The Fun Just Doesn't Stop! (Aug 19th)

Hi!

Well. First off, I’d like to apologize for being off the radar. I have no home phone yet (there’s a line but no life), so I’ve had to make an appointment for some dude from the phone company to come out this coming Wednesday to do something to make it go. Hmm. Whatever. And I used to have access to the little blog from work, but the IT Nazi’s have ended that bit of fun. No fun allowed. And there’s no one around at my little apartment with a wireless connection that I can sneak into, they’re all password protected. Honestly, in this day and age. So yeah. I’ve written the last couple to post at once. Kinda geeky, but that’s that!

Anyways, this week went by fast. We had the Wednesday off for ‘Peoples’ Day’ at the Ekka, even though most people don’t go on Peoples’ Day because it’s so crowded with people, but it was a mid-week day off. Excellent! I did laundry!

So yeah, work is fine. Good, kinda busy. Well, busy as I want it to be. Still love it! Boy, not having a phone at home these last 2 weeks or so is kind of a pain. So I spend most of my mornings at work sorting out stuff – like getting addresses changed, having the phone company come out to hook up my phone, etc. But yeah, work is still good. Overall there’s a lot I could do for the next while or so, so hopefully they’ll keep me around to do it all!??

And the little apartment. Yeah. Spent this weekend cleaning like a crazy woman (hee hee, they have some cleaning product here, can’t remember its name, but the ad is some crazy person cleaning with it madly, and the tag line is "There’s squeaky clean, and there’s freaky clean". Cracks me up every time). Place smells a little better for it. The gal that lived here before me, well, I don’t think cleaning was on her list of things to do. She had the carpets steam cleaned (which, with all the rain lately, only made the place smell like wet dog for about 4 days) but she never once vacuumed or really scrubbed. I’ll spare you the gory details. I’ll just say now that it’s more livable, but keep your shoes on. After the last place….. well, it’s hard to believe some people never learned to swing a mop or vacuum. – shudder -.

So, the little apartment is coming along. I did, this week, have the opportunity to chose between two other apartments in this little block that had suddenly come up for rent. One is right above mine. So I had a look through them (met the owners of the whole place) and came close to taking the upstairs one but Cindy came around with her common sense & local knowledge of the summers and had a look and decided that mine was better and it’ll be cooler for during the summer – plaster walls, big fluffy palm right in front. So I’ve stayed put. But the reason why the apartments came up for rent is that the guys who’d lived in them, well, they died. Eeeek. In the hospital, not in the places. They apparently lived here for 30 plus years, were in their 80’s and, well, that was that. Sad. But I have to say, the owners do nothing to keep these places up. Not one cent is invested to keep it looking nice. You should see the state of the threadbare carpets and fittings in the bathroom. And have I mentioned I have no stove? Yeah. I have a microwave and 2 hotplates (Natasha, little gem, donated her toaster oven to the cause). Geez, for the neighborhood, I’d fix these suckers up ‘til they sparkled and I had lines down the road of kids wanting to rent them at $300 plus a week. Maaaaan. I just don’t get the mind of the "property investor". I suppose the owners (who’ve only owned the place for 4 years) are just going to hang onto it until the price of the land skyrockets and a multi-millionaire makes them a silly offer to knock the building down to put up a mansion. Oh, wait, I was thinking of what I’d do if I had the dough.

Anyways, the little apartment will do for now. It already has. I can take a day off of work and not worry that my bank account will cave in on itself. I just hope that work keeps me until Feb at least and I can really make a dent in the bills and go on at least one or two adventures. Will keep you posted!

What else…… Oh yeah, had to take the little scooter in for its 6 month/1,000k check-up. So I have to pick it up after work on Monday. And wouldn’t you know it, we’re due to have rain allllll week. Oh dear. I’ve never ever ridden the little scooter in the rain (never wanted to!). And at rush hour. Oh dear. But hey, at least the little scooter will be living up to its warranty obligations! Gosh, hope the shop doesn’t find stuff wrong with it, like they do. Hmmmm. And I hope the rain stops just long enough for me to get home alive. We’ll find out!!!!

And that’s about it! Hope you’re all well up there!

BYE!
J!

(P.S. I managed to pick up the little scooter just fine.
No surprises from the mechanic - got a clean bill of health!
And no rain! Hooray!)

Let the Fun Begin! (Aug 12th)

Hi!

Well. I woke up Monday morning knowing this week was going to be pretty bloody busy. And it was.

So yeah, the first part of this week was packing, cleaning, sorting….. though I realised that you can only pack and clean so much ahead of time before you’re constantly making trips to dig through boxes. That got old pretty quick. Took the Thursday and Friday off to move and stuff. Moving day was nuts, as they usually are. Tho I rented a car for the occasion (I don’t have nearly enough stuff to warrant renting a real "truck"), so just rented a Mitsubishi Outlander. Big. Nice to have a car for a change. Shame it was only for the day to move. Anyways, Natasha’s friend Veronica was kind enough to help me hoof boxes down 4 sets of stairs (and across town and into the 'new' place). She had the week off before starting her new job and thought one nice way to spend one of her days off was to help me move. Hmmm. But she was a big help. Not messin’ around at all! No farting around or rest breaks (I don’t have much, but up and down 4 flights of stairs can take it outta you). All in all we did most of it in 2 trips by about noon. Pretty good. And then she had to go meet a friend of hers for lunch. Short and sweet! Then I tidied up the old place, packed up the fridge stuff and had the manager do his exit inspection (or whatever the heck it’s called). He didn’t even look through the place, just glanced around and declared "Ahhhh, it looks fine!" Cool. So all I had to pay was $77 to get the carpets cleaned (standard here) and I got all of my massive deposit back! Hooray! Money! But boy oh boy, so sad to leave that place. Was I spoiled there or what. Broke as all get out, but pretty happy. Oh well. Onwards!

And then came to the new place and, well, yeah. The less said about it the better. I keep telling myself 6 months is all, pay off the bills, save some money, yeah. So yeah, by Thursday night I was beat. But this was really nice – Cindy and Natasha came around and we went out to dinner at this really good Italian place up and around the corner from me. Goooooood food!!!!!!!!! Hooray to live so close to really good Italian food! And then we came back here and they helped me set up my bed (airbed) and a couple chairs that I saved from the old place (as he was going to throw them out) and I thought, well, better than no chairs! So we quickly set all that up, Natasha had to hit the road and Cindy and I stayed up drinking champagne and talking until late.

Then first thing Friday morning I picked Cindy up, we dropped the rental car off, and wandered over to the Ekka (country fair). Oh my god. We had The Best Day!!!!!!!!! It was sooooooo much fun! No crowds! It was most excellent! Not too hot, lovely and sunny, little breeze – it was perfect! We did all the stuff you do at fairs, rode the Ferris wheel, they have those bucket chairs from one end of the place to the other, ate all the junk food we could stand, looked at more cows than I could think possible, goats, chickens, llamas, all kinds of stuff. It was excellent. Then at the end of the day we did what all the other farmers did and went and had a beer in the ‘Stockman’s Bar’. Well. I never saw so many cowboy hats in one place and yet not hear country music. There were actually all kinds of folks there but the majority was all the livestock show people from out of town. It was cool. Lots of cowboys. And for being around cows all day, they sure all scrubbed up really nice – nicer than city boys I decided! All of them had nice, ironed shirts, tucked into nice khaki pants (Wrangler, of course) with belts and jackets. And everyone was really friendly. Then we wandered over to the main arena for the official opening of the fair. Well, that dragged on and on and on and on, and we’d been there all day as it was, so we ended up giving up. The fireworks show was still a good 45 minutes away and we were so tired. So we called it a night. But man oh man, we had the best day. It was so fun!

And then, Saturday morning, it was all go at my new little place! First Zoey and her husband Michael turned up with Kona (they kittysat while I moved and got settled), a tv, tv stand and a set of dishes. Then Jade and her husband came with a highboy and a dresser. Then Julian and Linus turned up with all kinds of stuff Julian had living in his garage that he thought I could use, including an old-ish desk with a 3-shelf bookcase attached (probably my favorite piece of furniture I now own!), 3 comfy-ish old chairs (2 which I made into a sort of 2-seater couch), some more dishes (Mexican themed, hmmmm), a fan, a real set of knives, all kinds of stuff. Man, I was pretty touched. No one wanted any money or beer or anything. They were just being nice and getting rid of their stuff. I was pretty overwhelmed. It’s made moving into this little dumpy place that much easier to bear. And everyone, whether they were being nice or not, said the place is fine and I could do lots with it. Ehhh, 6 months, I ain’t gonna do much! But their opinions have made it feel, well, not as embarrassing to have people come around. Jade said it’s kinda like a beach pad – little old, basic, but bright and comfy (minus the groovy beach a block away). So yeah, I can live here for a little bit. The most important thing is to save some dough, pay off these damn bills (scooter & credit card) once and for all and go on trips. I can do this!

So! Whew! Was a busy busy busy week! Am beat! But here I am. I’d say come for a visit but there’s no room for anyone to sleep! Hahaha!!!! So hope you’re all well up there!

BYE!
J!

Movin' Right Along! (Aug 26th)

Hi!

Well! Here I am! Ahhhhhh the joys of moving. It took 2+ weeks for Optus to get my phone/internet hooked up. So yeah, that's why I've been off the radar. I hate moving. But, nevermind, here I am alive, safe and sound!

The new, little apartment is, well, it's not new (at least 40+ years old, with the original carpet), but it is little. When we get a nice, sunny day, I'll have to get some photos. But really, I'm afraid it's a massive step down from the last digs. I gotta say, I'm embarrassed to have people over. But hey, it's cheap and I can save and that's the whole point of this move. It's only for 6 months........ Yeah. Hmm.

Anyways, what I did do is write the little blog anways for the weeks I was out of radar contact, so I won't go into all the fun of the move and stuff here - I already did!

So yeah. Anyways, back to the routine now. My god I'll actually have to work a full week next week! I haven't done that in, well, weeks! Hooray (says the bank)! Otherwise, work is still good. I have to admit tho, over these last couple weeks, I haven't been able to really concentrate at work, so I've slacked on the project I'm working on. I feel kinda bad. I work next to a gal who moans and groans and complains and gossips all day, so I have to contend with that. And then I also work next to a lovely gal who's very 18 and she loves to talk. So I have that to contend with as well. I have earphones for the music on the computer, but they can only cut out so much without my being rude. So yeah. Gonna get busy!


And, well, aside from work and settling in, not a lot has been happening. Oh my, it's rained solid for the past two weeks. I know they desperately need it, but it's been feeling like living back in Auckland. And we know how much I loved the weather there!!!! But, today, so far, it's been beautiful. Bright happy sun, little chilly, and the neighbors are smoking and the smoke blows right through my place, but the air around that is clean! Ahhhh, if only it would stay this way for longer than an hour! Ahhh, spoke too soon, here come the clouds. Sigh.

And that's about that! Going to go meet Natasha for our Sunday Yum Cha down by her house, on Caxton Street. Must take that library book back and pay those overdue fines from it being forgotten packed in a box. James Bond book "Live and Let Die". It was really good. I highly recommend them almost over the movies. And that's the weekend!

So hope you're all well up there! All I have to do now is savesavesave and hopefully go on an adventure or two or three and maybe even save enough to come up there!

BYE!
J!

Moving Around Chickens and Goats...

Hi!

Well. First off, apologies for not checking in yesterday. I ran around all weekend and come Sunday afternoon I’d had it. So Natasha and her friend Veronica invited me to meet them at the pub (The Paddington Tavern, or "Paddo" as it’s known to the locals). And, well, it was a very good evening but by the time I got home I was dead tired and it was waaaaay to late to be making any sense. So here I am, coming to you live from Work! Oooooooh, rebel. Honestly, it’s more "work" than I’ll do all week, and, bonus, I look busy!

So yeah. The week was fast, amazing for not having anything to do. I just know there’ll be stuff for me to be doing…. Soon. But yeah, so far so good. We (our little section) went to the pub for lunch on Friday (it’s across the street from the office. Like right across the street. Excellent) – I love when we do that. And the food is pretty darn good too. We’re getting a new office manager, so we went out for the gal who’s leaving. The new guy seems nice enough……. so hopefully I’ll continue to stay under the radar.

And then packed and cleaned the little apartment during the week, not that I have stuff to pack or much to clean….. Sad to be leaving, especially now with the weather turning into ‘wine on the balcony after work to watch the sunset’ kinda weather…….. Sigh. Oh well. Onwards and, well, onwards anyways…..

So the weekend was full of cleaning and errands to get stuff for the "new" little apartment, because I made the sort of mistake of renting a really expensive, fully furnished apartment, therefore I didn’t need stuff or could afford to pick stuff up along the way (and nowhere to stash it). So here I am. Picked up a vacuum…. an airbed….. clothes drying rack…… yeah.
So. Taking this Thursday and Friday off from work to move and clean and get organized. Then I’m going with Cindy to the Ekka on Friday! I went last year (before I got modern with the digital camera. Oh, I took pictures, just haven’t had them developed yet…. A year later!). The Ekka is their "country comes to the city" fair kinda thing; http://www.ekka.com.au/home/default.asp – it’s a bigbig fair with horses, cows, pigs, etc, fruit from the farmers, sheep dog trials, a parade of all the prize animals, rides, junk food, wine, cheese, art, everything. In fact, every state in Australia has one and everyone (in said host city) gets the day off to go! Course, most locals don’t, but it’s a day off! I went last year on "Public" day and I had the best time (even if it was insanely crowded) and am so happy to be going with Cindy too (and not on "public" day – less crowds) as she’s an excellent guide – she’s from here and knows all kinds of local stories and history. Ahhh, I’m really looking forward to it! Most locals don’t go anymore, it’s the kinda thing they did when they were kids. But for me, the tourist, I love it. In fact, this morning when I got to Central Station (to catch the train to come to work), hee hee, they had a little pen chock full of sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, etc, with a guy inside to supervise. It was a pretty funny sight to see in the middle of the train station. And lots of people stopped to take pictures and chat to the guy. Good thing I brought my camera today! The pictures didn’t come out so good, so hopefully the guy and his little friends will be there tomorrow!

And that’s about it! Hope you’re all well up there!

BYE!
J!

Apartments with Birthdays

Hi!

Well. That was a nice, busy week. Having a birthday to kick-start it helped!

So, yeah! Birthday was very nice! Am getting pretty good at entertaining myself on the day when there's no one else around. Geez, anymore, I wouldn't know what to do with people to help entertain me on the day!? Anyways, took myself to Favorite Cafe #2 (#1 was closed, sheesh), wandered a little through the botanical gardens, then took myself to The Mall to see the new Harry Potter movie in Gold Class! Maaaaaaaaaaan. If cinemas over in the States have something similar, I highly recommend it. It's basically like flying Business Class - you have your own entrance that leads to a very plush sort of living room area - complete with bar and nicely dressed wait staff! Because I bought my ticket ahead of time, all I had to do now was buy treats for during the film. You can order real food and nibbles and booze and desserts and all kinds of stuff, including everything at the regular snack bar. And the very best part of all of this is, besides the really comfy lazyboy chairs and tiny cinema with a perfectly sized screen and excellent sound - they bring it to you in your chair during the film at a time you tell them to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "And when would you like your champagne and chocolate cake taken out to you? Half an hour after the film starts?" "No, please, make it about 45 minutes after it's started." "Very well, we'll bring that to you then! Will there be anything else?" "Oh, yes, please. One more glass of champagne (it is my birthday after all) and a small popcorn." "And when would you like this?" "Oh, say, 10 minutes after the film's started?" "Excellent." Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! But I kinda had to feel for them - they have to totter around holding a little tray full of drinks and food, in the half-dark, up and down stairs, and yet try their best not to lean over into your view too much, or, well, spill it all over you. I swear, the movie may not have been all that great, but with warm chocolate cake and champagne delivered to me when I say just made it Oscar-worthy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was bloody brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then, well, how do you top that really, besides, maybe roller coaster rides? So I went and got my nails done (had to do at least one really girly thing) and then onto the bus home to get ready to meet the gals for dinner at the swish Australian food restaurant "Tukka". I ate emu (niiiice, light), kangaroo (couldn't tell because it was smoked or salami-fied, but nice, tasty), and crocodile - by far my favorite. No wonder Steve Irwin liked them so much (ooooooh, just kidding)! It was lovely, little chewy, but not nearly as chewy as squid, light, not fishy (or chickeny), it was just really excellent, and they let the flavor do it's thing by not drowning it in any kind of sauce, it was just lightly grilled. Man, it was just good. The restaurant itself and the service, eh, not nearly as good as the crocodile. May go again sometime and give it another chance. If one of you guys wants to come down here for a visit we'll go. Bring a small chunk of dough though, it wasn't cheap. But hey, I'm not going out to catch crocodile or kangaroo for dinner, so I guess it's danger-pay added to the bill. And that was my 37th year on this little planet celebrated! Nice.

And then there was the real week to come back to. Which was fine. Work is most excellent, I think I did maybe 3 hours' worth of work all week - see? It's picking up! I had to sign off on the proofs from the printing house for that big manual I was working on earlier - it's a scary moment signing off almost $80,000 worth of work to be distributed across the entire state (and Queensland is a big bloody state) - I really hope I caught all the mistakes. Egads. But, it's gone, and that's what they hired me to do. Excellent! Still working on another manual which is getting close to leaving my hands. I think. There's about 10 other unknown/unseen people involved so, yeah, I'm just a cog. I don't mind. It still beats screaming little students or "scholars" screaming at me to wash their dishes. Yes. Most excellent indeed.

But the real trick to the week was the fact I got a place to move to on the 9th of August (when my lease runs out and the rent goes up for this place I'm in now). I'd been hunting everyday for a couple months. So yeah. It's a dump, if I do say so myself. But it's a cheap dump that comes with an old fridge, an old microwave and electricity to run it all (but nothing else - hello, I'm 18 again furnishing my own digs. Eeek). All for $180 a week (trust me, that's cheap). Which is why it's a dark, chilly, small first floor place. But, it's in Paddington (where I can now walk to go get cat food!), the grocery store, post office, cafes, etc is a 5 minute walk away, and it's cheap. I'll save loads of dough. Pay off the bills and save up to get the hell outta Dodge on the weekends. I'm signed up for six months, so fingers crossed I can do it. I have to, so the bank says. I tell ya, I'm gonna miss this apartment though. Lots. But I'll like the money to go on trips even more, so there's the trade-off. Oh well. I really need to start checking off my list 'things to do in Oz', enough messin' around!

And, really, that's about it. The weather is warming up - getting up to the high-70's and next week is supposed to hit 80. So much for winter! But in gearing up for the warmer weather and the fact that they've had a pretty bone dry winter, the fire department has been doing lots of controlled burns on the hills just outside of town. And where does the smoke and ash go to? Town. Ugh. It's like having 24 hour, free incense! Nice sunsets. But I can't help but worry about all those poor animals. I hope they had some sort of advance notice so they could find new digs. Ahhhhh well, better than brush fires outta control taking out homes and people. It's why we have thumbs I guess.

So that's that! I hope you're all well up there!

BYE!
J!

Emu's, Harry Potter & Crocodiles

Hi!

Well. It's really kind of amazing how fast the week can go when you just put your head down and don't think of how long a week can be. And then next thing you know, poof! it's Saturday! But then, just as quick, it's Monday morning, and the fun starts all over again. Whew!

But hey, work is good. It's also amazing how I can fill an entire week, 8 hours a day, by doing pretty much nothing. It's this project I'm working on - there're so many other people working on it, and I've come in pretty late in its game, that there really isn't a heck of a lot for me to be doing. For the time being. Hopefully by Friday I'll have something more to be doing besides merely looking busy! But, honest, I'm not complainin'!!!!

And then there's the weekend. So, big dork that I am, I was up with the sun and standing in line at Borders with all the other hundred-plus other Harry Potter folks. The last book came out yesterday morning so I thought I'd make a little bit of an effort. It was kinda interesting. I'm really not such a dork after all because I learned that there are faaaaaaaaaaaar bigger dorks out there. Lots of kids came in different Harry Potter characters' costumes, some with makeup, and all of them had wands. So yeah. I'm not such a goofball. Book's pretty good so far!!! And then after that (got my book at 9.15am!), I wandered over to Southbank and where I used to work, some of the gals were doing a little over-time so I thought I'd drop in and say hi and check out their new building. Ahhhhhhhhh, I'm still SO happy that I don't work there anymore!!!!!!!!!! But nice to see the couple of gals and check the place out. Then we all went out to lunch at the pub down the road - The Plough Inn, and man they have nice food. Little pricey for pub food, but it's gooood.

And here we are at Sunday. Cleaned the house..... Did some laundry.... "Uncle Buck" is on tv at the moment, love this movie. Such a shame John Candy checked out so soon. One more reason not to eat bacon on a regular basis! And that's about it! Nice weekend. Weather is still pretty chilly, especially at night. It's been around the mid-30's - cold! But sunny and dry so that makes it bearable.

And that's that! Takin' the day off from work tomorrow. I have this little rule that, unless I'm gonna be fired, I take the day off on my birthday. So. Am sleeping in (rule #2), taking myself to breakfast at this nice little cafe right on the river, then not sure, might take the ferry from one end of the river to the other (one of my favorite things to do). Then I'm taking myself to go see the new Harry Potter movie (dork) but am going "Gold Class"! I've never been but it's apparently pretty swish - tiny little cinema, big, comfy, reclining chairs, little table where they bring you food and drinks! So yeah, even if I've heard some not-so-great reviews of the movie, ahhhhhhh, it can't be that bad from a comfy chair and table service!!! And then home to change and then I'm meeting the gals for dinner at Tukka, it's this fancy pants Australian cuisine restaurant; they have stuff like crocodile, kangaroo, emu, etc on the menu. Should be pretty interesting!!!!

So there it is! I hope you're all well up there!!!!!!!

BYE!
J!

Racing Through the Weekend

Hi!

Well. Another quiet week gone. Geez, for not doing much, the week goes pretty fast. And the weekend even faster.

So work. Yep. Very quiet. I honestly didn't do a heck of a lot at all this week because, well, there just isn't that much for me to be doing right now. Which is good, but can be kinda bad. I hope I don't get in trouble for surfing the net for recipes. It seems to be one of the few websites that aren't blocked for one random reason or another. Now the trick will be to actually cook all this stuff I'm finding interesting recipes for!!!!! But yeah, work is very good, just a little quiet at the moment. It'll pick up.

And then here we are again at the weekend! I actually did something Saturday! Gasp! Shock! I actually went outta town, kinda. Natasha and a few of her friends, every year they go to the Esk Races - it's a teeny little town about an hour and a half west and slightly north of Brisbane. And what happens is different businesses and regular people pay around $45 bucks to get a bus ride there and back, including the entry fee; it's a fund raising thing of sorts, I think. Anyways, really, it's just a day out to drink and socialise with, well, people from the city. You see locals wandering around (they're the ones not wearing stiletto heels or a Superman costume) watching all the silly, drunken city-folk. So yeah, we got there around 10.30am or so and earlier, when I got to where we met the buses at 9am, most people had already started drinking. I tell ya, from what I've seen, Aussies only need the flimsiest of excuses to make it an occasion to drink. So the day passed much the same. We got there and met up with some friends of Natasha's who had a tent (and they dressed up in red and white shirts that said "Where's Wally?" (Waldo) on the back, and one of the guys dressed up like Waldo, then they'd occasionally walk around in a group and people would point and laugh and shout "Where's Wally?!", then see the guy and shout "There he is!!!" Sooo silly!) So we pulled up a couple of chairs, ate some food (part of the fun is that you make all your own food and bring your own booze and then share with everyone). And we just sat and talked and watched the people. It was actually a really fun day. Oh, and there were horses that raced too. We saw one race. But heard the others (the thunder as they ran past). It's not so much about the actual race I learned. It's all about a massive group of people getting together to socialize and drink. I heard they were expecting 6,000 people! And some people dress up fancy (there's some sort of fashion parade on the track at some point) and some people got really decked out and rented costumes and makeup and the whole nine yards (there was a costume competition too). Everyone was really nice and well-behaved. It was fun. Dusty. Dry. Fun. And then everyone stumbles back to the buses around 5pm and that was that! Fun!

And then today was nice and quiet, relaxing, chore day. Went by fast tho. Oh well. Am just so happy to have a job that I don't waste Sunday dreading Monday.

And that's that! The weather's been lovely but pretty chilly at night (averaging mid-40's!!). But during the day it's nice and sunny and dry (dry is bad, we need rain, but I like dry over humid any day, even tho that's bad; I need to be a good Aussie and hope for rain like everyone else.... but if they'd lived in NZ for 4 years, they'd be pretty sick of rain too... I'm just sayin'). And yeah, things are fine otherwise. Kona is fine, big. He loves lettuce. I tell you, he eats better than me some days - his dry, Science Diet food and a little plate on the side with lettuce and tuna. I make his little dinner up and look at it and wonder why I can't eat just tuna and lettuce and be happy. I love pizza tho, it's my one little splurge every other weekend or so. I eat really good otherwise! Well, more or less....... But yeah, things are fine. Work - good, cat - good. Apartment - good, for now. Time is ticking and I suspended the hunt for new digs because I got too sad and frustrated. The hunt will resume tomorrow. I have to have something to do at work! Hopefully a nice, happy, cheap place will materialize and things will be good - let the saving$ begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah, hope you're all well up there! Come on down! Or at least drop a line and let me know what you think of my dull little blog - suggestions, complaints, compliments.....???! Let 'em fly!!!

BYE!
J!

Dull as Mud

Hi!

Well. Yep. Here we are again. Another week, another weekend.

So work. Yep. Good. Finished the big manual I was working on. Gave it to the printer Friday. So it's officially gone! Whew! Am very proud of it and myself. Now on to another one. This one won't be nearly as much work as the last one, as there are lots of people to do what was just me was doing everything on the last one. So, as far as stress levels go, uhhhhh, I'm pretty sure it'll be a lot like the last one, only a lot less. So yeah, in other words, I think I'll have time to update the resume, write some of these neglected emails and bust out some screenplays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the weekend... yeah. Quiet. Really, I know it sounds reallyreally dull and mind-numbingly boring of me, but either I'm getting old, or because I own a cat, or maybe because I like to read, I don't know, but I like quiet weekends. Don't get me wrong, an exciting weekend now and then can be great fun, but for now, I like doing not much on the weekends. Like this weekend, much like most weekends, I did the usual errands, cleaning, reading, etc. I did shake it up a little and went out with Natasha to her favorite Chinese restaurant for Yum Char. It's pretty darn good, I will admit and it's the kinda meal that lasts all day. For me, anyways. The staff are friendly and quick with the steamed dumplings. Yum. Then we went for a wander around Milton - yet another 'hood I'm considering moving to. It's not bad. Has more going for it than Bardon (jazz bar, cafes, train, close to Cindy and Natasha's houses ('stumbling distance' as Cindy puts it). Lots of apartments going in that 'hood..... We'll see!

So yeah, the hunt is on for new digs. I'm not looking forward to moving. Which is precisely why I've stayed in this place so long. It's about $100 more a week than most normal people pay (which explains why I'm broke all the time), so finding new digs is imperative if I want to save the dough to see the sights. I like to think that cheaper digs will free up the weekends a bit more and adventures will be had. Geez, 4 weeks and I'll be officially homeless. Eeeeeek. Wish I hadn't realized that....... Ahhh well, on to the next little adventure, in a way!

And that's really about it. Things will liven up soon, honest! I hope you're all well up there!

Bye!
J!

Busy and Yet, Lazy....

Hi!

Well. That was another week. Much like the rest of them really. And the weekend, ahhhhh, excellent, if not dull. But a nice easy week.

So yeah, work. Yep. Nice. Dead easy. I got a stay of execution! Hooray! They decided to keep me on to help finish another manual. So that'll take me til the end of September. And then after that's done, I have two more I'm supposed to work on as well, and those could take me into next year! Fingers crossed with those, but for now, I have a job until the end of September! HOORAY! But, sadly, the last of the two little office gals have hit the bricks for brighter cubicles. Their contracts weren't renewed so off they had to go. They kept me up to date with what's hip in the world (one was only 18 and the other was 24, how cute). But they're gone and now I'm left with old, fuddy-duddy domesticated office folk. Yawn. But, they're still working at the same place, just a different section. So maybe we'll catch up over lunch. Friday we allllll went across the road to the pub to celebrate their last day. That was pretty nice. And I could drink wine! Everyone else was, so when in Rome! 'Course, I knew, as always happens at these events, that the minute I got back to my little corner, all motivation to do much of anything was still sitting at the pub. So it was all I could do to look busy for the rest of the afternoon. Thank heavens it was only an hour. What a nice end to the week though!

And the weekend. Yep. Busy, and yet quiet. Saturday, cleaned like a gal possessed and read my book (finished "Dr. No", James Bond, excellent stuff, I highly recommend them). Then today, went to the grocery store early this morning and even took the little scooter out for a run around to check out a neighborhood, Bardon, that I've had my eye on to maybe move to when the time comes. And to pick up some more food for the little beast. And the rest of the afternoon, well, am almost ashamed to admit it but I had to have a nap around 11.30am! Gasp! Hey, I was up early. But that's how lovely and chilled out the weekend's been. Read more of another book "Room with a View", very nice, well-written; talked on the phone to David; and now here I am. Getting ready to make a pizza, maybe read some more. Sad. I know I should be out there running around checking stuff out around town, keeping my finger on the pulse that is buzzy Brizzy! But man, for some reason, nope. Not this weekend. I know, I can hear you saying "But you do nothing every weekend!" Ahhhhh, yes, very true wise grasshopper, but I am trying my not-so-very-best to save to live large on my birthday and I know that every time I so much as step one little toe out of my front door I spend money. So doing nothing, for now, is for my own good. Well, the bank account's good anyways.

So yeah. That's that. Same ol, same ol. Trust me, if anything interesting happens, you'll hear about it. But for now, all's quiet on this Eastern front, down in the Southern Hemisphere!

BYE!

J!