Category Archives: Personal

Personal

My darling daughter

Twelve months ago, I was worried.

Your big brother had been using up all of my love for 2 years, and I thought I might have run out of it. Or that I’d have to split it between the two of you somehow.

I shouldn’t have worried, though.

They told me each new baby comes with its own love, and they were right. I’m not even close to running out of love for you, and it’s already been a year!

I love that you smile even when you’re tired. I love that you eat pretty much anything. I love that you’re a chatterbox. I love that you enjoy “posting” everything you can into every “letterbox” you can find.

One day, you’ll understand what happened 10 years before you were born. That September 11, the world changed for the worse. I love that your arrival made “9-11” a happier date, and pray that you’ll continue to change the world for good.

I love being your daddy, and I love you.

Happy birthday, Princess.

Daddy

Personal

Keep being, um, awesome, #qanda

Confession: I’m a Christian, I love politics, and I didn’t tune in to last night’s Q&A with Peter Jensen et al.

I didn’t need to. The outcome was too predictable. The prominent Christian conservative (for whom I have a lot of respect, incidentally) was going to be asked controversial questions, he was going to answer them ineffectively (as if gay men’s health is even relevant?!), his secular audience was going to be outraged, and Christian onlookers were going to be evenly split between vicarious martyrs and embarrassed head-hangers.

Did I get it about right? The Twitters seem to confirm.

Maybe try doing something interesting with your show, Tony Jones.

Personal

Rainbows? DOUBLE RAINBOWS?!

What do they MEAN?

Here’s an answer mentioned by the guest speaker at my church this morning:

Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

(Genesis 9:14-16, God talking)

In other words, every rainbow is God reminding himself he’s promised to never flood the entire planet again.

I’m so glad climate change won’t be drowning ALL of us.

Personal

A little letter to the RTA (or whatever they’re calling themselves now)

Just another unfortunate episode of NSW government department stupidity. They’re exceptionally good at charging citizens for their mistakes.

Regarding trailer with plate no. S_____, billing number XXXXXXXX:

This trailer is not used a lot, but I did ensure its registration renewal was paid within the specified window (3 months). I made the payment via BPAY.

Some time later, I received a cheque from the RTA for $57, accompanied by a letter indicating the payment hadn’t gone through. Being a reasonable person, I figured you wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of sending me a cheque unless I’d somehow managed to pay twice (it had been a particularly chaotic time, so this was entirely plausible). I tried to confirm this using “myRegistration” on your website, but received a message saying the vehicle wasn’t ready for renewal yet. No worries! So I deposited the cheque and thought no more of the matter.

Today, now that I need to use the trailer again, I thought I’d call to confirm that everything was A-OK, only to find that my registration has been cancelled, and I’m now expected to find time and money to organise a blue slip and re-registration!

You can only imagine my ire over being made liable for your inability to reconcile registration payments made via BPAY.

It would be appreciated if you could resolve this matter administratively before I go to the trouble of finding a blue-slip accredited mechanic, removing the number plate, and all that ridiculous nonsense.

Gah.