andrewnicol.net

Project 365 - Days 304 to 310

304 | 365 - Express
Intresting that Express Goods trains need to slow to 70. Whats the point of them being express?



305 |365 Creative gatherings
Reminded creatively at Church about how our messiness and sin are forgiven, burnt up becuase of what Jesus has done for us.



306 | 365 Connected
Amazing how connected, electronically, our world is. 



307 | 365 Upside Down
Took this photo in the reflection of a puddle just as I left work. Turned it upside down for effect.



308 | 365 Parent teacher interviews
Three perfromance reviews, oops I mean Parent Teacher interviews in 45 mins. They all wemt really well.



309 | 365 Boycott 
Sometimes at the height of the BP oli spill, I thought I should stop buying petrol from them in protest. Like many times, I thought it was a good idea, but the convenience and habit meant I did nothing.



310 | 365 Last Day
Last day at work, left at 7:20pm, before 3 weeks leave. First time in 7 years I am having 3 weeks uninterupted leave.

303 |365 Pumice have partnered with the Good Trust

Pumice Bistro and Café will be undertaking a trial of clean.water donations for the Good Trust this week.
 
Had the privilege of sharing with the team at Pumice about the challenge that 1 in 8 people in the world experience every single day just to fetch dirty unhealthy water, and about how $2 can provide clean water for a person for 2 years.
 
If your in Hamilton from Monday this week and feel like dinner, lunch or coffee then head to Pumice and support clean.water and the good.trust while you are there.
 
Good Trust www.good.org.nz 
Pumice www.pumice.net.nz 

302 |365 Rainy Nights

Some people, like me, love rainy nights, love the sound of rain on the roof while being enclosed and protected by the warmth of a house. Some people I have met on the other hand, don’t like rainy nights; they bring back bad memories and cause concern.
 
It never ceases to amaze me as to how influential the past is to our lives. How seemingly small things to one person, are big things to others. How things of enjoyment to some, are things of pain to others.
 
It’s easy to assume everyone likes the rainy nights, just because I do.
 
It’s easy to assume everyone likes … just because I do.
 
Not true.

301 |365 Puzzle

puz·zle (pŭz'əl)
v. puz·zled , puz·zling , puz·zles

• To baffle or confuse mentally by presenting or being a difficult problem or matter (verb. Tr)
• To be perplexed. (verb. Intr)
• Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling. (noun)

Hey – They just wrote a definition of my life, I am both puzzling and puzzled.
 
But then aren’t we all.

300 |365 Te Rapa Dairy Factory moves closer to city

Every year they move the Te Rapa dairy factory on the outskirts of Hamilton closer to the city. It’s a huge undertaking I know, and I never actually see how they do it, but the diary factory is now right on the city boundary.

When I first moved to Hamilton it would take ages to get to the dairy factory from Te Rapa, but now Te Rapa and the dairy factory are stones throw away from each other, rather than kilometres.

Around the same time that I moved to Hamilton, a property developer friend of mine said that cities in New Zealand grow to the north. Almost 15 years later he was proved very correct, the urban growth of Hamilton has all been to the North, and Te Rapa stretches further than ever towards the dairy factory.

Finally, this is one of those on the way home, must take a photo shots. A bit disappointing that my 300th photo was of the Te Rapa Dairy Factory, but that’s the way the 365 project rolls I guess.

299 |365 Clouds on the Ground

Most fog that we get in the Waikato is Radiation Fog. This means as the fog or clouds lift they generally reveal a beautiful crisp day. On Monday the as the fog eventually lifted it produced a rainy damp and dull day. From memory this is frontal fog (could be wrong).

I don’t like frontal fog.

298 | 365 The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago

An old chinese proverb says “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now”. Case in point, the tree that Kyla is climbing is 11 years old and would be unclimbable if it was two. But I think that this proverb has implications to more than just trees. The best time to do a lot of things was in the past ... the next best time is now.

The best time to get healthy was in the past ... the next best time is now.

The best time to reconcile with someone was in the past ... the next best time is now.

The best time to input into your kids lives was in the past ... the next best time is now.

You get the idea.

297 | 365 Buying Clothes

My wardrobe. There are clothes that hang around within its depths that that may well predate Noah, but certainly are old enough to have lost whatever distant connection to fashion they may have had.
 
I am about to be burdened again with the chore of buying new clothes (it’s a male thing).
 
Burdened by the looking.
 
Burdened by the choices.
 
Burdened by the cost.
 
Burdened by the realisation that I will spend more on clothes, than a person in the developing world may well earn in a year.
 
But once those burdens have past. As they quickly will. I will enjoy wearing new clothes, despite the fact that in years to come they will again be worthless.

296 |365 Twenty-One

It’s Stass’ birthday today. Happy birthday!!
 
She’s twenty-one! Not twenty-one again, but twenty-one for the first and only time. How cool is that!
 
My dilemma with people turning twenty-one is that I can remember what I was doing in 1989 and it confirms that my life is extinguishing, in a positive way, at a rate that is more rapid than I originally thought. It’s positive because each day I get to learn, to love and quite possibly even grow in wisdom.
 
So with all this newfound wisdom that in reality comes from a deep pool of craziness, I offer this thought to Stass or anyone else that would care to listen (not than any of you asked). Here it is:
 
You never get yesterday back. Each day we have a choice to either consume or invest our time. Sadly if we don’t choose to invest time, it will get consumed.

295 |365 Productive Travel

Since implementing GTD last year, I have learnt to make my travel more effective and productive. The key to effective travel is actually spending time planning and prepping days or sometimes weeks out.
 
Some things I do to improve my travel time are

• Have reading with me, if I get downtime, it’s a great fall back and I catch up while flying.
• Have pod casts downloaded for travel in the car.
• Book solid days of meetings in advance.
• Prepare agendas and key outcomes of meetings while travelling.

And then sometimes, travel time just needs to be used to process and make decisions.
 
The result of effective planning was two very productive days of travel into four of our branches.

Took this photo on the way home to Hamilton.

294 |365 Stop the car

I love how my team put up with my somewhat eccentric 365 photo project habits. Driving into Wellington after a fleeting trip to Christchurch and Wendy graciously stops the car so that I can get my photo of the day.
 
I couldn’t miss it. I mean how often do you get to Wellington with no wind, a beautiful day and all in the middle of winter.
 
It’s worth capturing, if not just to prove to future generations that it actually is possible.

293 |365 Cold warmth

You know it’s cold when the river is warmer than the air around it. Another beautiful Waikato morning, yes I’m back by the “pleasant” river, but it was worth stopping on the way to work to get my photo of the day.

292 |365 Dreaming of the ocean

So there I sit on a crisp clear winters day, eating lunch and watching the river flow soothingly by.
 
As pleasant as the river is, all I can do is dream of being by the ocean, where I can taste the air. Where water is clean. Where the sights stretch beyond the riverbank and on to the horizon.

291 |365 Sunday Lunch

Was at the Furlong’s on their life-slave block (oops meant life-style block) for an awesome Sunday lunch. We helped eat the corned beef. His name was Murray, one of the … ex … animals.

This is a shot of Tom’s soon-to-be dinner or lunch on the paddock next door.

290 |365 Icy

Burr. Was told it was -2.8 degrees Celsius, which is about as cold as it gets in Hamilton. Love frosty winters mornings because of the beautiful clear fresh days that follow.
 
Invigorating!

289 |365 You spin me right round ...

Why is it that when we were kids we could spin round and round and round, get dizzy and stumble around for fun.
 
As adults we don’t spin anymore. Is it because our old aging failing bodies can’t handle it, or simply because we have forgotten how to do crazy, weird and fun things?

288 | 365 A new day and summer is coming

The days are slowly getting longer again and the sun is rising earlier. Summer here we come...

287 |365 Clouds

I’m a cloud guy. I love them. Love looking up and admiring the shapes and contrasts. Love reading them to determine what the weather is doing. Love thinking of flying amongst them.
 
Clouds. Amazing.

286 |365 An hour out

This will sound weird to some people but last week I planned to take an hour out. A full hour with no note book or cellphone or laptop, so while I was in Tauranga headed to Leisure Island (which because of the high tide was actually an island).
 
Took time to watch and breath and think. Was amazed by the rip the surfers were catching out to the wave break that moved fasted than I walked. Then further amazed by the guy, pictured here, who climbed out on the rocks with his board, waited for a big wave and jumped in.
 
An hour out, no people, no connection, just me and my thoughts. If you’re super busy, give it a try.

285 |365 With a click of the fingers.

This is Simon from Agora. When I walk in he often clicks his fingers, two or three times, 3 seconds apart. Strange I know, except that it has a meaning, he’s reminding me that I have things to do for the good.trust. He’s reminding me that when I delay, kids continue you die.
 
One every three seconds, while I continue to do my day job, drink my coffee or even write this post.
 
Things are moving forward on for the good.trust just not at the speed I would like. But with every click of his fingers I am reminded of the priority.

284 | 365 Free Rent

We have had this birdhouse for 4 years, have had it in 3 different locations, have put food out for prospective owners, and absolutely no takers.
 
Not one bird has been interested in making their home here. Nests in the tree, yes. Nests in a nice sheltered birdhouse. No.
 
If a bird doesn’t take the offer soon, might have to put it on the ground and see if any rats are interested in moving in.
 
Any suggestions?

283 | 365 Koru

Not sure what type of plant this is from but the girls liked them, so took the shot.

282 | 365 Meals

I think having meals together in each other’s homes is dramatically undervalued. Over the years I have come to love having people at our place for meals. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out for dinner, but at home we, our guests included, tend to relax more, talk more openly, and be more authentic.
 
Had Francis and Delwyn for dinner. They are an awesome couple we are blessed to call friends.

281 | 365 Travel

Back from Wellington before dark for a change and took this photo of a Beech 1900D on the tarmac at Hamilton Airport.