Tim's Journal, July to August 2005

Welcome to Tim's Journal, where you get the opportunity to read all the amazing (alias boring) stuff I've been up to lately. In reality, I'll probably be the only person to ever read this, but if you do care to have a look, enjoy! Following are my entries in Tim's Journal from July to August 2005.

24th July 2005 - (BSushi, Japanese Curry and the first win in Australia's Ashes victory
Warne will end his career without ever taking 5 wickets at Lords, The Home of Cricket (amazingly, Warne has taken 19 wickets at 19.5 and only once gone wicketless in an innings there - when McGrath took 8 for 34 and Warne only bowled 2 overs in the rain affected draw). McGrath has another five-for to go with his career best from last ashes tour and clarke has the majority of his future career to get a century he narrowly missed, falling 9 runs short in the 2nd innings. For me, I am most impressed with Langer and Katich with the bat and of course McGrath and Warne with ball. Katich has the fight of a pit-bull and the placement of a former favourite of mine - Bevan. And of course, Binga is back! He is a weapon; a strike bowler; a match winner; and entertainer.

On Sunday, Sal made up some sushi and Japanese curry for the house (and Liz). This time of the year is ideal for setting up the dining table in the back yard and a BBQ, or in this case, some Whatzzz---uuup---BBeeeee!

Can you believe I managed to tie the camera to the heater from the 2nd floor window, set the timer and bolt down stairs to grab the pic of sushi dinners:

25th July 2005 - Club Cricket
I played a second cricket match with the players from Dave's team a couple of weeks ago. Dave did not play while our young Indian neighbour joined us. He is a off-spin alrounder that loves the willow and leather. We both did not have much luck with the ball, with me taking to only wicket between us, and both got starts but failed to go on with it.

The grounds here are magnificent, as is tea. What The?! "Tea" you say! Well, when the crickets sides take tea, they do so in style. Tea is served by the Tea lady in the club house and joined by all the teams playing on the grounds. This is one of many traditions that the English take seriously. I love it even if we must stop playing to enjoy it ;-)

I certainly seemed to have improved in the patience department over the recent 18 months. Defence against the seamers has crept into my game, this was clearly lacking in early years. The majority of my dismissals are when trying to play shots and strangely enough, I seem to be getting out to pull shots over the last two seasons whereas The Pull was probably my strength when I first started. This is something I will work on this summer.

27th July 2005 - Resignation
In the months leading up to leaving Australia, our plans were far from cement. The trip was to be less than 6 months and not involve working. Eventually, we decided we wanted to see as much of Europe as possible and return home with a substantial deposit for a second apartment. The Pound Sterling and a decent amount of time behind a desk was required. We obtained visas, stuffed our lives in long term storage and took flight with the Kleenex handy.

Our plans changed. Again. Basically, I feel that we have chosen quality of life over money. I have no regrets with the time spent in London. It was a wonderful experience both professionally and personally. However, life in Sydney entails positives that can not be easily substituted and forgotten. I'll explain more of that later...

My resignation was extremely difficult. Similar to my resignation from GrainCorp, I built it up to be more than it was. Regardless of reasons and whatever your outlook, I feel that I am letting down the colleagues I work closely with at Hornbill. Is it unethical to leave a company after such a short time? While I require no recognition for my contribution, I hope that no bitterness supersedes me. I have enjoyed the interaction with those in the company and the majority my clients.

My resignation was extremely difficult. The decision was not. To stay may have lead to a miserable existence as sacrifices became greater and tradeoffs lost value.

My resignation was extremely difficult as I informed Kenton (my boss) on Monday. I felt like a dejected, unwanted mutt who had betrayed his master on Wednesday when Will, Senior Consultant, and Saika, Projects Coordinator, were told (I had already confided in Jason, the other project manager).

29th July 2005 - Japanese House Dinners
Most of the house went out for Japanese Dinners at Hare and Tortoise with the Anna (Wolfy and Roland), Liz, Jane and Josh. Good fun and we took some amusing snaps on the double decker home.

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You can email me at tjcrouch@hotmail.com