Expendable Weekends.......

Hi!

Well. Here we are. A little late, yes, but never mind, we're here now on a cool and very stormy afternoon. The whole weekend has been quite lively for crazy storms - thunder, lighting, hail, wind, the whole shebang. It's great. We haven't had storms like these for at least 2 years.... We had about two, three months or so of storms like this a couple years ago which is what lead to the floods in 2011, thankfully this is, no pun intended, a drop in the bucket compared. We haven't had that amount of rain....... yet. For now we seem to have a break in the storms - full sun, little breeze, yet everything is soaking wet. I don't mind, it beats being stinking hot and super muggy like it could be! But the birds are happy, probably because they're not having to run (fly fast?) and duck for cover, and they have a chance to dry their little wings. Otherwise they all sound happy and content out there....... And we're all happy and content in here - got the bare minimum chores done, got the old skool 80's tunes courtesy of 91X's streaming Resurrection radio station, got a cool glass of the stand-by white wine - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Bloody busy. Which is fantastic but by the end of the day (and especially last weekend) my brain feels like a piece of beef jerky. Am by no means complaining tho, don't get me wrong, I love being busy, but when I'm so busy I forget to do stuff like pay bills or write an email?! Whew. Thankfully I must be getting used to it because this weekend I don't feel as fried (as last weekend) and I'm actually able to write coherently. But yes, will enjoy the gainful employment while I have it (until March arrives, then I don't know what's happening.......)!

And then there were some weekends in there.... Last weekend I didn't check in because, quite honestly, embarrassingly, I didn't do much more than chores and catch up on DVDs. Like I said, the last couple of weeks have been super busy at work and by the end of the week all the good brain cells have been used and have to be recharged. The only brain cells left are the ones able to watch drivel like "The Expendables" (of which I want my hour and a half back, "dude flick", Jason Statham or not, I want it back). Although it was redeemed by an interesting movie called "In The Electric Mist" with Tommy Lee Jones as a, surprise, detective investigating some murders, past and present, in southern Louisiana. Kind of hard to explain, but look it up and see if you can rent it. It was actually really pretty good. That or my brain had been stunned by Expendables and I just thought I liked it a lot compared to Sly Stallone's directorial debut. Hmm.

And then there was this weekend. Nearly as dull as the previous, but certainly more lively weather-wise. Really, who wants to be out driving in that stuff? Tho I did manage to take the car out today, in between storm cells, for a wee spin around the block a few times, even made a stop in the hippie grocery store to stock up on Lavender oil and Rose Hip oil (for the hair and skin, you see) and to try a new thing which I've heard so much about and folks at work use it for cooking - coconut oil. My hair likes it, lets see what mushrooms and onions think??! Will have to let you know. But I hear it's the new bees knees in cooking - coconut oil or butter. And apparently you can use it on toast instead of butter? Either way it has to be better than Vegemite (no offense Australia)... Hmm indeed. All experiments I will have to try and let you know (just in case, my living will is in an envelope, here under my desk, in the blue file box).

And that was the weekend(s). Quiet but last weekend my brain needed it and this weekend the weather won. Plus, this week is going to be a busy week - Tuesday evening I have a ticket to go hear one of my favorite writers, Ian Rankin, talk about and sign his new book Standing in Another Man's Grave! Cooooooool. Tho, not as cool as seeing The Church just before Xmas last year, but cool nonetheless. Shame is, I haven't had the time to start reading said new book (have to refresh my memory with the previous one, don't I? Gah), so won't have super good questions when the time comes. Ahhh well. There's always email, Twitter, Facebook, interwebs.......! And then Thursday am taking my one free day a month off from work to go see the new James Bond "Skyfall" the day it opens here!!!! Wooooooot! Booked mah Gold Class ticket package deal that comes with a French Martini (had them at Xmas last year and they are dangerously gooooood) and gourmet nibbles, including caviar! I swear, you guys have got to get Gold Class up there. It's really not much more than a regular ticket (here in Australia anyways) and you order and pay for your drinks and nibbles ahead of time and they bring it to you, as stealthly as they can, when you tell them to, big comfy chairs like La-Z-Boys, it's The Best! And then next Sunday have been invited to my friend's Jason and Clare's for their little boy Reece's third birthday party (how cute). So a busy week and a fun little weekend. Well, it's all a bit livelier than it has been!

So there you have it. I hope you're all well up there! I'd say come on down but hopefully by now you'll know that now is not a great time of year, unless you like Florida weather during hurricane season. But come March all should be back to beautiful normal!

BYE!
J!

Parades of Zombies!

Hi!

Well. Sunday afternoon. Sorry for checking in late (appropriate excuses to follow). But we're here now, the sun is shining (more or less, between puffs of cloud), the birds must be napping or all dead because it's rather quiet out there, got the really cool old skool jazz tunes (I swear, this SkyFM is one of the best free internet radio networks I've come across, good quality-sounding tunes, diverse selection, no ads (just the odd SkyFM ID), and one station, the Smooth Jazz 24/7 station, is batted between different DJs either in the UK or US. It's pretty good. Check it out if you haven't already!), got a lovely cool glass of the new stand by sauv blanc (Lana's Bike - good ol NZ, good for sauv blancs if nothing else), there's a nice cool breeze keeping the little apartment as cool as it can - life is good!

So work. Yep, is good. Bloody busy but that's just because the manager wants us to bust our backsides now so we can come back from Xmas with clear desks. Sigh. I get why he does it, but it drives me crazy. But hey, even tho it sounds like I'm complaining, deep down am really happy to have a job to "complain" about!

And then there were a few weekends in there......... Last, last weekend, Sunday, I met my friend Jason at this year's Zombie Walk so we could take photos of all the lovely zombies...... Ehhhh..... This year the organizers changed the venue to a park just above the city with winding walking paths that folks had to, literally, shuffle up and along in threes. Hard to explain, but it wasn't nearly as good a venue as it was the year before when they closed Queen Street in the middle of the city......It wasn't bad tho, pretty crowded...... There weren't nearly as many cool zombies as there were last  year... But I think we got a few good pictures (Jason definitely did, he has super fanceee photo gear (Canon) and more practice than I've had lately). It was hot and muggy so we really felt for all those folks melting under their makeup and costumes. Meh, last year was better, tho this year they managed to raise something like $55,000 for the Brain Foundation of Australia (research and stuff), so that's really good - go little charities! But seeing as the organizers seem to think this park set-up was a good thing, with concerts and stalls and stuff at the cost of a $20 ticket (we didn't go in, just hung around at the start of the parade walk), I doubt we'll be going along next year. Oh well. At least I got to see one really good one! And as always, it's nice to catch up and go for a walk taking photos! What else are weekends for but for shooting zombies??!

And then there was last weekend. Saturday was again hot and muggy and tried to zap my will to live. But, come late afternoon, I organized myself to head out on the bus/train to the bay-side 'hood of Manly to meet my friend Bruce (and former boss from my days at Fire) for an evening of Halloween festivities and parade (you might remember from a previous episode that I went to this a few years ago with him and his family). By the time I arrived, the crowds had well gathered and so had the storm clouds and chilly breezes. I managed to get there just before the parade started, in fact I walked in at where the "floats" were gathering, getting ready to set off. So, taking a few quick photos, I quickly walked down the crowded main drag to get to the Manly Hotel* where I was to met Bruce and his brother. Lucky I made it to the pub when I did - no sooner did I get a glass of wine and a spot near the front door next to the security guard, the skies opened up and absolutely bucketed rain and wind. 'Course, I couldn't see a thing being a good 50 feet+ from the street and a crowd of at least three deep (everyone in the front row had kids on their shoulders, of course, thus guaranteeing a zero view for us short folks behind them). But, happy to have a glass of wine and to be dry and sugar-riddled kid-free, I set about wandering around the crowded pub, full of drunken ghosts and fairies and witches while I waited for Bruce to arrive. Long story short, two and a half hours later he still hadn't arrived, only one sad little phone call saying he'd tripped while walking to the pub and ripped his costume and skinned his knee, that he was going home to change and would be right down (he lives up the road from the pub). So I gave that an hour before I headed back home. Hrrrmmm. And wouldn't you know it, I still haven't heard from him, apology or otherwise. Interesting. But good to know that I never have to haul out there for that parade ever again! The first time I went it was great, this time, meh, like the Zombie parade, if I never go again, well, I think I'll be ok.

And then that Sunday I was up and out the door with my neighbor Louise (who's expecting their first baby in something like 4 weeks) to inspect a garage sale she'd seen advertised. Thankfully we found the house (as there were no signs), unfortunately the garage sale was the previous day, but the guy was kind enough to let us have a look at the bits that were left over..... Louise scored a pretty decent dresser that she's going to use as a changing table/baby stuff storage and I relieved him of an ornamental, traditional opium pipe (and hat) used by the Indo China Hillside tribal people. I just thought it was a curious thing to have hanging around the house..... And, although the pipe is fully functional, it's "ornamental" and has thankfully never been used (otherwise the guy would've never made it back into the country), so there will be no visit from any drug enforcement agencies! Whew! Then, with our new little treasures, we headed off to the grocery store and a little drive around the 'hood because mah poor little car needed a run. Then, home from that, I launched into the chores and by the time I'd finished and sat down with a glass of wine, my god it was like 8pm! The weekends are too short!

Then there was this weekend. Yesterday I was up and out early to go to Phil and Julie's house so she could give me some super basic sewing tips and to help me make a pair of curtains for my kitchen windows. Phil is a guy I work with (Julie is his wife) and if you'll remember the four of us (when mom was here) all went on that neat weekend trip to Lake Eyre and Coober Pedy a few months ago..... Anyways, the curtains came out fine for a first go and then it'll be on to the other windows I'd like to "re-dress" now that I know the basics! So once we'd finished that they invited me to stay for dinner, which of course I accepted - can't turn down Phil's curry made from scratch! And then, with a full belly and happy "tailor-made" curtains, I set off for home. And promptly got lost. They live in the 'hood of Woodridge (about 25 minutes south of the city, near Ikea), which at times and in places can be a rough sort of 'hood. And here was me in my gigantic white SUV lost in it for a good hour or so on a Saturday night. Finally tired of the Adventure and the fact that my cellphone had died, I pulled into a gas station to ask for directions. Well, it must be a result of our digital age but the guy (from India ?) had no clue where I was trying to go (the Pacific Motorway, the main highway along the east coast of Australia, the one that'll take you from Cairns down to Sydney...). So he handed me a map book off the shelf and told me to look it up. Well, after asking him the same thing a few different ways, and because I didn't know where I was to look it up in a map book, I thanked him as politely as my frazzled nerves would allow and headed back off, following the same road I'd been on previously but in a "new" direction. And it turned out to be the right direction as I'd found my way back to the freeway and home where the wine is! WHEW! So two good things came of that mini-Adventure - I now know my way around Woodridge in the dark pretty well and my little car got a good run - win-win!

And then today was a bit of a late start and even then have only managed to get a couple loads of laundry done....... But the new curtains have been ironed and hung and are happily flapping in the breeze, doing their job while I sip wine and check in with all two or less of my little readers!

And there you have it! Mini-Adventures in rough 'hoods aside, all is well! Hope you're all well and happy up there, counting down the days until a bit of a break in December, I know I totally am! Drop a line and say hi sometime - let me know am not wasting a Sunday afternoon talking to mahself!

BYE!

J!

*The Manly Hotel is a typical biiiiig pub with "pub style" accommodation (basically, a few rooms above the pub). Lots of pubs, or Hotels as they're known, are like this all over Australia. Pubs this size usually have a few different types of bars - the public bar which is really for working man-men, like construction worker-types, etc, and they just usually have standing tables with a couple bar stools, then there's a "ladies" bar with carpeting, chairs and tables, a "pokie machine" room where folks lose all their dough and drink all day, and a bistro style dining room; some even have another "fine" dining room ("fine" meaning the barman will bring you your meal when it's ready, no bone china or table linen involved). These places can be positively cavernous. Good tho and always interesting!