Tuesday, October 5, 2010

September @ the Bere’s

What a month! it was filled with non-stop activities. Both at home and afar.
It all started with us undertaking a small project in our backyard. Our first vegie garden had the kids so excited, yet so frustrated. We cleared out the side passage of overgrown weeds and shrubs before sowing the soil in preparation. We then took the kids shopping where they bought some small seedlings, a tomato plant, zucchini, spinach and carrots for a start. The kids excitement turned to disappointment when the following day the vegies weren’t ready for picking….. How funny are kids.

The final round of the footy season saw us go and see the Parramatta Eels take on Auckland Warriors. It was our first game for the year and while the Eels couldn’t make the playoffs it was great to take the family. It was part of my fathers day gift and one I thoroughly enjoyed. The result didn’t go our way but to see my little man o enthusiast in his sport and to sit on my lap for the whole game was very special.

Fathers Day was a very special time for me. I had one of those days that will always be etched in my memory. We shared the day as a family and I received some lovely gifts from the kids and Leonie. After a lovely brekkie, and a bit of shopping, lunch on the road, we topped off the day by a nice dinner at home. While my day was very special the wind was blowing up a storm at home.

The Fathers day windstorm that lashed the Illawarra and South Coast resulted in our Unit having some 700+ request for assistance. By far it was our biggest event for the year, we had SES units, RFS strike-force teams and NSWFB brigades assist us complete the jobs which saw us operational for a week straight. During this time, I did 2-days as the OC-operations controller which was a huge initiation to my new role.

On Monday 6th Sept I was appointed to my new role within the unit. I am now the Deputy Controller – Rescue at Wollongong City. It’s something I never dreamed of when I first joined some 17 years ago. The role sees me as 2nd in-charge and responsible for managing the field response to all operations. It also had me in the hot seat on my first day as I had to do a media interview for WIN TV.

As the windstorm jobs wound down we were presented with a drenching of rain. So much so that we were placed on high alert for flash-flooding and another 60+ jobs were taken. Many jobs came from residents who didn’t realise they’d sustained damage from the windstorm. It would be another 3 days before finally we could close down SES.

The annual Petersborough Golf day was once again a huge day. A round of golf at Shellharbour Links followed by a luncheon at Shelley’s Workers resulted in great day. Considering the frequency of how much I’ve swung a club of late I was very happy with my golfing ability.

The windstorms of 2 weeks earlier had seen our Navrescue event cancelled but that didn’t stop SES, we were at it again. This time we were doing mapping assessments around the streets of Wollongong. It was pleasing to see all members deemed competent.

Not normally written in this blog but in late September I finally got out to a bit of caching. I hide 3 new caches in the Shellharbour area while last Sunday I managed 11 finds around the Campbelltown area.

School holidays started in the last week of September and the kids headed off to Grandma’s, which left Leonie and I to enjoy some quality time together. So much so that we took off to the lovely couples retreat at Bingle Tree for a 2-night stay.

As the month comes to an end, we are picking up the kids and heading off to QLD for a week. The kids are so excited to be going to Movie World, but that’s another month.

No comments: