The Middle Aged Dad Blog Blog

So if I time this right you should be reading this on or around my birthday. The 25th of January 2017. I turn 40 this year. For the past year I have been putting my body through a form of punishment. I call this punishment operation Fight Forty.

Forget what everyone tells you. Forty is a big number. It is halfway in my books. It is also the demarcation point for middle agedness. Luckily my family is blessed with premature grey hair. I noticed this soon after getting married. After blaming this first on getting married. I then took the drastic steps of cutting all of my hair off at regular intervals.

There are so such short cuts for the body, so I have been doing my best to prepare for the eventual. I am bloody 40 now.

I am also a Dad. I was a Dad last year but having spent a lot more time with Dario and Anna. I think I am really a father now. Anna and Dario picked me up from the Airport on Friday the 13th of January. This was a very cool experience for me. We made our way home and I did my usual furious unpack and then found jobs to do until night took me. Intermingled with the jobs were many laughs and giggles with Dario. He really is a cool chap to hangout with. He already has the measure of us both and our poor dog Ruby has been demoted in the pecking order.

Shortly after landing and conversing Anna became quite convinced that I am suffering from memory loss. As I was not quite 40 yet. I could not quite blame this memory loss on being middle aged. Grasping for straws I grabbed my oldest and favourite. Jetlag. Can everybody remind me to quiz Anna at length of all manner of things when we complete our jaunt back to Europe later in the year? More about that in a later post. I might forget.

A week in at being at home Anna has gradually increased my time with Dario as to not shock us both.

The first morning we went for a walk together.

Notice how jubilant we both are.

I make a good sun visor.

We have spent a bit of time working on jobs.

We have also spent time together with Mum asleep or out of the house. These have largely been good experiences. Although we did spend a WHOLE afternoon together last week which included a very traumatic trip to get passport photos all by ourselves. I do believe this was a shock to us both and we will never fully recover. Dario has started to grow grey hair.
We did pick up a sweet Dragon though! He has a large D scarf under his chin.
Anyway I am enjoying the fresh pair of eyes to show things to. Short sightedness another genetic affliction….. Dario also has a keen pair of ears. We have been listening to Classical music amongst other things. Having a child is a great excuse to listen to Classical music. Something we should all do more of.
We are booked in to do some swimming lessons next month. We will keep on doing what we are doing. I shall be Forty and middle aged and will forget. Good thing we have this blog.
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The Upgraded Trip Home LHR>LAX>AKL>KKE

On Wednesday 11/1/2017 past I had the good fortune to have my usual economy trip home upgraded.

One of my biggest achievements last was being able to hit Gold Level with Air New Zealand and the Star Alliance. This gives me Koru lounge access and two free upgrades. I applied these as soon as I got them and this made for a very happy taxi ride to Heathrow. Hitting Gold is quite an accomplishment. It is literally a carrot dangling ahead which you can keep trying to grab and it slips away. No small feat when you should only be flying 6 times a year.

I introduced my taxi driver Ravi to my latest creation. He felt it was good but was so flattering he thought I should introduce some of my warbling over the top. I think I am a few years of good filter developments away from this but the sentiment was nice. I wrote my sound cloud link on one of his business cards and I think I will make some new cards soon. I am such a more diverse character when I had my last ones made in 2008.

Checking in at LHR was pleasant. I know Airport etiquette very well. I had payed for my upgrade tax before I checked in. I had all of my papers in a travel wallet. My bags were both under 23 kilos. I had my American VISA page tagged. The check in desk person remarked on how organised I am. I smiled.

I kind of have to be otherwise I miss flights. Palma 2011. Lest we forget. Looks like I conveniently forgot to write about missing that flight. Conveniently forgetting things is a good thing about middle agedness. More about that later?

Gold gave me access to the Singapore Airlines lounge in Terminal 2. Slightly dated decor but a very good assortment of asian dishes. One very good barman making very good cocktails.

A few hours later I was ready to board. Because of my upgrade I got to board with Premium Economy. I like the way Air New Zealand fills up planes. It is efficient and it works for most people.

Enter the loud obnoxious bearish polo wearing toff and his family of ill convenience. Rudely queueing in the Premium Economy queue getting annoyed at the queue. Being asked if he was a business class traveller. Saying “of course I am” and then getting directed to the right queue.

My first leg to Los Angeles was quite pleasant. I ruminated on my time in London and the busy time ahead. I do like the food in premium economy I actually found myself getting quite full just from the starters and forgetting about the mains.

I do believe I have written about the circus that is LAX security. The actual security process worked quite well except for English people who refused to use the use the queuing lanes and skipped through the ropes. I thought the English invented queuing? Clearly the English on holiday are a different beast. I do believe have written about that before as well :-).

I was then ready to complete TSA screening and bag scanning again. Unwittingly I managed to get in a queue with a lot of people with Prams. Prams mean small humans and a lot of luggage. Hopefully I learned a little from this as we will soon be bundling up our bundle of joy and doing the very same trip in reverse. It did slow me down a bit. But this slowing down meant I was soon enough on my plane and in the air. So I thought.

Unfortunately somebody had the ill fortuned tenacity to board the plane with some sort of medical problem. The details of this problem were never released to us but they held us up two hours before they were taken off the plane. At the time I may have felt a little aggrieved. I would miss my connecting flight home to Kerikeri. Now I wonder if they are OK.

I am not accustomed to the extra space premium economy provides. Especially as I was given a window seat for this leg. I did try a variety of sleep methods including one delicious one I call the hunched over crash test dummy. By folding myself forward in crash position. I was able to cut circulation to most of my vital organs including the brain and lay in torpid stasis for at least 3 hours.

I awoke a couple hours out from New Zealand to this.

That is the full moon in Cancer on Friday the 13th of January. 13 has been popping up a bit in my life over the last couple of years increasingly in the last two months. The Mayans believed 13 to be a special number of Transcendence. Not unlucky in the slightest.
On the ground I then had to spend a few hours in Auckland rehydrating and acclimatising to the delicious humidity. Shortly after lunch I was home to my Wife, Dario and Dog. Life is pretty good right now.
Plenty more to come forth about them later.

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Finding your River

I am actually half way writing the tale of returning home but a bigger story broke yesterday on Monday the 16th of January.

Anyone who has visited us in the past few years have probably heard us gush over our river boundary. The problem with the river though is that has been a secretive sort. We can hear it when it rains a lot but it has been well hidden.

I think my Cousin Matthew was the first man to try and find the river in earnest. Being an Accountant. He outsourced and he sent his two young girls. They could not find it.

At one of our yearly parties. A very good friend told me drunken machete work was the only way to clear a path. Sadly after the drunkenness evaporated the machetes never appeared.

So I have whittled away at the gorse and tobacco weed. Unearthed many a native. This year though. The year of turning 40 I was determined that we would get there somehow, some way.

I had some heavy machinery ready. I had an aerial survey done.

https://www.mapsmadeeasy.com/maps/public_3D/5c405b55cfe443009f02fe3c37a8848f/

Thanks Aerial Vision

But a wise Sangster said we should take a look on foot before committing our Trump card. To be completely honest I just wanted to groom the hillside with a digger but what the hell. We put our best Gum boots on and headed east.

Using our Survey we bashed our way through gorse and other unsavoury weeds until we hit a dead end. Our hopes almost dashed we then took the enligheted view of following a small tributary we had spotted on our way.

We are in the middle of a horrendous drought at the moment. This turned out to be quite timely. As with all things. Timing is everything.

The first sniff that we were on the golden path was this puddle of water.

Gravity and fluid dynamics are curious things.
We found lots of limestone and very dry clay.
Eventually we hit the bottom. Some harder than others. I rolled my left ankle. A good Omen! No good adventure does not have a good challenge.

Some observations. The river bed has a very calm old feel to it. It will be impossible to visit in Winter. The moss lines on the largest rocks are 1-2 metres high.
There are some HUGE boulders.
As is the case with much of New Zealand you get the feeling not many humans have been down there.
Making this a useable space will be challenging. I do have some thoughts. One is to run a wire down the river bed which you can clasp onto when coming back. There is about a 2 metre drop at the bottom which we will need to smoothen out. 
I foresee a further expedition. Where we attempt to find another exit point to the east which matches up with our eastern boundary.
Special thanks to my father in Law Steve Sangster. Some of this have known this for a while but with a Sangster at your side. Anything is possible!
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God is a Number

The Mayans believed that time + effort = art. If you broke this down with algebra which I should have payed more attention to instead of telling elaborate stories at school.

God = Numbers.

Here is some interesting numerology from one of my Gnostic sisters.

The year 2017 is a Number 10 year and represents the fulfilment and perfection of a complete cycle. 10 is the number of ordinal perfection and the means to create sustain and maintain perfect order in the life. As well as being a receptacle of all the numbers preceding it, ten also reduces back to one since 10 = 1 + 0 = 1. Thus, the cycle brings wholeness and a return to unity where new opportunities and new beginnings can occur, from a higher, more expanded place.

This year is one of reaching the summit and bringing together the results of all your efforts that have brought you to where you are. 10 is the number of accomplishment and mastery that is achieved through grasping or fully comprehending something. It represents the opportunity to come back to the centre of your being, having fully accomplished what was needed and to establish your place out in the world from a new level of inner mastery and understanding. The ancient Greeks gave the number 10 the name pantelia meaning ‘all complete’ or ‘fully accomplished’.

A number 10 year opens up new horizons and creates avenues for great opportunity, growth, success and good fortune. It is a very fortuitous year for both people and businesses who move strategically into this new cycle and embrace and make positive use of the changes that the year will bring.,,,’

Personally I don’t actually agree with the Gregorian Calendar. It enslaves us and was created to manage debt cycles.

But it’s nice to see 2017 should be a nice year.

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Primal Astrology

Linking this on my blog as I can imagine the torrent of reductionist abuse I would get sharing it on Facebook.

What is Primal Astrology? Well it takes Eastern and Western astrology crosses them and gives you a spirit Animal. Cool huh.

I am the spotted Leopard.

Above all else, Leopards are hard to ignore. Like their animal namesake, members of this sign find it nearly impossible to go unnoticed. Not that they would want to. These are among one of the most grand and eccentric signs out there. They have absolutely no trouble getting attention, though this is rarely their end goal. Rather, their natural assertiveness and personality make others stop and take notice whether they want to or not. The natural power of their personalities make Leopards capable of doing great things, and at their best they use this power to serve the greater good and end up being much beloved by their communities for this.
There is a dark side to this sign, though. When Leopards are feeling out of sorts, everyone else feels it as well. Since they can’t help but be noticed, they also can’t help but affect those around them. On a good day they can brighten any room, but on a bad day they can darken one just as easily.
Even on a good day, others may perceive Leopards.as self-centered and egotistical due to their natural leadership ability and tendency to draw attention to themselves. In reality, members of this sign most often have the greater good in mind, but must be careful not to come across too strongly, as they will most likely rely on the cooperation of those around them to accomplish their goals.
rrrrreoooow.

One of my friends here discovered she is a Coyote. Cool thing ? She was given a Coyote toy as a 1 year old she has been travelling with her Coyote for over 30 years!

I must get myself a leopard.

What are you?

http://www.primalastrology.com/animal-spirit-chart.html

Leave a comment and let me know.

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On Reddit?

Could you do me a Christmas favour? upvote this on reddit! I want to hit 500 listens before the end of the year. I am at 333 at the moment. https://www.reddit.com/r/mixes/comments/5jq12q/progressive_deep_full_moon_in_gemini/

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We are all connected. So connect I did.

I have been indulging in an interesting experiment of sorts for the past few days.

I was VERY happy with my latest mix. Recording a mix is always a long process for me. Often I end up hating the songs or giving up. I hear problems. It is hardest for Anna who will hear me record and record again and again. She doesn’t hear the things I do so thinks I am going mad.

So to do a mix in one go under a full moon was very satisfying.

Usually I do a quick Facebook post and it is lost under the deluge of news and other tasteless things.

So I set about private messaging people.

I have over 700 Facebook friends that I know personally. But given how algorthims work. I rarely see what they are up to and vice versa.

So I started messaging everyone I thought would enjoy the mix. The mix is actually a healing one of sorts. What really surprised me were the responses.

Christmas is a stressful time of the year for everyone.

To have someone personally message you with some kind words and something that love has been put into really makes people happy.

This makes me happy in turn.

I have spoken with people I have not talked to for years. Old fires. Computer Gaming Enthusiasts. Ravers from the dark ages. Work colleagues from offices. Sailors I faced mighty seas with. There are plans afoot for reunions. Parties. Festivities. Hugs. Cool stuff!

VCII&Lanit lest we forget.

PS

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Happy New Year?

Had a crazy full moon day here. Worked like a loon. Threw this together at 10pm. Peak Full Moon.

The Full Moon was an interesting one as it was in Gemini. Mars(the power planet) was in Aquarius and Jupiter(lucky) was in Libra. This is an Air Sign Trifecta of some note.

The next time you hear someone moaning about Astrology. Put your headphones on and listen to this.

There is something very cool about London. You can hear quality music an all of the places you would not expect it. Ubers. Public Transport. Shops. Supermarkets. Heady stuff.
I turn 40 next year so cuarenta is up next

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Merry Christmas everybody.

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