December 19th

Last evening in Box Hill before the trek north to Vipassana. Have been trying to move the last files from the old laptop across to the new laptop without success.  Plan B is in place. Which is to leave the laptop with Konrad and  retrieve it after I return.  There are only two items left to retrieve and I would rather have them than not. Need a more stable network if I am to get those files back.

Have played my last poker for the year. And will be glad to have a break. While I end the year as an improved player from the one that started the year, I still have a long way to go.  And the most important piece of the puzzle is actually putting in regular work away from the tables. I've enjoyed my last two AirBnB's with a longer stay than normal in both places. And with the return to Box Hill being to a place I felt very comfortable with.

This afternoon was dedicated to understanding what steps are ahead of me administrivia wise in order to have the van registered in the first place, then updating the details of registration after the van fitout. Google has helped me sift through plenty of information and the Vicroads web site is actually pretty clear with respect to the steps that have to be taken. A pretty straight forward process which I will be glad to see the end of.

When I do have the van kitted out I intend to spend some time along the Great Ocean road and into the Ayre peninsula.  Plus I'll be looking at whether I can land any house sits in rural Victoria and South Australia. 

Hoping that the Blackheath Vipassana experience will be a fun one.  I'm ready for some more intense meditation again. It will be interesting to see how many other people are using Vipassana to avoid the insanity that is Christmas.  For me, this time of year is associated with the memory of my marriage implosion. And while I have some great memories of the Christmases we had while the kids were younger, the memories are tinged with the bitter bite of the marriage bust up.  Though this year I seem to be more at peace with it all than any of the last 5 years.