Steam-Powered Chris Isaak & Computer!

Hi!

Well. A little late. I had every good intention of checking in yesterday evening but my poor little computer was tied up updating and backing itself up. It took allllllll day and I was scared to interrupt it because I’d already seen the blue screen of death twice. I think we’re nearly there….. Once everything is backed up and I can get stuff off its mind, then it should be able to play nicer, kinda like people! But here we are – the evening is lovely and cool (finally), the lorikeets are out there chattering away at full steam, I think they like the weather too. It’s the end of March and it’s only now finally starting to cool off. Hooray! Sadly, no jazz tunes or awkward show tunes radio show. But got the cool glass of white wine (same as last week, I think I may have found a keeper), life is good!

So work. Yep. Still pretty quiet. I’ve been thrown a couple teeny little busy-work/babysitting things and I hear there might be something to edit in a few weeks, but I won’t know until it lands on my desk like a pile of bricks. So until then they have me doing a couple little things. Ok. Whatever it takes to keep the day moving along!

And then there was the weekend. Saturday was chores galore. It’s always good when the little apt is clean, not that it ever gets that bad. One of my tasks this weekend was to start my list of things to sell on eBay, but with the poor little computer struggling to update itself I couldn’t. But once I get some of the things sold, I can streamline even more! Hooray! Not that I have that much stuff, I’ve been pretty good, ‘course, I have no space for anything so I’ve had no choice. But it’ll be good to have a slight change of scenery and if I can make a bit of dough too, even better! So yes, it was chores all day before I could go to the Chris Isaak concert with Kim over at Riverstage (my fave venue ever!)! Well. We had really good seats but they were too good because we were so close but off to the side so when the show started everyone stood up and we couldn’t see squat. Being short doesn’t help at all. So I just sat in my seat, listening, getting a glimpse now and then and drank my little plastic cup of wine. The show (music) was pretty good, as always, but it was pretty much the exact same show I saw a few years ago and the same show Kim saw a couple of years ago, from the audience banter to the set list. And this show I think they were way low on steam, they seemed tired and beat, and again, like last times, this was their last stop before heading back to the US. So while the weather was perfect, the crowd was good (minus the standing idiots), the show was just ok. Now I love Chris Isaak, but after these shows, meh, I might not knock myself out to see him again. Maybe give it a few more years for him to shake up the set list and come up with new banter! He even needs to update his website too from the looks of things! Hmmm.

And then Sunday. Computer maintenance day and basically not much else, sadly. But it has to be done because spending a few weekends cleaning it all up is a lot cheaper than buying a whole new computer! So there you go. Kind of boring and exciting all in one. Mainly boring, but there it is. Gotta save for NZ in a few weeks!

So, hope you’re all well up there. Drop a line and tell me your news! And let me know when you’ve booked your tickets to come visit because heaven knows I ain’t coming back up there for a while! Time for folks to c’mon down and visit me on my patch for once! Hooray!

BYE!
J!

eReading Romance Novels Over Lasagna

Hi!

Well. Sunday evening, yet again. They just keep coming around with alarming regularity. Funny how when you're on vacation you never know what day it is and no one day is like another. But when you work (or don't as the case may be), every day is pretty much the same, the only difference being its name and place in the weekly scheme of things. Hmmmm. A slightly pensive start to be checking in with, but the weather has dictated it. It's been raining and drizzly and grey all weekend. Little warm, but not unbearable. Tho later this week it's supposed to go back to being unbearable.... This is meant to be autumn for cryin' out loud! Summer just can't let go. It's just mad because it wasn't as awful as it was last year, so it's trying to make up for it by hanging around. Autumn can come any day now! But I digress. Checking in just in time for the strange show tunes radio show - today it's tunes from Dr. Who (the longest running science fiction TV show ever, according to the DJ, with theme song written by an Australian. There you go.) and Star Trek (which include some awkward but inevitable William Shatner and Leonard Nemoy "songs")! Told you it was a wierd show! But at least it makes me laugh. And the birds are sort of out there chattering away, tho they're a bit muted. It's the warm damp and the rain. Still, we have our cool glass of white wine, Semillion Sav Blanc, courtesy of Rosemount Estate and, well, life is good!

So work. Yep. Still pretty quiet. I've offered my editing savvy to the bid/proposal folks I'm supposed to be helping on a bid coming up, but I've been told (more than once) that that's why they hired <some outside agency> to do everything, including the editing, and thank you but no they don't need my help just now. Go away. So, in other words, I'm still without much to do. Thankfully friends have thrown some editing my way, which is way awesome. I was thinking I might rattle the cage of my little DTP biz that I didn't quite get off the ground and see if I can't drum up some work on the side, just to keep my hand in it. And nonono, it won't conflict with work in the slightest. I don't know how it could, but I'll make sure of that. Otherwise, work is good, if not dead quiet. I'm happy - quiet or not!

And then there was the weekend. Well, go back a sec, I had Wednesday off (we get one day off a month if we put in the few extra hours) to supervise the installation of another fire alarm in my dumpy little apartment. Not sure why because we already have one hard-wired. I'm gonna guess it doesn't work (how long hasn't it???! I wonder, nervously) which is why they sent a guy to nail a battery operated one up to the ceiling next to it. Hmmm. And you know me and my trust issues with strangers coming in to my place unsupervised.... So I had the day off. It was pretty good actually, even if it was mid-week. I caught up on sleep and got lots done! I've been editing my neighbor's romance novel that she's going to send to Mills & Boon to be published (soooo cheesy but so much fun to write - and she says people buy this crap!), so she made me a way awesome lasagna for dinner as a thank-you. That was pretty nice and really good. Hooray for editing = food!

Ok, back to the weekend. What little of it there was. It was pretty dull. Saturday it rained all day and I couldn't be bothered doing much at all, so I sat and watched "Doc Martin" all day. Such a good show with great characters and creative little story lines. Kind of reminds me of a British "Northern Exposure" in a sort of way..... Fish out of water story, I love those. And that was the day. Nice in a dull, rained-in kind of way!

And today I at least got the ironing done and finished the edits on her romance novel, well, the first 3 chapters she's written so far. Again, I couldn't be bothered doing much at all this weekend. It's the weather. Next weekend I'll be more productive. Next Saturday is the Chris Isaak concert! Hooray! He's awesome! Have any of you gone out to see him yet like I told you to the last time I saw him???? Huge fan or not, I highly recommend going to see him - it's a gooooood night out. Plus, the drummer Kenny is my friend Katie's cousin - support the family, in a disconnected, unrelated kinda way....!

So there you have it. Another dull and quiet weekend breathes its last. Again. Saving for fun and Adventures, I tell you! No more spending until May, at least. Oh yeah, another reason no spending, I bought myself an early birthday present, something I've had my eye on for a few months now after having done my research (and discovering you can't find them anywhere now due to a shortage of production and too-high a demand) - a Sony eReader, the latest model, in red, with a 6 inch screen...... It's the bomb! Still trying to work it all out, especially how to get books from libraries, but a gal at work has a similar eReader, so will ask her for hints tomorrow..... It's soooooooooo cool! I can have so many books in one place! Some you have to buy, obviously, but a lot are public domain, so are free. Cooool! Hello more reading in more places! It's really cool and I'm pretty happy I got it. Yeah yeah yeah, I know there are iThings out there that do similar and more things than this, but this won't burn my eyeballs out of my skull like an LCD screen will. Nor does it cost me money as far as internet goes because it doesn't do it, which is fine because I have a computer at work or at home or on my cell phone...... I think that's plenty. I just want to read! Oh, plus it'll play mp3's and show photos, tho only in black and white, which is kinda cool too. The type of screen it is, "e-ink", makes photos look like old tin or glass negative photographs from the 1900's. They just have this strange depth and quality to them..... It's neat. So yes, no more spending! Must save for trip and debt!

So there you are. Go see Chris Isaak if he comes to a town near you. Buy a plane ticket and come down here and visit dammit. And drop a line and let me know how you all are! Hope you're well! Let me know if you need directions to get from the airport to town!

BYE!
J!

Elderly Computer Edits the Chores

Hi!

Well. Here we are…. Little late. Time just got away from me this weekend. I got really busy cleaning out closets and throwing out (donating) stuff. Plus it was stinking hot and humid, and by the end of the day I was too tired and dirty to think. Plus, it stayed hot until late in the day and I couldn’t put my elderly little computer through that. So yes, that’s why we’re checking in today. But, the afternoon isn’t nearly as gross as yesterday, tho no groovy jazz tunes, the lorikeets are sure out there – they’ve come back from wherever they go for the worst of the summer. I love how they pick their branch for the night and chatter manically away for about an hour as the sun sets. I sure wish I knew what they were talking about so excitedly. But here we are – got my nice glass of red wine – Hardy’s Merlot, the old standby, a lovely sunset, chattering lorikeets – life is good!

So work. Yep. Ticking along. Still without a whole heck of a lot to do, am slowly but surely going through the website finding things to update, but as far as any real editing, nothing……… Which is kind of a shame, but I don’t mind. Lots of other things to keep me busy, mainly immigration paperwork kinda stuff. And studying for an accreditation exam from the Institute of Professional Editors…. Still haven’t decided if I’m going to do it ($600+), but studying can’t hurt. So yeah, work is good, if not quiet. As always, dreading the day when they dump a week’s worth of editing on me demanding that it be done in a 20 hour marathon, as has happened repeatedly in the past, apparently. Yeah, dreading that. Otherwise, all’s well at my desk!

And then the weekend. Pretty quiet for the most part. Chores, cleaning, donating stuff I don’t wear or use anymore… This is, what, the second time this year (or at least in the last 6 months) I’ve thrown stuff out? Wow. Am only just one girl, am not a clothes or shoe horse, and I have absolutely no storage in my little apartment whatsoever. So how I can find like 5 bags worth of stuff to toss out so far this year, I have no idea. And I don’t buy stuff. And to think, I have a long list of stuff I want to sell on eBay! What the?! But that stuff I want to sell is a TV stand, bookshelves (want to consolidate TV stand and bookshelves into one unit), my couch (want a leather one), scooter gear I haven’t worn since, well, selling my wee scooter (sniffsniff, I still kind of miss it… but not the danger element), and anything else I’m tired of the look of and want to make dough from. I will conquer eBay!

So yeah. That was the week and the weekend. Dull, yes, but wait – relief is at hand! Yes, I’ve booked An Adventure for a week at the end of April…… visiting friends in New Zealand (Auckland)! Ok, so it’s not an Adventure as per my standard Adventure guidelines, I’ve been there before and pretty much swore I’d never go back even if I was dead. But I miss Catherine and Paul, haven’t seen them in yeeeeears, and because we get almost a week off for Easter and Anzac Day (hooray for Jesus and wars!). So I thought what the heck, I’ll go say hi. So that’s really going to be pretty exciting in its own way.

So there you are. Hope you’re all well up there and surviving natural disasters as they happen on opposite sides of the earth… poor Japan. Hurry and get a flight down here before a chunk of South America breaks off and clobbers Australia!

BYE!

J!

Steak with Strauss...!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. Sunday early evening. Missed last week - it was a busy weekend and couldn't make it in time....... But am here now! The evening is cool and very breezy, a nice change from what it's been - rain and hothothot. The birds are out there gasbagging away. Crows, they're like frat guys and they don't shut up. The lorikeets are returning with the cooler weather, which of course means they'll be waking me up before my alarm. Although we're now into Autumn, so I might just beat them to the alarm..... And yes, tonight's goofy show tunes show seems to be moody soundtracks to depressing movies... ooops, spoke too soon, now they've gone into some Gwenyth Paltrow warbling tune.... hmm. What a weird show this is. Maybe that's why they have the groovy jazz show on right after, to redeem the preceding show. Hmmm. And yes, there's the glass of wine, red this evening, Hardys RR cabernet sauvignon, because it's actually cool enough to drink red wine. It's not bad really, an old standard stand-by. So yes, we have the wine, the breeze and almost time for groovy jazz tunes - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Still not a whole lot to do, but I have a plan to try and get my name on some kind of "global list" of editors within Boeing (if one exists) where hopefully I can help other bid/proposal editors around the world (providing I can speak the language), who might need a hand if they have too much work. We'll see. Otherwise, all's well. We have a new young gal starting tomorrow, she's taking the place of one of the pregnant gals who's gone away to have her first kid. So next week should be interesting. Hooray I won't be the new kid anymore!

And then the weekend(s). Last weekend was really quite good. Saturday I met my friend Jan for dinner at The Fox pub, in their Smokehouse restaurant, which was an American southern-style steak and rib place. Meh, I had the pulled pork, the BBQ sauce was waaaaaaaay too sweet and waaaaaaaay too much of it. The teeny, most cutest piece of cornbread I've ever seen was soaked in butter, it was like a butter sponge, I couldn't eat it, and I can eat cornbread like a gal starved in the desert. And the coleslaw was basically cabbage and pure mayonnaise - Yuck. So I have to say that that dinner was a fail. But catching up with Jan is always fun. And then we were off to the QPAC (Qld Performing Arts Centre) and their Concert Hall to go see the Johann Strauss Ensemble. It was really really good, but then I love that kind of stuff. I must go to those kinds of shows more often. I always feel smarter after a show like that.... hmmmm. It was such a good night out!

And Sunday I met my friend Dom at the Belgian Beer Cafe for a couple glasses of, well, Belgian beer, and then we were off to catch up with his friend Charlie before he headed out for 2 weeks in Mexico. Needless to say the evening went way too late and there was way too much wine involved for a school-night. Which is why I couldn't check-in that evening. And Monday, well, I was just too tired at work to think "creatively", which is basically why I'm checking in this weekend. Just can't party on a school night like I usedtacould!

And then there was this weekend. Pretty much the polar opposite of the previous weekend. A few chores, napping, reading, a few DVD's, and lots and lots of computer maintenance. My poor little laptop. It's 5&1/2 years old now, ancient by today's computer geeks. It's still going strong tho (after it's brain transplant last year), if not slow. I really shouldn't have to buy a new computer......... But computer's today have faster, well, everything...... That is a purchase for a later date........ ssshhhhhh.......... I don't want it to know I'm thinking of looking, it'll die and then I'll really be in trouble.........

And that's about that! Not a lot to report unfortunately, but that's how it is at the moment. Remember how I said I wanted to do at least one interesting/fun thing a month this year? Well, even little Strauss concerts count. And this month's fun will be to go see Chris Isaak (again)! And then come April, well, nothing scheduled yet, maybe I'll do that indoor rock climbing course I've been wanting to do.....??? Will keep you posted! Otherwise, I hope you're all well up there! As you know I have no vacation time until sometime next year, and even then I'm heading over to England, so if you want to catch up, well, you'll just have to come to me for once! Hurry before the gas prices start to affect planes, if they haven't already!

BYE!
J!