Aerating a Muggy Weekend....

Hi!

Well. Here we are, another slightly breezy, warm and very humid late afternoon. The birds have been out there twittering happily away over the last week as we've had that much rain I bet the grass looks like an over-flowing grocery store of worms and bugs = happy birds! I'm actively avoiding the strange show tunes radio show as I heard the gal say they were going to play music from all the Oscar-nominated films this year. Not sure why I'd avoid the music really, it's the Oscars I think I'm avoiding. But never mind, with my jazzy new flashy pants internet, have decided to stream radio from the SkyFM interwebs radio.... cooooolllll..... Otherwise, have the lovely cool glass of stand-by white wine. Hey, speaking of, I got the coolest thing ever to help a glass of wine...... OK, so I don't know what's it's brand name is, but it's an aerator - you hold it over the glass as you pour the wine through it and through the magic of physics and a couple of well-placed holes it sort of slurps the wine as it goes into the glass. I swear it makes such a difference. Tho the little pamphlet that came with it said it's mainly for red wine (and boy does it make a difference there), I've been trying it on white as well and I like to think it helps, tho I don't think as much. It's most excellent! The one I bought is a knock-off of the $70+ Vinturi version (which could explain why mine doesn't have a brand name)..... hey, it was $24 bucks and it does exactly the same thing and is made of glass and designed the same way (but according to the Vinturi website, they do have a separate one for white wine, different dimensions and all that... hmm). But mine is the same and it was only $24 - HA! So there you go, a fantabulous wine drinking addition!

Otherwise, apologies for not checking in last weekend. I was cranky. Super cranky. Had a cape, a mask and everything. Thought I'd spare you. Woke up cranky and stayed that way until the chores were finished. And seeing as I was still pretty cranky, I decided margaritas were needed, and by then I was well into watching season one of Mad Men (my new favorite show and coincidentally another AMC production...... same as Breaking Bad - have you watched that yet? My god you're missing out!) and lost all track of time. Cranky because my neighbors, pretty much all of them, got on my last nerves one way or another all through the weekend. Which lead to me down the fateful spiral of "do I rent and endure this shit forever, or do I buy, commute a thousand miles and be broke forever"? By the end of the weekend I had no definitive answer and considerably less tequila. But this weekend has been much better - I remembered to dust off the trusty ol' earplugs and managed to get some really good sleep (all roads lead to Rome and sleep is my Rome. If I get lost on my way there, I end up on the road to Crankyland). Tho the question still stands unanswered if I should stay here or move and go broke........ But, noisy neighbors and sleep issues aside, after 6 years, I'm still happy to be in Australia - life is good!

So work. Yep. The one job is quite good (my foster department) and the other job is not so good (biological department). And in between, no one can decide what to do with me. Tho they ever so kindly threw their yearly bonus at me to keep me placated (basically it amounted to two weeks' of pay - not complainin'). The bonus will work until I have to start drawing on it if they don't sort themselves out by the 27th of April (my expiration date with the whole company). There have been plenty of assurances from both departments but no paperwork has yet graced my desk begging for my signature. So I wait. And cautiously apply for other jobs, of which there are few. Fingers crossed the foster department can sort something out and soon. Otherwise, ultimately, am always happy to have a good job - I just wish I knew it was going to last beyond April!

And then there were the weekends. Well, you know all about last weekend and the crankiness that was successfully treated with margaritas and TV. This weekend was happily crank-free and equally productive. After having had lots of sleep, got all the chores done, caught up with friends (pizza and games!), took the car for a spin about town (Manly and Wynnum), and nearly finished season one of Mad Men. It's been a good weekend. Plus, we're nearing the end of February (gasp) and the light at the end of the hot and muggy weather tunnel is starting to shine. All is well!

And that's about that. I hope you're all well up there. I hear rumblings that my friend Gloria and her family are thinking of moving back down to this hemisphere around July sometime...... And already a good friend has settled in to Melbourne and is teaching at Monash....... Hooray! It's almost like having family being down thisaway! Now only if family really would come and visit...... eh-hem....... Anyways, drop me a line and tell me your news. Now that it's closer to cooling off, it's an even better time to book that flight down here........! Helpful links to airlines are in the side bar off to the right..... am just sayin'!

BYE!
J!
P.S. Hooray! The computer was feeling muuuuuuch better today - whew! I know the photos aren't all that exciting, but I just can't sleep knowing there're no photos to go with the little blog. So hooray for a happier and hopefully healthier computer. Now time to back up all those files................

Storming the Interwebs!

Hi!

Well. Here we are, another hot and humid afternoon..... Thankfully the afternoon storms have begun rolling in and will hopefully cool the place down, if not kill my car with "large hailstones" or so the weather bureau is predicting........ hopefully not. But here we are, a little late, apologies, but we've got a new cool glass of white wine, Watershed "Shades" Unoaked Chardonnay, I've not had it before but a coworker is a stockholder of the Watershed winery and he had a bunch on hand that he thought he'd sell cheap to us his coworkers. I'm always for trying new things and it's pretty good. Must keep an eye out for them in the booze store....... Anyways, we're here with the glass of cool white wine, a little early for the groovy jazz tunes radio show on ABC so I've got hip n' groovy jazz tunes streaming from my new fave internet radio station SkyFM, the weather is starting to turn stormy and cool, which means all the birds are out there arguing and scrambling for a dry branch (hopefully), life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Been fairly busy helping the bid guys straighten out a few hopeful bids and helping the technical publications team (my adoptive home department) with publishing technical things, including cleaning up old F/A-18 drawings, enough work that the day passes quickly. Still no closer to an answer regarding my permanency or contract so I'll just keep showing up until the pay stops (which according to my current contract is the 27th of April). Otherwise, all is good. Always happy to have gainful employment with nice folks!

And then there were the weekends. Last weekend was the usual chores..... y'know, I have seriously considered getting a cleaner to come in sometime during the week so I can have my weekends to myself, I only get two days out of 7, I'd like to spend them sitting or running around guilt-free with a "magically" clean apartment....... I know I'd never do it, but it's such a tempting thought. I know what would happen if I did get a cleaner tho - I'd clean and tidy before they came, like a dork because I certainly couldn't leave them a mess! Still tho, it's a thought.......... Anyways, did the chores Saturday so I could head over to my friend Jan's house on Sunday for lunch. She lives just outside of a little village called Dayboro, about 45 minutes north-west of town, in the "country". Her place is great - it's called Glenwood, on 40+ acres of mainly natural bushland with two smallish dams and two good-sized houses. It's not fanceee or ostentatious by any means, but all the work she's done on it (including landscaping) she's done herself over the last 25+ years, resulting in a lovely, quiet, green place, with lots of birds and critters (thankfully I didn't see any snake critters, tho I did accidentally drive over one on my way out). She wants to sell it tho, because after so many years commuting into the city she's getting tired of it. Plus, all of her family lives in or near the city. But for now it's a lovely spot and lunch was wonderful (gluten-free lasagne - mmmm!) and leisurely. She gave me a quick tour of the main bits of her property (I say quick because I wore the opposite of bush-walking wear - sandals. And as you can tell I completely forgot my good camera. Oops) and vowed that next time I visited we'd get an earlier start and she'd show me around the little village with their cool farmers market and cafes. It's so nice being out of town, but I'd have to agree that the commute would get to me too. Now, if it were a B & B...... Any takers?!? So yes, that was why I neglected to check in last weekend as by the time I got home, showered (it was hot and gross out there in nature after all) it was too late and I was too tired from all that fresh air to be able to write. But it was worth it. Jan is one of the first (and nicest) people I met when I first moved here (now 6 years as of my "Australia Birthday" on the 3rd of Feb! Gasp!) and started work at Southbank (you might remember from earlier episodes), all the while managing to keep in touch even after all the job (and apartment) changes. She's cool.

And then there was this weekend. Very quiet, very uneventful, very lazy. Didn't even do the chores except for laundry (those clothes and sheets can't wash themselves, tho I totally wish they could. Hello, Hogwarts? Harry Potter?). Oh, hey, speaking of, during the week the most magical and wondrous thing happened - I got real internet! I know! After all these years I've finally done it! I've made the actual commitment to a two-year plan. Of course, seeing as I decided to stay with my current phone company and "bundle" my phone and internet, it couldn't be easy or straightforward, it had to get messed-up and take a week and a half with numerous phone calls to finally get it all sorted. But now I've got real, honest to god proper ADSL broadband internet! Waaahhoooo! It's amazing! And it works through the fanceee TV too! Wow! I say, this modern technology, you can waste hours, if not days, of your life away on YouTube alone! I promise not to, but YouTube can be so educational, depending...... Boy, people'll put anything on YT won't they? Anyways, hopefully that means that the next time we speak on Skype it'll be that much clearer! HOORAY! Call it an Australian Birthday present to mahself! Happy Aussie B-Day to me (and you)! Yippie!

And really, sadly, that's about it. Still no Adventures planned for the year yet (aside from going to see Tony Bennett in concert on the 7th of April, 2nd row, center!).... Waiting to see what happens with The Job before I go doing anything crazy like scheduling flights to interesting places to see and do interesting things. Will keep you posted tho. Otherwise, I hope you're all well up there and staying warm through what seems like an extra long and cold winter? You're always welcome to come down here for a visit during those months........ am just sayin'!

BYE!
J!