vehicle: the ‘Fisher-Price Power Wheels Barbie Jammin' Jeep’.
Americans spend something like 500 billion dollars yearly on the importation of oil from other countries. You and I, and pretty much all Canadians, Australians, and Europeans also behave in this manner. Sadly, we promptly burn our sweet purchase and have little to show for it at the end of the year except for debt and cancer. Oil producing countries, on the other hand, certainly don’t burn our money. They build ‘palm islands’ and ‘km-high buildings’ and I suppose they probably buy up assets all over the world. I would be buying North American real estate now while it’s cheap.

For those that consider this situation a problem, and many wise people do, the most obvious solution to an undesired ‘oil dependence’ is an overhaul of vehicle technology. Many people do not realize that battery powered cars are not at all new. They were on the streets (what streets there were) a hundred years ago and have since simply gone extinct (Go ahead and Google it, along with Thomas Edison). Those of us with climate concerns will quickly point out that ultimately, a battery-powered car must run on energy most likely obtained from power-plant-burned coal – hardly carbon neutral. But this is not true everywhere (not in Ontario for example where we have The Falls and the nuclear reactors). It's good to see that clean (CO2 emission-free) electricity is not that uncommon anymore. But even where the electrical grid is ‘dirty’, driving on home-mined coal seems preferable, for economic reasons, to shipping foreign oil across the oceans.

So to the point: if economic, environmental, and health arguments all point to the benefits of ‘gasoline free’ transportation, and battery cars were invented 100 years ago, then why I am I unable to buy one today? Why, if there is a lithium battery in my cell phone, laptop, and even my golf cart, is my sweet lil’Suzie is always thirsty for more petrol? Of course, this is all changing. But the change is surprisingly slow given how fast some things change in the world today. Why the slow pace? Because no company with billions of dollars in active infrastructure (much of it probably borrowed) should be expected to begin producing something that will quickly outcompete its current line of products and make its expensive factories obsolete. That would be financially stupid.

So what is the simple solution? Your guess is as good as mine. Some tax money would certainly help. Actually, the truth is that it all seems to be working itself out while you and I sit and watch television. Isn't that convenient? I suppose my personal contribution can be this: when I can afford a ‘bigger, faster, and more spacious’ golf cart, I won’t hesitate to buy it. Until then, like I said, I enjoy reading about the topic. If you would like to read more about it: start with this article, or this one.

And on the bright side, even Ford is already taking care of some drivers (and for only about $500):

International Arrivals

Whenever given the opportunity, I have always enjoyed people-watching in the airport’s international arrivals area. It’s entertaining. I like the multitude of languages and the fact that everyone is very happy. Often the people I see don’t know whether to shake hands, hug, or kiss the person they are meeting. I find this kind of awkwardness refreshing. It’s real.

A few weeks ago I sat and watched people arriving in Brisbane for about an hour while waiting for these two fine young ladies to clear customs.

We recently shared some of 'the QLD' with two of Kate's London-based (Ontario) friends. Tiff-n-Heather spent a busy three week holiday with us - the majority of their time spent laughing at anything and everything. For one of their highlights, our lovely guests took my lil’wifey on a three day sailing trip through some of the more island-filled coastline of Northern Queensland. In the back of this next picture (taken as they returned from the sailing trip) is the captain of their fine vessel, on the dock carrying a case of beer and demonstrating his masterful proficiency at the challenging sport of 'photo bombing'. I am told he was also a good sailor.
The girls chose a good time of the year to visit and spent much time in the sun and in the ocean. We took them to Moreton Island where they survived an hour of snorkeling in the shark water.


Here's Kate in action. Our friend Rob has invested in a great camera.

The girls also took a few surfing lessons in the shark water. Here are they are with their instructor fine tuning their techniques during a lesson.

And they all caught on to the surfing like pros. This is Heather in the pipeline... carving away.

Tiff and Heather also went bungee jumping from a bridge in Cairns - something I personally have no interest in trying. But I always appreciate the efforts of a talented sign maker.

Kate and I have now returned to a simpler rhythm for the next few months until our next visitors arrive. I am happy to say that this rhythm includes a fair bit of beach volleyball for us both lately. (Kate is getting awesome!) And for me it will also include some posts on this blog. The occasional interesting idea has come and gone in recent months before I have had a chance to write it down. Maybe I can change that in the weeks to come.

Today, let me leave you today with this thought: the Australia Zoo, not far from here, houses a lot of large hungry crocodiles and displays signs like this one illustrating proper use of their intricate two-fence system.

But when we went to the Zoo last week, I somehow missed the memo:

And here's one for those of you who might be confused or concerned:


Cheers.

And thank you for your visit ladies. I had an awesome time... an awesome time!

senseless babble

I spoke on the phone to a couple good’ol friends from good’ol Canadia this week, first to ‘Hot Prof” and then “Big Cheese’ (… to avoid names). Anyway, these are good, good people - truly solid individuals. And they were entertaining as always. These two conversations reminded me that I have been out of touch with many of the finest dudes and dudettes in my life during the past year. I’ve missed two weddings, one Alumni weekend, and countless other less-formal adventures. And it blows.

I’ve also had zero face time with my brothers, who I’m pretty sure are getting more interesting as they get older. The little brats have yet to find me on skype. If you two are reading this… you’re both tools! The rock climbing programmer tool is comfortably settled in Vancouver and is now spending time with a young lady that I won’t get to meet for a while. And the younger pilot tool is Calgary-based, and teaching pilot stuff to younger-still pilot wanna-be’s, and also has a good woman making his life interesting. That’s probably why I don’t hear from him. Here's recent picture of Greg having a mid-mountain rest.

And the folks, left by themselves in K-W, have to be wondering what they did wrong to deserve the huge distance between their home and their three sons. I suppose pushing us to perform in school in the hope that it might open some doors without realizing that these doors might lead a long way from Ontario was their mistake. There ain’t much doubt they would like to see more of us (and preferably with some grandchildren of course), but they haven’t complained much lately. They’re good at keeping busy.

So my point… I’m not sure. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that as awesome as living here in Aussie Land has been for me this past year… roots are roots. (The Aussies will like that expression.)

In any case… Kate and I are down-under for another year or so before we head back to a mildly ‘colder’ reality that we hope may involve a couple kids, a dog, a nice porch (… sadly not to be confused with a nice porsche), and a real job.

Like everyone else, I’ve been observing the impending global economic tragedy and wondering what it means for me and the people I know. Pharmaceutical industry's not looking too impressive lately so medicinal-chemistry, the only career I had in mind, might be a tight find. I might have to ‘widen the grid’ a to include available jobs if bread becomes scarce. Maybe I’ll learn to bake bread :) I do like bread.

I’ve been reading about economic theories and world history and the more I read about these topics the more I realize how little control we have over ‘ourselves’ as a society. It’s hard to explain what I mean. Basically: I can control what I do, and you can control what you do, and yet somehow ‘we’ have very little control of what ‘we’ do. Does that make any sense? It’s a bit frightening to witness just how intrinsically unstable the global economy might be. Even more troubling is the thought of economists arguing and presenting conflicting 'theories' to explain it all. Not only is today's society a long way from perfect, it also remains very poorly understood. (Probably because so many of the things around us are so new.) And to a science-nerd like me ‘poorly understood’ is bad. The problem is that if I decide to try to make the world a ‘better’ place, how do I know which actions are ‘positive’ and which are ‘negative’ in a big-picture sense? I don’t have a clue. The bio-fuel business is a prime example: good or bad for us? It's looking pretty bad. Nor can I do any thing positive if it costs too much (in dollars, or time, or even effort). Maybe I’ll deepen these thoughts in another post soon. I’m actually enjoying a book about math right now… one of the few subjects available with some occasional straight answers. How nerdy is that?

But enough of this senseless babble.

I’ll leave you with a recent picture of my wife and I taken by our friend Craig between games one of these weekends. I don’t think he’ll mind if I borrow it. Cheers.

chemistry is not for everyone

For years during my PhD effort I worked as a TA (teaching assistant), babysitting undergraduate students as they struggled with basic chemistry experiments. I have some fun stories from those many lost hours. Here’s a lil’nugget from my lab mate Sean O’Connor’s more recent experience. Sean is a cynical young man (an effective strategy for maintaining one's sanity around here).

Student: “Excuse me sir, the lab instructions say: ‘add water to the flask, remove from ice bath, and warm to room temperature’. What should I do?”

Sean: “Do what it says: add water and warm to room temperature. Why did you just ask me that question?”

Student “Because I didn’t want to do anything wrong.”

Sean: “But you did do something wrong.”

Student (worried): “What?”

Sean: “You asked me that stupid question.”

Thank you Dutchman.

the law of gravity requires no enforcement

Here's a picture of my little cousin Ula and I in the lab not too long ago. I borrowed it from her facebook album. I brought her to work with me for an afternoon and tried my best to make 'science' look appealing. I asked her to do an aqueous workup of an mid-sized DMF reaction and she said something like: "This stuff is a lot of work - it's no wonder it took you so long to get a degree". Yes it is cuz, and yes it did :)

I’d like to tell you about one of my ideas for a book. I’d like to write a popular science book – don’t laugh! I have been thinking about it for almost a year. My goal is something that I would have enjoyed reading about ten years ago when I was starting university. The topic will be the ‘mechanisms of life’ (as we understand them - obviously :). I don’t want give away specifics, but I see a 200’ish page paper back that simplifies some of the fascinating complexities of biology and chemistry and hopefully leaves reader with appreciation– rather than fear – of the unimaginably small details of the living world around us. If we understand how gasoline is converted to motion in an internal combustion engine, why should we not also understand how an apple becomes muscular movement in your arm? Do you know how that works? Do you think it is something worth understanding? It’s not magic. It probably once was. But today, it's just chemistry. And I believe that the only reason biochemistry is considered so ‘difficult’, is that so few people have tried to simplify it for us.

No doubt this book would be difficult to write. I suppose that is why I have yet to find it on the shelves. But it’s not impossible I think. Perhaps I might make a contribution to bridging the growing gap between us and them – between the nerdy scientists and the ‘regular folk’.

Why write such a book? First, I’d love to write a book, and chemistry is what I know. But also, I feel like front-line scientific research these days is becoming more and more like ‘black magic’ to Joe Average - and not just because it’s pretty boring but also because it takes so much effort to comprehend the boring stuff. In the good’ol days, I think the public could better appreciate discoveries like electricity or radio because, although remarkable, the practical details of these ‘miracles’ were easier to grasp than today’s ‘particle accelerators’ or ‘small interfering RNA’.

But does that mean that we shouldn’t try to understand science? And do scientists not have some responsibility to simplify physics or biochemistry and teach it to non-professional-academics? You might argue: what’s the point? Well here’s the point: when you and I stop trying to understand our world, society seems to take a nose dive into ignorance. Unfortunately, it appears to be human nature to fill knowledge-gaps, wherever they exist, with endless fiction. If the word ‘ignorance’ is offensive then call it ‘unawareness’ or ‘naivety’ or maybe even ‘ill-judgement’ but there must be a good term that describes what possesses so many of the people around us to act in such strong defiance of basic logic.

Examples of this ‘ill-judgement’ will undoubtedly offend, so forgive me, but if the law of ‘gravity’ requires no police enforcement and then neither should evolution, or coincidence. These are observable facts. I believe the world would be a better place if no adults believed in: magic, miracles, astrology, creationism, alternative meds, seances, ouija boards, UFOs, elves, bigfoot, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, and even the seemingly harmless concepts of fate and destiny. In my ideal world, everything observable would be left to reason - and everyone's actions (and prejudices) would be sensible. So believe me when I say that, as cool as he is, David Blaine can not fly. No one can read your mind. No house is haunted. And nobody communicates with the dead.
If any of those things were actually true, would they not also be ‘ordinary’? Yes they would. They would be about as 'mysterious' to us all as microwave ovens or the clouds in the sky. And they would be studied by reputable researchers like all other observable truths.

I should add now that I am neither an atheist, nor would I ever object to anyone’s belief in a ‘higher power’. I believe that any sort of faith makes finding some honest meaning in life (and in death) a whole lot easier. But as to the question of what to do when faith and science cross paths? The only answer that makes any sense to me is that they don’t. They really don't. I am thankful to live in a time when a religion that tries to challenge and disprove observable facts faces a real uphill battle (although many still stubbornly try). I see no need for man made mysteries in a world with so many real ones. We have plenty of questions that no researcher will ever answer - the biggest one, of course, is the question of why this universe of ours exists in the first place. That one you can ask a priest :)

And as for 'right and wrong' or ‘good and evil’ or human ethics and human rights, and all other morally tricky lil’issues are concerned: if you really don’t believe these can be tackled without religious input, then perhaps you will at least agree that a priest who also reads science books can offer better judgments about the today’s world than one who just reads scrolls.

So… back to the point. (I see that got carried away again) I keep thinking about how much I would enjoy writing for living. But the thought of taking the time to get started - and then actually becoming good at it - is pretty daunting. Maybe by posting my intentions to write this first book I will be motivated to get going. I wish I had a few months off to get a draft out… hey, I wonder what would happen if the lab burned down :)

Carlsberg Years

First: I was born in Poland and raised on smoked sausage. I keep meeting vegetarians in Australia. It occurs to me that I have never met a Polish vegetarian. Isn’t that funny? I wonder if many of them exist? If you are one, please pardon my ignorance and identify yourself.

To the point:

I am recently thirty. In the wise words of the MFDLC I am in my “Carlsberg years”. (The closest thing here is ‘Carleton’ so it’ll have to do.) And although the pursuit of sport and education has delayed some of life’s more standard milestones, I do indeed feel at least thirty because:

I can’t remember the last time I cut myself shaving. I stubbornly think Van Damme is cooler than Vin Diesel and I have fond memories movies like ‘Days of Thunder’ and ‘Commando’. I regularly call other adults ‘young’in’ or ‘rookie’ and although I may be in debt, I am not in overdraft. Silence is rarely ‘uncomfortable’ anymore and I can see 'insecurity' in the eyes of people in their early twenties as they move around a bar. When Weird Al sings the words: “I don’t feed trolls and I don’t read spam”, I wonder what he means by ‘trolls’. I can’t think of anyone I know that that I need to impress although I try never to look like too much of a tool in front of my wife. I am very comfortable watching a person make a harmless mistake without feeling like I have to help them. The thought of an independent research career does not seem frightening and now that it’s way too late, I am finally winning beach volleyball games against truly talented opponents. People I meet often remind me of people I have known and I firmly understand that true friends are very hard to find... and time is the obstacle.

That last one was a lil'deep. There was one more that in retrospect was a bit depressing and not entirely true so I removed it... and now let me finish with a recent picture of me on the beach.

Peace

A year in Oz

Brisbane at night from a friend's balcony. How about that :)

I’ve had less and less desire to write on here in recent months. Life has been busy. But I'll try for an honest, albeit quick, update today. First, I’m happy to say that Kate and her Kokoda Team successfully completed their rough and rugged 98 km walk in just over 24 straight hours. My lil’wife then passed out and slept for bout’three straight days. This is her team at their first checkpoint (after 13 km)... those expressions didn't last long :)

When Kate woke up from her coma she travelled to visit family and friends for a while in Canadia and has now returned safely to me - rested and happy as punch. While she was on the far side of the sphere, I worked a month of long hours in the lab trying to accomplish something useful (with moderate success). And, of course, the Olympics came and went. I considered writing some of my thoughts about the Olympics here but I had too much fun just watching them. The volleyball was remarkable, especially the indoor. It’s about time someone beat Brazil… and Lloyd Ball deserved to win one. Now he can finally step aside to make room for a less 'angry' setter. Meanwhile, on the beach court another American gold medalist named Phil Dalhouser managed to single handedly ruin the beautiful game of international beach volleyball. You see his blocking is too good so side-out play against him requires luck rather than strategy. It's just as effective to close your eyes and hope for the best as it is to try any sort of elegant well rounded offense. So now the beach game is ruined. I suppose the ‘volleyball gods’ could easily fix it again just by going back to the 9x9 metre courts. (They were reduced to 8x8 metres a few years ago because siding out was too easy… well now it’s difficult again - watch the tape!) Or better yet... take a look at this picture I took in Adelaide in March... how is that fair?
In other news Kate and I have moved into a ‘Queenslander’. This is a style of house-on-stilts you see a lot here. We’ve been crowded into a lil'appartment for a year and it was time for a change. I think this will be a good one. And to balance the budget we also took on a couple of good friends as roomies so we’ll see how that goes. Actually, it feels a bit like I’m back in undergrad but so far it has been pretty cool. Here's a shot of my 'ride' in front of the new place... yes I drive a lil'Tonka Truck now.

The city of Brisbane lit up its river again with a lot of ‘chemistry’ recently. It was a nice way for Kate and I to celebrate the end of our first year in Oz… the fireworks show was the first thing we saw when we landed last September. I will put a good little video of this show on Facebook... but here's a lil' sampler pic.
Finally, my lil’couzin Ula is here visiting us now and I’ve happily discovered that she’s become all grown up and very wise since we last saw eachother. I'm also happy to say that she seems to be having a lot of fun so far exploring this big country. She’ll be back in Brisbane near the end of her trip after adventures in Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, and New Zealand’s south island… the little lady knows how to holiday :).
That’s as quick an update as I could do… I hope to find some time to make this blog a regular thing again. I enjoyed it last year. There’s plenty here to write about. Cheers.

my little tea pot

First - and briefly along the theme that ended my previous post - a book by Edwin Black entitled ‘Internal Combustion’ was much better researched and written than any ‘true-conspiracy-type’ book I could have imagined. There is a lot to be said for dedicated investigative journalism. I am now a big fan of this Mr. Black. A link from his Wikipedia article also led me to a website called ‘The Cutting Edge News’ and two articles in particular: one describing the current status of electric cars, and one about a project developed by Honda specifically. I wish we could see this stuff on main-stream news daily – but we don’t. I suppose the internet can really prove its worth when you or I stumble onto a site like this one.

But enough about people I don’t know – today I’ll tell you a bit about my wife Kate. Lately, I’ve just been working, reading, and working but Kate has been very busy and much more interesting.

In another life, before I knew her, Kate was quite a dedicated track-star and cross-country runner. She and her teammates racked up countless successes in her local Niagara region of Ontario and across the Buffalo border in New York. Unfortunately, a combination of injuries and unfriendly older female athletes on Queen’s University's track-team ended Kate’s competitive running aspirations in her early twenties. It disgusts me when senior members of a team fail to grasp the importance of their role as mentors – especially as they are themselves succeeding only on the backs of their own role models. The same dynamic exists in a chemistry research group and – as I'm sure you have experienced – in any other organization that involves ‘learning from senior colleagues’. Good leadership should not be taken for granted because bad leadership really hurts.

In any case, here in Brisbane, Kate has joined a running club and has begun to compete once again. In recent months she has crossed finish lines in 5 km, 10 km, 1/3-triatholon, and half-marathon races. Her feet, knees, hips, and back have all ‘complained’ but not nearly loud enough to discourage her. The distances have been getting longer, and Kate has been getting more motivated. It is a great thing for me to witness. This coming weekend, she is undertaking a task that I openly considered to be ‘ridiculous’ when Kate first suggested it. She and her three teammates will walk-run together for 96 km in a non-stop cross-mountinous-country race expected to last upwards of 20 hours (with a maximum permissible time of 39). I have been recruited as ‘support-crew’ with the job of driving their food-water-supplies to designated checkpoints where they will eat, change socks, and maybe cry a little. Not every team that starts this race will finish, and those that do (based on reports from previous years) will most likely become physically ill in subsequent days and weeks - but all sacrifice is acceptable when done in the name of a children's charity :). If you would like more details: here you go.

This is a picture Kate decked-out and geared-up just minutes before a triathalon run a few weeks ago.

And here she with a big first-half-marathon-finish inspired smile for you.

And there’s more: Kate and our friend Lib have asked me to teach them the devilish game of beach volleyball. To my surprise, they have formally agreed to trust me completely and do exactly what I ask of them in training. And in return (as cocky as this will sound) I have promised them a mind-bogglingly successful season. Already, after only twenty-or-so practices, they are starting to display occasional ‘winning’ symptoms. I consider volleyball to be a very difficult sport but not a very ‘complicated’ one. I have seen athletes and coaches fail because of a lack of appreciation for the elegant-repetitive-simplicity of this game. My own views are heavily influenced by those of my father. Often Ziggy would tell me that volleyball is, first and foremost, “a game of serving and passing”. This is a truth applicable to rec-leagues and Olympic Games – and a truth that no volleyball coach should ever forget. ‘Passing’ is the foundation that all winners must stand on. Also, my favorite coaches have always been those who believed that my time was better spent doing reps than ‘listening to them preach”. Most athletes are not born with ‘confidence’ or ‘mental strength’ and I have observed that these skills are much better learned through ‘repetition’ and ‘competition’ than through ‘conversation’. In any case, I have never had any desire to commit time to coaching until now. And I admit it is selfish - an opportunity to see my wife enjoy a game I love. There is a talent threshold that I hope she will cross later this year from which there will be no going back. It is much like riding a bicycle, once you can play – you can always play!

The final bit of fun news in Kate’s busy life is her upcoming holiday to distant Grimsby, Ontario. In Australia, asking for a month or two of ‘unpaid leave’ from work is as normal as asking for a double-double at Timmy’s back home. So my lil’blondie is leaving me soon to spend some much desired time with mom and dad in Canadia (as the Aussies sometimes call it). I would love to join her but, for many reasons, it is not in the cards for me. But I am very happy that we are able to send her back for a visit. I am informed that she has emailed Sandy an advanced list of ‘Canadian’ food she misses most which included: Kraft dinner, ‘normal’ mayonnaise, orange cheese, any ‘normal’ hotdogs (especially juicy jumbos), mince tarts, Hungarian sausage, non-pumpkin-containing-Campbell’s-canned-soups, and most importantly normal-vacuum-sealed-swimming-its-own-juices-Canadian-bacon!!!

I think Kate is ready for a trip home. I am impressed with how well she has been thriving here in ‘ssssstralia’. She is not an experienced immigrant like me. Australia is her very first extended-culture-shock-experience. I do not need a visit home yet, especially with some welcome guests coming here soon, but I admit that I am also no stranger to a bit of home sickness. As highly as I rate the Aussies and their wonderful country - ‘home is where the bacon is’. Home is Canada.

...although I have good reason to be comfortable here too.