On babies being unable to read calendars

Alice just phoned to say she had her second baby! A little girl named Maria. Big sister Anna still adjusting to the event. Mother and infant doing well, all things considered. This is slightly ahead of schedule, "proving" my belief that "babies can't read calendars!" ;-)

I must confess I had been quietly hoping I would gain a nephew for other reason than it would balance the subtitle of this blog. However, I am told (cross fingers and pray) that my best friend's James' wife Jennifer is expecting a boy. As "his" older sister is my quasi-niece (in my opinion), I feel I would be justified in altering the subtitle to "nephews" in "his" honour.

Addendum:
At work today, I was sorting through old, uncatalogued books in the far corner of the basement. Among them was a copy of "Jackrabbit, his first hundred years" which includes a chapter written by my maternal grandmother. Her first name, like that of my paternal grandmother, was Barbara. As Maria was on my mind, I idly speculated that maybe she should have "Barbara" as middle name. Along this line thought, I wondered what that would make as initials: M.B.W. I quickly noticed that if Alice and Mark were to make Maria's actual first name "Barbara" (while still calling her Maria), her initials would be B.M.W.! ;-)

(Not that it is any of my business. This is just a very silly thought.)

Second addendum:
Alice (or Mark) has posted photos here.

On an interesting news story about the flight I took to Australia

It has been nearly a year since I went to Australia. Part of me is slightly in denial that I was ever there. However, the rationale part of me knows that I was, if for no other reason than this blog gets google hits from time to time relating to Air Canada flights 33 and 34!

The former was in the news today (October 16 in Canada) as it was diverted near the end of its flight to look for a marine distress beacon set off on a yatch in trouble. It had lost its mast, was low on fuel and was being blown away from Australia. Anyway, the crew spotted the sailboat with the help of binoculars borrowed from passengers, and passed on the location to Australian search-and-rescue. It landed in Sydney about 90 minutes behind schedule. An Air New Zealand flight later confirmed the location and the Australian authorities seem to have the rescue well in hand.

Read more about it here, here and here. Oh, and here.

In other news from the Southern Hemisphere, TV New Zealand's website has a dedicated page for news relating to The Hobbit film!