Footy Training

Last time i wrote, i mentioned going to the Gold Coast. Well that has now happened, and it was great. I caught the train down there, and was pleasantly surprised.


Apart from the very spacious train that runs on the Gold Coast line, the station was right next to the stadium. So about 10 minutes after the full-time siren, we were already on the train home.

Sunday Afternoon Walk

This afternoon, i was walking to Toowong, and in passing one of those Asian al-fresco restaurants, i saw my friend Murray. I had a bit of time up my sleeve, so i was able to stop in and catch up with him.

Murray invited me to go to the footy for the opening game of the season, when the Gold Coast Titans take on his favourite team, the North Queensland Cowboys.

Fortunately, the Gold Coast are a forward-looking team who has chosen to build their stadium within easy walking distance of the train station.

The People in my Neighbourhood

One of the advantages of walking and cycling places is seeing people you know. Today was a good example of this.

I headed to the shops and came across Lord Mayor candidate (and former Queensland cricket star) Greg Rowell out meeting the people as part of his campaign. Added to that, he was being assisted by Cameron - who used to live in my building. He and Sally moved out when Sally got a job on the Northside.

I go to the library to return a book, and i bump into Tim. Then I'm heading home and i meet my neighbour Rod. Even though we're neighbours, i hadn't seen him recently. Turns out he has a new job. We decided we should have a bbq soon.

PS. Yes, i did quiz Greg on his policies about climate change (and gave him some of my own thoughts aswell) but i still think the Greens have the edge on him.

Old School

I've previously mentioned my not-to-modern bike, the Repco Traveller (circa 1980-something). The occasional teasing doesn't bother me too much. The Traveller still does the job, and i consider its age to be a built-in anti-theft device (along with a bit of duct tape wrapped around the seat for good measure).

Anyhow, today it was appreciated by a passer by, as i was un-chaining it. Yes, i do still bother with a bike-lock, though it's more to stop the bike falling over, than for security.

"Hey! Old school bike, man!" he said in an appreciative tone (apparently retro is cool).
"Old school's the best school"
"And easiest to fix"
"Yeah, true"(not that i have anything to compare with)

Telling people where to go

Today i came across a couple, who were looking to get to the city, but didn't know where to find the bus stop. Fair enough, it wasn't within sight. It was down the road and over a slight hill.

Anyway, i was able to tell them exactly where to find it. Yet another benefit of being outdoors and talking to people.

Salespeople

At my local shopping centre the area near the escalator is currently staked out by a gang of salespeople from a credit card company - which is offering discounted petrol to new credit card customers.

Just as i thought i had sidestepped the sellers, a fleet-footed (and well trained) woman approaches me with "Do you use unleaded or diesel for your car?" - a question which is surely intended to be a simple lead-in to her sales pitch ... but i said "No".

"Oh" she said (slightly stunned). I explained the concept of being car-free. Combined with my avoidance of credit, it really left her without an angle. We wished each other well, and i went on my way.

In short, yet another benefit of being car-free.

Cool Bike

Believe it or not this bike is owned by a guy who (by my guess) is around 70. I was walking to the shops when he sped past me!!

The bit i like is the simplicity of the design which means there's only one real bar in the structure. I imagine this would also make it quite light (although i didn't test this out incase someone thought i was trying to nick it).

Faster Than a Car

Today i had some stuff to do in the city, so i decided to test out this theory that cycling is faster than car travel (at least at 8.30am). Sure it makes sense - but i'm not a super-cyclist and my bike is not too flash.

So i set off near my house, and identified a "marker car" to measure my progress. I chose a Red Barina. In short, i immediately left it for dead, on my 1980s Repco Traveller.

Despite dismounting to cross at the lights i was never caught by the Red Barina - although a number of other cyclists passed me by.

Catching the Train

I read today that in NSW, the number of people catching the train to work has increased by 120,000.

The survey found that more people are choosing public transport to be more enviromentally friendly. The transport minister observed that switching to public transport vastly reduces emissions, and acknowledged that more needs to be done to enable more people to join this trend.

Evil Insurance Companies

So today I recieved mail from my insurance company. After all, it's been two and a half weeks since my policy expired.

The letter wasn't even a letter. Just a mass-produced form. Telling me i was late, and showing the amount of money i "owe" them (as if it's their birthright to receive money from me each year) it basically had the tone of a headmaster telling off a student for doing something terribly wrong.

And here was i thinking it was a free world, and that i could _choose_ whether or not to do business with a company.

Since receiving this, I am even more happy to be car-free. I'd much prefer my transport budget to go towards funding public transport than to one of these insurance companies.