How's the roly poly been - kinda good 2010 into 2011

Well there is a lesson in this all - not posted since June 8 2010. A lot has happened in that time - not all of it has been good but it has felt like the roly poly has decided to go to someone else's life.

Maybe it will be best if I just write up a few things in bullet point form sort of chronologically to get up to date:

• signed the divorce papers just before I left Sydney. there was one hiccup requiring some documents to be sent by secret Swiss Bank systems when I got to Europe. Anyway the divorce was granted and made final on September 13 = a burden removed.
• spent a few weeks in Bangkok with my love before heading out for my bike trip in Europe. This was mostly a process of getting into a pattern of working on administration and portfolio matters while she was working and exploring aspects of city life when we were together. After a long life in the suburbs it is a very enlightening life living in the city. No car means frequent visits to the store. A temple on every 2nd or 3rd corner means no pressure to sightsee. Hot and humid means a few beers need to be drunk
• Flew to Europe directly after my birthday to join some Aussie friends in a cycle tour of Switzerland. Was great to spend time with my close friend Heinz, who lives in Basel. Was great too to enjoy a cycle tour dreamed up and led by someone else. We basically took public transport (train and bus) up the mountains and cycled down. The weather was superb. My partner was due to arrive on July 1 for a weekend in Berne, the capital of Switzerland. Journal is here
• Sadly destiny decided that there were other plans - I had a fall and broke my arm on June 30 in Luzern. This required surgery in Kantonspital Luzern and my love spent 3 days at my bedside there rather than touring the delights of Berne and the Bernese Oberland. when she left to go back to Bangkok I spent a few days in Basel and then flew to England to spend time with my mother. She was having trouble adjusting to being on her own in her apartment in Devon. All her previous trips had been with my father
• Then it was back to Bangkok as a safe place to continue my rehabilitation at the excellent Bumrungrad Hospital at the expense of my travel insurer. No point in coming back to Australia as I had nowhere to live and the travel insurance stops on arrival. Spent 5 weeks in a routine of sleeping, walking to hospital, walking a bit, drinking a few beers after Lorraine's work and cooking one handed
• Spent some more time in Europe - with my mother (both of us) and attending a wedding of a friend in St Moritz. Was great to catch up with some long time friends there and to sample winter and summer in a week
• In this time Lorraine learned that her job was to disappear and we had plans to make - find another job or return to Australia

So we returned to Australia. As I have no house I moved in with Lorraine and her son, Byron. With travel done for a while it was time to focus on catching up with a backlog of administration and to spend time together. Lorraine chose not to look for a new role until the new year. We enjoyed a few weeks with my children staying in the holidays - that was great - even though we did need to sleep on the floor. Many would not. Sadly that was cut short by some odd choices made by their mother. Not enough though to send me back into the state of depression - love helps cut through all of that.

And I had the prospects of a bike ride to look forward to - down the west coast of Australia from Broome to Perth and a reunion with many who have ridden across the continent with me before. Start date set for April 20 and a month's riding to do the 3,000 kms to Perth. Bike ride went well though I could have done with a lot more training. Might have spent less time in the van in the first week when we had open air temperatures ranging to 46C. You can read the journal here

Got back to Sydney in late May. Thoughts turned to a few things to change life. We decided to get married on Lorraine's 50th birthday on September 28. As befits the way we live life for now, that was not a decision requiring a lot of planning or even thought - we will kind of drift into the choices that need to make in a logical sort of timing. One does need to fill in the paperwork with a month and a day to spare - that gives the first deadline. We also decided to train up in a new income producing opportunity - foreign exchange trading. I have been haunted by statements of my ex wife that I am young enough to go back to work. I do not want to do this - time to think laterally. So we signed up for an extensive training programme with Knowledge to Action. Training course was interesting and challenging - maybe a separate blog post needed on this subject.