The way it is, the way I see it and the way I think it should be: The Rain and the Pain

I have not been very proactive with the blog in the last few weeks, I will make all sorts of excuses but the main reason is I have been either too busy or too tired and flat.

Work this year is busier than any other year, they have changed the playing conditions, forcing me to work more nights and weekends including over night some Sundays....it is not just me, I will share the work with my colleague and we will have a crew of staff to work with us.....it still sucks that I will miss out on weekends with my family.

It is only Tuesday and I seriously want this week to be over, it is the first week of University so I am getting inundated with questions from the first years....where do I get my student card, how do I pay my fees, I don't know where I should be, where is the bus stop, where is the toilet....I can't find my friend and my favorite "where do I eat my lunch". I try and be understanding, I know every time someone asks me a question it is the first time they have asked.....but it is my hundredth for the day. This is the pain of Orientations, most of these students are so overwhelmed, high school doesn't prepare them for uni no matter what they think. 2 of my daughters have finished high school, one did 18 mths of Uni before it became too much (she told me today she only stayed that long so she didn't let me down - she has worked for 18 mths and today started Uni again phew) While the girls were at school, they had to report to class, ask permission to go to the toilet, sit in the right area to have lunch and follow the school rules - which is OK and I believe in rules and structure.....but it in no way prepares the teenagers for University life (or the real world). At Uni no one cares if you are late/don't turn up/need to go to the toilet/have your lunch at 3pm or even if you do the work. While there is people to help if you want to succeed, they are not going to care if you don't. This is very confusing to new students - especially the young ones who have been told what to do and when to do it all their lives.

I am over the rain....normally I don't complain about the rain (I save the complaining for the lack of rain) however I am getting web feet and fungus is growing in my plants.

And it ruined my photo plans last weekend, my colleague got married, with the help of Ra Ra I did the wedding photos - for free, we didn't get the planned out door photos - no beautiful sunset...I did get some beautiful shots at the venue, http://glengariff.com.au/jsp/Default.jsf which I would recommend to anyone wanting a small wedding.

The worst thing happened to me as a photographer....I lost the photos of the ceremony and the family shots.....there was an error on my disk when I transferred the files...when I skipped this error the transfer stopped. I assumed that it had finished so followed my normal procedure and formatted my card.....BIG mistake HUGE...I didn't check the photos before formatting the card. I wiped the photos, no recovery...I tried all sorts of programs...I took it to a photo lab...but nothing NADA ZIP all gone. Lucky Ra Ra got some of the shots I wanted, so the bride and groom will be happy and have most of the shots they wanted (I am also hoping the awesome ones I have will make up for the loss). I am very glad I was not getting paid, this was my first wedding and I learnt a lot. I have not edited any photos yet....too busy sulking because of my stupidity. Tonight I will work on at least on to add to the 52 week group.

Here is a few photos I have taken recently

Daughter #2 and the Raging Torrent both have Unicorn oneies so we frolicked in the pine forest one day