Monday, August 29, 2011

Friday Friday Friday

Well done Elder for ruining a perfect record. I've managed to avoid that song since the beginning of the furor, then she plays it in my hearing while using her iPhone. Sigggghhhhh

This week has been a little quiet. Taking last week into consideration that is!

MOTH arrived back home on Wednesday. Elder joined me on campus so we could go together to meet him. I finished work early and we headed out. Turned out the train was half an hour late coming in, so we consoled ourselves with some KFC chippies and gravy while we waited.

We found him in the crowd and Elder arrived at his side first. He held up a finger and told her that I cam first. *nnnnaaawwww*

Off to collect the baggage and I couldn't determine which one was his. They all look the same these days! Ours has a tell tale difference but hadn't been placed on the carousel so that was visible. I had to wait for MOTH to claim it himself.

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This week I thought I'd try the whole shopping list app for the two major supermarkets. I think I like the Woollies one best, but it works for both of them. Each app has a built in scanner that uses the phone camera and you can scan bar codes to your shopping list. It adds the product from their database and hey presto! Shopping list. With images of the item even. It was actually a lot easier than trying to juggle a written list, pen and calculator.

You can also use it to check weekly specials and the Woolworths one can use the GPS locator in the phone to tailor the list to match the aisle layout of your 'local' store so each item is grouped according the the aisle they are in. So easy! Maybe the Coles one can do that too but alas, my local store is too new to be included in their database.

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Early finish on Friday again *wow. really short week this week. going to have to think about how to make up that lost time* as I head off for a doctor appointment. She has moved into new premises after the last one closed suddenly.

The new surgery is attached to a local shopping centre and is very much an upgrade on her old one! Although it was sad not to see the smiling faces of the girls at reception. She seemed very happy to see us. Elder, MOTH and I decided to all go at once since the new surgery is not located in our suburb.

MOTH also tells me that he thinks the QML (pathology lab) that was located next to the old surgery has also been closed. That is so very inconvenient. The nearest one now is located at the back of my suburb and will now be very very busy! My usual one I could turn up at 7.45 am for an 8.00 am start and get in to be seen in the first ten *no appointments, just take a number*. Handy when you have to do a fasting test!

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Saturday MOTH worked on Team Shitbox while Elder and I went out to pick up some things. It needed a water pump replaced. We dropped him off at the shops to get some scripts filled and walk home *yay for living 10mins walk away from everything!*.

We headed out to the really big shopping centre a couple of suburbs over. It does mean a bit of a drive and there is another large centre between home and that one. But no, the store she wanted to visit didn't have the necessary facilites in the closer centre.

Uh oh as we notice the flashing sign that says ACCIDENT! EXPECT DELAYS! Brilliant. The drive usually takes fifteen to twenty minutes. Today it takes us forty-five. Being nearly mid morning when we arrive I suspect that finding a park will be something of a task. It's not!

I help Elder spend her tax refund. There is a cute young bloke in the Smiggle store. Elder and I are looking at everything and start quoting memes. She wants to buy ALL the things. There's a giggle from the back of the store and the cute bloke comes asks if he can help her buy ALL the things.

She wants a new phone case. There is one she has her eye on that is very very similar to mine. I point her in a slightly different direction and ask the shop assistant how much. He tells and pulls the case out to show us. I touch it and not only are the red bits glittery, the black bits are FURRY! I point this out to her and she balks a little. But they're FURRY! You can't go past it! FURRY! The sales assistant is giggling; Elder grins at me and buys it.

It's really pouring when we get back out to the car park again. We head for the car and watch vehicles driving round and round trying to park. Someone pulls up close and I point down the road. The window pops down and the driver grins at us. He's happy for the park *timing!* and his grin is cheeky. We leave and join the crush. Except I'm trying to get out, not in.

Meanwhile, MOTH has not been having a great time with Team Shitbox. He managed to get the pump changed over but now it leaks like there's no tomorrow and he's managed to tear a hose to boot.

He's not happy. Never mind, the seal probably slipped is all.

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Sunday I let Elder sleep in till about 9.00 am. MOTH goes to the shops up the road and when he comes back, the two of them tackle the car together. There isn't as much swearing as I thought there would be. I guess as wife I get the privilege of bearing that when trying to assemble something with hubby!

I make them lunch *he comments that the leak seems to have been caused by the gasket slipping* and after they've cleaned up we head out to see if we can find a replacement for the torn hose. This hose is not rubber and seems to be made of wire and some papery substance. We get over to the shops and MOTH parks in front of Amart All Sports. What are we doing here? This is where we need to go isn't it? We shake our heads and it seems he's just a little confused and they don't sell car parts. There is a Supercheap in the same row just a little further down. That's where I meant to go! Elder and I shake our heads. We were chatting while he was driving. Can't do more than one thing at once!

They have something similar to what we need. We buy two - just in case. They don't seem very long but they aren't cheap either!

They work on the car again and all seems to be in place. Team Shitbox is now back under the tree where it belongs.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Time flies when you're having fun...

... so they tell me.

The Elder returned Monday afternoon. I had thoughts of going in to the station to meet her but decided I'd keep the train fare in case I could talk her into the Ekka. You know, a kind of spur of the moment thing.

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She didn't need much convincing! I don't like going to Ekka on People's Day. It used to be waaaay too busy. So we decided to tackled it on a Tuesday.

First stops, Animal Boulevard and the main arena to see what events were on.

We love to look at the baby animals and the horses and the cats and the dogs and the chickens and the animals! The poultry pavilion is incredibly noisy. Unfortunately, there were no puppies to look at when we went through that pavilion. Ah well.


The horse pavilion always has many fine examples of different breeds. Elder drools over Clydesdales. There is an interesting display of various modes of horse drawn transport.



Just for something different we decided to try the Woolworths Fresh Food pavilion. There was a cooking demonstration that The Elder wanted to look at. I've been to the Ekka many times but never stopped in there. WOW! It was amazing! Food. Glorious food! Cupcakes. German bakery. German sausages. Chilli. Wines. Seafood. Lebanese. Cheese. Dairy. Whoo! Finishing sauces and vinegars. We sample some things but spend a lot of time wandering.

Showbag pavilion of course. Ma had some orders so we went through. It was ... crowded. Of course.

We stayed for some of the night time entertainment and wondered at the many silly people trying to get into the grandstands with prams. There are no ramps only many stairs.

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Wednesday is a public holiday and we don't expect shops to be open. We took Fred for a walk up the road and 'cashed in' a winning Magnum stick. No winners this time. And I didn't share mine with Fred on the way home either.

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Thursday we spent out and about paying Elder's bills. I went to the library while she attend her Job Search network Thursday thing. Not much else went on except some housework. Wonderful stuff that, I can't get enough. *end sarcasm*

A parcel from Ma arrived. We didn't hear anything - Jerome began growling and walking toward the front door. Sure enough, the doorbell rang. Good watch-cat.

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Friday we're back out at the Ekka, catching up on all the pavilions we didn't get to see last time. And mostly to bring some extra cash with us to check out things at the Woolworths pavilion. We wandered spent more time there and wandered about really looking at things and taking free samples. Things we didn't do last time. We purchased a finishing vinegar with a black cherry flavour. It's very palatable, considering I don't like vinegar! It came with a free sample of white chocolate mousse. With a topping of some fairy floss that looked like wool and tasted wonderful. And the chilli stand was very well tested. We purchased a chilli/wasabi/mustard paste called double trouble. It's hotter than hot english.

We found the craft pavilion and I bought some delicious smelling soap. I gave Elder the one called Apple Jack *she has a thing for my little ponies* and it smells divinely of apple pie. Apples and cinnamon.

We checked the animal nursery and were just in time to witness the birth of a lamb. They have a special arena set up so that people can do just that.

We checked out the Agricultural pavilion and looked at the displays of fruits and veg. The winner of the biggest vegetable was a pumpkin of considerable size. There were hibiscus flowers and orchid displays. And a magic garden to boot.


We wandered through the dog pavilion and looked at the various breeds of dogs. Not an awful lot there - I suspect most of the showdogs had competed earlier in the week and gone home.

I decided not to stay for the night time entertainment that night. I wasn't dressed for the cold.

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Saturday was quiet and we made plans to go out for dinner. A friend works in a restaurant a suburb over and we've never been to Montezuma's before.

I wrapped Ma's showbags in the box she posted my parcel in. How considerate of her to send me a box that I could use. It's too late to post it now.

We had decided in advance what we would order but changed our minds when we got there. We shared a taco platter and a small bowl of salad and followed through with icecream topped with liqueur. Elder chose coconut rum and I chose Kahlua. Delish!

The place was bright and noisy, the service fast and extremely friendly. We'd been there an hour before we realised it. Our friend worked the bar and since we were seated close we got to chat with him occasionally while he made drinks. He was very busy!

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Sunday was recovery day as we wound down from the week. We spent a lot of time in front of the telly and napping.

All I have to do now is convince Elder to post that parcel...

Monday, August 15, 2011

All gone!

My week of solitary is almost over. Dang but I could get used to this.

I'm still on holidays and MOTH and Elder have been away this week. Some holiday it's been though.

Two whole lovely weeks of solid WoWing! Whoo hoo! Monday and I'm feeling energetic. I strip and remake the beds; mine and the spare. The sheets go through the wash. I change the cat litter. I catch up on the folding I've not yet done. I put fresh sheets on the single spare bed. The kitchen benches are wiped down, the recycling is put out to the bin and the rubbish tidied. I wash and put away any dishes left over from the night before and breakfast this morning. Might wash the towels too while I'm at it. The washing is brought in from the line and sorted and folded. What a day, I'm exhausted and I've just realised. No WoW.

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Tuesday is a lovely fine day too. The shower needs cleaning. *dang but sheldon has the rips. i swear sometimes that cat would run across the ceiling if he could. nothing is safe* I need to wash my hair so I will clean out the shower while I'm at it. And the basin. And polish the mirrors too I think. I only do half the shower.

The bathroom floor is bugging me. It hasn't been cleaned properly for a long time. I get me a cloth, some water and some gumption. Hands and knees job to get into the corners I think.

Done.

Pizza for dinner tonight. I download the Dominos app so I can use that. I order for delivery. Dang. A minimum charge. But I don't feel like going out so I upgrade the order to include some sides. Couple bottles of softdrink and dessert.

Census time. I wasn't going to but I decide to fill it out online. Wow. Much easier than paper. I did it mid afternoon so my worry that the site would be bogged down was unfounded.

Time for a little WoW before I head off to bed.

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Wednesday is lovely too. I think I'll take Fred for a walk. I've got a winning Magnum stick to 'cash' in and a dvd voucher. I'll collect them while I'm out. Hook up Fred and he walks himself. Technically speaking he's on a lead.... but he's being a bit silly at the lights. Elder is trying to get him to sit before he crosses the road. But he's sitting for a brief time then getting up and dancing around. On the road. Stupid dog.

We make it up the road and I hook him to the pole while I get the dvds and icecream. A family comes along when I unhook him and he's too distracted to come back to me so I can rehook him. Stuipid dog. Then he spends the rest of the walk home dagging about waiting for his turn at the icecream. He would be walking backwards if he could.

He gets the last couple of mouthfuls but I don't feel like walking him again.

Oh! And look! It's another winning stick.

I settle in for an afternoon of dvds and chat with my sibling Froggy. What shall I watch first? Sucker Punch since it's an overnighter. Then I watch I Am Number 4. And follow that with The Rite.

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Thursday is shopping day. Budget and grocery lists take up some time in the morning. And I have SUCH A HEADACHE! It's making me sick to the stomach. Sinus. First one I have had for ages and ages. Luckily, today the nurofen seems to be doing it's job.

The shopping is a little more difficult than I thought. Calculator in one hand, list and pen in the other and I drive the trolly with my wrists. Good stuff. Think I'll shop in only one place today instead of splitting it into two. Sheesh the price of chicken thighs has gone up a bit. I wander down to the chicken shop but no, they are just as bad if not a little more. I head for the butcher. His are $9.99 a kilo.

I'm loading the groceries into the car boot and I am wondering which bag the lad put the eggs in. I wasn't watching.

I'm unpacking and I realise the eggs aren't there. Sigh. $2.71 for a dozen eggs I won't get back. I'm home now and can't be bothered going back for them.

I go back for a second watching of Number 4. I really enjoy the movie but it helps that my second favourite actor is in it. I watch the bloopers twice for the same reason. *mmmm timothy olyphant*

Second movie of the day is Season of the Witch. Witches, Aliens, Demons, Action. Not a girlie movie in sight....

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Friday and ..... OMG who put me on a ship? I get up and the room is moving. Hello vertigo. It seems to level out when I sit still. I am not doing much today. *dammit. sheldon is still in a stupid mood and now he's knocked over the clothes basket. i think. i've not checked yet. yes. yes he has. luckily he's not trapped so i'm leaving where he is*

Froggy tries to convince me I have picked up a virus. Lots of weird little symptoms. Perhaps it is Dr time.

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Saturday isn't any better.

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Neither is Sunday. It suddenly dawns on me that perhaps it's my sinus. It did happen after all after the headache. And I've not had to clear my throat of gunk in the morning for a while. Hmmmm. But I might still need the Dr appointment. It's been a week now and no progress in the healing of my stress indicator. In fact it might even be worse. I can usually treat this with cortisone cream but you can't just buy this over the counter any more. *in the interests of tmi, my stress indicator is eczma. or a form of dermatitis. on my hands. bad.*

I do a load of washing and catch up on my recorded viewing. I'm a couple of episodes behind on A Game of Thrones and Torchwood: Miracle Day. I'm really enjoying these.

I decide I want nachos for lunch. And I can't find the corn chips. Looks like another thing got left behind at the supermarket. Sigh. I head out and buy some eggs and corn chips.

I'm in the rumpus room playing WoW. Finally. I no sooner log on to chat with some guild mates when I find a message on my phone. It's been in the other room. A request from Elder to join her questing ... on WoW. I log off and change realms. It occupies me for an hour or so. She knocks off to go pack and get ready for tomorrow.

Gosh. Time for bed already. Wow... So much for two solid weeks of that!

Monday, August 08, 2011

This week dragged a little while I waited for the weekend.

Trying to train one of the GTs to do part of my work when I go on leave. Heh, he keeps dodging the bullet so to speak. It's getting to late in the week and I tell him he'd better make it a priority or he might just find himself at work on Monday with no clue as to what to do. He pays some attention and has a go at doing some of the task. I speak to his supervisor and on Friday he's doing the work and asking some questions. I answer them as best I can.

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Zman tells me one morning that he's on his way. Great timing, MOTH is 'busy' so we wait a little while. Off up the road and as we come around the corner the way is blocked by ... a fire engine. Our road is narrow and particularly windy so we can't quite see past it. A car comes down the road and past the engine. Wait! Another one. Tch, why is everyone on the road this morning? Oh right, cause we're a little late, right? The fireman directs us that we can go past and off we go. And now there is a garbage truck and a couple other cars slowing us down. Never rains, does it...

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MOTH is heading away on Sunday to visit his friend up north. We need to sort out what sort of things he might need to take with him. I thought he'd done this but apparently on Saturday afternoon I discovered he hadn't. He assures me that the clothes will be dry by the time he's ready to pack them. Ok, fair enough. He puts the load on. It finishes and I end up pegging it out for him. He brings it in that afternoon and guess what, it's dry. Bah.

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We are up at 6am on Sunday so he can catch the train. We're going from our local station and the only train we can catch that will have us there in time for baggage check in is ... 0703. Sigh. I'm standing in the train when I take this shot at 0645. What a time to be out and about on a Sunday!


We make the train in good time and we're on our way. Early of course. His train does't pull out till 0900. MOTH has been booked a triple berth for the trip. Much quicker to fly up there but the two day train trip in a triple berth sleeper is $157 return. Can't complain about that. Actually the trip is about 26 hours. He hopes he doesn't get a berth mate or two. But he does as the other bloke boards at the same time. MOTH signals to me that I can leave but I intend to stay until the train departs. I tell him that I need to make sure he actually leaves. He laughs at me through the window. Glad I did stay because this pulled into the platform not long after MOTH's train left.


I took this particular shot from my departure platform while I waited for my train home. Passengers were loaded for this one but they weren't headed to their original destination due to track work. They ended up doing a city circuit instead. I don't think it really mattered to the passengers!

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The house feels really empty when I get back home. Very quiet. I amuse myself by making noise. I stripped my bed and changed the sheets. Remade the single bed which has been sitting unmade for several weeks now. Finished off the folding. Stripped the queen guest bed. Put away dishes, finished cleaning up the cat pee and changing the litter trays. Yes, forgot to mention that before. Sunday morning bright and early when I go to clean out the cat trays I notice that one of them has missed. Wonderful, and I don't have time to clean up properly. Sigh. Pets. Who'd have them.

But where was I? Oh yes, finished that off. Moved the spare tv from the dining area to MOTH's study. Still need to get a set top box for that one yet. Dumped the recycling that everyone seems to leave on the bench. And on the table. Whew. Tired. I head for a nap. Aaannnnd I've forgotten to get something out of the freezer for dinner. I decide to head up the road for takeaway. Yay! I can do that now.

Munch that in front of the tv. That can't be a good thing - I realise I've eaten the lot instead of only half of it. Suddenly Bones is on and I realise I must have dozed off. Finish watching Bones and head off to a too big bed. But at least I only have to make half of it in the morning!

Monday, August 01, 2011

Whoa? Where did today go?

Not much to rap about this week.

Sometime last week - alas I forgot to take notes - as we headed to the station, a small car zipped past us to wait at the lights. Couldn't miss it really. A small car, square or boxy in shape. Twin exhausts, chrome mags. Body kit. And the most beautiful fuscia colour I've ever seen on a car. Glossy and polished to the max. Driven by a bloke I might add....

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We read damnyouautocorrect.com. Hilarious. Typos and autocorrects offered by smartphones. Mostly iPhones. One of them corrected 'fuscia' to 'f*ckweasel'. I've never been able to look at fuscia coloured things the same way since.

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So MOTH has made his plans and we're looking at a train trip. Much much less expensive than flying but it will take two days travel. But, it seems I can't book it online. Ah well, any excuse for a trip into the city.

We get in and lo! The travel train office is shut. Annnnd we've missed it by about 15 minutes. What a stupid time to open. Open at 0830, close at 1010. On a Saturday. Sheesh!

Which leaves me kinda anxious but hey, might as well make a day of it.

Thongs. MOTH wants new thongs. Where are we going to go? Dunno. I get antsy when I'm in the city with a group though. No forethought and everyone seems to mill about waiting for someone else to take charge. Look in David Jones. It's my treat and he just about faints at the price of the shoes. For heaven's sake man! Don't look at the price! You'll never find a pair if you are bent on only paying $5! Leather thongs just aren't in that price range.

Eventually he finds a pair in Betts. Black leather, slightly padded. And on sale for half price - $40. He settles for those.

We browse through Myer. I'm wanting to check out a new line of cosmetics but their website says there is only one supplier in our state. We've looked around the centre, but can't find anything. I'm betting it's a boutique spot in Myer itself. They pooh pooh me but I drag them to look. And what do you know. There it is.

Pricey! Whoo! $62 for a palette of 6 shadows I think. The colours are lovely though now that I can see them in real life.

Lunch time. Chicken and avocado toasted sandwiches and iced chocolate for me and Elder, fish and chips for MOTH. Followed by a turkish delight latte. He approves.

I book the train tickets over the phone when I get home.

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We're going for a walk and taking Fred. But Elder isn't out of bed. MOTH is. I talk him into going to a shopping centre that's a bit of a drive away. We leave and I text Elder to let her know.

We stop for a drink. I decide to buy a cover for my phone. Dang, the one I really like is $55 and I can't justify that. I choose another. Almost as expensive, but has some bling and some snakeskin pattern. Looks good.

Home and it's lunch time. I coax Elder out from under the blankets - she's awake but chatting to a friend on Skype. Our downloads have gone crazy. Apparently using video on Skype chews the bandwidth. Who would have thought? Not Elder apparently....

We walk Fred and get as far as across the road and there are a couple of kids chasing a guinea pig in the bushes. It's not theirs apparently, but it's definitely escaped from somewhere. Elder helps them for a while to try to herd it out from cover but it defeats them. The kids head home for lunch and we continue up the road.

Elder cashes in the free magnum winning stick and I purchase two more. No winners there. Dang.