Forecast: 16-20
Attained: 15 (10.30am)-19 (12.30)

... I have no idea what day it is. Intellectually I know it's wednesday, but viscerally...? No clue.
Fortunately, cos of a day-swapping thing with a colleague, I've got a 5 day weekend coming up. And then only three weeks 'til holidays!

~=o>

The satellite images on Google Maps are composite pictures. This is the first time I've really noticed!

Squared-off clouds!
(Image of Warragul, Victoria. Accessed online 29th nov 2011. When the satellite images were actually taken is anyone's guess.)

~=o>

Unexpectedly adorable!



Aw, and look, someone's translated for us!

Forecast: 19-33
Attained: 19-35

I took the car through an automated car wash this afternoon. It freaked me out! These big rolly, spinny brush machine things, moving backwards and forwards and slapping at the car! Won't be doing that again in a hurry... [shudder]

~=o>

Bwahahahah!

Forecast: 15-26
Attained: 16-29

Finally managed to get one of the cubs to pull a bag of stuff out of his room and sort through it, but the other cub has artfully managed to avoid me so far...

~=o>

Soulsis found these for me!
I need a sandpit! :)

Forecast: 14-24
Attained: 13-22

Cubs and I nipped up to Soulsis' this afternoon! Was lots of fun. :) We handed over my nephews' birthday presents (they'll be 17 next Tuesday. 17!) Then while all the lads played video games, Soulsis and I snuck out to go op-shopping after dropping Miss Raven (my niece) off at work.
I picked up a really nice moulded glass plate that had an acorn/oak leaves motif. Never seen anything like it. :) It has a small chip in the rim but nothing that bothersome. I'll take a pic when it's washed. I also got 3 gorgeous postcards from Macau; a necklace made from blue coloured discs of shell (which has now been reduced to its component parts); a purple suede covered notebook and another... interesting book.
'Intended for Pleasure: Sex Technique and Sexual Fulfilment in Christian Marriage. (Ed Wheat & Gaye Wheat, 1977.)
... Yerrss.
This printing is the UK version and in the introduction it states that the text is basically unchanged - they've left the Americanisms in - but,

"While there is a large area of common ground between the United Kingdom and North America, the British publishers would not endorse the total subservience of female to male desire recommended on pages 133-4... [My emphasis.]

[eyebrow] Indeed.
Let's see how far I get with it before wanting to hurl it at a wall.

~=o>

Another reason for visiting Soulsis today was so I could hand over the not-xmas decorations I'd made.

The toadstools are fairly obvious; the blobby white things on the left are skulls... They'll go really well with the black xmas tree I gave them last year. :)

~=o>

Also today, Soulsis and I half-jokingly started organising Miss Raven's 21st birthday party. (She'll be 21 in 2014. Won't hurt to start thinking about it now!)
I suggested the theme could be Carnivale!, complete with masks. The idea expanded from there to a circus tent/pavillion, with entertainers! Fortunately, Miss Raven apparently knows circus folk so getting hold of fire-eaters etc may not be that difficult.
Oh, we have plans, we do, Soulsis and I. Miss Raven may even get a say in it...!

Forecast: 16-21
Attained: 17-19

Crossed two more things off The List today.
Woot, working through...
I even went back and redid some of the stuff crossed off earlier. Without leaving it for 6 months! :)

~=o>

Oookay...

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies.


~=o>

Detail of my bedroom window at the old place.

Forecast: 13-24
Attained: 15-24

Beer and licorice. Not as good a combination as one might think...

~=o>

I had a theory, that KittenKong was only sleeping on my pillow when I had a towel down. So I tested my theory. Two nights ago - towel down, KK snuggles. Last night, no towel, should have had in theory a cat-to-face free sleep.

Of course not.
Oh well, I was never cut out for Science! anyway. :)

~=o>

Tee hee hee...

Make your own Dr Who: Heavenly Host Xmas tree ornament.

Print out then assemble your own inhuman Dr Who foe!

(Pic yoinked from the site.)

Forecast: 10-25
Attained: 12-25

ROFL!
I bought a roast chicken from the supermarket tonight cos, a: I really wanted some roast chicken, and, b: I really couldn't be arsed cooking it.
I took the wings and about half the breast meat then told the cubs they could have the rest.
Half an hour later I go out to the kitchen and find the chicken's been reduced to a handful of gnawed bones! Thorough, my cubs...

~=o>

I overheard one of the med students today saying how she doesn't like 'life size models of things' as they creep her out. How's she going to cope with actual things? :)

~=o>

There was an article in the Age today about the Melbourne Heritage Action.
I'm in! (Oooh, and it looks like I can get a discount on m'ship to the National Trust as well. Bonus!)

Forecast: 12-19
Attained: 13-20


I was going to post a pic of today's lunch - potato/egg salad with grated zucchini and mayo - but it looks a bit glistening and weird, so I thought it best to skip it this time...

!~=o>


[snerk]

Star Wars Burlesque from Tenderloins on Vimeo.

!~=o>

Damn, Anne McCaffrey's died! I devoured many of her books, though I haven't read any for years. There'll probly be a reissue of at least the Pern series now. Wouldn't mind having those again...

Forecast: 12-22
Attained: 13-20

Cubs' school presentation night next week. BadgerCub is getting an award! No idea what for, yet. He thinks it could be for Maths. Or French. Or English. Or science. But not Food Tech.
Last year VortexCub got an award for IT/Graphics. Now they're even. :)

~=o>

Egad. I cleaned out the car this evening. Planning on washing and vaccing it this weekend. Got a roadworthy testing thing booked in next week: I'm sure having a clean car must count for something.

~=o>

Sugar on a stick. For stirring in to your hot beverage.
I haven't seen any of these for a while.

Forecast: 10-23
Attained: 11-22

... It's very quiet. Cubs are at a sleepover. It's exam week but neither they nor their friend have exams tomorrow so I'm not that concerned. This friend, by the way, was s'posed to have birthday-sleepover-happyfun-time last weekend but had to cancel cos he got sick. I wasn't really surprised when he organised the sleepover today.

~=o>

I'm a bad cat-mum.
KittenKong didn't put in an appearance last night, not to nag for food or try to sleep on the keyboard. By the time I was ready to amble off to bed I realised why.
Late in the afternoon I'd gone to hang some washing out. KK had accompanied me, as usual, and when I went in to the shed to dump some more stuff, she followed me in, as usual. She wouldn't come out when I asked so I thought, 'tough' and shut the door, fully intending to let her out on my way back...
Unfortunately I got distracted by the stuff in my head and completely forgot about her. Stupidly, I even wondered why she wasn't following me back inside!
So, late last night, by the light of my phone, I rescued my poor kitten. She meowed all the way back inside then fell on her food like she'd been wandering the wilderness for days.
Heh, and last night she crowded me out on my pillow again so I think we're all good. :)

~=o>

I've got a xmas ham arriving soon. Time to make room in the freezer!

Last of the homemade stock with leftover meatballs and gnocchi. Capsicum and zucchini were fresh today on special. Nom!

Forecast: 13-22
Attained: 13-23

One more thing came off the list today, mwahahah.

~=o>

Yesterday I archived the photos on my camera phone, then cleared them from the memory.
Well, I thought I'd archived them. [grumble] The USB port I used - which the cubs had told me was unreliable - appeared to be working but when I went back today to review the archived pics to put together a list for printing, they weren't there. What was there, however, were some pics/folders from an earlier start at archiving, before I moved house. Grrrrr. These hadn't shown up on the USB yesterday.
Fortunately - because I'm paranoid and slightly OCD when it comes to my photos - I already had copies on the computer. So, using a different port this time, I went through the process again. This time it worked.

Time to get a USB hub and start using one of the ports at the back of the machine...

~=o>

Sunshine Beach, Qld, April 2007...

Forecast: 18-23
Attained: 19-22

Crossed three more things off The List today.
While there is a certain satisfaction in cleaning up, it's tinged with the knowledge that I'm just going to have to do it all again at some point. Boring.

Mind you, it is good that I can walk through the kitchen now without stubbing my toe on something.

~=o>

I do so love a building with bits... :)

Hotel in Berwick, sometime last year.

Forecast: 18-33
Attained: 21-34


Aaaand it's officially the weekend. Let's see what else I can cross off The List. Tomorrow. :)

~=o>

Hee. If I wasn't so fond of my fridge magnets this'd definitely be a goer.


see more Set Phasers To Lol

Forecast: 10-28
Attained: 11-28

[giggling]

Forecast: 14-22
Attained: 14-20

KittenKong slept on my pillow last night. She hasn't done that for a while. I'd forgotten how delightful it is to wake up to the furry backend of a cat...

~=o>

Took my lunch components in to work today - grilled chicken, avocado and tortilla wraps. Looked in to the lunchbag thingy for the tomato I thought I'd brought along as well but only spotted two mandarins. Little annoyed with myself as I'd been looking forward to the tomato but was philosophical, thinking how much worse the ommision could've been given my current vagueness.
And then, as I was packing up the lunch paraphenalia, after polishing off the despite-no-tomato-still-delicious wraps, I noticed that one of the mandarins was in fact a tomato. [sigh]
At least I've got it for lunch tomorrow!

~=o>


KittenKong, from about a year ago...

Forecast: 13-28
Attained: 13-30

BadgerCub got to school very late today. He was woken up around 10.30 by his brother, who was home sick. Oops.

~=o>


Ew, just ew...



see more Lol Celebs

I think that's even managed to put me off bacon...

Forecast: 17-24
Attained: 16-26

Pic from 2009. An installation at my local shopping suburb.

(Yes, I can't think of anything to say. Why do you ask...?)


[Edit: In reply to your query, Joules... Um, theoretical fungi...? They don't look comfortable enough to sit on :)]

Forecast: 15-29
Attained: 15-25

I napped this afternoon and dreamt that Mum had come 'round for a visit. Was surprised to see her, but very glad, and not a little flustered. I called the cubs in to say hello, but they couldn't see her.
(There was also wet/drowned kittens and a flooded garage but I'm pretty sure that was due to something I've seen in the past day or so. Not sure where the seamen's hostel came in to it though...)

~=o>

I've crossed another thing and a half off the list today, in the course of which I further winnowed some bakeware. At the first sort through months ago, I'd got rid of most of the baking tins that were surplus and/or rusty, but I'd kept some of the less common shapes and forms. These were stored in two tubs under the kitchen table. (This is in addition to the frequently used stuff that fills a cupboard.) Anyway, this time I got tough with myself and got rid of basically a tub's worth. I've still got a tub of exotic forms left, but that's now sitting out in the shed. :) I might set myself the task of going through the drawers and drawers of kitchen gadgets next. Eh, I'll add it to the list.

~=o>

From Penny.
It's very funny. I giggled.


Rethink Breast Cancer offers this handy way to remind yourself about breast cancer checks.

Couldn't embed, so here's a screen grab.

Forecast: 13-23
Attained: 15-24

I made an optimistic list yesterday of things I should/could achieve this weekend. So far I've crossed off four items! I've tidied, and swept, and put stuff away. Didn't go so far as washing floors but soon, precious, soon...

One of my achievements was cleaning the 'fridge. I really like this 'fridge. It was Mum's, not very old, and started clean, unlike the last 'fridge which was already grubby and rusty and yuck when we got it. The seals were non-existent so mould grew freely everywhere. [shudder] The cubs' father offered it to me when I was moving last year (this was before I inherited all of Mum's good stuff) and I was very emphatic in saying 'no'. Would rather have gone shopping every day for fresh food instead of having to deal with that grotty thing.

The inside of my lovely 'fridge is now gleaming. I did consider cleaning the outside as well, but that would've meant taking off all the fridge magnets. I settled instead for just swabbing at the particularly noticeable smudges between the magnets. Not that there were many anyway. :)

~=o>

Memories are interesting things. Have you ever found yourself re-examining a memory cos you're not quite sure about it any more? Had you always remembered this event this way or had it changed somehow...?
What if... what if it wasn't you misremembering, but the memory had changed because your time-line had been changed...?

I probably shouldn't think too deeply on that just I'll just give myself the creeping horrors and won't be able to sleep. :)

~=o>

This is pretty darn kewl.

CSI: Season 10, ep. 1 slow-mo clip.

Forecast: 11-24
Attained: 12-23

So that was season 9 CSI, was it...?
I liked it! I miss those that have left but Ray's fabulous! :) I like that he gets on with everyone, even Hodges.
Dagnabbit, want season 10 now.

~=o>

Blimey, only 6 weeks 'til the end of year. Only 6 weeks 'til my next lot of time off, woohoo!

~=o>

[idiot grin...]



see more Set Phasers To Lol

Forecast: 14-23
Attained: 15-22

...
Hm.
This appears to be another one of those times when I think I have something to say, but it turns out I don't...

~=o>

This is going back a bit.
The cubs in 2008 at the Melbourne Aquarium (posted with permission. The cubs' permission, not the Aquarium's).
Not the clearest pic evah, but you can definitely see the 'twin' effect here. [g] In fact, looking at the pic just now neither the cubs nor I could immediately tell who was who! Consensus was that it was Vortex!Cub with the octopus...

Forecast: 19-26
Attained: 21-28

Victoria, and Melbourne, had storm and flood warnings today with the 'danger zone' between 5-9pm this evening. It had rained in the morning, but as the sun was shining for most of the day I didn't think the storms would appear.
But, the window in my office only faces northish while the storm front was coming in from the west - which I discovered after leaving work. :) Amazing cloud formations...
We did get some heavy rain and a bit of thunder and lightning, but the worst of it apparently passed us by. Cubs' father - who lives about 15 kliks from us - dropped by tonight with tales of lashing rain and windows cracked by hail. Kind of glad we missed it, in that case.

~=o>

Kittenkong, happy on her carpet...

Forecast: 17-26
Attained: 18-26

Hee, there was a storm early this morning but all the lightning had finished by the time I was heading out to work...

~=o>

Spotted on the front cover of a recent issue of BMJ. Why did this make me snerk?

Because I read the last two points as one.

[snerk]
There's a reason young robots' parents don't want them to go on the stage.

Forecast: 15-25
Attained: 15-28

(Tomorrow's forecast reads 'Morning rain then showers...'
Yes, I know they're two different types of precipitation but the apparent redundancy made me laugh...:)

~=o>

Kittenkong didn't turn up for breakfast this morning: it's ok, she's back now. It's not unusual for her to disappear for a day or so but I always worry when she does.
Last night there was a kerfuffle outside my bedroom window - sounded like a running battle with a possum - I suspect that had something to do with it. There were no bodies this morning, however, and no suspicious clumps of bloodied fur (too much CSI?), so I just had to wait for KK to come back.
As the car pulled in to the drive this afternoon my errant kitteh appeared from the neighbour's garden. Very happy to have her back, but I wonder if she's found herself a hidey-hole next door. Their yard is secure, our's isn't, she may just feel safer there when threatened.
That, or they're feeding her. She wasn't hungry when she came back... But then, she could be nicking someone else's food.
So many questions, such a lack of cooperation when I question her...

~=o>

Yay, found another supplier for skoosh canisters! Happy now. :)

Forecast: 19-32
Attained: 19-26

It didn't quite get to the expected top temperature today. Phew...

Kittenkong loves the new carpet. She's slept there exclusively since it went down. :)

[snerk]
The Dalek in the poke bonnet makes me giggle...

Forecast: 12-30
Attained: 10-30

Yay, it's been released! I have requested this from the cubs for xmas... :)
I've listened to previews of the tracks on ayetoons. Awesome sauce!

~=o>

Finally got the new rug down in the loungeroom. It's not perfectly situated, but I can reposition it when I've done some more tidying. At least now I don't have to worry about any more damage to the cheaparse floor finish. (I mean, seriously, soft wood for polished floor boards? Even I know better than that...)

~=o>

Finished watching season 8 of CSI. Hm. After a particularly emotional series of eps in the middle, I think they went a bit overboard in the counteractive light-heartedness towards the end and it all got a bit jump sharkey. But, as I discovered watching the extra bits, this season fell in the middle of the writers' strike so a little weirdness was sort of explainable. And season 9 is shaping up quite nicely, too, so I'm not complaining.


[snicker]
Thank you, Joules, for the mp3 of this.

Cameo - Word Up



(Why, Geordie, what big eyes you've got...!)

Forecast: 11-22
Attained: 13-20

Dagnabbit, the supermarket still doesn't have replacement skoosh cylinders in stock yet. [grumble] I am put out, I am.

~=o>

Quote from Jack London.

'You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.'

[snerk] And sometimes you can set a trap for it. You know, dig a big ol' hole along its regular path, cover the pit with twigs and leaves and jes' wait...

... good grief, my inner voice sounded just like Nick Stokes then!

Deliriously tired? Me...?

Forecast: 11-18
Attained: 11-18 (Spot on!)

Today I managed to give myself a paper cut on my nose. o.O
Really made my eyes water...

~=o>

Hippotherapy. Not, as one might assume, therapy performed with/on hippos.

Forecast: 13-16
Attained: 13-15

...
Nope. Can't remember what I was going to say.
Have a video instead.

Dr Who - Cast & Crew Special.



(Eeee, Jack!)

Forecast: 12-19
Attained: 12-17

Verrrry quiet day off today. I did intend to get back to tidying/sorting but didn't quite manage anything more than relocating a couple of piles of stuff. Not putting the bits away just... moving them. :)

~=o>

Some of my latest lot of plastic horsies, hee. :)
That's a pinto mare, a Knabstrupper stallion and an Akhal Teke stallion.
I now have all but one of the Schleich horses. Oh noes, I'll have to start collecting the dinosaurs or something!

Forecast: 9-20
Attained: 11-16

Tomorrow, (today, rather, it's gone midnight) is Cup Day. Cubs have a day off, as do I, which wouldn't really be that big a thing as I normally don't work Mondays & Tuesdays anyway, but as my Tuesdays have been work-filled these past few weeks, getting a four day weekend is cause for celebration. :)
I shall be sleeping in...

~=o>

(Spotted on the home page of the National Gallery of Australia. Detail of Giovanni Battista Moroni's Portrait of a child of House of Redetti, c. 1570. Amazing detail, astonishing eyes...)