400m PB

Well I wasn't expecting it this morning as I had had a bit of a cold earlier in the week but I did a 400m personal best this morning.

400m freestyle in 6:14 - Yippee

I still am aiming at getting under 6:00 (fresh water, no wetsuit) at least once.

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Geocaching and SMS

Last month one of the guys at work told me about some open source software that could be used for making SMS or TXT applications. It called kannel and can act as a SMS gateway (and also a WAP proxy, but I'm not interested in that). All that was needed to get a simple SMS application going was a cell phone with a serial connection.. This was a bit of a challenge, but I got an old Nokia 6210 from Kevin and bought a serial cable off the internet and it worked.

My original though was to make an enhanced Geocache where you get a set of co-ordinates and a question, you go to the co-ords and TXT the answer to the cell phone attached to my server, e.g. if the question is "What's the colour of the letter box?", you could text back "Green". When the system receives the right answer it sends the next co-ords and question. The final co-ords would be the physical geocache.

However the main dudes at GroundSpeak, the company that runs geocaching.com the most popular geocaching web site decided they weren't going to allow this kind of cache as it was too similar to sending an email. I posted a forum topic here to try and drum up some support from the geocaching community and received some interesting feedback My takeout from the comments were:

• Most geocachers seem to be American, very few comments from Europe and other places. Maybe it's just Americans who go into the forums, other nations just do the caches.
• Quite a bit of concern about privacy, although I'm not sure people have thought it through. All I would end up with is a series of mobile numbers that have done the cache, but no info as to who holds them. I suppose I could check my logs and see when people log their visit, which means I may be able to link a mobile number to a geocahing identity, but still wouldn't see real names.
• Lots of people who dislike cell phones, possibly only when they are geocaching.
• A number of people who didn't like something new, especially if it involved technology. Quite bizarre when you consider that GPS is a really serious new technology and that Geocaching has only started since GPS capabilities have been made available outside the military in the last 10 years.

So the GroupSpeak guys haven't read the forum and come back and said, "OK you can do it", and probably won't. I may try to get a TXTCache accepted on Terracaching or Navicache.

Megan showed some interest in using this as a treasure hunt game that could be played with her friends. Could do it is a mall or shopping centre and would not use GPS co-ord to move you around. I will think about changing the programs to accommodate this.

I have also run a quiz at work that seemed to work and may use it for a fun work activity some time.

My Wiki entry on this is here

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Beautiful spring weekend

A second great weekend, the sun is shining and the weather is definately warming up. I swam yesterday at Takapuna beach and while the water is still cold, once you get going it's fine and you warm up fast once you are dressed.

Life's been a bit hectic recently. Alison was sick this week so I've been doing the cooking, and going to scouts, one or two nights a week, and I'm training the last of the rookies to be lifeguards two nights a week at the moment. I'm still swimming at 5:30 two mornings a week and going to the gym on the other days so there is not much time left for discretionary activities. But one more week to school hols and then there will be less kid related activities.

I'm off shortly for another swim with Vic, Rothsay bay to Mairangi, where there are hot showers, and then North Harbour rugby game with Duncan & Kevin at 2:30 this afternoon. So I'm in the dog box for not doing enough around the house, I'll still try and dig a drainage ditch so the proposed veggie patch does not continue to get waterlogged.

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Chocolate Bingo

Megan & I have just been to a fund raising night at the scout den, a bingo night with all the prizes being donated chocolate. It was good fun, Megan enjoyed herself even if she won't admit it. And I think the scout group made some money too.

Speaking of scouts, I'm going camping with 5 scouts in the school holidays, the WINTER school holidays, and at the moment the weather is truly shocking. I changed it from a 3 night camp to a single night so there is a limit how miserable we can get. You never know, we may get lucky.

My knees have been pretty sore lately, especially after playing volleyball. It's a tight line between 'resting' the body enough and getting out and being active which is what I like doing. One day I'll get it right.

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Games and beaches

The two memories I think I will take away from this little holiday is about games and beaches.

The weather has been quite cool, almost cold at times, so we know that winter is just around the corner. So we have spent a lot of time as a family at the bach, reading books and playing games. We have played checkers, chess, cards(black bitch, go fish, kings and a...holes) and board games.I'm holding my own against the kids at chess, checkers & black itch, but its getting harder each time. I'll have to enjoy the brief time remaining when I can still beat them.

The other memory is my beach walks in the morning before the rest of the family has got out of bed. Tairua has a lovely beach although it slopes up quite steeply at high tide which is when I did all my walks. It makes for a tough beach to swim at as the waves will 'dump' really close to the shore and really hard for the lifeguards to launch an IRB.

The walks were very peaceful and, while I didn't solve any of life's mysteries, I certainly managed to relax and unwind on the walks.

Yesterday we went to hot water beach to look for the hot water. Unfortunately either the tide did not go out as far as it sometimes does (neap/spring tide) or the sand has moved around. We were able to get our toes in hot water by digging our feet in the sand while knee deep in water, but couldn't dig a pool to sit in hot water. Pity, but never mind.

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Travelling books

I can't remember when or when I first heard abut traveling books but the idea has always appealed to me. The idea is that a traveling book has a note put in it to say it is a traveling book, and then 'released' into the open, i.e. left for someone else to pick up. The idea is, when they have finished reading it, they then release it. Books can be left anywhere, on a bus seat, in a cafe, or at a bach, like I'm going to do. As always there is a website dedicated to this, I found it here bookcrossing.com. The idea here is to register the books you release, then, hopefully, if people find them and read them they will register on the site that they have done so and where they released it.

So I've released a couple here at the Barnes-Grahams bach, we'll see if anyone finds & reads them, & maybe updates the web site.

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At the bach

Thanks to the generosity of the Barnes-Grahams we have been able to spend a long weekend at the bach at Tairua. I've been looking forward to this for a while as I've felt my stress levels building for a while.

Life seems very busy at the moment, I've been keeping my swimming & fitness up, which usually means a 5:30ish start in the morning, but can be as early at 4:40 if I'm swimming at the millenium. Work has also been quite full on and add to that scouting and surf life saving and the time just gets spread a bit thin.

Lifesaving season is now finished so that's one thing that will have less demands on my time, which is great.

However, I had stopped doing Toastmasters as it conflicted with Parnell swimming, with the intention of taking it up during the winter. But as I rejoined VF toastmasters was in the process of closing down. Kimson Co, a VF employee from a different Toastmaster club decided to try and keep it going and I agreed to help, so I am now the treasurer, a role I have not done before. With Kimson's energy it looks like the club will get going with a bang, some people are even worried that the club may get too big!! And I agreed to do speech 10 on our first meeting so I better start working on it.

We have enjoyed our first day or so here, really lazy time spent around the bach, playing games, reading books and doing puzzles. Went and found some geocaches and then had a very pleasant dinner.

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End of summer?

It is slowly dawning on me that summer is coming to a close. The weather is still good but it is cooling down. At 5:30 a.m. this morning it was 13 degrees.

Surf Lifesaving
Patrolling has finished now and the last thing left for the season is to finish the rookie program. There is a rookie challenge on Saturday where the rookies compete in teams of 5, we are doing some extra evening training, the last two sessions being tonight & tomorrow. Then I need to get them all through their bronze training and into the senior club.

Ross Fearon & Steve Newman have started ski training for the rookies and I have decided to give it a go too. Went out for half an hour on Sunday but spent most of my time falling off and climbing back on again.

Day light saving
We we're back to normal time now, but as I have been getting up around 5 on weekdays it doesn't make much difference to me at the moment. Other than driving home last night with the lights on.

Swimming
Parnell closed last week on Friday so now I need to work out the winter swimming schedule. I went to the millennium this morning to train with the surf club, it starts at 5:30 a.m. but other than the early start I really enjoyed it. Left my car at Constellation park & ride and then took the bus in and was in the office by 7:05. I think I'll keep this up on Tues & Thurs mornings.

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Whale swim cancelled

The fickle New Zealand weather has done me in. After looking mild to bad all of last week the Metservice unfortunately got it right. The organisers & coastguard of the Whale of a Swim decided on Friday to call it off while we were on route to Whakatane. A group of us met up in Mt Maunganui and we decided to continue on and see if maybe we could do it on our own. The weather at Whakatane was a bit windy, but not too bad, which did not help some easily accept the cancellation. Hamish, Marieke & I visited Jenny, one of the organisers but she convinced us that it would not be safe for all concerned to attempt the swim.

So we went back to the houses I had organised for the (now unnecessary) carbo loading dinner and a few drinks. A few people had brought down some certificates, togs & gifts & these were handed out. I foolishly tried to keep up with the youngsters and ended up going to bed some time after midnight. We had a swim in the sea the next morning (to get rid of hangovers), but the coastguard had got it right. Hamish went for a short kayak with his friend Wayne, but they gave up after 10min or so, it was blowing15 - 20 knots and gusting higher so the swim was never really on. Everyone else left on Sat morning to go back to Auckland or to Taupo to watch the Ironman so Alison, Duncan & I were left on our own for a quiet stay.

We left on Sunday morning for the trip back via Hamilton this time.  Alison, Duncan & I have been doing a bit of Geocaching on the way to break up the journey and we did some more on the trip back. The geocaches are not much in themselves, but they do get hidden in some fantastic places that you are unlikely to go to otherwise. I think we all enjoyed looking for them.

Caught up with the Hamilton family, Jenny is in hospital with some problems with her pregnancy which I didn't understand, and while being in hospital is serious, those in the medical fraternity did not seem terribly worried, so I will take my cue from them. Alison wanted to visit, but had a cold and so decided to stay away.

Went to Parnell training this morning & saw Vic & Marieke, all of us with our lower lips dragging on the ground. The cancellation seems much harder today and I'm getting Alison's cold. I need to pick another swimming goal to work towards.

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Preparing for the Whale swim

The whale swim is approaching at last, it's now only 4 days away. All the whale swimmers, myself, Vic, Marieke, Hamish, Geoff & Alex have done the training km's (except maybe Alex who can do it on natural talent anyway) so the swim itself should not be too challenging, but it will all depend on the weather. I'm looking forward to finishing the swim as it has become quite focus consuming, the swim or swim training seems to be taking up an inordinate amount of time and energy. Now that I am (almost) looking back on it I realise how much time I have spent away from my family, something to correct once the swim is finished.

But I think we're ready, kayakers are organised, accodation is booked, GPS is ready for use, togs have been prepared, sports drink is available and has been tested. I just don't know what, if anything, I'm going to drink on Saturday night.

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Sad times and happy times

This morning our neighbour let Alison know that Megan's cat, Freya, had been killed in the road outside our house, a very sad occasion as Freya was a lovely and very gentle, shy cay. We will all miss her.

However, the family decided that, while we will miss Freya, a new kitten would be a welcome addition to the house hold. So Alison & Megan went off to a place called 'Forgotten Felines' and came back with a very little kitten. He/she is only about 5 weeks old and already is the centre of attention. Megan has named the kitten Luna from Luna Lovegoode in the Harry Potter series.

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Back at work

Well I'm back at work today, it struck home as I was putting my socks on after the morning swim,I had last worn socks to work the last time. Work isn't too bad I suppose, not many emails at all so it is not hard to ease back into it.

I did take a bit of stick this morning at swimming. I am using my old wetsuit as my newer one needs a bit of a repair. But my old one needs a lot of repair, so much so that it probably is beyond sensible repair, so I have half my back uncovered and the suit lets lots of water in, luckily it's not so cold at the moment, in fact I probably don't need it, but I am so slow without it. Added to the wetsuit, I didn't sunblock on the swim yesterday and so have a red face, with a white scalp where the swim cap covers it and goggle shaped white patches round the eyes.

I am also waiting for my Xmas present. I knew what I wanted and was ready to order it, but for some unfathomable reason left it to Xmas to order it, no logical reason, maybe I didn't want it to arrive early and then not be able to play with it. SO I put the order in on the 25th (on the web) but the shop was shut to the 3rd Jan so I had to wait longer. And then it was delivered today, but the courier dork just left a note for it to be picked up, despite the fact that the front door was open and Alison and the kids were at home. So now I have to wait till tomorrow and am now really spitting. Oh, by the way its a waterproof GPS so I can track my swimming.

2007 wrap up

I thought a wrap up of the year might be appropriate, it at least makes me think of what has gone on this year.

Duncan
Duncan started this year by getting a pet dog, an SPCA street special called Juno. It looks like she has some labrador, border collie and a couple of other breeds in her history, but she is a very good natured, if energetic dog. He has been very good at exercising her and walks her twice a day, in all weathers, sometimes with a little help from his family.

He has been a keen member of the local scout group this year, having come up from cubs at the end of last year. He went on summer camp at the start of the year, camped at Muriwai, and had a sleep over at the zoo. See some pictures of Duncan at scouts here.

It was also year 6 camp this year at Tui Ridge park in Rotorua. I got to go along as a parent helper and enjoyed the trip as much as the kids did.

Duncan & I (Dad) did a trip to the Gold Coast in Australia this year to use up some airpoints. We had a great time and stayed at Nikki Timmerman & her partner Phil's place. Some blogs on this here, here and here. And some photo's here.

Year 6 is also water wise at Glamorgan School, and I was an water wise instructor again. Duncan had a great time doing it and ended up sailing an Optimist single handed. He's keen for more and so we'll look at getting him into the local sailing club.

Megan
It was Megan's first year at secondary school this year and she is really enjoying it. She has many friends, more than her father can keep up with, and currently likes to 'hang out' at the local town centre or shopping mall.

She is still enjoying her ballet, with a goal of being able to dance on point next year.

Her performing doesn't stop with her ballet as she performed in the Stage Challenge, and interschool competition and thoroughly enjoyed doing it.

Alison
Alison keeps the family together as always, takes the kids to their activities, tries to keep the house tidy and tries to get the other people in the house to be as tidy as she is. She did a trip with Megan down to Rotorua (after all dad & Duncan had gone to Australia). Great fun was had at the Agrodome and on the Luge track as well as some quality girl time I'm sure. Photo's here.

Jim (me)

Some of what I have done this year is in the blog, but I am not the best writer so I don't do daily blogs, or anything like it. The main things for me are:
Swimming, I'm doing lots of it and have even managed to shed a few kg this year. The highlight was doing the Whale of a Swim in Whakatane. While I managed to finish I was very sore and determined to do it again with proper preparation, so I am doing it again this March with 5 other friends.
Surf lifesaving. Still involved and am looking after the Rookies this year, 13 year olds who will be guards next year. Megan is a Rookie and keeps me on my toes.
Scouts. I was a scout leader this year with Duncan but agreed at the end of the year to become Group Leader as the current one resigned. I'm sure that will keep me busy next year.

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