September Review

 The September review, back to the usual.

Got back into a normal running schedule and some training sessions, then registered for the 2XU Wellness Run half marathon in December and Rosebud 10km on Australia Day (if you can still call it that) in January. That momentum was short lived when I tripped on some tree roots and smashed up both my knees. Besides the cuts and bleeding I've also been dealing with weeks of soreness to the joints in that area and can still hardly bend either leg, however it didn't impact running too much after the first few days.

Had just recovered in time to run the Run Prix 10km around Albert Park, but really had to work hard for a low 36 minute result, although over 30 seconds slower than Launceston. Also went to one new parkrun at Dixon Field in Gisborne and did well to finish under 18 minutes.

The shares keep going backwards, now negative for the year and up a whole 12% for the last five years. Since it's possible to get about 5% bank interest paid monthly the benefit of the Australian sharemarket is really questionable right now. I sold a few more of my big losers to consolidate into better performers, but haven't withdrawn any money yet.

I went to my first AFL game of the year for the semi final between Carlton and Melbourne. A good game that somehow Carlton won, but it was pretty obvious they'd lose the next week in Brisbane - even with an amazing first quarter. I missed out on the grand final ballot again this year, but could have lined up if I really wanted to go - turned out to be a close game, but the second half was very slow compared to the first. Now we've got NFL and Premier League highlights for the next few months, and I suppose AFLW.

Got a bit of activity on the to do list:

• Holiday 2023
• Perhaps a couple of small local trips once the parkrun schedules are released
• Holiday 2024
• Hard to plan so far ahead with so much work unpredictability coming up
• Either another attempt at South East Asia during winter or USA a bit later (NFL and maybe NBA)
• Holiday report
• Have written about two-thirds but haven't published any yet
• New monitor
• Finally unpacked the new monitor
• Only one inch bigger than the previous one but a little brighter and better
• New phone
• Still haven't upgraded
• New SSD
• Decided to try out an SSD for portable backup storage
• Small and light and impressive speeds
• Tax return
• Have to pay back another $4000 plus this year

Had far too many work emails to get through on my first week back, but didn't miss out on too much. Seems like the tasks are starting to dry up a bit at the moment. Have only two weeks (seven working days) of enforced leave over Christmas this year, instead of three weeks previously.

That's it for this month.

• Books
• None
• Movies
• Creep (2014)
• A bit of an usual variation to the found footage category
• A little uneventful but alright
• 6 out of 10
• Retribution
• Entertaining enough but a strange and disappointing choice of ending
• 5 out of 10
• Music
• None
• TV
• Hard Knocks - New York Jets
• Another good season except for too much Aaron Rodgers
• 7 out of 10
• Tom Clancy Jack Ryan - season 4
• Also another good season, only six episodes
• Michael Pena was a good addition
• 8 out of 10
• We Are Newcastle United
• The coverage was good but hard to get excited for the success of billionaire owners
• 4 out of 10
• Video Games
• Nintendo Switch
• None - but some new Mario games coming up in the next two months
• Xbox One
• Forza Motorsport 5
• Back working through a few achievements before the next Mario