20 Harrison St.,
      Cardiff NSW 2285
      7th. December 2004

Dear People,

      Paul Simon “hung one more year on the line” (Album: Still crazy after all these years – Track: Have a good time)– he was writing of his birthday but I get that feeling each year I write this letter. It seems so relevant - “still crazy…” and “…good time” I feel sums me up at the moment. Good thing Poss is the sane one. Hope your 2004 was a good one, we certainly can’t complain (although with only each other in the house, we do anyway – sound familiar?).

      Well it’s been a busy year, those of you who received the mid year missive know some of it so please excuse the repetition. Emma presented me with the first grandchild 15th January, Harrington Albert Sidney (Harry for short), but we didn’t get to see him in the flesh until the long weekend in June. Todd and Emma go each year to the Jazz festival in Merimbula, so we organised to go also, and a good time was had by all – including some baby sitting as T&E had some late night gigs. Not that distance is a big problem, T&E have plenty of photographs and we received a DVD with Harry yelling in digital video and stereo sound. Actually he was quite well behaved almost the entire DVD (asleep even), and quite cute really (but I may be biased).

      We seemed to spend quite a bit of the start of the year cleaning up and fixing houses, and packing and moving things. First we moved Joanne’s stuff partly to our garage and partly to Scott’s house where Joanne was staying. Then Joanne and Scott bought a house, and we moved Scott and Jo’s gear from where they were living to the new house, along with Jo’s gear from our garage, and some gear for Nicole (who is living in the house until Jo and Scott return from overseas). Our Charlestown house got a bit of TLC to make it more saleable, it sold and we departed mid May to Sandra and Adam’s house. Before we moved, we fixed up Sandra and Adam’s garage so we could store our stuff, then packed and moved it all (ourselves, in the 1-tonner). Then Sandra and Adam’s house needed lots of reorganising so we could fit our stuff and their stuff. Looking back it seemed we were on the go from January to May.

      The Islington renovation started in earnest in June, after removing the house floor we (Poss) quickly realised renovating the house was almost impossible without a storage area, so we started building the garage. There’s some photos on my web site of progress but basically we had to run a new sewer line to the main sewer as we were plumbed through the next door neighbour’s system. Not illegal but a possible source of dispute and major headaches. As the garage is the full width of the block (a whole 4.5 meters) the sewer had to go in first. The garage slab went in start of August and the garage was useable start of November. Apart from the laying of the concrete in the slab, we did it all – dug the foundations, placed the slab reinforcing, built and core filled the reinforced concrete block walls, put on the colorbond roof and automatic panel lift door. The garage is designed so a room can be added on top at a later date, so it is not exactly a light construction (I estimated 24 tons of concrete).

      Since then we started on the house proper. At the moment it is a floating house – not on water but on temporary supports while we remove the old foundations and replace them with reinforced concrete footings. The old footings were large sandstone blocks that were still reasonably sound and had not moved, however some of the timber they supported was either white anted or rotten (not there, either way) so the house has a bit of a lean (shades of Tancredi street for those who have known us that long). The new footings were poured last week (made in our new concrete mixer – none of this wimpy readymix stuff), so later this week I hope to start levelling it all back up, so far it has been a lot of labour but not too many headaches (plan for the worst, reality is usually better). Sandra and Adam plan to return in May 2005, the unrealistic schedule is to have it habitable by then – stay tuned.

      We have both been in pretty good health. The treatment for Poss’s skin problems is doing a great job, although it has not totally cleared up. Poss is more than happy, says it has improved her quality of life greatly. My teeth were expensive. When we were married I had a missing front tooth, soon after I had a bridge put in, that lasted until a few months ago. One morning I was eating breakfast and there was a sickening crack noise inside my mouth, one end of the bridge snapped off clean and the other end partially splintered a tooth. Fortunately I found a dentist a block away from our renovation, who was able to put in a new bridge for a mere $4500. This was actually good news, the first dentist was not confident of repairing the splintered tooth, and wanted to put in a plate. The progeny have also avoided major medical grief – Adam had some elective surgery to repair a damaged ligament in his ankle. This was 100% successful, although he was still on crutches only weeks before leaving the country so we were a wee bit apprehensive at the time. He also cracked a rib slipping on black ice in London, it is recovering fine, it only hurts when he laughs.

      Joanne and Scott married 20th March, a 9:00 am ceremony in the King Edward park rotunda. This was a good time, to avoid the heat of the day or any afternoon sea gales. The park is in a little hollow with views out to sea, and was looking its best. However the early time involved a 5:00 am rise, several of the bridesmaids slept over and the rest arrived early for ‘processing’. By 6 am the place was a bedlam of hairdressing, makeup application, photographing, and ‘have you seen my…’. Poss and I were to walk Joanne to the rotunda, but before that we had to drop off some supplies at the reception. But the reception area was locked and precious minutes ticked away while a key was located. Fortunately, Scott was running on Scott time, so would ordinarily have caused a bride to think he was doing a no show. As it was, Scott arrived late, Joanne a little later, and everything went smoothly from there. The reception was in the reception room of a local surf club, the upstairs of a building right on the beach. Joanne preferred a small wedding, but there are many Jobsons and this was the first grandson to be married, so irresistible force won and there were around 80 people. It all went well with wining, speechifying and general hilarity. Notes for future weddings: start later and shoot the photographer.

      Their honeymoon was at Wilson Island, a small resort that takes 12 guests at a time. More than half of them were from Newcastle, not people that Jo and Scott knew but with many acquaintances in common – small world. The non Newcastle people were also honeymooners so Jo and Scott fitted right in. You would think they would settle down after that but no, Joanne has been planning an overseas trip for this year longer even than the wedding. So they set off in August on the big trip – the first part is an extended stay in Canada, mainly with Joanne’s penfriend Erin (who visited here a few years back). The rest – next year’s letter.

      Six weeks and a few hours later, same venue, same celebrant, Sandra and Adam were married (May 2nd, 3pm start, but we forgot to shoot the photographer). Perfect weather again, bride and groom looking very happy and relaxed. The Mooney tribe is pocket sized compared with the Jobsons, with family and friends we were about 20. Reception was in a café beneath where Sandra worked, I think Sandra’s employer also owns the premises and they were persuaded to open for a private function. Excellent food and informal banter, different to Joanne’s wedding but just as enjoyable. They overnighted in the best hotel in Newcastle, then next day to Sydney and the day after on the plane to the UK.

      They did a few weeks sightseeing around the UK, then settled in London to work. Fortuitously, a second cousin of mine was visiting and told us my cousin Jane (his mother) had inherited my uncle’s canal boat and it was moored in Poplar Dock in London. His father had used it as weekday accommodation but now was retiring, would it suit Sandra and Adam at £75/week. Given rent in London starts at double that for a cupboard under the stairs, they leaped at it and are now living in “Naiad”. Sandra is conveyancing and Adam is working for the Crown Prosecution Service doing... well... government work. They have quite a comprehensive website, with lots of photos including the wedding, details of their trips and so on. They were originally planning a long stay but are getting a wee bit homesick so intend now to come back in May.

      Nicole managed to sandwich her 21st between the two weddings, a fairly low key affair with a family dinner and also a night out with friends. She is looking after Joanne and Scott’s house, along with her boyfriend Josh, an Englishman named Pete, and Joanne’s cats. The aforementioned family dinner is fast becoming a fixture in our calendar, first Sunday of each month. We and partners and perhaps extras congregate at someone’s house for dinner, each course provided by a different family member. It is surprising how little interaction we all have for the rest of the month, so there is much to talk about. We have now made the day immutable; we tried once to move it to a Monday due to Beth having another engagement on the night. We turned up at Nicole’s on the revised day, Nicole looked blank having forgotten all about it, Beth also had forgotten, but all was not lost – we provided nibbles, Domino’s (pizza) provided the main course and Beth collected ice cream for dessert on the way over. The girls and partners hadn’t planned anything so the evening went well but we decided against future impromptus.

      Nicole is still working at the bakery, she doesn’t particularly like it but has no idea what she really wants to do so this pays the bills until she finds something better. This doesn’t look like happening in a hurry. She seems quite content with life otherwise, which is good. She was quite moody and often down, and lacked some self confidence. Josh seems to have had a stabilising influence, but he has no job which makes for a frugal existence for the pair of them.

      Beth decided on a sea change. She did not seriously seek work in the film industry, for which she was qualified. And she had had enough of the bakery. Somehow she decided that being a chef was a good idea, and enrolled at the start of the year in a course that prepared her for an apprenticeship. She completed the course mid year and has managed to get an apprenticeship at an upmarket restaurant called Terroir in the Hunter Valley. The chef, Darren Ho, is well regarded in culinary circles and the restaurant is one of only two in the area to have a star rating in Gourmet Traveller magazine. We checked the place out, you get what you pay for (pay heaps, get great food). Although Beth has to travel nearly an hour each way and works some crazy hours (10am to 10pm not unusual) she always has an ear to ear grin and loves it. Perhaps she has found her true calling – family dinner at her place is certainly a step up from what it used to be.

      Life for Poss and me is somewhat different. It is strange to live under someone else’s roof, after years of home ownership. It is uncertain if our decision to sell at the beginning of the year was a wise one – prices in Newcastle have not risen in general but have not really fallen either and we could have saved ourselves some disruption by staying put until renovations of the ‘new’ house was complete (it is probably over 100 years old – I unearthed an 1875 English penny under the wall). But we did it and we might not get the same price today so that’s good (isn’t it?). Living is a bit cramped as we have two houses of furniture in a house and garage but less lawn to mow and no pool to clean.

      Our volleyball team folded early in the year due to a lack of organisation by the venue that ran the competition. No one wanted the task of finding another venue and we knew Sandra and Adam were leaving in May. Fortunately, we were invited to join a Sunday morning social (very) tennis meeting, and we are still playing. It is a 5 minute walk from here (Harrison St) so we walk down and back, usually a little slower on the return leg. We are also still planting trees on Kooragang Island one Sunday a month, somehow they manage most times to have a fall of rain within a day of the planting, but not when we are there. We have been going several years and only once has it been cancelled due to poor weather – friends in high places?. Poss has organised her week so she can help with renovations at least two days and usually three. We have (almost) learned the art of cooperation and there are times when the work positively melts away (unlike Wednesday 2 weeks ago when we mixed concrete while the temp was in low 40’s – we were the ones melting – but work must go on (says Poss)). We haven’t done anything significant other than renovate for quite a while but we are planning to take a break over Christmas. Poss’s niece Michelle is expecting her second child around Christmas, Poss’s sister Barb(ara) will be at her house in Emerald Beach (just north of Coffs Harbour) for the event, and has invited us to stay a while. Norm, Dawn and Stewart (Poss’s parents and brother) will be at Emerald after Christmas so we hope to catch up with them at the same time.

      Not much else to tell, the 1-tonner is not quite as useful as first hoped, some things are too heavy or too awkward to load. However it is invaluable for moving furniture, and great for getting an extra load of gravel or a few more bags of cement. There have been a few gremlins, famously when a jet dropped out of the carburettor and it stopped. I called Poss to get me, she arrived in the Peugeot, left the keys in the ignition but the doors decided to lock themselves with us not inside. We then had to get a taxi home, drive back in the Pulsar with a spare key, unlock the Peugeot, then retrieve the truck the next morning. Can’t do that anymore, we sold the Pulsar to some sucker who was fooled by my excellent bog work (well, for $1K what did he expect). I must have done a good job as we haven’t had angry phone calls saying we sold a lemon.

      Apologies for no pictures this year, but check out the web site www.cashin.net. Also www.amooney.com. Oh yes and I turned 60 a few days ago – officially a senior citizen – very scary thought.

      Have a good 2005, there is likely to be a mid-year update when we move to Islington. Hope we can catch up with some of you in the near future

      Cheers – Alan, Poss and Klu (the cat intent on living for ever)