I'm a sucker for a happy theropod

I have to admit, I bought it for the dinosaur. He just looked so darn HAPPY. Good thing it smells nice, too.

Our Nearest Neighbour has a Planet.

  A planet only 13% bigger than Earth was discovered orbiting Alpha Centauri (the closest star system). Problem is that it orbits 10x closer than Mercury and has a surface temperature of about 1200C. Not a good holiday destination.

 There may be more planets at Alpha Centauri, but the close-in one is right at the edge of how sensitive the detection system is. There is a new detector going online in 2017 that would be able to detect a Earth-sized planet orbiting at an Earth-like distance. I guess we will see then.

 Artist rendition

More info at  http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1241/

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri_Bb 

Paediatrics in a nutshell

A friend of mine is on her paeds rotation now, and posted this photo of her experience. 
Yup. That about sums it up.

More weird things while shopping

Full time employee

  I just got news today that Australian Immigration has approved my company sponsored work visa.  That means that I'll be able to work full time at Lanier instead of just 20hrs a week.  Finally.
  This week I am in Melbourne on a training course.  We are learning about four different "document solutions".  Basically software that can keep track of your printing, copying and scanning.  To give a full description would take too many paragraphs. It has been a fairly full on course. My brain is full by the end of each day. 
Flying back to Brisbane on Friday after the course.

A few pics from Melbourne:

Further adventures in Cat Shearing

Lately the temperature is starting to hit the high 20s and low 30s oC Polly lets us know she is getting too hot by hanging out in the tile bathroom with  paws in the air, and being more miserable in general. Silly kitty, doesn't she know it's a dumb idea to hang out in a fur coat in summer? 
So I shaved her tonight. Minimal blood was shed. She hates me right now, but she'll feel better tomorrow.

There is enough hair here to make a sweater!

Apollyon thinks if she hides in the litterbox I can't see her.

On the wacky front for cat shearing- what about making sweaters or handbags out of it?  Crazy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful potluck turkey dinner with 25 friends. There was even pumpkin pie! Everyone brought a part of the whole, and the result was magnificent.
We usually have an even split in numbers between Aussies and Canucks for the event, and it always thrills me to see the Australian reaction to a sweet pumpkin dish (savory is how pumpkin is done here).  A whole turkey is difficult and expensive to get here at this time of year (they come out for Christmas).  So I usually end up buying a turkey breast roast and legs/thighs separately and roast in the whole lot together. Our guest list this year exceeded the space our unit could handle, so we moved the event to the hall at our church. This was good not only from the space perspective, but it hit 30oC today, and it was nice to have an air conditioned space. We have SO much to be thankful for, this and every year. Next year in Mackay!

the immanent transport of a slow roasted turkey (18lbs), gravy and Tim Hortons coffee to enjoy.The car smelled insanely good.

Christmas before Thanksgiving

The Christmas goodies are starting to show up at the grocery store.

October 1. Let Christmas begin!

Seen today at the mall. Oh dear.