It was quite a lively meeting at Rotary last night. I was Chairman and I received a call in the morning to say that, because of a mix-up, we had two guest speakers and also one of the Rotarians had asked for her daughter to be allowed five minutes to report on something she had been involved with in London.
Now, experience shows that ‘five minutes’ really means ten and there is always someone who wants to ask a question (just showing-off!); a typical guest speaker needs 30 minutes minimum plus some extra time for questions so we’re looking at 85 minutes without any allowance for mishap. As our meeting is only 90 minutes long and we have to line up at the buffet, eat our dinner, have reports, Heads and Tails and Fines, it’s clear we’re in trouble.
As it happens, it worked out fine. One of the Guest Speakers only wanted to give a short update on some work she is doing in the Philippines, and to present our President with a Thank-you for the support we have given her.
The daughter who wanted five minutes didn’t turn up so there was plenty of time to get through our business.
One interesting thing happened during the fine session. A member rose and wanted to fine his wife (who wasn’t there) because she was hassling him about his new hobby. She had said, Who on earth introduced you to this? Has anyone here heard of Geocaching? asked Mike. A few of us put up hands, including Marilyn and me. That’s who’s responsible, he said, pointing to us. I read about it on John’s blog and now I can’t get enough of it. It gives you a warm feeling to think you are responsible for family discord.
We had a bit of luck yesterday. At the Book launch on Friday, we had got talking to a couple who run a spectacular B&B in Deloraine, and were bemoaning the fact that we had missed out on tickets for the Battlefield Band (loud Scottish folk) which is playing its only Tasmanian gig in Deloraine tonight. Deloraine?
Why did they pick Deloraine for their only gig? Who knows, but the tickets sold out on the first day of release, months ago. I had an email yesterday from Helen from the B&B, saying she had 2 tickets available and they were only $10 each. Ha! I couldn’t wait to grab then. And then, today, a woman drove up to the van to say she had another 2. What luck! Jamie can come as well and we still have one to pass on to someone else.
I’ll report on the concert tomorrow if I haven’t lost my hearing in the meantime.
Now, experience shows that ‘five minutes’ really means ten and there is always someone who wants to ask a question (just showing-off!); a typical guest speaker needs 30 minutes minimum plus some extra time for questions so we’re looking at 85 minutes without any allowance for mishap. As our meeting is only 90 minutes long and we have to line up at the buffet, eat our dinner, have reports, Heads and Tails and Fines, it’s clear we’re in trouble.
As it happens, it worked out fine. One of the Guest Speakers only wanted to give a short update on some work she is doing in the Philippines, and to present our President with a Thank-you for the support we have given her.
The daughter who wanted five minutes didn’t turn up so there was plenty of time to get through our business.One interesting thing happened during the fine session. A member rose and wanted to fine his wife (who wasn’t there) because she was hassling him about his new hobby. She had said, Who on earth introduced you to this? Has anyone here heard of Geocaching? asked Mike. A few of us put up hands, including Marilyn and me. That’s who’s responsible, he said, pointing to us. I read about it on John’s blog and now I can’t get enough of it. It gives you a warm feeling to think you are responsible for family discord.
We had a bit of luck yesterday. At the Book launch on Friday, we had got talking to a couple who run a spectacular B&B in Deloraine, and were bemoaning the fact that we had missed out on tickets for the Battlefield Band (loud Scottish folk) which is playing its only Tasmanian gig in Deloraine tonight. Deloraine?
Why did they pick Deloraine for their only gig? Who knows, but the tickets sold out on the first day of release, months ago. I had an email yesterday from Helen from the B&B, saying she had 2 tickets available and they were only $10 each. Ha! I couldn’t wait to grab then. And then, today, a woman drove up to the van to say she had another 2. What luck! Jamie can come as well and we still have one to pass on to someone else.I’ll report on the concert tomorrow if I haven’t lost my hearing in the meantime.
Actually, the fine was from my wife against you for introducing me to that 'silly' hobby. I hope you paid up?? Anyway, I'm now using my new found skills and knowledge of geocaching to develop a software product for the construction industry. As of now, it is no longer a hobby....it's RESEARCH :-)
ReplyDeleteRegards
Mike