Steaks and Patio Cushions, One Weekend at a Time.......

Hi!

Well. Here we are on a very lovely Sunday afternoon. The sun is shining and there's not a cloud in the sky, it's not too cool or breezy (Spring is just around the corner after all) - yes, it's a beautiful Sunday! The chores are all mainly done, the kittehs are out guarding the balcony, we got jazz tunes from the old standby RadioTunes because AccuRadio started running ads, like, local insurance ads, movie ads, etc! And of course, just when I think I've got it beat, RadioTunes start running the same ads! What the?! I thought maybe it was through the app(s) on my phone (which I just plug into speakers or my crappy old stereo) but no - the ads have trickled through on the website too. Damn. There is no peace from ads, apparently. That sucks. If I need stuff, I know where to go to get it - I don't need some yappy chick yammering on about small business insurance every other song. So. If anyone can recommend a good streaming radio service without freakin' ads, do tell! Otherwise, we have a very nice glass of the standby red standing by for just a little bit later, went to the store and now the fridge is stocked for the week (or two) because I am determined to eat better by mastering cooking steaks on the grill like a pro - yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Still have stuff to do but again it's not so much I go home in zombie-mode, which is nice. We just had our second (and probably last for a long while) guy retire this year - that was a good afternoon of lunch and drinks and folks telling stories. On one hand, I'd LOVE to retire, on the other, I sure don't want to speed up the clock. Heck, at this rate, I'll drop dead in the break room of whatever job I'm doing at 90..... What I'd ideally like to happen is to win the lottery. And we try (with our little work pool of four). No potatoes, yet! Otherwise, all is well - always happy to have somewhere to be that pays me better than some of the jobs I've had!

And then there were a few weekends in there. Apologies for not checking in - the usual not much has been happening and I didn't want you to drop dead of boredom every weekend! I've actually been chipping away at making new cushion covers for the patio chairs - watch this space! I thought I'd go all fanceee on them and put stuff like tassels on the corners of the pillows but I just know Lola will eat them, and instead of costing me $10 for tassels, it'll cost me over $2,000 in vet fees. So, no. Am nearly there, just have to figure out how to stitch the zippers on and we're good to go! Now, I can't say I'm a dab hand with the sewing machine, straight lines are still a bit of a challenge, but geez, once you get the hang of it, you can make just about anything, and it's cheaper and better made than most mass-produced store-bought stuff (errrr, more or less)! But, seeing as I work 5 days a week and am usually out of brain power by the time I get home, they're taking a bit longer over a couple weekends. Still, I made good progress this weekend. Yay for home improvement!

And what else........... Nope, nothing. My friend Glen is coming into town for the week for his work, so we'll catch up once or twice, hopefully. In a couple weekends is the Scandinavian Festival - really looking forward to that (the foooooooood!); will have to freeze the credit cards in some blocks of ice tho, just to be on the safe side as my travel company will be there too..........!

And that's about it! I hear tickets with Qantas from LA to here are still craaaazy cheap..... Just let me know when you're coming (but don't forget, 2 weeks in Dec are booked-out already!)!!!! Mi casa es su casa - and you're welcome to house-sit while I'm away, complete with super nice Rav4!!!!

BYE!

~ J!