Labour Day Brighton and Sandgate

We're contemplating moving to Narangba, so it was timely that we went for a wander along Brighton beach this afternoon. It's amazing how complacent people get about where they live - we're five minutes from a great 3 km walk along Brighton beach, to the pier at one end or on to a big park the other. We took Missy along for a walk, she's so often overlooked and loves to walk along the beach. When I look back at the places I've lived and things I've seen, I'm pretty lucky to be 5 minutes away from the Pacific ocean and this great area. Summer is now well and truly over thankfully, and the weather from here (May) through to December is, in my opinion, at it's best. Warm during the day, cooling at night - just how I like it! We're really lucky to be here, and if we do move, we will miss the convenience of getting to the ocean. One day we will live close to the sea - at least, that's what I'd love.

KChin's Farewell Lunch

KChin is a young guy that was sponsored to come over to Australia from Vietnam, where he had sustained an injury as a child which necessitated amputation of his right leg from the thigh down. I first came across KChin through my mate Craig Morgan, whose Mum and Dad were sponsoring the trip over and looking after KChin during his stay here. Craig mentioned that, at some stage, KChin would have to go back to Vietnam to resume his life, and that he was doing everything he could to get some work experience. KChin has been fitted with an artificial leg (most recently a titanium one!) and appears to be unaffected by this.

I offered him a couple of days a week work experience, working in my team and getting him some IT experience. KChin started with us in October of '08 and quickly became part of the team. What has amazed me has been KChin's seemingly never ending enthusiasm for anything asked of him; his approach is positive and he's never afraid of hard work - he's been an inspiration to all of us and we were all sad to hear that "D-Day" is coming soon... KChin has to leave Australia as his visa is nearing it's end. So, the team decided to send KChin off with a celebration lunch, and we went to L'Academie for a send-off lunch.

Meeting KChin has been a real wake-up call for me; I imagine what life has been and will be like for KChin, and I'm personally in awe of his approach to his life, which in many senses is a gift. KChin had broken his leg as a child and, unlike we westerners, he or his folks were unable to seek medical attention - so they just carried on. Over time his leg became a burden but he managed to carry on, although how I can't imagine. Recently I've busted up one of my fingers and, while feeling sorry for myself, remembered that I'm lucky, in all likelihood I'll have my finger back 100% because I've access to modern medicine and all the benefits that come with it - KChin didn't have these systems in place and eventually that cost him his leg.
So we went off to lunch to celebrate KChin's looming return to his home country. Apparently he may have an opportunity in the tourism industry, and I hope it works out. I know for sure that, whatever he ends up doing, he'll put 100% of his energy into. If he was able to stay I would have him on my team in an instant!

Injuries and Implications

Bad week this week, as I've managed to break the middle finger of my left hand whilst playing beach volleyball. This is BAD for a number of reasons:

1) I was starting to get pretty good at beach volleyball!
2) One little finger has had a massive impact on my life, and will continue to do so for at least the next 3 months...

My fifth game of the season, and I was starting to "get" the ins and outs of beach volleyball. In assessing the game, I'd figured that in the scheme of things the impact would surely be fairly low - it's not touch football after all! The opposing team were well organised and as a consequence, our team ("Hit's 'n' Giggles") lifted our game to suit. All in all it was a great first game (3 games/match) - then I tried to block a drop-shot and somehow managed to have my fingers bent forwards as I blocked the ball... at first it didn't seem so bad, but pretty quickly I realised that this could be quite serious. the end of my finger was bent at 45 degrees from the rest of the finger. Of course, everyone on court became a ringside doctor and all offered their opinion! I decided to err on the side of caution and went off to find a doctor... what a pointless exercise that turned out to be! Turns out that our private health fund is basically pointless for emergency treatment, and the Australian hospital system has been so successfully raped and pillaged that you might as well forget it. In the end Christopher put me in touch with his mum who happens to be a nurse, and she splinted my finger.

Next day I went off to the doctor, who confirmed (by x-ray) that a tendon had pulled off a chip of bone from the last bone in the finger - ouch! Suddenly the conversation went to possibly surgery! Apparently I went white (I'm not good on the idea of cutting into me!)

Thursday I went off to a hand specialist expecting the worst, fortunately he diagnosed a permanent (3 month) splint. No riding my bike though... I'm devastated. For some, a bike or car is a means to an end, transport and that's it. For me, my bike is the solitude and therapy that I need... without it, I'm very down. Three months of trains.. I'm unsure how I'll cope.