On January 25th on our traditional morning walk to the markets my ankle swelled up so badly I could barely limp back home. It recovered a little with ice and rest, enough that I could get in a legless workout before going to an open house. We decided to make an offer for the house. The next morning I woke up at 4:40am for a road trip to Merrijig.

Every day since then has felt like a hurtling drive with stops only for coffee (it's okay Alex) and every night feels like I woke at 4:40am that morning.

We bought a new house, and then decided to sell our old one. I've dedicated days to spreadsheets, cleaning, furniture, finances, work and inopportune holiday plans. My ankle has been pretty sore most of that time. I thought I had gout so I gave up beer. Then when that didn't help I gave up beer and dairy. I spent over a week without a proper smoothie, coffee, thing of yoghurt. What a terrible way to live. Anyway when the MRI came back as ligament damage and arthritis at least I could drink a beer again.

I also spent a week living without carpet. I also was the one who ripped up our old carpets. I just put on Triple M's greatest hits, and lucky I was back on dairy because I also had an ice coffee, and I just cut into it and pulled it up. I had a new knife, plus gloves and a dust mask from big box hardware. One of many trips to there this month.

Carpet is such a fragile thing. It's in your life in your house and you never once think about what's under it and then a few slices of the knife and you roll it up into a roll and gaff it together and it's gone. Houses in general are stupid things. I've felt this way for so long. All you really want is shelter from the sun and if rain exists, the rain, and warmth, and high speed internet. Why do we need cornices and grout and matching coloured cabinets. I've spent so many hours cleaning things since Merrijig that I didn't shave for a week because I couldn't get my hand clean enough to touch my face.

And the dryness is relentless. Now we don't even have upstairs curtains. Heat, clean, work, sleep, repeat. I also haven't been to the gym for nearly two weeks. Although our storage unit is on the second floor of the storage building, so I have done many rounds of storage cardio. I've lost 3 kilograms since January. Maybe from storage cardio, maybe from abstaining from beer and dairy.

Tonight, finally, the house was ready for photos. The new carpet was laid. The terrible paint job was concealed. All the new furniture was arranged and Vanessa had them styled with cushions and books. The floors were mopped, windows wiped, the back courtyard pressure washed, the garden pruned, the front door washed, the new rug vacuumed, the bed sheets ironed, the shower screens scrubbed, the cardboard boxes cut up, the crevices dusted. The photographer admired the pizza oven, took the sunset shot, and it was done. Finally, tomorrow can be a day to breathe. The last thing I cleaned was myself. And I shaved.

I took a walk this morning with Vanessa and Nash. We bought coffee from the cafe across the road and drank it on the walk home for our 8:30 meetings. I tilted my head back right before the last corner so I could swallow the final taste of flat white, and I really liked the look of the clouds.

The dictionary definition of a "bay" is "a broad inlet of the sea where the land curves inwards". But Watsons Bay, as a Sydney locality, is kind of the inverse. A head on the eastern suburbs like a broad outlet of land where the sea curves outwards.

On a holiday, this means...

Sunrise by the Sea.

Breakfast by the Sea.

Birds by the Sea.

Trees by the Sea.

Paddleboarding by the Sea.

Post Paddleboarding Beer by the Sea.

Naps by the Sea.

Walking by the Sea.

Sculptures by the Sea.

Sunset by the Sea.

Basically, the Sea by the Sea

I'm mostly responsible when it comes to sunscreen, but my legs tend to be neglected probably more than they should. It's a combination of their surface area, the hairiness, plus the effort of bending down. But, expecting a decent amount of outdoor activity today I creamed up both legs. It immediately commenced raining, was cloudy the entire day, and the UV peaked at 4.

We started our morning with a walk to Lady Bay and to the lighthouse, then back for buffet breakfast and I ate three types of pastries. Then another walk around the South Head cliffs and another coffee before taking the ferry to Manly.

The rain drizzled for most of the following hours, but it didn't stop us from strolling up the Corso, along the water to Shelly Beach, to some rainforests and great views along the North Head walking trails and across more sand in the rain.

After all that walking we had lunch at a Lebanese restaurant by the water and the Lamb Shawarma came with five mini pitas. So I effectively ate four yiros. Then I had a beer at Felons before we rode the ferry back for some long awaited shoe removal.

Note to self: Add feature to include daily step count on journal entries.

The secret to not needing a beer after mowing the lawn is to do it in the morning instead of the evening right before cooking the BBQ.

I tried everything possible to eradicate the mosquitoes from the water feature in my backyard. I added a pump to aerate the water (well I paid some guy to do that). I added plants. I dumped in NoMoz every few months. I even added a school of white cloud minnows back in 2022 to try and help, although they all died probably from birds or those days in summer I walked outside and found the water level nearly bottomed out.

I also made a lot of effort to control the algae, with slightly better results although not that much better.

Despite the bug spray and the thermacell it's basically a guarantee that I'll be eaten by a mosquito any time I'm out there having a snack, gardening, or encouraging Nash to do her business so that I can get to bed.

Vanessa is also sick of mosquitos, and after enduring my attempts for the last few years she made the call this weekend to dump out the water, remove the pump and fill the pond with dirt instead. Good luck breeding in dirt, mosquitos! I'm pretty sure they can, but maybe a lot less.

I really enjoy the trickle and burble of the water feature the couple of times a month I go out there without my noise cancelling headphones on, but given I'd had my chance with the pond I was happy to give her approach a try.

So while I was mowing the lawn, Vanessa was flushing out the water and tipping in the left over soil and potting mix I had from planting the tomatoes last month.

The issue arose when I spotted a fish, darting back under the cover of the big shaft thing in the middle of the pond, after probably sticking his head out to see what was going on with the water. This was not expected. I don't recall seeing any of the fish for at least a year. I'd assumed they were all dead, but there was one (maybe even two) hero fish still living through the worst of my neglect in the water and doing its best to eat as many mosquito larvae as possible.

I am kind to animals. I mean, I am digesting beef, pork and chicken simultaneously while writing this, so I'm not perfect and I seem to have an intolerance to legumes which doesn't help. But I didn't kill my omelette ingredients myself and I slow down for birds on the road and I have a dog that has a better diet than most of the humans in history. And I've also killed a lot of mosquitos, and technically the other 8-9 white cloud minnows that were no longer in the pond with the survivor. What I am arriving at was the dilemma - was saving this one fish's life worth abandoning the gardening work and dealing with more mosquito bites?

The answer was, sadly, no. And I felt really bad about this, and thankfully it was Vanessa who did the dirty work while I pruned some irises.

Kurt Cobain once said fish don't have any feelings and I've never forgotten that, and I took some solace in the words as the hero fish went to his grave to become fertiliser for some lilies.

Fish may not have feelings, but I do, and that's why I am writing this long post to celebrate the fish's life even though I also feel responsible for its death. He must have dealt with a lot of trying circumstances and he probably killed a lot of mosquitos. Although not enough, in the end.

This evening, when enough time had passed from the morning's yard work that the fish was most certainly dead, I was pouring a drink of water from the filter jug when Vanessa noticed that the bottom of the jug was a cloudy jungle of algae.

This seemed fair. I now have a poltergeist fish who will haunt me forever. Or maybe it was because the weather was warm and I left the jug on the windowsill.

I have not been looking forward to turning 40, and it certainly wasn't something that made it on to my "Things to do this summer" list when I started my journal in November 2001.

I've never forgotten turning 30, and 20, and on both occasions being overwhelmed by existential dread that a milestone was passing that I could never return to. That a barrier now existed between my youth and myself, and that I was edging only closer to death.

Well in hindsight it turns out both those times I still had youth on my side, and now I have the life experience to know for certain that a barrier between my youth and myself now exists and I am edging only closer to death.

But, other than dying, what can you do to avoid turning 40? Nothing, you just live as best you can, helpless in the epoch, admiring the flowers occasionally and wondering if there are things you should be trying to do before the day arrives. But there's nothing.

And when it finally happens you expect relief because at least now it's over, but it's even worse than you expected.

You wake up and eat cake for breakfast and go for a walk with your dog and wife and you see family and drink coffee and eat more cake and look at the ocean and feel the sunlight and smell the jasmine on the breeze and pat your dog and talk to friends and beat Connections on the toilet and do forty-five minutes of stretching and rehab and some single leg squats.

And that's why I don't want to turn 40. Because I could do this every day forever.

The last six days of my holiday (2.4% of a Jupiter day) have passed by at the normal, inevitable speed of life on planet Earth. Overall, an excellent break, where I accomplished nearly all of my to-do list (leaving enough to feel justified that it was a suitable amount of tasks) as well as relaxing and living in the moment occasionally as well.

Tuesday - a leisurely stroll around Morialta, with a break for breakfast, and then coffee on the way home. Plus more home-made pizza because, why not, it was holidays.

More wattle.

Wednesday - the sun was forecast to be shining, and I'd thought of doing a bike ride in the morning but after putting on my red shorts I decided I'd prefer just to walk around Croydon looking at flowers with Nash and drinking coffee. Here we are both enjoying a sun-patch.

In the evening, caught up with J and then took on the quiz at Big Shed with other members of Pump up the JAMB. Took out second, which I was quite elated about.

Thursday was my Azure Certification study day, noting that a lot of that study was while walking around the neighbourhood, clearing out my closet, walking clothes to the charity shop, cooking dinner, and working out. But mostly it was a lot of Azure study. I did walk Vanessa over to a friend's before dinner, and walked home westward watching the dark-purple sky light up with lightning flashes in the distance. As I wasn't getting rained on, this was pretty epic. I was listening to Azure study material at the time.

Friday was more exam revision (while walking around Croydon) followed by the exam which wrapped up around lunchtime. The rest of the afternoon was a blur of eating, working out, walking in the sunshine (and rain), and then writing up all my feelings about the intense cram session as my brain decompressed.

Saturday was a busy day, starting with a very short, slightly misty walk around North Adelaide with Nash who enjoyed the occasional patch of sun, but wanted no part of the activity once she realised the bakery wasn't our destination.

After that, went to the Central Markets for some produce and a good coffee and a brunch with Vanessa's friends, followed by a workout and then afternoon tea with in-laws. Then, dinner and showdown with Alex.

Sunday, the final day, partly cloudy but no rain, has had the feeling you get when you spend the afternoon in the winter sun and then the night settles in, multiplied by sixteen. That's not to say it hasn't been pleasant or productive. It began with the customary North Adelaide walk to bakery, pide-based pizzas for lunch, and then an afternoon doing some coding for the quiz night.

Before sunset we drove to the beach for a final walk in the sun.

I bought coffee all but two of my days off. The garden is looking fresher, the seedlings are shooting up ready for planting in September. I've seen family, friends, the beach, the hills. I've hiked and walked and been productive around the house. I watched half of a movie, and didn't play any video games. I've exercised nearly every day of the break. I've eaten desserts every day of the break. The flowers in the backyard are just starting to bloom, and there's fresh skin on my fingers after the friction burns of the first Tuesday from using the pruner... Hopefully these are good omens for the next chapter of entries tagged 'Office'. If not, I am not afraid of temporary unemployment once more.

I'm not retired, but for a week I'm technically unemployed, and its been ten days since I last got paid to use the toilet.

To give my memory even more of a break, I'll capture what I've done so far on my holiday.

Saturday - cloudy with some rain. Managed a coffee stroll with Nash and Vanessa to Anchovy Bandit. In the evening, Callum's 40th which featured a thirty minute epic video and way too much food.

Sunday - Bakery stroll. Vanilla slice. More strolls between showers.

Monday - Dad Hike, followed by apple pie.

Tuesday - Finally, bluer skies. Bike ride into town for physio in the morning. Coffee, bike ride back home. Much mulberry tree pruning. Bike ride back to town for dentist, and then home.

Deadpool and Wolverine in the evening. Many laughs, but the tiny seats may have reverted all the work the physio did that morning.

Wednesday - Road trip to Willunga and Encounter Bay. Much sunshine. A lot of coffee. Sea air. Later, a walk to the supermarket.

Thursday - Jasmine coming into bloom.

Banana pancakes and puppy walks to the cafe.

First trip to big box hardware for a few months. Planting seedlings ready for spring.

Friday - foggy morning by the beach, then sunshine.

Drive to Freeling for lunch and family. Watched Boomers vs Serbia basketball - epic game.

Saturday - Sunshine. Morning walk to markets to re-up on fresh food and drink coffee. Aerated the future vegetable patch, added compost and erected the trellis. Stuck one stake in upside down. Then workout, salad in the sunshine, followed by visit to Alex's in the evening to watch two close games of football.

Sunday - More blue skies for the bakery walk.

Beer in the sunshine in the afternoon, followed by homemade pizza and watching USA vs France basketball.

Monday - Ridiculous amount of sunshine. Another walk to Anchovy Bandit, and around Prospect.

Some more gardening, another workout, then a visit to Semaphore with Nash - wearing shorts - for ice-cream and a walk down the jetty.