Herpes

Everybody's welcome! Non MBTC members need to join club by the fourth ride with us, ask us how! An easy ride, on this balmy weather, aimed to leisure cyclists mostly on bike paths and quiet suburban streets. Leaving Southern Cross station we'll get on the recently opened Dixon Veloway over Foostcray road, then we'll take the Maribyrnong bike trail that deliver us to the Steely Creek trail, then on to the Taylors Creek trail. Following this, we get for a couple of kilometres into the busy Calder Highway to arrive to the Organ Pipes National Park, we may need to lock our bikes, then walk to see the rock formations. Continuing on we'll deviate for a couple of k's to check the site of the Sunbury Festival held here in the mid-70's, there is also a commemorative plaque in honour of Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs. Trains from Sunbury station every 40 minutes or so. In the event of extreme temperature, over 30 deg C, we'll ABANDON the ride and look for a rail station to go back home! Please bring your own food, drinks and plenty of water for the day. Ride end time is a guesstimate only. Check route here (give or take a couple of wrong turns): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53649754 Early lunch at the 24 k mark, at Keilor Village, many choices. The route is 100% sealed, and the terrain is pretty easy to navigate with no climbs. So bring your, in good condition, bike, we suggest 32+ mm tires. We'll keep a steady pace, stopping often to regroup. No one left behind policy applies, but you need to keep yourself properly fueled and hydrated through the ride. RIDE REGISTRATION FORM This is to be completed when you RSVP and can be found at: [www.mbtc.org.au/registration-forms-rider](www.mbtc.org.au/registration-forms-rider). ESSENTIAL ITEMS Functioning front & tail light, spare tube and a puncture kit MYKI card, ATM card/cash, basic tools, rain gear, etc. Suncream; sunglasses; lip balm; hat brim; etc. Check your app for any changes the day before a the ride, as the ride may be cancelled in the event of extreme weather or other unforeseen circumstances. If you can not make it to the ride, please change your RSVP to 'NO' at your earliest opportunity. When I RSVP for this event/activity I acknowledge that the activity of bicycle riding can be dangerous and that I may suffer loss or injury or death and I agree that in consideration of my participation in any event conducted by the MBTC that I will absolve from liability the MBTC, its officers, and any event organiser from all claims, demands, or suits whether for personal injury or property loss suffered whether by negligence or breach of contract or otherwise, save for any right I may have pursuant to the Australian Consumer law. I acknowledge that photos may be taken of me during MBTC rides and social events, and that it is club practice that these photos will be published on Meetup, Facebook, and the club website. I will notify the ride leader and other riders if I wish to not be photographed. MBTC cannot guarantee that my photo will not be published and will promptly honour requests to be removed from MBTC controlled sites.

🍽️✨ **First Outing of the Year! Dinner at Mirza Food & Wine** ✨🍽️ *Melbourne Women’s Over 50 Friendship Group – Northern Branch* Ladies, let’s kick off the year in delicious style! 💃🥂 We’re heading to **Mirza Food & Wine** (formerly The Indian Hub) — new name, fresh vibe, gorgeous menu… and yes, **parking right outside**. 🙌🚗 This is our very first outing of the year, and what better way to start than with great food, new memories, and the company of fabulous women who actually know how to hold a conversation? 😉✨ 📍 **Mirza Food & Wine** 🕖 **Dinner 6pm 10/1/026 at 6pm** 📑 **Menu attached** 🚗 **Easy parking out front** Come along, relax, reconnect, and enjoy a night that sets the tone for a beautiful, social, friendship-filled year ahead. Let’s fill the table and start 2026 the way we intend to continue — with laughter, connection, and excellent food. 🍷🌿💖 Menu: https://mirzafoodwine.com/dine-in/

🌸 **Mid Summa Social Bar Night** 🌆 **Saturday 10 January 7:00 PM @ Lustre Bar, Melbourne CBD Optional Dance Extension @ Fadd Gallery from 10:00 PM** Or we'll figure it out on the night. **Update:** Happy hour cocktails for all the ladys and lady boyz between 7 and 10. No luck on discounts for knuckle draggers like me though 😭 Melbourne’s social scene is blooming again—and so are we. Join us for the first night of Eat, Drink and Dance, 🌸 . Think candlelight, cocktails, and the kind of atmosphere that makes introductions feel effortless. Whether you come solo or with a wingperson, you’ll find yourself in easy orbit with friendly others who are curious, open, and ready to vibe. Expect flirty banter, warm welcomes, and the kind of conversations that start with “So what brings you here?” and end with “You have to meet my friend…” If you’re a woman who’s outgrown the backpacker and dive bar circuit and a man who prefers charm over chaos—this one’s for you. 💃 Part Two: Open option but this is a regular haunt. Think Whiteheart Bars off Little Bourke St or Swing & Sway at Fadd Gallery (from 10:00 PM) _Address:14 Corrs Ln, Melbourne VIC 3000. About 5 or so minutes walk away just off Little Bourke St in China Town._ When the clock strikes ten, the rhythm calls. We’ll drift to either Whiteheart Bar or Fadd Gallery, Who knows maybe QT Rooftop Bar is also on the way, where the dance floor pulses with throwback magic—70s funk, 80s synth, and 90s pop that knows how to flirt. Whether you’re a shoulder-shrugger, a hip-swinger, or just there for the vibe, this is your chance to move, mingle, and maybe make a memory or two. Come for the cocktails, stay for the chemistry. Eat. Drink. Dance. Repeat. **Notes** If you can't make it please update your RSVP. The bar has a very limited capacity and it's always courteous to allow people on the waitlist a chance to come.

The Northern Suburbs Eurogamers (NSEG) is a regular meetup held at [Croxton Park Hotel](https://www.croxtonparkhotel.com.au/) on selected Sundays (view the current year dates [below](https://meeples.org.au/nseg/#dates)). Running since 2012, NSEG is an established group, but we always love playing with new people. ### Where do we play? The meetup is held at Croxton Park Hotel. We meet in the Bistro, just near the fireplace, so it’s lovely and warm.  ### What sort of games do we play? We play: * Games for beginners (which we call gateway games) like Ticket To Ride, Carcassonne, Splendour, Small World and King of Tokyo. * Strategy (Euro) games like Power Grid, Lords of Waterdeep, Village, Imperial and Suburbia. * Thematic games (that involve lots of dice and role play) like Betrayal at House on the Hill and Dead of Winter. * Party Games (quick and easy games) like Resistance, Spyfall and Time’s Up. * Card Games like Love Letter, Uno, Fluxx, Bohanza, Red7, Fuji Flush, Munchkin. And much much more! If you have a game you love, bring it along and show us… maybe we’ve never heard of it and will love it too! We do a rules explanation before each game (unless everyone has played it before) so don’t worry if you’ve never played (or heard) of any of these games. ### How about food and Drinks? The Croxton’s kitchen has all the pub classics and tasty little bites… check out the [Menu](https://www.facebook.com/pg/CroxtonParkHotel/menu). The bar also serves drinks, both soft and hard… plus tea and coffee. ### Do I have to be a Melbourne Meeples Inc. Member to attend? No, though if you are not a member, we do ask that you pay a small donation (we suggest $3) to help cover the cost of the games library and the Melbourne Meeples Inc support structure. And you can always [become a member](http://meeples.org.au/membership/)! ### How to get there The Croxton is located at [407 High St, Thornbury](https://goo.gl/maps/s7yePRZ8meL2). * **By Car:** If you’re driving there is a carpark on the opposite side of the road. * **By Tram:** you can jump on the [Route 86](http://ptv.vic.gov.au/route/view/1881) and get off near Darebin Road (Stop #36) or Woolton Ave (Stop #37). * **By Train:** Croxton Railway Station is a brisk 400m walk away.

✨ **Do you want to...** * 🫶🏽 Connect with like-minded people in your local community? * 🏋🏽‍♂️ Meet others who are passionate about growing, uplifting themselves, and supporting others? * 🌈 Share insights from your personal journey (or simply listen and learn)? * 🧘🏼‍♂️ Experience a simple yet powerful meditation practice to find calm and clarity? Or maybe you just want to... ☮️💟☯️ **Spend your Sunday evening in a peaceful, zen space and meet some amazing new people?** *** ### **Join us on Sundays!** Let’s come together, share positive energy, and build a warm, supportive local community. **Bring a friend (or two!) and let’s connect.** *** ### **What’s on the evening’s flow?** * **Open meet & greet** – connect and settle in * **Sharing circle** (totally optional!) – share your thoughts or simply listen * **20-30 min guided meditation** – for relaxation and deeper connection *** ### **Everyone is welcome!** All ages (with guardians for under 18), backgrounds, genders, and experiences – no meditation experience needed. The event runs for about **2.5 hours**, but you’re free to come and go as you need. *** ### **What to bring?** * **Donation:** A contribution of **$10 or more is recommended**. Your donations directly help us cover venue costs, provide resources, and keep this meditation community alive and growing. * **Warm jumper/jacket** (just in case!) * **Water** * **Any books/resources/inspiration you’d love to share** *** ### **Where?** 📍 **250 George St, Fitzroy VIC 3065** Enter through the church gates. You’ll see a small garden on the left and stairs on the right leading up to the **Dance of Life Yoga Studio (first door on your right upstairs).** *** ### **Important Notes:** * Spaces are **limited**, so if you can’t make it, please update your RSVP to “Not going” or send us a quick message. * **No-show policy:** To keep it fair for everyone, repeat no-shows without notice may not be able to RSVP in the future. * Attendees under 18 must have a guardian present.

Start point: WE HAVE A NEW CAFE! **Truffles Patisserie** **192/194 Carlisle St, St Kilda, 3182** It's at the corner of Carlisle and Chapel St's. End point: Who knows? Distance: Approx 4 to 6km (each way) Estimated time: 60 to 90 minutes (stopping and starting).

*GOhio!* turns 8!! 🥳 Come celebrate with us at [Pins Mechanical](https://www.pinsbar.com/locations/easton)! 😄 **Summary** Pins Mechanical Co. is a social entertainment venue that combines old-school games like duckpin bowling, pinball, and other classic arcade and table games with craft cocktails, local beers, and punch. The vintage-industrial atmosphere is designed for playful, face-to-face gatherings with friends, family, and colleagues, offering a casual and lively alternative to a typical bar. Pins' Easton location spans over 38,000 square feet, making it the largest in the United States. This massive entertainment venue features two floors, a mezzanine level with stadium seating, and three full-service bars. It offers 16 duckpin bowling lanes, two indoor bocce courts, and more than 60 classic and modern pinball and arcade games. For additional fun, the location is known for its two outdoor patios, an indoor slide, and an expanded patio pong setup. **Activities** As noted below, some machines take actual quarters. Pins has two change machines (one downstairs and one upstairs) that accept ones, fives, or tens (only), and return quarters (only). * *Duckpin Bowling* [Like Bowling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckpin_bowling) but with smaller balls, stubby pins, and no oil on the lanes. The cost is $9 per game per person. * *Pinball* [Who](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who)'s a [wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Wizard) on these [retro machines](https://pinballmap.com/map/?by_location_id=15311)? At $1 per play, everyone! Takes quarters. * *Arcade* Play classics like Gorf, Pac-Man, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Gorf, Galaga, and Gorf! The best part is, there's Gorf! And all the arcade games are free! * *Patio Pong* The classic college party staple but bigger. Instead of tossing a ping pong ball into cups, you use a regular ball and oversized buckets. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free! * *Ping Pong* The most popular sport in China! They have two ping pong tables downstairs and two more ping pong tables upstairs. For those of you who have studied topological spaces and set theory, you will know this means they have four total ping pong tables. They have bubble gum dispensers with ping pong balls in them for 25¢ each. The dispensers take quarters. However, they also have racks where they store the ping pong paddles, and in these racks are slots for ping pong balls. It's not uncommon to see balls already here, so there's a chance you may be able to play ping pong for free if you want to. * *Hookie* You can't put your eye out! The safe alternative to darts: Hook thrown rings on a board. Outdoors on the upstairs patio, and free! * *Bocce* Like bowling, except there’s turf and a lot more balls. You can also knock your opponent’s balls out of the way. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free! * *Foosball* Everyone loves [foosball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_football)! 50¢ a game. Takes quarters. * *Giant Jenga* Stack massive wooden blocks into a tower, then take turns pulling out one block at a time without collapsing the tower. There are four of these sprinkled throughout the venue (two downstairs and two upstairs, with one on each patio), and they're all free! * *Skeeball* There are three skeeball machines on the first floor (near the Gorf machine!), and they're all free! * *Giant Connect Four* On the outdoor patio upstairs, and free! * *Bubble Hockey* This is upstairs. Up to four people can play at once, and it costs $1. Takes quarters. * *Cornhole* There are two cornhole lanes upstairs, and they're both free! * *Basketball* There are two basketball machines downstairs. They're tucked behind the downstairs bar, so they're not always obvious unless you go look for them. They're $2 per play, and they take quarters. * *NES and Sega Genesis video games* These are collections, downstairs (near the Gorf machine!), of video games that you can play for free! * *The Big Metal Indoor Slide* This large two-story slide is for kids, and certainly no adults would ride this. After all, it's not like it's free or anything. **Outdoor Patio** Pins at Easton actually has two outdoor patios. But for our purposes, only the upstairs one matters. See, it will be winter and likely cold. But their upstairs patio has multiple ceiling heaters and two massive gas fire pits that put out a ton of heat. Sitting out here may be a real option. As mentioned above, the upstairs outdoor patio has one of the venue's two Patio Pong setups, one of their multiple Giant Jengas, the Giant Connect Four, and Hookie. **Food** Pins doesn't serve food, but there's a [Mikey's Late Night Slice](https://www.latenightslice.com/) next door. This Mikey's is basically an extension of the Easton Pins; there's a large open doorway between both establishments. Mikey's has a fountain dispenser with Coke products. You can also get Coke and Diet Coke (but not Coke Zero, like you can at Mikey's) at the bars in Pins, but I think the quality of the soda pop from Mikey's fountain is better than that from the bar hoses Pins uses to dispense soft drinks. You are also quite allowed at Pins to either bring food in or order it in via your favorite delivery app. **Parking** I recommend parking in the [Worth Garage](https://eastontowncenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/parking-at-easton-updated-file-sept-25.pdf). It's literally right next door to Pins, and it's free as long as you park on Level 2 or above. They recently started charging people to park on Level 1, and you pay for parking on this level the same way you pay for street parking in Columbus, with the [ParkColumbus](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.parkmobile.parkcolumbus&hl=en_US&pli=1) app. I've seen them enforce this by ticketing people's cars, but I don't know how they actually compel payment. The garage is not a public street that actual cops can write you tickets for parking illegally on. If you have an actual ticket from a cop that you don't pay, they can go so far as to issue a warrant for your arrest. But all Easton has, seemingly, is, "[Please pay our ticket](https://eastonpreferredpark.com/)." Still, in my ongoing efforts to eliminate needless stress and aggravation from my life, I just park above the first Level. The actual address of the garage is [4049 Worth Ave, Columbus, OH 43219](https://www.google.com/maps/place/4049+Worth+Ave,+Columbus,+OH+43219/@40.0542293,-82.9137962,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88388a86de3af559:0xc1dc8b4661fc834f!8m2!3d40.0542293!4d-82.9137962!16s%2Fg%2F11sgzjp4ml?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D). However, your GPS is stupid. The actual entrances to the garage are on the cross steets Brighton Rose Way and Fenlon St, not Worth Ave. Just keep this in mind once you get to the garage. **Where we'll meet** I'll post in the comments where I am. People will obviously want to explore different areas of the venue over the course of the event (and there's a lot to explore), but please just let me know (as in, come find me) once you've arrived. **Peroration** Come on out and say hi! 😄

Volunteer with Westerville Queer Collective and the Neurospicy Meetup to build care packages for local unhoused folks, which will be distributed throughout local camps and neighborhoods via Heer2Serve (501c3). Will you donate any items? If so, comment what will you bring Please make sure clothing items are clean and if you’re donating food, ready to be eaten without a stove or microwave. We expect to assemble around 50-100 packages, so if you’ll purchase items, please consider that amount (ie bulk individually packaged candies etc.). Fun and interesting book or entertainment item donation also welcome! Package assembly will take place on January 17th from 10-12 am. Location TBA but will be in Westerville, Ohio.

Join us for Slow Horses and a Book Exchange! In addition to our usual chat about the book, we’ll be exchanging books. Bring two books you’re willing to part with and we’ll exhange books. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Welcome to the thrilling and unnervingly prescient world of the slow horses. This team of MI5 agents is united by one common bond: They've screwed up royally and will do anything to redeem themselves. This special tenth-anniversary deluxe edition of a modern classic includes a foreword by the author, discussion questions for book clubs, and an exclusive short story featuring the slow horses. London, England: Slough House is where washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what's left of their failed careers. The "slow horses," as they're called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated there. Maybe they botched an Op so badly they can't be trusted anymore. Maybe they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug yanked out from under them. Maybe they just got too dependent on the bottle-not unusual in this line of work. One thing they have in common, though, is they want to be back in the action. And most of them would do anything to get there-even if it means having to collaborate with one another. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, the slow horses see an opportunity to redeem themselves. But is the victim really who he appears to be?

Come out to Improving for our monthly iOS and Mac meetings. This Month's Presentation: **Use AI to convert an old game into an iOS App** **John Endres** How I decided to learn AI tools in Xcode (Claude and ChatGPT) John is a long time iOS Developer. What is Cocoaheads (http://cocoaheads.org/)? CocoaHeads is a group devoted to discussion of Apple Computer's Cocoa Framework for programming on MacOS X and iOS (including the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch). During monthly meetings, members present on their projects and offer tutorials on various programming topics. What is BuckeyeCocoa (http://buckeyecocoa.org/)? BuckeyeCocoa is a group of Objective-C/Swift developers/enthusiasts. We host monthly Cocoaheads and near-weekly NSCoder meetings in Columbus, Ohio. The meetings are free to attend. Presentations! Presenters welcome! We are always in need of people willing to present material. Any Swift and/or Objective-C related topic is welcome. Times can be 5 minutes (i.e. lightning talks) to a maximum of 2 hours. Interested? Contact info is on the BuckeyeCocoa website. To volunteer for a presentation contact us at @BuckeyeCocoa on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter! @BuckeyeCocoa (https://twitter.com/#!/Buckeyecocoa/) For more information: http://buckeyecocoa.org/

Attend a free seminar on how to have successful and lasting relationships. At this seminar you will learn: How to spot and handle negative and toxic relationships. How to get through the "rough patches" in a relationship. How to choose the right people to work with. The three things that make or break any relationship. How to make a good relationship great. All are welcome. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. Hosted by the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center of Central Ohio.