Monday, August 25, 2014

Past your bedtime girl!

Just lately Niece has begun to get sneaky. I guess most teenagers are sneaky. I've found out she has a boyfriend. And they've been getting into trouble at school for writing letters and holding hands. Tonight she's busy drawing. It engrossed her long enough to miss her bed time. She's normally pretty rigorous about that. And then she hides what she's been doing when I tell her it's bed time. Now I'm pretty sure that whatever she's hiding has to do with the boyfriend. I'm finding it difficult to bite my tongue, especially since I am not supposed to know about said boyfriend. Now I'm sure that my teenagers weren't saints, but they weren't so blatantly obvious that they were sneaking. I nearly always found out though! But since they were a bit more compos mentis I also might not have minded so much.

Either that, or I'm getting old and cranky. Certainly something about this particular teenager is setting me on edge.

Knowledge of the boyfriend came from Tee, with a request that I not say anything as that might jeopardise any chance that Niece will tell her anything in the future. Yes, I agree, but boy is it annoying!

Finally I get word from the temp panel that there is a position opened up that I might be suited for. If I get it, I would start on Monday. *today* Oh, they are 'chatting' to another about the position. One of them seems stuck on "academia" but I am not sure what he's getting at. I have worked in a University, "academia" is no different from any other section of the uni, despite what they may think. I don't get the position.

But that might be just as well. I have girded my loins and enrolled in full time study. The course starts Monday. *today* It looks like they would like at least one assessment piece each week to conclude the study on time. There are also role playing modules, and a presentation module. OMG I hate those. So terrified of doing anything like that. Always have been and always will be.

There's an odd noise I can hear. I think it's from outside. Something seems to be scuffling outside the screen door. And now the screen is rattling. Jerome gets low and rushes to the doorway. I follow. Aaaaannnnnd it's the brush turkey, pecking at the door and investigating the mop and bucket just outside. Silly turkey.

I really want to go to Oz Comic-Con. Really. The fact that Orlando Bloom is making an appearance has nothing to do with it! Really. Jason Momoa will be there! It's not really expensive to get in but by the time you add up the cost of the autographs and photos... But then again, it's the same for Supanova I guess. For something to do I look at the website to see if they have volunteers. Yes! They do. Sooooo, guess what I do. And a couple of short days later I receive an email to say I've been accepted. w00t! *ahem. nope. not excited at all* We shall see how volunteering there compares. It's a little different already in that there is no pre event orientation for me to attend. And they'll give me an autograph token for one of the guests of their choosing. Be interesting to see who I get.

Now I just need to try and get saving so I can afford autographs of the ones I want!

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Dear Diary, it's been a while since my last entry...

Well. Learned something new. I use a mouse, not the touchpad on the laptop. And look at that! Apparently the touchpad uses gestures. I did not realise this! Fast learner, me.

The only reason I found out it uses gestures is that it stopped working. *screech* I popped the lid open and ... nothing. Black screen with a white mouse pointer. ARRRRGH! It's only about twelve months old. I turn it off. And on. No change. Repeat process about three times. Well. Dammit. I disconnect it from the AC plug. Nope. Nothing. I unhooked the AC connection from the laptop. More than once. And nope, nothing again. Well, heck. What now? I drag out the manual. Oh! Look! The trackpad uses gestures. Huh. But no help as to the problem. Ummm. What next? MOTH has taken over the driver's seat and is trying the things I have already done. Nothing again. I'm trying to see what the status lights mean. There's one on hard *all the time* but I can't see what it is. Then there's the power light. And one that seems to be the disk light. Wireless. Caps lock. Num lock. And what's that one? I can't see the symbol properly. The manual is no help at all. Eventually I decide that the only other option is to pop out the battery. MOTH is still in the driver's seat so he takes it out. I have to tell him where it is. And it works. Thank heavens for that! I'm breathing a lot easier now.

It's been a rough few weeks. Niece has begun the process of "settling in" I believe. Her demeanor has changed; she's surly more often. She lies around not doing much. Her behaviour and manners are becoming inappropriate more frequently. Suddenly she's angry at something *i suspect a cat* and suddenly has a face like a thunder cloud. Tee *her companion. have i mentioned her before??* doesn't know what to do. I kid her out of it, but I'm not impressed. Her jobs are becoming "half arsed". She's beginning to roll her eyes when she's asked to do something. She's stopped taking notice of her grooming. Her hair is no longer done neatly and she gets cranky if I make her redo it. Siiiiigh. All these things Ma told me she does and I thought I was escaping.

Moose arrives and we drive out to the airport to collect her. I'm excited because I don't get to see her often. Our plans are to check out the renovations at a nearby shopping centre, and hit the Ekka. We visit the shopping centre. It has expanded quite considerably, taking over some of the parking. It looks like something that should exist in the city, in a plaza somewhere. Shiny black walls, lots of glass, gold touches. Very upmarket. When MOTH and I stop here we hit the butcher in the food market and order from the hot box. It's always something different, but it's all been good. Moose seems to enjoy her wagu beef burger.

Friday we go to the Ekka. If you pre-purchase your tickets you can get discounted rail travel to and from the event. I like this. And not only that, but if you show your ticket you can get a 30% discount on a return day pass for any other day of the event. Yesss! I know that either Elder or Burrich will be going so I purchase them a ticket. Moose and I look at the animals but don't go through the baby farm. We're more interested in the cat show. That's sponsored by Whiskas and they have a brief information session where you can find out a little about the various breeds. And pat them. Love it.

I buy a dagwood dog from the kiosk just outside the animal pavillion. They have the best 'dogs. We wander briefly through the food hall. One of the stalls sells bagels. Moose has smoked salmon and avocado, mine is smoked salmon and cream cheese. They taste wonderful. We spend some money on new eyeshadow *i can be a sucker for that!* and sweet things.

Moose leaves and I have a couple days to gear up for a visit from Elder and Burrich. All three of us end up going to the Ekka and I leave them mid afternoon to enjoy the arena and night events. When MOTH picks me up from the railway station he tells me that a car in our street had been fingerprinted. Some butt wipes have stolen all four of the wheels. The owner is a young lad, still on his red P plates. This means he's had his license for less than a year. I'm angry on his behalf. How dare some low life help themselves to other people's belongings? They really need public whippings for people like that. It also means that MOTH isn't willing to leave the side gate unlocked for Elder and Burrich and we make room in the garage for them to park there car. The car with the stolen wheels is a sports car of sorts, Burrich only owns a Rio. I guess he's lucky.

Elder makes a comment about the laptop not working. And before I know it MOTH is busy telling her about how he had to remove the battery to get it to work. Now hang on a minute!

Niece is rude again. Very rude. To Burrich. Because he had the gall to be in the toilet when she wanted to go to bed. I make her apologise, she smart mouths me afterward about Burrich's response and I send her to bed with a flea in her ear along with a warning not to get up early because I would still be angry. Elder hugs me afterward and exclaims she hasn't seen me in "mum mode" for a long time and she's glad she's outgrown it!

Next morning Niece is a now show till I dig her out of bed at 10:20am. But it seems she's yelled at the neighbour to "shut up" because they were out talking to visitors on their patio. I explain to her that was very inappropriate, she should have been awake, how the heck would he know she wasn't, and he has every right to be where he was doing what he was. And then I kept her doing chores until after 3:00pm. She seemed chirpy after that, but I'm beginning to remember why and how much I hate teenagers.

Why did I take her on again ... ?