Wednesday, February 10

It’s my birthday so that seems an appropriate day to have another attempt to get my blog back on track.  I’ve realised that, without the blog to refer to, my memories of what we’ve been doing are becoming hazy so, in the interests of historical accuracy, I’m having another go.

Another reason for writing today is to launch my ‘new’ computer.  I’ve wanted another iMac since I gave up my ‘jelly-bean’ model more than ten years ago and it’s a pleasure to get back to a computer with a bit of class and a touch of elegance.

Jamie saw this one on Gumtree and convinced the seller that he was asking too much for it.  A quick trip to Legana on the other side of the river and I am now the proud owner of a classic.  It’s a little difficult getting used to the tiny keyboard and the little quirks of OS X but it’s worth it.

Celebrations for my birthday are low-key.  We’ll have dinner this evening with Jamie and Nera but no presents and no fuss.  We’ll celebrate Marilyn’s birthday in three weeks with a little more pizzazz and that will be more than enough.  We made the decision years ago that we don’t need any more ‘stuff’ so our presents to each other consist of a shared trip.  In April we are booked on a cruise to Papua-New Guinea and later in the year, we will be away for at least two months and that will give us more pleasure than a new tie or pair of socks.

Over the next few weeks I want to record some of the experiences we enjoyed while we were in the Philippines at the end of last year.  I’ll start with a not-so-enjoyable one: my bout of dysentery.  I think it started with a dodgy omelette I had at a Spanish restaurant and it laid me low for at least a week.  The silver lining is that I lost about 7 kilos and I have managed to keep the weight off.  I’m now travelling about 2 kilos below my preferred weight and I feel great.

Marilyn’s out today, baby-sitting for one of our Filipino friends.  She has a three-year old and a baby so it’s a busy time.  We hope that the children’s grandmother will arrive from the Philippines soon so that she can take over the responsibility but the Immigration Department is dragging its heels on the visa so we have no idea when things will get back to normal.  It’s ten weeks until our cruise so we hope everything is resolved before then.