James O'Brien

I spent a fair bit of this weekend napping. It’s not like I’ve been working excessively long hours, or going out “clubbing” (heaven forbid), I’ve just been feeling a bit tired this weekend. By nature, I’m an introvert, and that usually means socialising really tires me out.

Despite having gone into a career which involves a lot of public speaking, meetings and, generally chatting to people, my natural instinct is for solitary pursuits. I live alone, I like being alone, and to be honest, I’ll sometimes feign illness to avoid social interaction.

And it’s been a very social week. I caught up for dinner on Tuesday night, on Wednesday night I caught up with friends for drinks, and then on Friday, I attended an awards lunch (followed by celebration drinks) and then dinner with a friend.

It was terrific to catch up for dinner with Sue on Tuesday night, the first time we’ve seen each other since she moved to Wagga at the end of January, and when I went down to visit her there. It was good to catch up on how she’s settling in, and to hear updates on how her house was shaping up (as I’d helped her do some unpacking and furniture organisation). It was also good to catch up on how she’s going with her job, and with making friends/contacts. We talked about a few dates when I would next come down to visit, though I’ve concluded it will be more than likely after my forthcoming trip to Hobart.

And then on Wednesday night, I caught up with fellow blogger, Andrew and his partner who were up from Melbourne. Though I was quite sure it was only last year when we had met for the very first time, a quick re-think of the last 12 months was a timely reminder it was actually two years.

They seemed to have been enjoying their time in Sydney with things like a trip to Double Bay (inspired by my recent blog post) with further plans to visit The Blue Mountains and some Japanese Gardens I’d never heard of before, but which sound interesting. Hi Victor! They were a little apprehensive, naturally, about being able to return to Melbourne, so I hope that’s all worked out fine for them.

As Andrew comments frequently on public transport, I asked him for his thoughts on the new tram system in Sydney. He thought it was very good. “The drivers are very good. No stops and starts”, he said, though adding there are parts of the route where they could increase their speeds. Agreed.

And then on Friday, it was the AWEI Awards for LGBTQ Workplace Inclusion. As noted in this media release, the ABC were big winners this year, with three awards. https://about.abc.net.au/press-releases/abc-named-gold-employer-at-lgbtq-inclusion-awards/

The awards are based on the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI), which measures the impact of LGBTQ inclusion initiatives in organisations. The ABC’s annual score out of 200 in this year’s AWEI increased significantly from 105 to 177.

I’m part of ABC Pride which is a staff-led group focussing on a range of staff welfare issues. We also do awesome things like hold morning teas, provide behind the scenes policy and editorial advice, and have participated in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras over the last two years.

There was much to celebrate, and so lunch morphed into dinner with a friend and former colleague. We caught up for a drink, and then headed to a light and sound installation at one of the former monorail stations. As awesome as it was to see one of the former stations still exists, to be honest, it wasn’t that exciting for either of us. But still worth doing, and an awesome idea.

My friend, Andrea has recently moved to Sydney, and we had much to talk about. We had dinner at an old favourite, Red Chilli. We’ve also been to the equivalent part of the Red Chilli in Canberra (where she’s been living). Interestingly, despite it being fairly busy in Chinatown, and Red Chilli being usually fairly busy itself, there was only a handful of people in the restaurant, and then it was just us. So we could be as noisy as we wanted, and could consume some of their wonderful food without having to worry about neighbouring tables.

By the time the weekend came around, it was time for sleep. It’s less busy this week: catching up with a friend for dinner and drag queen bingo!!, and then on Friday, it’s time for having my AstraZeneca shot. By the sounds of things, I’ll be resting up next weekend, as most peopleI know have reported feeling a bit under the weather the next day. AstraZeneca sounds like a drag queen, too, right?