Spring 2024 started with many leftover quiz night cupcakes and pizza slices, and a crisp Sunday morning. Irises were in bloom. Jumpers were worn. A lot happened in the following three months that led to a barefoot walk on the beach last Saturday night as the sun showed no interest in the horizon despite it being well after 7pm.

Tomato plants have grown, exams were passed, pub trivia was won, wellness benefits were spent on putt putt and bouldering. Blinds and shutters have been installed in preparation for the Summer 24-25 playlist. We walked on the beach.

I visited Alligator Gorge, Watson's Bay, and Melbourne twice. I saw the milky way and a miniature horse. Hats and shorts replaced heated gloves and puffer jackets. I witnessed another AFL Grand Final that I'll probably forget. I made a lot of sandwiches seasoned with Gaganis italian herb mix, plus quite a few pizzas. We walked on the beach some more.

I bought a new computer and monitor. I settled into my new job. I rode my bike to a brewery, and then caught the new train line back. Vanessa beat me in arcade basketball many times. I did a lot of gym and I saw Chihuly in the Garden. Nash swam in West Lakes. We walked on the beach.

I took many photos of flowers and birds. And Nash. And sunsets at the beach.

I lost two teeth. I went to Christmas Carols. I wrote a bunch of code. I listened to a lot of music. Over 5000 unique songs, 80+ a day. That's not counting the times when I dug up old mixes for the speaker in the gym, or when I put on Anjunadeep mixes for focused software development, or when Vanessa was DJ in the car on the way to the beach.

It was a good Spring.

I had two wisdom teeth removed today. This is perhaps another chapter in the saga on my dentist addiction I've been feeding since 2019.

I foresee a few smoothies extra in the coming days. I also had a smoothie this morning right before I had to fast for six hours. Perhaps this was a precursor to my loss of wisdom. By 11am I was starving, and I also made the mistake of calling ANZ and being stuck on hold for 45 minutes listening to static infused easy listening, and using that hold time to bash my metaphorical head against the wall trying to pass a Super Badge.

The pain was pretty bad. Way worse than the teeth.

In 2014 this dog and this expensive, high power pet vacuum came into my life and today the dog won.

Also in 2014 I signed up for my OzBargain account, leading me to a free dinner and dessert with random OzBargain people plus Chow this evening. The pineapple pork ribs and brownie made up for only getting one stamp on my loyalty card when I bought two coffees at the bakery this morning.

Rounding out a pretty full day, I was also a participant who helped complete the Speakeasy escape room with fifteen minutes to spare. Technically this proficiency may have actually made it less good value for money.

Technology brought me to Melbourne this week.

I needed dinner late, and fortunately the hotel's restaurant was still bustling at 8:30, and they found me a table for one.

I had to order via a QR code, which was slightly annoying but I guess this is the future. And then this robot brought me my dinner. To the wrong side of the table, requiring me to stand up to retrieve it.