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Hi All
Saturday 6th December:
Guy was off with the girls playing Mahjong.
I was off with the Battery World boys for our Christmas party. We went to the Braza Brazilian restaurant in Newport. Braza offer 20 choices of succulent cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, seafood, halloumi cheese and cinnamon sweet pineapple, all skewered and slow roasted over a wood fire grill. Braza also offers some traditional Brazilian vegetarian options and delicious desserts.
Needless to say the food (meat and more meat) was awesome.
Monday 8th December:
Got to work this morning and we discovered that in the storm last night one of the drains had blocked and the shop floor had flooded.
So we spent the day moving gear and ripping up the soaked carpet squares. Luckily there is a tiled floor under the carpet so it made it easier to mop up.
Luckily most of our stock is off the floor in racks so stock damage is minimal.
Monday 15th December:
Out on a callout this morning and I heard on the radio that hostages had been taken in a coffee shop in Martin Place in the city and that an ISIS flag was being displayed in the window.
It sent a chill through my spine after all the violence we have seen and heard about this radical group.
We followed the proceedings during the day and Guy and I were up till midnight ish watching, waiting, fingers crossed for a peaceful resolution.
Tuesday 16th December:
We woke up this morning to see that the siege was over, but with the deranged gunman and two hostages were deceased. A sad sad morning.
But I must say that all the emergency services involved were remarkable in their handling of the situation, as it could have been much much worse.
A deranged gunman is a deranged gunman no matter what nationality or religion he is. And this was a deranged gunman, period.
It was great to see during the day the coming together of all nationalities and religions to mourn the deceased and the #illridewithyou tweet.
Sunday 21st December:
Guy picked me up from work and after a quick change of clothes at home, we drove into the city to pay our respects at the Lindt coffee shop in Martin Place following the terrible events there this week.
I have never seen so many flowers in one place. There were half a dozen different areas full of flowers. As one filled up authorities would open up a new area. The main area by the Martin Place train station entrance was just huge and had thousands of flowers and messages.
The awesome thing was that scattered in amongst the flowers was the “I’ll ride with you” banners.
A very somber and inspiring place.
For dinner Guy and I hit the BBQ King in China town for our favorite Peking Duck dish. Our Xmas / New Year dinner for us.
Wednesday 24th December:
Off to Canberra for Xmas. My day off and Guy managed to get off work at 2:00pm so a good run to Canberra as we avoided the Xmas Eve traffic.
We had our Xmas lunch that evening as Zali, Jo and Dave were off to Dave’s uncle’s for Xmas day lunch.
Thursday 25th December:
Guy and I had a very nice quiet Xmas brunch as the gang was off to Dave’s uncle’s for lunch.
They were back mid afternoon and we had a very relaxed dinner with a few movies thrown in for afternoon viewing.
Friday 26th December:
After a sleep in by all it was off to the Boxing Day Sales at the Mall to shop for a Xmas present for Zali. A “Frozen” three wheeler bike was the order of the day.
Guy and I were then off back to Sydney at 1:15pm. Had a good run and with no traffic on the freeway into Sydney. I guess that with Boxing Day being on a Friday a lot of people were making a long weekend of the holidays.
Saw a few Police radars though, so was sticking to the speed limit very closely.
Wednesday 31st December:
Quiet day with a long beach walk in the afternoon.
Guy was home at 2:30pm so we chilled till 7:30pm when we made our way to Dee Why Beach and found a great little spot to setup our deck chairs ready for the 9:00pm fireworks show. We had a few nibbles and drinks to while the time away and watch the thousands of other beach goers.
Right on 9:00pm the fireworks began. It was on a barge just off the beach so everybody had a great view.
Back home by 10:00am to nice Baileys and milk while waiting for midnight and the huge fireworks display on Sydney Harbor via TV. It didn’t disappoint.
Thursday 1st January 2015:
After a nice sleep-in Guy and I made our way back to Dee Why Beach (10 minute walk from home) for brunch. We had an awesome breakfast at the Sea Bar Fish Café on the foreshore. This was followed by a stroll round to the rock pool.
Back home and a leisurely afternoon (Including a nana nap) was had by all.
Life is good.
Trevor & Guy.
Trevor & Guy Life Journal 
Hard work this working retirement