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It's a small town
Because someone set fire to our usual venue, next week's ACS meeting has been relocated to The Melbourne Hotel at the corner of Hay and Milligan in the city. That's the intersection which hosted an interesting car crash last week, where a P plater went through a red light, clipped a CAT bus then ploughed through the glass front of a restaurant. Fortunately it was after the lunch rush so numbers were few and injuries minor. Can't say the same for the state of the traffic jam afterwards.
I noticed that accident because that's a patch of pavement, intersection and CAT bus stop with which I'm very familiar (I was never a fan of the restaurant). I've been there many many times at that time of day, on my way to or from medical appointments in West Perth while I was working in the city. I missed that accident by a mere two years or so. Phew! Methinks I've been watching too much Doctor Who ;-)
Also a bit too close to home was the small plane crash in Africa a couple of weeks ago that killed a group of WA mining execs. I didn't know any of these particular people, but I know a bunch of guys who travel in like circumstances, two of whom are at my current worksite. I didn't quite hug them in relief, but I found out that one of them had lost a close friend in that crash: his wife was the godmother of the victim's child, and their children grew up together. No doubt I'd find many second or third degree business contacts if I went looking for them.
As for the ACS meeting, am I up to the task of fighting the traffic and finding a central city parking spot for a 5:30pm meeting? Lots of extra spoons there on top of the fine-tuned process of getting to the usual venue in West Perth where it's easy to park at the door and most of the trip is in the opposite direction of peak hour traffic. As the crow flies the alternative venue is only a kilometre or two away, but it's a huge difference in accessibility. In better days I could split the difference and walk the 10 minutes or so, but that would cost an awful lot these days. Sometimes this town isn't quite small enough.
I noticed that accident because that's a patch of pavement, intersection and CAT bus stop with which I'm very familiar (I was never a fan of the restaurant). I've been there many many times at that time of day, on my way to or from medical appointments in West Perth while I was working in the city. I missed that accident by a mere two years or so. Phew! Methinks I've been watching too much Doctor Who ;-)
Also a bit too close to home was the small plane crash in Africa a couple of weeks ago that killed a group of WA mining execs. I didn't know any of these particular people, but I know a bunch of guys who travel in like circumstances, two of whom are at my current worksite. I didn't quite hug them in relief, but I found out that one of them had lost a close friend in that crash: his wife was the godmother of the victim's child, and their children grew up together. No doubt I'd find many second or third degree business contacts if I went looking for them.
As for the ACS meeting, am I up to the task of fighting the traffic and finding a central city parking spot for a 5:30pm meeting? Lots of extra spoons there on top of the fine-tuned process of getting to the usual venue in West Perth where it's easy to park at the door and most of the trip is in the opposite direction of peak hour traffic. As the crow flies the alternative venue is only a kilometre or two away, but it's a huge difference in accessibility. In better days I could split the difference and walk the 10 minutes or so, but that would cost an awful lot these days. Sometimes this town isn't quite small enough.