Beans, Bees, Falcons, and a Mystery Solved.....

Hi!

Well. Here we are. Let's try this again, only this time here's hoping the whole thing doesn't get mysteriously deleted, again............... Once again here we are on another too warm and too muggy Sunday afternoon....... But, have the hip n' groovy jazz tunes (thank you SkyFM, who, incidentally, added 5 new stations, including a Classic Motown one!), tho it's a bit early for a nice cool glass of the ol' stand-by white wine, perhaps as a celebration if this thing actually gets published without being deleted........ The laundry is all done and happily blowing in the breeze, tho the ironing pile hasn't moved in weeks - honestly, who wants to iron when it's 85 degrees with 75% humidity inside??? Maybe during the week if it's cooler. Otherwise, the birds certainly seem happy that summer is on its way out - they were chatty little things first thing this morning, that's for sure! Otherwise, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. They  f i n a l l y  extended my contract for another year, although only after much hand-wringing and soul-searching (apparently). Whew! So that's a big relief and I can start planning vacations and maybe even moving out of this teeny apartment sometime this year (or, rather, what's left of it, if you think about it). So far I've managed to book one quick trip up to the US over two weeks in July (tho only one week in SD - so if anyone's around, drop a line and we'll try to catch up!); am feverishly looking at bigger apartments to rent; and will get planning my 4-ish-week, big, epic Australia Road Trip from Perth back to Brisbane - let the planning begin! But yes, work is good. Thankfully not as busy as I was, but that's really good. I've had to take over a kind of crappy publication that needs building from scratch, which I've not done before, so it'll be a good chance to put the stuff I've learned so far into action....... Ultimately, am just happy to have one more year of gainful employment! HOORAY!

And then there were the weekends. Hmmmmmmm...... Casting my memory back...... Last, last weekend started off slightly more exciting than am used to - my one good work friend Kim (who's apartment I may take over their lease in July, maybe) was let go along with six other folks because their project is winding down to completion, and a biiiiig party at a local pub, the Exchange Hotel, was on to celebrate. Kim's a lucky girl that she has such a nice and understanding (and gainfully well employed) husband who understands and accepts that she needs a break from the whole work thing to take a two year course in counseling. So she was pretty happy to walk away from the corporate drudgery. Lucky gal! But the celebratory drinks were really very good - met so many nice folks that I had nooooo idea worked in my same building! Most of whom I discovered are on contract too - hmmmmm, methinks the company has some serious commitment issues! But thankfully, I kept an eye on how much I drank as I had to continue on to Jason and Clare's, along with the usual suspects, for a lovely evening of pizza and games!
 
And then the rest of that weekend was the usual chores and fluffing around, although Sunday had a slightly sadder twist.... I don't know if I ever mentioned our Stafford Palace Mystery of the Missing Neighbor..... Well, our one, long-time neighbor, Daryl, went away at the beginning of January and no one had any idea whatsoever where he was. For months our theories ranged from - maybe he got a job in the mines in Western Australia, to - maybe he'd gone to Melbourne to visit family and decided to stay, to - perhaps he's ill? Well. I ran into the owner of Stafford Palace that Sunday afternoon and she said she didn't know any more other than he was in the local hospital. Hmmm. So, armed with a hastily potted clipping from his garden and an armful of magazines, I went off to the local hospital in search of him. Turns out they'd moved him to some geriatric rehab unit (???!) not far from the main hospital. So off I trudged to this GARU rehab place, thinking perhaps he'd had a stroke or something...... Finally found the place, and him. Well. Sad to discover that he's suffering from Motor Neuron Disease (a.k.a. ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease) and has declined so rapidly since January that he's confined to a wheelchair and requires 24 hour care. Fuuuuuudge. Poor, poor guy. He was a typical, tough Aussie Bloke and to see him now weighing not much more than me and confined to a wheelchair, well, it came as a bit of a shock. I had a word with his nurse/Doctor guy who was really good and explained Daryl's condition and where it's at and the support he's getting from therapists, psychologists and social workers... So he's in pretty good hands for not having any insurance (something you don't really need here in Australia - thankfully), although all they can really do is make him comfortable until it gets so bad that he'll need machines to make him breathe and eat. Poor guy. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. So I've been visiting at least once a week where I bring him stuff like his socks or magazines. He has one other friend that visits him pretty often, which is good, and one of my neighbors who lives next door to him, has visited him too..... So that was that Sunday, and by the time I got back from the hospital, it was too late to check in. Bummer dude.

And then last weekend was just more chores and relaxing. Although I did manage to try another refried bean recipe from a cookbook Mom swears by that I managed to find an original copy of on Amazon - Mexican Cookery by Barbara Hansen (it's the bees knees, or rather, las rodillas de las abejas)! They didn't turn out too badly, although I've since learned the hard way that when these recipes call for chili powder, they actually mean mild chili powder, as opposed to the powdered fire I have on hand (I don't even know if the grocery store stocks mild chili powder......)..... Still, they didn't turn out too bad, just have to keep tweaking it until they finally start to taste like something I recognize (more salt??)....... I have yet to find real corn flour too but most of the dishes I think I can get by without (worse come to worst I'll just buy corn tortillas, although, of course, my grocery store doesn't sell them at all so have to trek to another store - so much for inner-city convenience). So am hoping to make a few of these dishes and see if I'm any good at it........ But if you're in need of a good, practical, no goofy elitist ingredients kinda Mexican cookbook - this is the one. It was published in the 80s and it still gets raaaaaave reviews!

But other than that little burst, that was the week I'd finally found out about my job extension along with dealing with the real estate agency and getting them caught up on the whole Daryl story and stuff, that, come the weekend, I was exhausted. But, managed to pull mahself together enough to check in that Sunday evening, only to have it all disappear just as I was nearly finished! GAAAAAH! Man, I was mad. I'm thinking of moving over to a Tumblr account (I hear all the cool kids are using it these days - perhaps it's more stable than the one I use??) but thinking and clicking on their homepage is about as far as I've gotten. Honestly, two days to get stuff done isn't nearly enough!

And then this weekend has been the usual chores and reading - have been reading The Falcon and the Snowman and the sequel The Flight of the Falcon - sooooooooooo good! And true true true! I can't recommend these books highly enough, if you like that sort of thing that is. Read them anyways!!!!

And that's really been about it. Quiet. Of course, during the week the weather is perfect and on the weekends it's stinking hot and humid - so unfair. And because it's too hot and humid to do much more than sit and read, well, I haven't been up to much. But there you have it. Kinda dull but Adventures are on their way! And honestly, I thought this weather would be finished by now, but you're still more than welcome to come on down and visit annnny time from now until December!

BYE!
J!