Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Mmmmm. Coffee

I was about to say another quiet week at work, but I guess it really wasn't.

I've noticed one of my stress indicators has appeared *i don't feel stressed but three key indicators let me know that i'm just fooling myself* and seems to be getting worse. I think I need a week off work.

Wednesday I was set a task but felt like I wasn't actually allowed to do it. My supervisor, C, asked me to cost a trip for her. To complete this part of the task I don't need much detail, but she proceeded to give me plenty. When I questioned a flight time she became upset and we argued. Sheesh I thought, I've been doing this job for 5 years now, I don't need to be micromanaged!

I emailed to apologise later that evening; explained where I was coming from. She pointed out where she was coming from and all is good.

I was looking forward to the weekend and a bbq for MOTH's birthday.

And then Zman and his boss R *both attending the bbq* had an altercation on Friday. Blimmin heck! That might make things awkward!

I asked Zman later that day if they had made up and he said that his boss had apologised.

We decided we'd dine indoors for the bbq - the weather has been cold overnight. The menu was sausages and salad. Dessert was caramel tart and MOTH's favourite condensed milk tart. The filling for that one is purely condensed milk with enough lemon juice to make it set. I thought I would make the caramel the old fashioned way. It took ages and just didn't seem to want to caramelise very well. I went to lift it out of the boiler and pow! It tipped over and spilled the contents into the water. Gads I was cranky. MOTH went up to the supermarket and bought the tin of the prepared stuff. Next time I think I will use that. Bugger the mucking around.

Cupcake *who had asked for the bbq i might add* didn't turn up so it was a cozy set of JD, MOTH, Elder, Zman, R and his wife, and myself. I was very much on edge when the phone rang and one of the guests hadn't arrived. I was expecting him to beg out due to the other person. But luckily, he did not.

I would have been SO not impressed.

I was still a little wary but they behaved themselves. They left around 10pm. MOTH and the Elder to bed not long after. JD was sleeping over so we talked and listened to music while he facebooked. I left him at about 1.30am.

Sunday was a relaxing and take it easy day. Not much by way of dishes from Saturday to clean up and not a lot of food left over either.

Roast lamb for dinner Sunday. MOTH's birthday on Monday and I wouldn't have time to cook it. The lamb worked well but the veges didn't so much. By the time I carved *tore* and dished up they had gone cold. Gotta love winter!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Getting close

It's been a very quiet week.

The Elder got to her flight on time. We were out of bed at 03:45 for a 04:15 departure as it takes about 3/4 of an hour at that time of the morning to get to the airport. She had to be there by 05:00. We drove out in Team Shitbox as it had more fuel. MOTH refused to drive it on the way home. Ok, I say, but you keep an eye out cause you're navigating *not his strong point*

Just out of the airport and it's keep left or keep right? Right he says and as we head up the onramp he says ... oh wait, maybe it was left.... So we had to do a little tour round some of the back streets. I wasn't happy but although he doesn't navigate as well as he should *not paying close attention and who needs a map anyway* he does manage to find his way out of 'lost'.

Driving back beyond that is an experience. Team Shitbox needs fixing and she doesn't have the funds. Neither do we. But we make it home and I'm all for going back to bed for a little while.

The afternoon of the same day, Dad arrives for his appointment with the specialist the following day. It's good to see him.

They head out the next day at 07:00 and Zman has to come to the house as I have no way of getting to the swap point. I'm standing in the wind with my long coat on and my hands are so cold I have to put away the iPad and put them in my pockets instead.

Dad leaves on Wednesday and from then on the rest of the week is veeeeeery quiet.

Thursday MOTH phones me at work. The Teen has an appointment at the hospital today for what I assume is pre-op for the melanoma. But no, she's having it removed then and there with a local anesthetic.

Friday we attend a linen party for an old neighbour of ours. We are the only ones to turn up. The stuff is lovely but very expensive. I purchase a tri-pillow and a pillowcase. It's $64.00. It's MOTH's birthday present I tell him.

Saturday The Teen tells me her arm is very sore. Ah well. Seems they offered her painkillers at the hospital but she said she already had some. Turned out she didn't. But hey, they've never given me the choice before, don't know why they did there. She thought she had 13 stitches - then tells me that Skywalker had been looking at it and there might be more. The incision site is about 5cm long *2inches*. Hmmm. No wonder it's a bit ouch.

Today is Monday again, and The Elder comes home today. There goes the neighbourhood! But Freddy will be ecstatic!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

How strange it's been.

It's been a week full of nothing much and yet everything. It has just flown by so quickly.

On back to work Monday I found out that one of the managers has resigned. This manager is the one who looks after that new task I was assigned. I'm a little worried as she will be taking quite a bit of knowledge with her about the project and anyone who replaces her won't have that since she has been with the project from the beginning guiding it through it's various phases. On the other hand, she's very happy to be moving on to manage a multimillion dollar project elsewhere in the University.

The Teen and Skywalker are still here and still panicking about purchasing their ticket home. She was expecting her allowance into her bank today but it's not there. Apparently Centrelink have changed her reporting but failed to notify her. She goes into the office and has that fixed. It means though, that she can't buy the ticket home until Wednesday, the day before they are due to return.

And as they are still here, there still seems to be people in my house most every night. Is that right, or am I just imagining it because that's the way it feels?

Wednesday night is their last night here. And I'm not busy doing home stuff so I am thinking I would be able to spend some time with them. But no, one of her friends and the boyfriend are coming over. And later on, another. DAMMIT! So not happy. Later Skywalker comes to me to tell me that he is taking the others for a walk so the Teen can spend some time with me. We spend a little time talking and laughing and then I go to bed.

I'm restless and can't really sleep. It's after 1am and there are still people out in the back yard. On a week night. I put my head out the window and tell Teen to send them home. That's when I find out they intend to stay up all night and sleep on the train. I think my head exploded then. I take her to task about being inconsiderate to both MOTH and I, not to mention the neighbours. They aren't exactly quiet. She begs me to let them stay all night, and I eventually allow it. On the proviso that they be gone before I get up at 6.30 in the morning.

Thursday morning early and I'm surprised to see them still awake and also fully packed! MOTH is taking me to work *no public transport this morning!* and he won't be back in time to get them to the train. They will have to come with me and catch the train to the city from a different station.

Uh oh. I'm working from home again on Friday and .... I have to find a way to get the laptop home with me. Trying to handle two bags on public transport is no fun. I dunno how those ladies with multiple bags do it. For me, if it doesn't fit in the handbag it doesn't come with me. I end up taking the backpack with a special space for the laptop. It's heavy and bulky but at least I don't have two bags.

And I rock up to the office on Thursday morning .... and I've forgotten to transfer my work keys over. *dang* And not only that, I'm the FIRST one in the office. Great. I head downstairs to get someone with a master key to let me in. She's gobsmacked that at 9.12 in the morning I am the first one in.

She opens the office and leaves and I settle in at my desk. Then of course I realise that I am stuck in my area because all the connecting doors to other parts of the office are still locked. No coffee for me yet.

I catch the bus home that day instead of the train. I'm waiting at the city stop and watching the people going by at the end of their day. A group dressed in business suits hurries past; they're all wearing rubber masks of American Presidents. Most are Nixon but I think I spy a Carter or two *or is it meant to be clinton? i can't see the teeth so possibly the latter* and definitely Obama. I hear Obama giggling and muttering to her mate that anyone would think they were going to be robbing banks....

The temperature has been slowly dropping through the week to a maximum daytime temperature of around 17C. That's about 62F. Friday I have a doctor appointment so I can lay in bed a little longer. *geez i hate winter* I'm working from home so I run the heater most of the day. I was aiming for a couple of hours but it just didn't seem to want to warm up.

MOTH finally tells me that I've actually got it set on cool. *facepalm*

Saturday is still cold. The house is certainly NOT warm and cozy, having big rooms, tiles and 9 foot ceilings. It's hard to keep warm. I spend the day in my flannie jammies and dressing gown. This day I also add sheepskin slippers.

Sunday is much the same, although a little warmer. I don't need the slippers.

This afternoon there is a thunderous crash that sets Jerome and Sheldon on edge and startled MOTH and I.

*side story: the elder told one of her skype friends the names of said felines. jerome pronounced jeremy. no he insisted. jerome is jerome. a big black man's name. she said the other cat's name was better. sheldon. ha he said. that just sounds like a redneck name. we lol'd big time. jerome is indeed black, and sheldon is ginger*

MOTH ventured out to check. *brave brave man. unless it was a spider* He reported that a palm frond had come down. Some time later the cats were still unsettled. I glanced out the glass door ... to see a big brown pheasant standing on the railing of the gazebo.

I'd have taken a photo but my only camera *phone* is redlining the battery and wouldn't function as such. Darn. What's for dinner again MOTH asks. The bird stays there for a while then disappears.

So it's 4.30pm Sunday afternoon. Thankfully it's a long weekend. Queen's Birthday weekend. No sleep in for us though. The Elder is headed out to the airport and has to be there by 5am. Guess who gets to drive her??

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Stuff

It's been open house this week. The Teen and Skywalker are still here; it seems that there has been at least one of their friends visiting every night.

It's still noisy, I don't think either of them have a volume control.

Work is progressing as usual. The Director came in tohave a chat to our section about the proposed change. He spent a little time explaining the background of his decision to restructure and what it might mean for us. The General Manager left the room so that we might freely discuss how we felt about things. Few of us actually spoke out beyond asking a coupleof questions. I for one did not speak at all. I chose to express my opinion directly to the .... *ahem* Director.

Friday was time for my next injection and a work from home day. Alas, I found out that morning that the last of our download quota had been used the night before. Uh oh. I hope that isn't going to affect my work. It did. That, or the VPN wasn't working properly. I couldn't access the database or the folders I needed.

That Friday is The Teen's birthday. She had a party lined up for the evening. MOTH cooked roast lamb for dinner. Delicious. Friends are scheduled to arrive around 6pm. We've finished dinner and she and Skywalker move to the table outside to wait. 6pm goes by. 7pm goes by. No one is arriving. Eventually two friends come in. They stay for a while then leave. *gods i detest how rude young people are these days. Rsvp yes then don't bother to turn up or just don't rsvp at all* She's running out of smokes and can't afford to buy anything to drink. The mood is low and she doesn't want to party anymore. It doesn't look good. Another friend and her boy turn up. The two earlier friends return. That's better.

Then she finds out that the source she was relying on for her return ticket has fallen through and she now has to find $160 for tickets to return home. Never rains....

JD has finished band prac and is in the area and headed our way. Whoo! He rocks up looking swish in his white shirt, black vest, black skinnys and metal tipped tooled leather boots.

The Elder informs me the next morning that it was after 3am before they headed off to bed.

That day I spent the day in my jammies. Because I just didn't feel like getting changed. The Elder had a minii breakdown. We decide it's likely due to over stimulation - too many people and too much noise. But we are having people over to visit again. Sunny and his friend Sparky came over. I was watching a tv series marathon and Sparky became engrossed as well. They left after midnight.

I spent Sunday in my jammies too. Just because I didn't fel like getting changed. Until it was time to bleach The Elder's hair. Heaven forbid that I get bleach on my Jim Beam flannies! I finished the second series of the marathon and went on to watch part 1 of The Andromeda Strain mini series. They gave the impression it was new, but I am sure I have seen it before.

Curried chicken with rice for dinner *dang, there isn't enough!* and Serial Killer Sunday.

Catch y'all next week.