Adrian Mateljan

Just a quick update to prove I am still alive and kicking…

Had the car in for its MOT and service on Tuesday, which did not go as smoothly (or as cheaply) as I had been hoping for - we ended up not being able to pick it up until Wednesday afternoon (and there was the possibility it would be Thursday). Still - this is the first time I have actually noticed the difference the work has made.

Spoke to most of my immediate family back in Australia on Saturday. My sister will be joining our 4WD ranks shortly - so now we are only waiting on my brother to make a complete family set. Meanwhile my brother and his wife managed to complete a half marathon in under two hours. I have only been in a half marathon once (obviously not recently) and it took me two hours twenty one minutes - so my hearty congratulations. Admittantly I hadn’t trained for it at the time - I had trained for the CIty to Surf (the Perth one) and had managed to finally break the hour (56′21″ - from memory - will need to confirm some time).

Finally we went into Reading on Sunday and watched Monsters vs Aliens. Fun, but nowhere near as good as Bolt!

Last weekend Lou and I made our way back down and across to West Sussex - not to go paragliding, but to check out kittens! So, after we return from Disney, we will be welcoming a new addition to our “family” - Hobbes - a red silver shaded and white (I’ll have to check that with Lou and/or pictures) Maine Coon Oriental cross kitten.

Yes, that’s right, we will then have Kobe and Hobbes

In the meantime we will be stopping in for visits and photos when we go paragliding. I know Lou has some photos so I’ll see if I can coax her to put them up on her facebook, or steal a few for here.

93.3kg

Apparently I am fluctuating - obviously more is now required…

92.3kg

Fluctuating or heading in the right direction? We will know next fortnight. This week has been much better - I have been out walking in the morning and mountaineering paragliding on Saturday. However, the benefits tend to lag behind the actions. Continuing my resolve from this week should provide a significant indication in my next measurement.

I managed to get out and continue my paragliding lessons on Saturday and had a much better time of it. Of my five flights, only on the first did I not land on my feet - and that was simply because I let go of my flare. (Note to self - hold on to flare!)

My second flight was probably my favourite - even though it wasn’t the highest point I launched from on the day - there seem to be a good gust of wind and I felt almost like I was soaring.

The last two flights were from higher up than I have been before and involved crossing a tree line before landing in a grassed area criss-crossed by rivers/streams. The site assessment was a bit scary. From where we were surveying  I literally couldn’t see anything between the ridge at the top of the hill and the tree line - I had to move down to the ridge to confirm there was actually somewhere safe to land should I be unable to cross the trees. (it didn’t end up being an issue) Also - rivers are deathtraps to be avoided - if there is any current, it will drag the wing in and you along with it.

So the only real downer to the day was my lack of fitness trekking up the hillside with 10kg of gear - especially the higher peak. But I guess that is good for me and should get easier over time. Now that I am happy with my landings, I need to relax more in take off (I am a bit rigid) and be more graceful in my movements in flight - things to concentrate on next time.

93.1Kg

A warning for me as, while I am technically still on track, it doesn’t look promising. This was from last week too and this week hasn’t improved much - so this is the wake-up call to get back on track for real.

It all comes down to dedication, focus and time management - all of which have been slightly knocked off course with the re-establishment of my World of Warcraft account. With a bit of luck I have got the initial crazy out of my system now and we can return to our regularly scheduled program. One of the advantages of publicly stated goals is that they help keep you to a higher standard. We will all see soon enough.

Everything in moderation - even World of Warcraft.

Hopefully this isn’t your first awareness of the fire tragedy in Victoria, Australia earlier this week. However, if you are in the area of web development (like me) - and want to help out - may I recommend the SitePoint Bushfire Relief Sale. But you need to be quick - it ends in two days.

I think I had my first experience of black ice this morning - all of a sudden the car started fishtailing for no other apparent reason. Thankfully my reaction (apart from unease) was pretty spot on…

92.1kg

This was meant to go up before Lou and I went on holiday, but never mind - better late than never. So, yes, we are back from not so snowy Snowdonia to oh so snowy Berkshire. (Thankfully we made it back without a hitch - obviously) More details to come soon. This post is just about staying on target for my weight goal. I hazard my next update may flatline due to a combination of lack of exercise. (ankle issues - which are mostly sorted now, illness and holidaying)

Happy Australia Day everyone! (Even though this is a bit late, being 9pm UK time….) It is also happy Chinese New Year - the Year of the Ox (again, late). I know the first because I’m Australian. I know the second because I use Google. Consequently, as I was pretty sure Australia Day and Chinese New Year don’t normally coincide (I think I would have noticed) - I learnt a new thing today - the date of Chinese New Year varies from year to year (traditionally beginning on the first day of the first lunar month). Oh, and that Lou and I are Rabbits…

This last weekend (and today) have been a bit of a write-off. Lou wasn’t feeling well enough to go paragliding and I’ve been fighting off something I picked up end of last week - which resulted in my staying home today. Consequently it hasn’t been a productive time. On the upside, we received our Sanza order (no thanks to the delivery company who delivered it on Friday to completely the wrong address) and were able to enjoy a little taste from home.