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The European tour of 2019 begins today with nephew-in-common-law Luke once again stepping on up to look after the place, the cats, turtle, and fish. The journey will see an early morning stop-over in Abu Dhabi, before landing in Frankfurt bright-eyed and bushy-tailed early on the 3rd. After that, it is a journey down to Stuttgart for a few days to visit die familie, and alas, not going to Schwarzwald as the heating and hot-water system is undergoing repairs. After that it is of to Darmstadt to the European Space Agency/European Space Operations Centre, and then to Delft to catch up with Jett D., and a follow-to up journey the International Criminal Court (no, I'm neither on trial, nor as a witness). The next step is to Ghent to catch up with Qassem and Kenneth H, of Easybuild fame. The day after that it was to Paris for a couple of days, and will meet up with Gianna and maybe Laurent as well. I've also made a request to visit SF author Norman Spinrad, if he's available. From Paris it's a visit to Strausbourg, then to Freiburg to meet up with the people from that university, and then a period in Zurich for the MSc residency for several days. At that juncture it's a bit open; the trip may include a visit to Florence and Venice, or it may result in a direct trip to Vienna, then Bratislava, Prague, and finally back to Frankfurt.
Whilst all this is preparation there have been some endings of some long-term activities. Last night I visited the annual general meeting of Linux Users of Victoria and, for the first time in fourteen successive years, I decided not to stand for committee election, thus ending a period where I have been an ordinary committee member, treasurer, vice-president, public officer, and president (for four years), and then as a committee member. It's been quite a trip, and in many ways, helped a great in the development of my own (second) career. Too be honest, I haven't been that active since I finished my term as president at the end of 2014 and the words wrote then are probably most appropriate. Another long-term end for the day was more recreational, that is the augmented reality game, Ingress. I have written in the past my concerns of the new interface and where the game is going and now the enforced scanner has been sufficient reason to abandon the game, which I've been playing now for several years. The end of the month was also the end of George the Talking Clock in Austalia, after 66 years in service.
But between beginnings and endings there is continuity. There is, of course, plenty in my life which represents continuity. Yesterday I finished writing a submission for the Victorian Secular Lobby on the proposed "religious freedom" legislation drafted by the Australian government. As you can imagine, the VSL follows the opinion of most legal and human rights advocates who point out that the proposed legislation is downright dangerous - a sword to attack others, not a shield to protect their metaphysical beliefs. There is also the Isocracy Network, whose AGM I have planned just after my return, as it already two months late. Whilst I am away, I will still be organising to the best I can the RuneQuest Glorantha Down Under Conference - and the past few days did witness a session of Eclipse Phase (write-up of the previous session available), and a new scene in HeroQuest Glorantha pbem, which I admit I neglected quite badly over the previous month.
Whilst all this is preparation there have been some endings of some long-term activities. Last night I visited the annual general meeting of Linux Users of Victoria and, for the first time in fourteen successive years, I decided not to stand for committee election, thus ending a period where I have been an ordinary committee member, treasurer, vice-president, public officer, and president (for four years), and then as a committee member. It's been quite a trip, and in many ways, helped a great in the development of my own (second) career. Too be honest, I haven't been that active since I finished my term as president at the end of 2014 and the words wrote then are probably most appropriate. Another long-term end for the day was more recreational, that is the augmented reality game, Ingress. I have written in the past my concerns of the new interface and where the game is going and now the enforced scanner has been sufficient reason to abandon the game, which I've been playing now for several years. The end of the month was also the end of George the Talking Clock in Austalia, after 66 years in service.
But between beginnings and endings there is continuity. There is, of course, plenty in my life which represents continuity. Yesterday I finished writing a submission for the Victorian Secular Lobby on the proposed "religious freedom" legislation drafted by the Australian government. As you can imagine, the VSL follows the opinion of most legal and human rights advocates who point out that the proposed legislation is downright dangerous - a sword to attack others, not a shield to protect their metaphysical beliefs. There is also the Isocracy Network, whose AGM I have planned just after my return, as it already two months late. Whilst I am away, I will still be organising to the best I can the RuneQuest Glorantha Down Under Conference - and the past few days did witness a session of Eclipse Phase (write-up of the previous session available), and a new scene in HeroQuest Glorantha pbem, which I admit I neglected quite badly over the previous month.
