Xmas of Good Food, Friends and Fans!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday.......! The only reason for that is that tomorrow it's supposed to be 95-98 degrees with the usual 60-70% humidity, so I thought I'd get in early because you know how agonizingly intolerant the little laptop is of Queensland's summers.......... So we're here now, it's been hot today but not like it will be tomorrow, thankfully there's kind of been a breeze, and it's been overcast most of the day, which sort of helps....... The birds have all been a bit quiet today (tho one was pretty busy pooping all over mah clean sheets!) - they must be trying to hide from the gross hot and muggy day (I wonder if they know what's coming tomorrow??), but we have, as always, some hip n' cool jazz tunes, and a very cool glass of champagne, in keeping with the spirit of the holidays and all - ahhhhhhh yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. I was the only one there last week - everyone else left on vacation (and most won't be back until the second or third week of January). And I'll be the only one there on January 2nd and 3rd! That's OK tho, I don't really mind - I actually get tons done and can think in a straight line for longer than 5 minutes - it's great! Besides, am trying to save my vacation time for later in the year, so that's why I'm not taking the month + off like all the locals do. And really, I've never understood why take your whole chunk of vacation time off at the same time of year the entire country does? And they love to go camping over the Xmas break, which again I don't understand because you only end up jam-packed into a camp ground with everyone you were trying to get away from (maybe they like being with each other for four weeks?????)?! No, if I go away, the last place I'd like to be is in a crowded camp ground. Frankly, I can't imagine a worse way to spend four weeks....... Guess I'll never make it as a 'true blue' Aussie (as the locals would say)! Otherwise, work is fine. Yay for continuing gainful employment!

And then there was, well, Xmas week! I spent a little bit of Xmas eve with my neighbors downstairs from me - it was their first Xmas as new parents and their son Zaphod (I know, I know, parents today. His name is from that book Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) had just turned one on the 18th. So I watched them open presents and then Zaphod and I played with a couple of his new toys - he was pretty pleased. For the most part he's a pretty happy and contented little kid. Unlike the one in the apartment building right next door - he's six months older than Zaphod and to hear the mother go on and on, squealing and cooing in that annoying, grating, high-pitched voice, man oh man, but that little rat does more crying, wailing and whining than anything I've ever heard. I hate that kid. And from the sounds of it, the kid just hates being. Surely they're going to have to move out soon because they'll need more room............. Surely.

And then Xmas morning was up early and out the door and on the road for the two hour drive to Toowoomba and the Adcock Foster Family Xmas! Oooooh it was a lovely day. Very low key, easy going. We sat and drank and ate and ate and talked and talked for most of the day. And it was really just their family - Paul and Margret, their son Russ and his wife Kim, her sister Terri, and Margret's niece and her husband (oooops, totally forgotten their names. But man they were funny, nice and excellent story-tellers!), and me, the token orphan. It was nice. And in the evening, as is customary, we watched one of Margret's action movies that she gets every year for Xmas - this year's pick was Elysium, which actually wasn't too bad. A bit violent and the action bits seemed to go on a while longer than needed to get the point across..... Still, it had neat special effects and it moved fairly quickly..... Overall, it wasn't too bad. If you're in need of an action movie with a decent story and pretty good actors, and you don't really want to hurt yourself thinking, this is the movie for you! And then I stayed the night because Xmas with them doesn't really end until 11 or so. Then we were up sort of early the next day to get ready to go our separate ways - Russ and Kim and Terri were off to their Grandma's down on the Gold Coast and I came home! So I think a nice Xmas was had by all. It's always a nice day with them and every year I'm pleased they have me around. And that was Xmas!

And then the weekend so far has been good, productive. Busted out all the chores and laundry very first thing today because I knew it was going to get hot and gross, and it is. Am in super clear out mode where all kinds of stuff in cupboards and everywhere is marked for the donation bin...... And am only maybe half-way through that little task and I already have a good pile going.........! I love clean out time, it's so liberating and frees up so much space, even if I can't see it (hiding in cupboards or the little closet, or one of the thousand boxes under mah bed), I can feel it, that the little apartment is that much more clutter-free. It's great! But all that will have to go on hold tomorrow because it's going to be such a righteous stinker of a summer's day. And looking at the forecast, the end of next week looks just as bad...... Bummer. But it is summer, this is what it does, and we've been pretty lucky so far......... I just hope this will be the worst of the heat wave tho the locals always say "Wait until February!", which is always the worst month to get through. Ahhhh well. Maybe instead of coming up there during northern hemisphere's summer, I'll come up during my summer! 'Course, my luck, I'll miss the freak cool weather here and arrive back just in time for a blistering heat wave!

And really, that's about it! So, seeing as tomorrow's going to be so hot and disgusting, I think it'll be a perfect time to catch up on movie watching in front of the fan with the water spray bottle (on "mist" of course - white trash air-conditioning)! Hope you all had a nice Xmas! And now that the holidays are over with, (one to go, but that's the easy one), now you can get planning that big trip down thisaway! Errrrr, one day, hopefully!!!!! And like I always say, if you need a few planning tips, lemme know!

BYE!
J!

Weekends of Fridays, Impending Holidays and Champagne!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. The sun is shining, it's a bit hot and humid but not nearly as bad as it was last weekend - whew! There's a little bit of a breeze blowing..... The birds are all out there running their errands - thankfully the Lorikeets (and at night, the bats) have eaten most of the seeds the palms put out so there hasn't been the usual frantic sunrise freakout we've had over the last couple of months - handy on days one would like to sleep in! The laundry is happily blowing around in the breeze, as so happens every Sunday...... Also have the very nice cool glass of standby white wine (soooooo nice on a day like today - not too hot or humid), most of the chores are done, and, as always, have the hip n' groovy jazz tunes from SkyFM........ Yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Not as busy as it's been, which is nice, but I can always find stuff to do. Although tomorrow and Tuesday will be kind of a struggle as I'll be the only one there - everyone else has taken time off for Xmas! Ooooooh the attention-span will be sorely challenged! But, again, I can always find stuff to do. I'd take the time off too but am saving all my vacation time to come up there for a visit this coming July.......... And they're already forcing us to take three days off between Xmas and New Year's, which really burns my hide............! Three days is like three little gold bars for me - precious and they take forever to accrue! And no further word about the PR application. They have all my stuff except for one little thing, word is they're waiting on HR to get their info together - typical. This is exactly what happened last time, and at this same time of year too. Here's hoping they don't drop it again now that I've held up my end of the bargain - again. Sigh. HR. Never a more useless department existed........... Ahhhhhh, will quit complaining - am just happy to have a decent job that even comes with paid vacation time! Otherwise, work is good! Yay for gainful employment!  

And then there were a few weekends in there........... I know they've been quiet for the most part...... Fridays have been fun..... A couple Fridays ago we had our teeny little group's Xmas lunch - we went on a tour of the XXXX Brewery followed by lunch in their restaurant. Man, the tour was actually really good and interesting (tho no cameras allowed) - the facts just flew by! When you come down thisaway, we're totally going! And the lunch was really good too, but then by the time the tour finished I was starving. I actually cleaned my plate (I had the steak and mashed potatoes - nom)! Although I didn't finish the unscheduled little French-themed "garnish".... Poor little guy/gal must've been caught up in the bag of spinach and got steamed with everything else. I didn't see it and somehow mistakenly ate some of its shell and its head! Eeeeeeek! Well, I didn't notice until a little bit later when my fork hit its shell and I had a look for it, but by then I was kinda full anyways.............. We all took it in good humor, even if the waiter and kitchen staff were a little put off. I didn't mind........ Although will forever be checking those "wilted greens" before diving in! Then the few of us continued on to the Caxton Hotel which was, amazingly, dead quiet (if you look at the photo in the link - yeah, it looked a lot like that - and on a Friday night!). That place is usually overflowing with people and music - a place I generally avoid at all costs like the plague (unless peer-pressured to go). But the evening we went, the place was a morgue. Weird. So we stayed for one drink, or maybe it was three......... And then we headed to our homes and that was that! And the rest of that weekend, from hazy memory, was rather quiet....... Literally..........

And then that next weekend was much the same.... Friday we all headed out to another lunch at a really cool little place called O Bar/Restaurant, which happens to be the bar/restaurant of a really nice little boutique hotel called Diamant, (which is coincidentally right next door to where my hand therapist is!) to celebrate Phil's non-birthday - he swears he's never having another birthday ever again. I guess that can happen when you hit 62............ Me, I don't mind - one more year of successfully dodging life's hazards! But this time we were all much more responsible and headed home before the sun even went down. Hooray! And yet the weekend was still quiet. And super hot and humid, which was the main reason I didn't/couldn't check in - poor little laptop. And it was hot and gross until well after 5pm......... Which is kind of unusual and really disgusting.

But here we are now...... This weekend has followed the same pattern as the previous few - Friday afternoon I met a couple gals at the really nice bar/restaurant at the Hilton for a few too many glasses of champagne and a good long gossip session. It was really nice and even made it home at the respectable hour of 8pm! And then it's just been the usual chores with the odd nap thrown it. Yesterday was hot and gross but today is thankfully a bit cooler......... I really need to investigate a better/more efficient cooling pad for the little laptop.....................

And there you have it! Xmas is upon us tho, so that means I will be spending the day (or maybe two) with the Adcock family - my foster family over these last, what, 6 Xmas'? Last year I spent it with my friend Jan and her family (it was lovely and perfectly low-key despite the kids, dogs and a pool!), but the previous years, bar my first one, have all been spent with my former boss from my days at Fire and his very nice, and equally low-key family. This year will be a little different tho in that they've moved about an hour and a half south-west of Brisbane to Toowoomba, where they originally lived for like 30-some years. So that'll be a lovely excuse to give the poor car a good run! And Toowoomba is nice, though I've only been there once, briefly........... Been meaning to get out there to see them anyways (and their newly-built house!) ........... So that will be Xmas and probably Boxing Day (it's a holiday here, no idea why, really. But hey, who am I to argue with a national day off???!)

So here's hoping those of you who give a rat's backside about Xmas, have a good one! Eat lots of ham and pie for me! And down here, seeing as it's the middle of summer, we'll throw another shrimp on the barbie! Yay!

BYE!

J!

P.S. Forgot to mention, the poor little wrist is doing better, slowly but surely. The scar is looking better, more or less, still a little red, and with the regular visits to the hand therapist, the range of motion is gradually improving. Tho most of the time the tendon is stiff as a branch in wintertime. Ultimately, the original problem is gone (YAY!), but this recovery business sure is taking forever! But hey, at least it's getting better!

P.P.S. I like to hyperlink the hotels we go to for drinks juuuuuuuust as a hint of where to stay whenever you guys get down thisaway....! Hint hint!

A Bit of Work, Rain and Movies.......

Hi!

Well. Here we are on another sunny Sunday afternoon. My goodness it's the first of December - that was quick! Thankfully the weather this weekend has been good - not too stinking hot and humid like it has been.... In fact, yesterday, it rained all day and was actually kinda cool....... It was really nice. If we could have one or two breaks like that every month during summer it would be almost bearable! But we're here now, got a lovely breeze blowing the laundry around on the good ol' hills hoist in the backyard, the birds are all happily running their errands, and from the sounds of it, teaching their kids how to run errands and get something to eat. Cuuuute. Kona is asleep at his post on the couch, I have a very nice, cool glass of the ol' reliable standby white wine, also have of course the hip n' groovy jazz tunes - ahhhhh yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. First half-week back this past Wednesday. Was busy.

Bless 'em they saved as much of the work as they could, then promptly harassed me to get through it immediately. Meh, most of it isn't urrrrrgent, they just want to finish it all before Xmas, which, now that I look at the calendar, is like next week (or so it feels)! Yeah, yeah fellas, it'll get done, hold yer horses! But it was good to be back. Well. As good to be back at having to work for a living can be! Wrist felt ok, just have to watch the repetitive stuff and keep it up for a bit so it doesn't swell up and get cranky. And no further word on either the job or the PR - I think everyone is waiting on me to get the rest of the info through, and am just waiting on two police checks and the health check and then my part is done! Well, until they want money that is....... And then this coming Friday we have our little group's Xmas "party" - all the nine of us are doing is going to the XXXX Brewery (which is thankfully walking distance from my house - yay! My idea of course!) where six of us are going to do the tour then we'll all have lunch in their restaurant, and then decide from there what we'll do next. Some usually go home (like the bank usually thinks I should), some sometimes have a free pass from their wives to stay out. Last year at the little place we went to, the Ship Inn, turned into a fairly late and very boozy affair, which was good fun of course, all in the name of kicking off the holidays! Otherwise, work is good. Always happy to have a place to be with a paycheck!

And then there's been the weekend. Quiet. Like I said, yesterday rained and was cool all day so was best suited to watching movies (hey, I'm still recovering from surgery.............. kinda............). Watched Julie and Julia (cute, with a really good script, tho it kinda falls flat in the third act) and was then immediately inspired to do some serious French cooking. Thankfully, I have no proper French cookbooks and the grocery store was closed. So I made spaghetti instead. Then I watched The Perfect Storm, which I'd never seen before but have wanted to since catching up with an old high school friend (while I was briefly in Las Vegas this past August) who was actually a fairly new recruit with the Coast Guard unit that was out there in it (eeeeeeeek!). Eh, the movie was ok, actors were all great, did the best job they could with a crappy script. The effects were neat. It was ok. I might rather read the book tho. And that was Saturday! 

And today has been the usual laundry and fluffing around. Pretty dull stuff really. But honestly, who works full-time and has time or money for Adventures every weekend??? Maybe in the new year will investigate cleaning agencies and get someone to come in once a month and do all this for me, that way the little apartment won't be dirty and I won't feel guilty for running around having Adventures! Yay! We'll see. Some big bills wanting to be paid here (car, surgery, PR....), Adventures usually cost monies....... Hmmmm. Anyways, hope you're all well up there! All is well here! C'mon down any ol' time!!!!!

BYE!
J!

3 Weeks of Sundays, Movies & Errands!

Hi!

Well. Here we are on another sunny Sunday afternoon. The weather has been gross and hot all day but was just thankfully, briefly, broken by a flash of a storm, which has brought the temperature down a good five degrees but feels like it's creeping back up. Yuck. And that brief flash of a storm sent the birds into hiding, but they're slowly coming back out. Kona is still under the bed (but it's cooler under there anyways). I managed to get the happily dry laundry just in time........ Yes, just a typical summer Sunday! Have got the hip n' groovy jazz tunes, just had a perfectly ripe nectarine for lunch, and even splurged on a very nice, cool glass of real champagne, my favorite stuff, Cattier (and from looking at their website, I'd love to visit their vineyard and village one day!) Mmmmmm, yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. I'm hoping all is well..... I haven't been in three weeks (hooray for post-surgery recovery!)! Work wanted me to come back last week but I told them my hand therapist said I wasn't quite ready yet, which is mainly true. I'm thinking I may have to go back this coming

Wednesday after I see my Doc on Tuesday, but he'll decide when/if and write the note to say am allowed back to a desk. Bummer dude, but I guess I can't stay away forever! Especially in light of the fact that Ernst & Young, the folks work is paying to help me with my PR application, sent me an email on Monday with a laundry list of things and documents I have to do and get to them. Wow! Holy sheet something is actually happening?! Thankfully I had the week to get that stuff together.... And most thankfully, I had nearly all of it already from my first spectacularly failed attempt a couple years ago. Bummer is, some of the documents have to be recent, so off went the requests for my background checks to three different police, again.... And I have to do the medical check again - bleck, but at least the medical office is directly across the street from work, so when E&Y tell me to go, it'll be quick and easy, again. So how about that? Amazing. 'Course, it's one thing for me to bust my rump getting all this stuff together for them, it'll be another for work to do their bit in a timely manner...... Man, I hope work can get it together before the country shuts down for a month, month and a half around the middle of December for Xmas......... Ahhhh well, I can only wait and see! But wow, E&Y, imagine that. Here's hoping it goes through this time! And, if nothing else, here's hoping work actually wants to keep me, like, for reals this time! Wait and see.............!

And then there were a few weekends in there. Apologies for not checking in last weekend. I can't remember why I didn't............... Chores......... Lots and lots of movies........ I think I had just been to see the hand therapist that Friday and while the brace and bulk of the bandages came off (YAY), I'd just started the physio exercises, which understandably makes the little wrist ache something fierce. So maybe I just didn't feel up to it. No surprise, it'd only been just two weeks (and I shouldn't be typing anyways)!

This weekend has been kind of the same - quiet, movies, laundry..... maintenance issues....... My bathroom sink has always had a great big crack in it that finally grew and now is in danger of coming apart, so yesterday the Owner came around to measure the sink and the pipes, highly concerned that he find one with the exact measurements because he's sooooooo cheap. Never mind that any ol' new sink and tap will probably be fine and just as cheap, and the fact 

that the plumber is going to have to make some adjustments anyways seeing as the sink that's in there probably went in, oh, 50-70 years ago. I also seized the chance to ask him for a mixed tap (it's had the two, suuuuuper old-fashioned, separate hot and cold taps - nearly impossible to use like a normal person) since we were on the subject (and I know they're dirt cheap), but he only said "That depends on the sink we get". Gah. I would almost hazard a guess that sinks these days with the two separate hot and cold taps probably cost more than a dumb ol' basic one with only one mixed tap.......... Sigh. The owners of the Palace, they're a strange, extremely penny-pinching lot without much common sense. So I will somehow have to deal with that sometime this week........ Shame I'll probably be at work.... I like to be here when strangers are roaming around in my little place......... I might just have to lock away the crown jewels and hope for the best.........!

And that's about that! During the weeks have been nice, almost nicer than the weekends - running errands and stuff like a normal person, tho I've noticed most of the people out and about are mainly women with babies and strollers....... Have been to see "Gravity" - it was really gooooood in 3D - highly recommend it! In fact, I may go once more before I have to go back to work.......! I was making a teeny bit of progress on The Screenplay before E&Y derailed my attention with paperwork....... Have met up a few times with my friend Kim, who I used to work with until work let her go (she was actually very happy to go), for lunches and errands. Boy, it's nice to have someone to run around with who doesn't have to work either! It's been good for the most part. Really good. Like, 'I could get used to this' good....... Oh well, it had to end sooner or later........ Tho I did make sure to buy a lottery ticket for the $20 million draw on Tuesday......... Fingers crossed I too may join the stroller brigades (albeit without the stroller or the kid)........!?! 

So there you have it! Wrist is feeling better tho stiff and achy, but then again, it hasn't even been three weeks yet and I've only just been allowed out of the splint and bandages! Otherwise, all is well in these here parts - hope you're all well up there? Shame the summer is finally here...... Oh well, March isn't too far away (tho it is when it's in the mid-90s with 90% humidity almost every day.....), feel free to plan that big visit down here any time around then! And, as always, if you need any planning tips, just drop a line!!!!

BYE!
J!

A Much-Needed Surgical Break!

Hi!

Well. Here we are on another Sunday afternoon. Apologies for missing last weekend, but more on that later..... Today we're just happy to have a good breeze blowing - it was meant to be a right stinker today and thankfully with the breeze it hasn't been as bad as predicted. Hot, humid and gross weather bullet dodged there! And, as an added bonus, we're supposed to get some storms this afternoon (which is why I thought I'd try to check in before they arrived, just in case they cut the power as sometimes happens.... But that's if the storms even arrive - lately they haven't), which will hopefully cool things down even more. Ahhhhhhhh - summer in southern Queensland! But here we are, got the hip n' groovy jazz tunes (have I ever once mentioned how much I love SkyFM???), it's a bit early for the lovely, cool stand-by white wine, but it's in there happily chilling away. The birds are all a bit quiet out there - maybe it's because of the good breeze and heat? Kona is at his post, making sure the couch stays anchored to the floor in the little living room..... Yes, life is good!

So work. Yep, it's good. Things have been rather quiet lately, but seeing as I'm the only real, full-time editor they have, I manage to stay fairly busy. Still no word about the job going permanent or the PR application, but that's to be expected. I know, instead of torturing ourselves with what isn't happening with HR (a black hole of functionality if I ever saw one), I'll write when something actually has happened! That'll be way more fun! Otherwise, all is well. Work work work just keeps plowing on until Xmas when we get, I think, a week off....... Ahhhhh a break! 

And speaking of breaks, apologies for not checking in last weekend. I meant to, but the chores distracted me from the time........ Tho

you didn't miss anything more than the usual quiet, chore-filled weekend. Oh, who am I kidding, I did more than just chores last weekend, I sat and worried about my upcoming surgery on Tuesday (in addition to doing the chores of course)! For those of you not playing along at home, I don't know if you remember when I was up there visiting this past July/August, but I've been wearing a stupid wrist brace/splinty thing for my cranky right wrist. Been hurting since the beginning of July. Anyways, after many visits to the Doc, a hand therapist, x-rays, ultra sounds, a zap of cortisone, long story short, I have (hopefully had) De Quervain's Tenosynovitis, translation, wicked tendonitis. No idea how it came about, it just did. So off I went to a

specialist and surgery was declared. And was I ever freaked out. It wasn't like bring a book, shot to make my arm numb and off they go digging around, no. It was the whole cap, gown, stockings, booties, real operating room with a cast of thousands, general anesthesia, the whole nine yards. I totally should've taken pictures but I was way too scared and all you would've seen anyways were two great big eyes. And, as a added freak out, I had to wait five extremely long and boring hours before anything remotely interesting happened, well, more interesting than changing into surgery garb. Anyways, I guess it all went well, I never did see the Doc or anyone other than a few nice nurses who really wanted to chat. And then I finally got to go home! I lived! WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So now, the wrist is OK I guess. It aches, as I suppose it would, but it's not too bad. Friday morning my bandages and the shower water had a slight disagreement over physics so off I went to have the Doc change them (my Doc up the road, not The Doc, I see him on the 26th). And underneath is a very colorful wrist - all purples and yellows and blues and even some greens. But hey, the real bandage underneath is just a little thing covered in a square of waterproof tape. The swelling has finally gone down, I can feel more of my thumb today (yay!), and I dare say the anesthetic haze has mostly lifted (YAY!). I haven't needed many of the pseudo pain pills (basically just Tylenol with Codeine) because it hasn't been that bad. I think I've taken a total of four out of the forty. And two of those I didn't really neeeeeed but I thought it'd help tone the swelling down while I slept (don't think it helped actually). So, pretty good really for a big, scary surgery!

Oh, and speaking of pretty good, as a result, have had the whole of last week off work, naturally. Usually after the first day or two I'd go a bit buggy and cabin fevery, but thanks to the anesthetic haze and the warm and muggy days (thankfully it hasn't been tooooo hot), all I've really felt like doing is watch movies, which I've done with glee! I never sit around on weekends doing nothing, so this has been a nice indulgence. I mean, I know my poor little wrist needs it, and I've certainly tried, but seeing as am on my own, well, food doesn't make itself and float to me, nor do the dishes wash themselves (curse not buying paper plates like I meant to)! I am trying tho. 'Course, I probably shouldn't be typing... Hooray for the wrist brace which really stops me from doing dumb stuff!

So there you are. I survived My First Surgery! And boy do I never want to do that again! Hopefully when I see The Doc on the 26th, he'll be happy with what he did and hopefully I won't have done something stupid to screw up the

healing process........... !? Am waiting to go see the hand therapist before then tho who will hopefully reassure me I haven't screwed things up and I can do some exercises.... And hopefully the therapist will also tell me when I can go back to work.......? Not that I'm in a big huge rush to go back..... I still have movies to watch!

Otherwise, all is well. Same ol' stuff really, surgery aside. I hope you're all well up there, getting ready for winter. After all these years down in these here parts, I still can't get used to Xmas in the middle of a stinking hot and humid summer. It's just weird. Weird to see all the faux-snow covered decorations and Santas and reindeer. Weird. But hey, if you ever get the urge to spend Xmas down thisaway, and you really like hot and humid summers, well hell, c'mon down and check it out! It's weird!

BYE!
J!

Wailing Children Need Mini-Cheesecakes!

Hi!

Well. Here we are on another lovely, breezy Sunday afternoon. The birds are all out there running their errands and sitting around gossiping, as Lorikeets and Crows are wont to do. The weather folks predicted rain all this weekend..... of which none has yet to be seen. Again. Maybe lots of sun rays raining down on us is what they really meant, not water rain. Either way, am just happy it's not stinking hot and humid like it was a few weeks back. Poor little laptop. I must say, whenever summer rolls around, I often consider getting a "proper" desktop computer, one rigged with tons of fans and a cooling system........... And then I consider the questionable wiring in the Palace and realize it just isn't worth the insurance claim when fire burns the Palace down...... So little laptop with its fan-cooling pad it is! Hey, y'know what? It just now occurred to me - the little laptop will be eight years old this December. Awwwww, what a little trooper. 'Course, it did have its brain replaced about four years ago..... Still, eight years for a little laptop is pretty good. Hooray! Otherwise, all is well. Got the tunes, got a breeze, is a bit early for wine but later will have a glass of the ol' Stoneleigh standby.... Ahhhhh, yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Have been busy the last couple of weeks, which is always really good. Still no word tho about whether or not they'll make me permanent, or about the residency application...... A little gem I heard Friday afternoon - the HR Chicky looking after all my paperwork has been away for the last two weeks ANNNNNNNNND (~~~~drum roll~~~~~) she's a temp. Now, as you well know, I'm the very last person on the planet to bag out temps, but when you throw the HR 'discipline' into the mix, add a healthy shot of impending Xmas, there's a recipe for apathy if I ever saw one. Seeing as Xmas in these here parts practically closes the country down for a good eight weeks, looks like I'll be getting an extension on that ol' contract come March after all (well, that's even if my department decides to keep me..... I still have a Performance Review to get through first....). The contract the company swears to high heaven they don't/won't do - "Oh, no. We don't keep anyone on long-term contracts at any time, for any reason." Well, guess what HR suckas - this will be my fourth contract! "Incompetencia Esperaba", which translated from Latin means "Expect Incompetence" - the motto that should hang in three-foot letters over the door to HR. Otherwise, work is good!

And then there were a few weekends in there..... Apologies, again, for not checking in last weekend. I was busy baking and again underestimated the time it all takes. Last week's baking experiment were cheesecake cupcakes. And if I do say so myself, they were a success! If a bit of a labor-intensive pain. But worth it for mini-cheesecakes! So now I have a freezer full of mini-cheesecakes - yum! And just basically lost track of time. But don't worry, as I'm sure all one or two of you were, aside from baking, nothing else exciting happened. Just the usual.

In fact, minus the baking, this weekend has been much the same - quiet. Chores, laundry, rewiring the inherited surround-sound stereo system so it doesn't emit a dog howl-inducing screech, thinking about working on the Hollywood Sell-Out Blockbuster screenplay, y'know, the usual weekend stuff. And you know the age-old conundrum - if I leave the house I'll spend money...... And right now the bank really frowns on my spending money. So here we are, Dullsville, Queensland. That's ok tho, all is well, am happy, and if it weren't for two very small children within my neighborly twenty-foot radius, I'd even be rested too. And the even better part is, another small child is due within my neighborly radius in March, moving the tally up to three. As if housebreaking possums in the ceiling/roof weren't enough on top of two small, fussy (one incessantly whining and wailing) children. Good times within the Palace indeed.

So there you have it. I hope you're all well up there! Drop a line if you have any Xmas gift requests or need help planning your big trip down thisaway....!!!

BYE!
J!

Hot Enough to Bake a Cheesecake!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. Not Sunday afternoon like usual, but Saturday afternoon........ Not that it really matters. Tomorrow is supposed to get up to a blazing, mind-melting 95 degrees with at least 60%+ humidity, and today is about a third of that temperature, so I thought I'd get in while I can. Poor little laptop can only cope with so hot. But anyways, here we are - slightly early but late. Sorry for not checking in last weekend - it was hot! And I was a busy bee with the chores and baking (why I always decide to bake on the hottest days of the year is a mystery). Thankfully, today has a lovely cool breeze and lots of clouds that have been threatening to rain for what seems like a month now and nothing has happened yet....... Anyways, here we are with some hip n'groovy jazz tunes, a lovely cool glass of Story Bay semillon sauvignon blanc (a new stand-by for summer!), the birds are out there darting around trying to keep up with the breezes and still get to where they need to be. The Lorikeets are back for the summer in all their frantic screechy colorful glory, I love them even tho they wake me up at, oh, dawn. And bats. The 'hood has had a ton of bats over the last few months, which I don't mind as long as they hang out (literally!) in someone else's trees. Thankfully, they don't seem to like palm trees as much as normal trees, and the Palace has nothing but palms....... Anyways, the place is bursting with winged wildlife, good breezes, lovely wine, cool tunes - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Quiet, but good. Still no word about my job (permanent or contract extension again in March) or the PR stuff. Tho the HR chick is apparently "doing something", which really just says to me, in my head, that all she's really doing is doodling on a pad of paper, wishing she was pregnant already so she could drop this whole pesky work stuff and go on maternity leave. So, in other words, nothing is happening. Status quo - which is the most I can expect from that vacuum of competence that is HR! Otherwise, work is good tho a bit quiet. We're getting to the end of the year and our customer always hammers us with a ton of work to keep us entertained over the holidays and into next year, so we're just waiting for that bundle of fun. As always, I don't mind as long as I have gainful employment! 

And then there were the weekends..... Well, last, last week was kinda fun - that Wednesday evening I met my friend Kim and her parents, who are over visiting from the Land of the Long Wet Cloud, New Zealand, for dinner before the three of us (minus Dad who went for a walk/nap in the car) went to see the musical Grease over at QPAC. Now, there's a reason I don't do musicals, live or in any form, and now I remember why. I mean, don't get me wrong, I quite liked the movie when it first came out, Olivia and John were awesome. So I was kind of hoping for something similar with this musical. Nope. They basically bounced, literally, from song to song with the faintest nod to the story...... Ehhhh. It was a super fun night out but I wish I hadn't paid for it..... Oh well. It was great to see Kim, I think the last time we caught up was early in the year, and to see her parents again, they're pretty cool if not a little screwy in the head for not buying a house over here already (why, when they can stay with their daughter......?!)! 

Then that next day, Thursday, I had to waste a perfectly good day off to supervise the real estate agent and her little blonde minion/trainee while they pawed through my little apartment for their tri-annual invasion. Thankfully, they were less interested in eyeballing my shower and cupboards like they usually love to do, and more interested in gossiping about the new neighbors, mainly the gaggle of middle eastern boys/students(?) that moved in to my old apartment downstairs, and to point excited, accusing fingers at my apparent leaking washing machine into the ceiling of the apartment downstairs. Well. I said it'd be pretty hard to miss such a leak that could get through their ceiling, but to no avail. So the next day I had to rush home early from work to supervise not only the owner, who fancies himself a handyman (serious fail), but the world's most expensive and questionably competent plumber while they looked/felt all through my kitchen (and bedroom (?)) for water leaks, via the cool flashlight app on the plumber's cell phone. Why buy an expensive moisture meter/indispensable plumber's tool and a proper heavy-duty flashlight when you have two hands (to feel for damp surfaces) and a flashlight app?! Good grief. Needless to say there was no leak to be found. I could've told them that, and did, numerous times, but no one listens to the gal who lives here. Back down to Luise's apartment to stare at the ceiling a little more..... Long story short, I deduced that there was a family of possums/rats/mice huddled within the little pocket of space between her ceiling and my floor, for whatever reason, and peed a lot. Again, there were nods of heads but no real acknowledgement. I continued and told them I'd come to this conclusion from having lived with them in my ceiling for six years, with graphic details of how their pee runs down the walls in my bathroom. More nods and not much else. This is what I have to deal with on a regular basis. To quote a famous internet cat, "I'm surrounded by morons". Indeed.

Then there was this weekend, or at least the first half of the weekend so far...... Chores, laundry ironing, and maybe some more baking. Heh, or maybe I should wait until tomorrow when the kitchen will be at least 95 degrees to do my baking.....! But last week's experiment, first cheesecake I've made in the little ol' trusty toaster oven, turned out a smashing success (and the neighbors were well pleased too)! Yay! This experiment I want to take a stab at making a cheesecake in muffin tins (or in my case, silicon), three with and three without cupcake liners, crust and all, just to see how they turn out........ I'm just thinking quick and easy gifts to bring to dinners and work lunches...... And easy to freeze and defrost them, which I just did with slices of this last cheesecake and again, a smashing success! In fact, I dare say freezing them the next day is almost better than letting a whole one go soggy and mushy. Well, if you're not going to eat it that same day or so that is. Yay! it's weird tho, I'm noticing a pattern where every summer I start baking. WTF. It's 95 degrees and 80% humidity for four months, why do my baking then and not during the winter? I have no idea. It's just weird and I can't explain it. Longer daylight hours maybe? No idea.

Anyways, all is well down here! We're all disappointed that we only had a week or so of spring and have now dived head first into summer, nearly two months early. That's a big bummer because summer won't really be over until March or so. That's a long time to cope with 95 degrees+ with 70%+ humidity - and no air-conditioning. I might have to consider getting something because I only get two days off a week and to waste most of them in a heat-and-humidity-induced coma is a crime. We'll think on it....... Otherwise, I hope you're all well up there! C'mon down any time! Well, any time after March that is........!

BYE!

J!