The main reason that I didn't make it to the Iron Heart party this year was because I got myself a dog. This is Disco, he's a Peruvian Inca Orchid.
He's currently about four months old, and probably about the size of a Whippet. Like his owner, he's also completely bald.
This is a Kookaburra. They're a relative of the Kingfisher that's native to Australia, and they're about the size of a crow.
They're hunters, and I saw one today that had caught a small snake. That's the large worm in its beak. It's not a great photo, as I snapped it with my phone on maximum zoom.
The Aurora Australis was visible from outside my house this evening.
Continuing the theme of clean and dirty, here is Disco on Sunday afternoon posing after winning Best of Breed at the Royal Sydney show. I should cheapen the victory by pointing out that our rival failed to turn up, after she unfortunately injured her knee. But the advantage of a rare breed dog is that it is likely to win its class by default.
And here he is on Monday morning after he spent an hour chasing a Pitbull and a sheep around a small farm on the outskirts of Sydney. It was probably the highlight of his weekend.
Disco got a lot of attention at the show. I probably had to explain what a Peruvian Hairless was hundreds of times over the two days, because it's a fairly unique breed. Well, except for the Xoloitzcuintli who were further down the aisle...
I've still got the Mountain Parka, and occasionally wear it. Here it is being modelled with Flash, who I was walking at the Greyhound Adoption Programme on Saturday.
Three rare breeds that you probably haven't met in one photo. From left-to-right: Disco, a Peruvian Hairless or Peruvian Inca Orchid; Pacino, a Cirneco dell'Etna; Farourk, a Sloughi.
Dante from Pixar's Coco and my dog Disco bear a striking resemblance.
Dante is a Xoloitzcuintli whilst Disco is a Peruvian Hairless or Peruvian Inca Orchid.
@neph93 I'm glad to hear that the men in white coats have come for you Norwegian health care system is taking care of you.
Incidentally, ADHD means that you're neurodivergent, though I suspect that you'll prefer the appellation that a friend came up with: Neurodeviant.
(But he read way too much Nemesis the Warlock at an impressionable age...)
As someone whose brain is also not running the standard wiring, I would agree that knowing the underlying causes will help in managing it, and also finding coping strategies.
It's Watches and Wonders this week, which is the biggest show in the horological calendar. Naturally, there are new pieces, and here are a few of them.
Rolex haven't done much with their sports line this year, except to slap a black and grey bezel on the GMT.
Tudor have launched a Black Bay 58 GMT, which is a smaller and slimmer package than their existing GMT. It's also Master Chronometer certified, which I think is Rolex's way of saying, "Our cheap product meets Omega's fancy standard."
Patek has launched a very pretty perpetual calendar with a salmon dial.
Zenith has revived the Defy Diver with a very orange bezel.
Grand Seiko has a new Birch Bark with an equally new 5 Hz hand wound movement.
And, lastly, the LUC XPS Qualitie Fleurier is very, very pretty.
@mclaincausey they used their entire quota of words for the year, and they were forced to recycle their old prose.
I've heard good things about Ultra.
I'm tempted by the range as it might be good for weight-constrained carry-on. Some of the airlines have a 7 kg (15 lbs) or 10 kg (22 lbs) weight limit for cabin baggage, and a sub half kilo (or pound) bag eats less of that allowance.
@mclaincausey I liked the last iteration of the Matador and Carryology collaboration, but I didn't end up buying anything. This one seems to be using a more technical fabric, and it'll probably be more expensive as a result.
One thing that feels like a regressive step is that the previous generation positioned the side handles so that they could be used as a luggage pass-though. The new one has a separate piece of webbing down the back.
The MAG-HOOK was used in the first version of the collection. In fact, the paragraph has been copied and pasted between the two articles!
Last time I was in SF, I think that it was nearly three years ago, I remember a pet shop having an option to tip on the till. I also recall accidentally tipping for buying a couple of bags of coffee beans!
@AdamJ the beds themselves look fairly plain, particularly in the wood finishes. I don't think that they're going to win any design awards.
The engineering inside them is quite solid, but whether you need something that strong is a different question.
@mclaincausey if I'm travelling, I prefer to keep my pack below about 10 to 12 kg, or 25 lbs. Ideally, I'd like to get below 7 kg or 15 lbs, which is the carry-on limit for some of the stricter airlines. At that sort of weight, I don't think you need a hip belt, and they inevitably get in the way.
I took a Mini Cooper EV out for a test drive today. It was the John Cooper Works version, which is essentially an electric hot hatch. It's got similar performance to the i20N that @Brian recently picked up, and I suspect a similar character.
Most reviews have complained about the ride quality, and it is firm, but I liked it. The Mini felt a lot more connected than the Hyundai Inster I drove a few weeks ago. It'd probably be less comfortable on a longer motorway or freeway run, though.
The other criticism has been about the thick steering wheel. I've got enormous hands, so I thought it was comfortable.
The design of the displays felt a bit overwrought. The graphics and styling were aiming for a cartoon Britishness, which verged on the Austin Powers. Stepping it back a little bit would have helped.
Going long distance would be fine, I'd get nearly two hours driving at highway speeds (110 km/h or 70 mph) from 70% of the battery, which would mean three stops between here and Sydney, which is about 675 km or 430 miles. That's roughly what I did when I last time I went.
The problem is more those runs that are off the charging network. I made a 320 km or 200 miles roundtrip last week, and there weren't any chargers along the route. The Mini probably doesn't have the range to do that, whereas something like a Kia EV3 would.
Sleeping Duck is an Australian company that builds an over-engineered bed. I figured it might appeal to regular readers, given Iron Heart's reputation.
I believe that they're available in the US, but not in the UK. I don't know about the rest of the world.
@mclaincausey thanks. I've been periodically tempted by a ULA Dragonfly; I might pick one up eventually. I'd probably skip the pass through as rolling luggage is against my religion. 
I've used my old school Verbockel for EDC, and it was fine. I'm guessing the ULA is a similar size. Then again, I'm one bag to do everything, rather than the Carryology quiver of superficially similar packs that each have a narrow role.
@Brian and @Bridger modern utes are far less exciting. I did quite like the Kia Tasman that I saw last weekend, which had Tonka Toy meets Judge Dredd vibes, but I wish that they'd done something clever with the power train, as the Hyundai group has some very good EVs. (I was mainly interested in the EV3 lurking in the background.)
The BYD Shark 6 is doing the clever powertrain thing. A friend up here owns one and rates it, though he missed out on the orange paint.
But if you want to melt the icecaps and make a lot of noise, there's no substitute for an old TVR. I spotted this Griffith 500 in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, I haven't seen one for years. Only a handful made the pilgrimage to Australia from Blackpool.
@louisbosco last time I came back from Adelaide, I took the B12 from Tailem Bend through to Piangil, before turning off to head southeast through Swan Hill, Kerang, Echuca, and Shepparton to get back to Benalla. If I'd followed it a bit further, I would have got to Tooleybuc. It was a nice road: Fast and fairly quiet. Much better than the A8 between Melbourne and Adelaide.
