A very good Australian Father's Day

So, yesterday (Sunday) was Father's Day in Australia. Mother's Day is the same in AU as in the U.S., but holding Father's Day in June would've clashed with the Queen's Birthday (a national holiday, analogous to President's Day) -- so it's in September, instead.

I had the best Father's Day I ever had (although I've only had two so far): It consisted of puttering, and doing things I've been wanting to do, but have put off due to Dissertation obligations. The morning was family-ish; the afternoon and evening, me-ish.


Here's the rundown:

-Went to church. Lotsa people skipped; we would've, as The Lady's sister was hosting a brunch thing for their dad, but The Lady was ''on stage'' (Liturgical Assistant) that morning.

-Changed a nappie (''diaper'')

-To McDonald's for food

-To the shopping center, for The Lady to browse for some summer pajamas (weather is warming up! Mixed feelings regarding the impending heat.)

-Changed nappie

-Shared a footlong meatball sub at Subway with the missus

-Grocery shopping with wife and child (or rather, wife did the thinking, I mostly followed along)

-Visited The Lady's parents, gave her dad the card & gift; stayed and chatted for a bit

-Home -- to putter!!! Which included...

-Hung up and used the punching bag. Bought it over a year ago; this is the third(?) time I've used it. Convinced I would use it more if I had it set up where it was (1) sheltered from the rain, (2) had mosquito netting, and (3) had lighting for evening use.

I hang it from a hook that I've tied to a tree branch, off in the bush to the side of the back yard.


The place



Backfist


Double dragon (?-I forget)

I'm stomping on the foliage a bit. But the ferns will grow back when we move.

(a mediocre) Roundhouse kick


Yes, I stretched out beforehand. Prefer to avoid injuries.


UFF-da!!!

(Action photos courtesy of Tall Guy.)


-Move piles of wood. Have some small logs of local wood -- some split to prevent checking, some I didn't have time for. Been out there for over a year. However, I've decided I don't like where I placed them, as it's hard to mow around them. So, I consolidated them.

Before

After


After -- closer view

-The Lady returns home from the parents, where she's been sorting through some boxes she'd been storing there. I change Bub's nappy.

-Order and pick up pizza. Father's Day; I like pizza.

-Play drums w/ The Bub. I get the high hat pedal, kick drum pedal, and a drumstick in my right hand; she gets two drumsticks while sitting on my left leg; I hold around her torso with my left arm. (The Lady, meanwhile, switches over laundry, etc.)

-Eat pizza.

-Open gifts from wife and child. Little sliver bell from The Bub (I collect all manner of noisemakers and musical instruments); from The Lady, a green shirt with an electric bass on it, and a book of Japanese prints (1700-1850-ish).

-Fix The Bub's toy keychain/electronic noisemaker. One of the green buttons (each button makes a different sound) was jammed in. I unscrewed the screws, popped the back open, and freed the stuck button.

-Examine ''broken'' electric guitar. I thought one of my electric guitars had a faulty input jack. Popped it out, tested the continuity with a meter, and it looked o.k. (resistance varied as I turned the volume knob). Reassembled, tried in the guitar amp. Heh -- works fine! Sure.


-Play guitar. Since I had the guitar and amp out anyhow, I also brought out my lipstick pickup guitar to compare and contrast its sound with the humbucker's sound. Also got to properly try out a ''new'' distortion pedal I've had for a few months (DOD ''Big Pig''), both alone and in conjunction with an ''auto-way'' pedal. Also got to familiarize myself with my Aussie-voltage guitar amp, which I've not really experimented with. Came up with a few riffs which may be of future use.

-Watch NCIS on t.v. One of the few t.v. shows I watch; like CSI -- but better!!! ;) While watching, ate boiled peanuts that I picked up as an impulse buy that aftenoon at the grocery store; had 'em years ago when the family motorhomed across The South, incl. Georgia. Good, though a bit over-salted.

-Fix kick pedal that I had picked up off e-bay for around fifteen bucks a few months ago. The spring tension adjustment knob was stuck; broke it loose with a pair of pliers (or is it ''two pair''? One to keep the rod from turning, the other to turn the knob). Easy enough.


-Read the book of Jp. prints in bed. Then, g'nite!

-Also, somewhere in there, The Bub and I drew a picture together. Her first drawing!!! ;)



All in all, a wonderful day! It encompassed three of my four interests: woodworking (pile o' wood), martial arts (punching bag), music (drums, guitar). Didn't include computers, but that's o.k., as my interests in computers are more as in ''informed user'' (and to support my music-ing).

(I don't include Sociology/Social Science, as I do that for a living!!!)


--GG