Coffee with sugar.

I know I put sugar in that. Where did it go? Ohhhh, just dawned on me I didn't check the grind settings...

I didn't take notes, thinking to myself, oh I'll remember that. I should have known better. I've been forgetting so many things lately. I'm not sure if it's just an old age thing or if it's the shadow of the Dog. My sibling would have me believe it's old age, but it's gotten to the point where I feel it's beginning to affect work performance. Oops!

.... Admin2 has just phoned me. She's on holidays. She's offered me her ice break coffee drink she's left in the fridge so it doesn't go to waste...

A day for coffee.

Had my first First Aid Officer encounter this week. And it wasn't even one of ours. One of the general ITS staff was over this way and looking for a first aid kit. He'd cut the top of his finger with a stanley knife. No problem. An antiseptic wipe, pressure, bandaid and one for spares. Away he went.

OH&S day at work today. We have a questionnaire to complete about ergonomically setting up our workspace. I think I meet in most things, however it's difficult to get the correct angle between shoulder and forearm when you are ..... fun sized. If I get the angle right for leg/feet placement using a foot stool, I'm not tall enough for the arm angle. And the chair doesn't lift any higher. But wait! If I did that, I'd lose on the leg angle. Ah well. It's a bit of a conundrum.

Assessment is done but I didn't mark the boxes with ticks. Oh. Seems we were supposed to do that, get it signed and return it. Apparently I'm not the only one - they've given us extra time to get the form back.

I went with MOTH to visit with the Baby Sitters Club. It's been a while and I told one of the daughters that I would be there. Haven't seen her for a while. We are planning a bbq for the coming weekend and time is getting away from me. Apparently MOTH and I are hosting it, as a belated birthday gathering for Stanley. We were thinking there would be about *whoops! update - 11* of us but the number has dropped a bit. Wombat and his wife may not be there as he thinks he may have a gig. *all this after whinging for a couple of weeks that he didn't get an invitation. a written one that is* and Stanley's daughter may not be able to make it after all.

Still, I'm looking forward to it. I think I will be generous and let MOTH use the bbq this time.

While we are there, Wombat suddenly points out the crowd that has gathered. They're here to visit with Santa. He recalls when he used to do it there were no photos and no chair. Santa walked through the shopping centre and handed lollies to the kids. You can't do that these days!

The bell starts ringing and Santa slowly comes in. He has an entourage today. Cap'n Jack, Fiona, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. They arrive together, much to the kid's delight, then Santa goes to his chair and the others continue on. To the gingerbread house me hearties! *doesn't have the same ring, does it*

I don't recall much else has happened this week. Just the usual going crazy with stress at work. If only I could find some way to make my wage without actually working....

Someone's gonna do it

Yes, occasionally I do have "someone else" at my place who will do things. Not often, but occasionally.

I think I gave that someone a small mention in my last post. The litter tray checker is the Elder. Hopeless at remembering she has to unpack the dishwasher, but often remembers to check the litter tray.

The dishwasher seems to be Burrich. His job is to stack the dishwasher and kick it off before bed. Hers is to unpack it the next morning. Although I have set the dishes job to both of them it's usually he who remembers and she forgets entirely.

Things haven't panned out the way the Teen was hoping they might. At the moment she's living with Harry and his parents while she waits for a friend to relocate close by so they can share. It seems that the friend is having second thoughts and may not relocate at all. The rumour mill has it that some ex-friends of Teen's have been buzzing in her friend's ear against the move and the Teen. This upsets Teen greatly as friend has a small child and Teen feels the mosquitoes do not have the best interests of the child at heart.

On a brighter note, I did find out that her Christmas employment is actually permanent full time.

But again, on the whole "not catching an even break" side of things, it seems she may have to relocate back home as the arrangement with Harry was purely temporary.

Wednesday I had off work after coming down with a nasty head cold. I slept a fair bit that day. I can't take pseudoephadrine, so have to wait for the homeopathic remedy from the Chemist to kick in. It can take a couple of days.

Thursday was much the same.

Friday I was supposed to take MOTH to have an ECG done. I was still too claggy to leave the house and join the great unwashed. The Elder dropped her plans and went along with him. He has the printouts but needs to make an appointment with his GP for the final results. There is still some back flow and things might be getting to the point where something may need to be done. Not bad really, considering he had the heart attack at least 10 years ago now with no surgery required before now.

The weekend dawns overcast with showers forecast. It doesn't take long for the showers to become storms. One in the morning. One in the afternoon. A quick break and then another.

Sunday follows a similar pattern with one in the morning and a severe one in the late afternoon. We hear reports of hail in other areas; I think we manage a couple of stones about marble size. Nothing exciting there.

Burrich makes a comment over my shoulder about the afternoon light. I look out the window - there is an eerie red tint to the afternoon. I take a couple of pictures to see if I can catch it. I can't. Not really.

Being holed up with a stuffy head and lots of rain has been a good time to settle in to watch movies. I think I've managed to rack up the hiring of at least 8 dvds. Thank goodness for discount vouchers!

I've not watched them all, but I've made do with Battleship *better than i thought but not amazing* Pirates *an aardman animation which was great fun* The Hunger Games *enjoyable and even though he's not a main player, boy Donald Sutherland's character is not pleasant* .... and would you believe I can't remember the others!

Except Daniel Radcliffe's The Woman in Black. I saw this one at the cinema and thought it atmospheric. I had hoped to watch it with Elder and Burrich. In the dark. But they both piked so I only watched a part of it. Damn them all *shakes fist*

But since I piked before I got really spooked the action started, I still slept well. Yay for lingering head colds that make me sleepy!

So I've been reading....

... a few other blogs and now I'm distracted. I'm sure I'm not going to think of something to say today - alas, I am out of the habit of keeping notes - and I can't for the life of me think what has happened this week.

Things are still chaotic at home. Jerome and Sheldon are the best of friends. NOT! Sometimes one starts it, sometimes the other. Penny usually avoids the conflict. She is a tiny pixie of a thing, multicoloured ginger and shades of grey, long and lean with a long plumed tail. And a little squeaky meow.

Jerome has retreated down the front end of the house and rarely ventures down the back. It's odd but if they are together down the back of the house, fights rarely ensue unless play gets too rough. If they are at the front of the house, it's a completely different matter. No foreplay there! Straight into it, hammer and tongs. Jerome yowls, black fur goes everywhere and Sheldon will not leave it go but returns to begin again if you break up the fight. I'm thankful it doesn't happen all the time but when it does, it's usually several bouts in quick succession. Sheldon is becoming very familiar with the interior of the bathroom!

I love having the kids there but boy I'm getting sick of pets!

... *which reminds me, i didn't check the litter trays this morning. ah well, someone else will do it* ...

The lovely suburban area where we work has been quiet this week. The majority of the building renovations on campus have been completed. The rest of our building occupants have moved out and back to their newly refurbished offices. I went for a look. It's quiet and deserted. Everyone has packed up and left, leaving their furniture behind. The coffee van doesn't call any more. No more voices drifting up from outside. The shuttle still runs, but it's usually empty... *cue tumbleweed*

The Elder has been given her first roster. I don't know what hours she's working beyond the midnight launch of Call of Duty. She's excited. Now she needs to find her EB Games shirt from when she was working before. It's in a box ... somewhere. MOTH has shifted them all to make space under the clothes line. She knows he won't be happy that she has to move everything again.

Burrich has preordered the new Halo 4 Xbox bundle. He's looking forward to that. He gives himself a hurry along with Assassin's Creed III so he's finished in time for the Halo 4 launch. The release date is fast approaching and he's getting antsy. It's a midnight launch and he's ready to go.

Melbourne Cup this week. I didn't lay any bets. I must be one of the few Aussies who never bets on the Melbourne Cup. I just can't be bothered. Work has decided to have lunch in our office, even though the rest of ITS is having a luncheon on campus. I would have liked to have gone but even though it was only $10, I had forgotten to budget for it. *bugger* Sometimes I think that it's a bad idea to continually have our own things separate from ITS. It breaks things into an Us and Them mentality, even though we are part of that department.

Our lunch is also $10 but it can be paid later. I volunteer to bring sides instead of paying $10. The other helper was fine with this. Lunch turned out to be Nandos chicken pieces, some chips, spicy rice, corn cobettes, garden salad, potato salad, dip and crackers. The other helper thanked me for providing the extras and one of the GTs decided they got a better deal because the sides would have cost more than $10. In truth, the only extras I had to buy were the cream cheese, dip and crackers. Oh, and the jars of dressing for the potato salad since I didn't have quite enough. If I didn't restock those, I'm sure I would have made the $10 cut. Heh.

The Teen updates her Facebook status. Whoo! She has a Christmas casual job. She's excited and looking forward to it, although she's not told me a start date. I hope this turns out well for her and expands into something a little more permanent. She's working in a bottle shop. See, knew the bar experience had to count for something!

The Elder has come down with a headcold. Typical. She's been totally looking forward to going out this Friday night. Regular customers of Black Milk Clothing have been invited to a Christmas function hosted by the company. Only regular customers *dedicated purchasers are known as sharkies* can attend the Christmas party, however their partners or guests are also welcome to attend the After Party. The cold doesn't stop her from going though, but Burrich stays home.

Since she's not home, I'm up for a lazy tea that night. Well, lazy for me. Marinated chicken wings from Lenards. The marinade is Chinese honey and soy, the wingettes for want of a better word are small, not the whole wing. Zap them in the oven for about half hour or so and then dish them into bowls. Hey presto, lazy dinner. Then someone else gets to do the dishes. Whoo! Can't go wrong with that!

Another week over and I'm deeper in debt

St Peter doncha call me cause I can't go, I owe my life to the Company ... whatever that next bit is. I forget.

But it seems that is all my life is these days. Out of bed, off to work, home to cook, off to bed, out of bed, off to work and so on until the days just begin to blend one into the other.

And then I get to deviate slightly and head out to a shopping centre and discover... the Christmas decorations are up. Horror!

Elder and Burrich report to Centrelink to take some papers back and check his payment, only to discover that Centrelink has all the necessary stuff, they just need to process it. No rush, hey. It's not like it's important or anything, right? And by Elder's previous dealings, Burrich should have 'reported' that day to receive his first payment. But it's not ready and so the stress begins.

It's not helping when she tries to do her budget. So many expenses, so little budget.

Was it last week I mentioned it? Or was it early this week it happened? The devil has been visiting *i'm informed the devil's name is not Lucifer, but is actually Alzheimers. who would have thought!* and I can't remember if I mentioned it previously. Elder has managed to pick up some Christmas casual work. She had delivered her paperwork and hopefully will be able to start soon. She's very happy with this. Although it is retail, it's in the realm of her dream job. She's back with EB Games.

The stress continues when she's informed that the person who is looking after her dog Heffe can no longer do so. I'm desperate not to say "I told you so" but it had been suggested that this would happen. Now she needs to decide if she can afford a boarding kennel.

She's resumed her house hunting, although she has informed me that the funds she had been relying on have all been used. Maybe they can qualify for a rental bond loan. She won't know still she investigates. She's emailed some realtors about some properties and is somewhat put out to find the replies have all gone to her junk mail box. Not only that, when she goes to open one of the messages, they all delete and don't appear in the deleted folder. Uh oh.

I've come home from work and the bbq is missing from it's spot. Oh, there it is. It's been moved into the gazebo. And the wheel had dropped off. Well, at least the boards from my planter have come in handy for something!

Inspection is coming up soon and MOTH has dug the karcher out of the garage. He's busily hosing off the entertainment area. Gosh what a difference! He's hosed the cement and the plastic furniture and it's amazing! Even Elder got out and had a play with the hose.

The airconditioning has been playing up a bit. Well, the fan goes and it blows air but not cooling. The sparky comes for a look and decides the capacitor needs replacing. He does that and all is good.

It's all happening this week. Now the drain in the kitchen sink is running really slowly. It's a double sink and it backs up and both sinks fill and drain slowly. We have put drain cleaner down several times but nothing is making a difference. MOTH pulls the pipe apart and though it is coated with goop, it's not enough to block the drain. It looks like we will have to get the plumber in for a look as the blockage must be much further down where we can't go. Never rains but it pours, right?

Burrich is on cooking duty tonight. Home made lasagne. Nice one! I make dessert, MOTH's favourite. Lemon sago and custard. Dinner is ready early and Burrich seems a little disappointed. Not his best effort he says. I don't mind, it tastes great to me. Elder suggests it's the oven. A little hit and miss is our oven. You can't always guarantee the results. But at least I didn't have to cook it, right?