And so I'm back, from outer space...
Well, back from Queensland at least. :)
Hopefully there'll be more detailed updates as I process the pics (and memories) from the past week but for now, here's my impression of the road trip:

Crossing of borders...

7am starts...

Roads cutting through mountains...

Big Things loved...

... and neglected.

Numerous toilet stops, mostly in places nowhere near as congenial as this!

Glad to be home, though. Looking forward to my own bed!

Forecast: 10-21
Attained: 10-19

Packing for a trip. Wot fun!
I made a pile of stuff I thought I'd need, then compared it to the size of my case...
'k,I'm only going for a week and they do have washing machines in Queensland. :)

~=o>

I was a little concerned about the cubs being on their own while I was away but their father will be staying with them for a few days now. Is all good.

Forecast: 14-19
Attained: 12-19

Packing my suitcase I of course had to clear out the stuff from the last trip. (Wow, the library weekend in November 2010 was the last time I went away.) I found all the trivia quizzes and word games Jay had kept us entertained with on the coach and some of it was quite funny.
F'rinstance, one of the questions on a trivia thingy was:
"If you had a serpent, bones and a vihuela, what would you most likely be doing?"
The answer was playing music, as they're all musical instruments. I'd responded with, "Making a zombie...?"
I didn't get any points for that.

~=o>

And finally, we're getting season 4 of Being Human. (Avast! There be spoilers in the link!)
First episode airs while I'm away so not sure if I'll get to see it. No matter! There is always the ABC's catch-up, iview. :)
In preparation I've rewatched the final ep of season 3.
... Waaaaah! [sniffle]

~=o>

KittenKong 'helping'...

Forecast: 17-30
Attained: 16-28

Happy Man-On-A-Stick day!
No, we're not 'specially reverent around here...

~=o>

Fabulous storm this evening. Sheet lightning and howling winds and driving rains! Probly means that trees and roofs have gone flying elsewhere in the state.

~=o>

Hahah! Dragged my super cute suitecase out from underneath the bed today.

It's always smaller than I remember. :)

Forecast: 15-28
Attained: 14-27

"Never before have I been so calm fearing for my life..."
(comment nicked from YooToob page.)



~=o>

Woohoo, holidays!

Forecast: 15-25
Attained: 14-25

One more day of work then holiday time!

Aaaand now I can't think of what it was I wanted to say... :)

Forecast: 18-26
Attained: 20-26

My sun hat. I love it. I found it years ago in an op-shop in Warnambool. Over the years the rafia thread holding it together has unwound or disintegrated.

I sew it back together with ribbons.

This is the underside of my hat. There's been a number of repairs.

Forecast: 12-26
Attained: 11-25

Met my TAFE friends in the city. We went to see the Love and devotion: from Persia and beyond at the State Library. Beautiful stuff...
Then we landed at the nearest Pancake Parlour for lunch and chat. Was great to catch up! :)

~=o>

Hee, GoogleMaps for April 1st had an interesting view...

Forecast: 14-22
Attained: 17-21

Woohoo! Increased bandwidth from 20GB a month to 120GB! Our godlike download limit, as the cubs put it.

~=o>

Fantastic dream last night...
There was an intricate though decaying/crumbling building set on a beautiful, rolling hillscape. The building was crumbling cos the hill it was built on had an aquifer beneath it, which was disolving the base of the hill which in turn was causing significant - and increasing - subsidence. (At some point it was revealed that the 'hillscape' was essentially islands of dense vegetation.)

Off my own bat I was inventorying the contents of the building, working out priorities for salvage but no one seemed inclined to take the matter seriously even though the building was groaning and listing around us. Looking out of some of the lower windows I could see masses of rotting plants, the buildings foundations, rolling and tumbling against the glass. Fasicnating but disconcerting. I was sure the pressure would cave in the windows before long.

I rode - or flew - along the adjoining waterway and discovered some distance away a series of huge wooden stakes driven in to the bottom of the river. The stakes ranged from brand new through to tangles of black decay. I realised that this was a deliberate acidifying of the aquifer to destabilise not just the building but the entire landscape. It had been going on for some time...

Back at the building, standing outside on the roof, I could see two enormous hover cranes being flown towards us. The purpose of these was to attach to the island, to stabilise it and by means of the hover mechanism, keep it from sinking. I didn't think this was going to work. My exact thoughts were, 'Oh great, more technology to go wrong...'. Sure, it worked at first. I could feel the land/building level out and lift but before long the engines failed and we began to sink again, only this time with the added weight of the cranes...

(While I was watching the cranes come in I noticed a flying tram rise up and take off towards the city. There were people in there, like most public transport patrons, not particularly interested in how they were getting to their destinations. I thought this was extraordinary! You're in a tram, people! That's flying! :)

Forecast: 20-29
Attained: 20-19

Ye gods! Petrol is currently at $1.59 a litre! That makes the $1.41 the other day almost a bargain. [grump]

~=o>

Was reading a rather sad news piece online the other day...

But one of the attached adverts made me laugh.

Targetted advertising. [snerk] Always appropriate.

Forecast: 17-28
Attained: 14-28

I was at the work campus with the pond yesterday. :)
The baby fish are noticeably bigger. I've only managed to count 6 of them, but I think there's more.
It was lovely sitting out there at lunchtime. The sparrows were bathing at the edge of the pool, while the swallows swooped and flitted about after the insects. [happy sigh]

While I was eating lunch, one of the sparrows came and perched on the edge of the chair next to me and inquired about crumbs. I told him he could have some when I was done. And then I smiled cos that's the sort of conversation mum would've had with him.

Forecast: 14-26
Attained: 12-26

Happy birthday, Mum!

~=o>

Got pummelled awake by the horrible, raucous secondary alarm this morning. The primary alarm was on, I'd just managed to sleep through about five prompts.

~=o>

I think it's adorable, and a bit slashy, that Captain Blue calls Captain Scarlet 'Paul' in moments of stress. :)

~=o>

Less than a fortnight 'til I'm away up North and the fretful 'zomg, what if...!' thoughts have begun. Perfectly normal - I've been worrying myself like this from the moment I was old enough to realise that shit can happen. :)

Forecast: 14-24
Attained: 14-23

Parent-teacher interviews this evening. All in all they went quite well. Teachers are happy - even enthusiastic in some cases - about the cubs progress. There's a couple of small homework concerns but nothing like the universal grrrness of previous years. Just goes to show what a leap in maturity, and actually liking the subjects you're studying, can do for you. :)

And after the interviews was the now traditional trip to the icecream shop! Yayy! I had a sundae with a scoop of choc/caramel and cookies and cream. Mmmm. I'm only really in it for the hot fudge chocolate topping, though...

Forecast: 12-22
Attained: 13-20

Well, the preying mantis turned up dead yesterday, and I watched the spider sneak out of the corner this morning...

~=o>

Cubs have a day off school tomorrow but as usual I shall be shouting 'good morning' through their doors as I leave for work really early. Mwhahaha
(7 working days and I get a holiday!)

Forecast: 10-21
Attained: 10-20

Kojak was in my dream last night. He even said 'Who loves ya, baby...'
I woke up bemused.


~=o>

Two of the major supermarket chains here routinely have a 4c a litre discount voucher for petrol if you spend $30 or more. I look forward to the few times a year when that goes up to 8c. As expected it's come in for Easter but this time it's only 8c a litre if you spend more than $50! [grump] Cheapskates.

And speaking of cheapskates, the 'frequent flyer' program I'm signed up with has a fabulous offer for 2 points (double the regular amount) per doller spent at the supermarket... if you spend more than $150 in one transaction.
[splutter] Even if I bought all the months groceries in one go it still wouldn't add up to that amount. [scowl] I'm ready to point the finger at the cynical promotion of rampant consumerism, I am.

Forecast: 11-20
Attained: 13-18

I have discovered the secret to excellent home-made pickled beetroot (which is what I had for dinner tonight. Just that. It was nom). Soak the cooked beetroot in a diluted apple cider vinegar. Mmmm... No extra salt, no extra sugar.

~=o>

Yesterday I txted the cubs to remind them they needed to do some washing. Here's what happened:

Me: Washing!
Cubs: Aaargh! Where?!
Me: Behind you!
Cubs: Nooooo! *om nom'd*
Me: My babiiiie!

:)
This is actually a fairly normal type of conversation hereabouts...

~=o>

Mouse murderer.

Not that that's a bad thing, per se, I just don't like having to clean up the carnage. Especially not first thing in the morning.

Forecast: 12-18
Attained: 12-18

Well, the spider's scrunched back up in the corner and the praying mantis has gone, so I'm not quite sure what's going on...

~=o>

Aaaand the cat's been bringing in mice to play with. [sigh] Really don't want the house smelling like mouse pee.

Forecast: 13-17
Attained: 13-17

Not sure if you can see what's going on here...

What we have is an insect/arachnoid standoff.

That's the big spidey that's been lurking about the house, making me nervous. It disappeared from the lounge room and turned up in the kitchen - that's the very top of the kitchen cupboards it's crouching on.

Anyway, arachnid of doom had squished itself up in to the corner there for the past day or so: this morning, as I was getting ready for work, it tried to move. Problem was it's surrounded by daddy longlegs who have no hesitation in tackling something that size that strays in to their webs. Spidey was sidling this way and that, trying not to attract attention, but couldn't seem to get out of the corner. I almost felt sorry for it. Almost.

Came home this evening to see that the spider had managed to move a bit, but a preying mantis had joined the fun. Now... spider can't move cos both p.m. and d.ls will pounce. P.m. can't move cos d.ls will pounce. d.ls can't move cos the p.m. will pounce. I'll be interested to see what the situation is tomorrow morning...

~=o>

My preeeciouuus...

This is season 1 of Original Star Trek (tacky Trek) in the special release container from several years back. Seasons 2 & 3 were in blue and red containers. Awesome! Alas, I couldn't afford them when they were released, and had to resort to standing in the shops, stroking the boxes and crooning...

Ebay! For about a sixth of the original price! Bit pleased about that. :) Seasons 2&3 were up for auction from the same seller as well, but I was well and truly outbid on those. Eh well. I have season 1, and now I can subject introduce the cubs to a classic bit of sci-fi.

Forecast: 11-21
Attained: 12-20

Yay, got through my first day back at work!
Finally dragged myself to finish the minutes from the staff meeting. They only needed a few, very slight changes. Pleased. :)

~=o>

I realised this morning - as I was making my way through my muesli - that I only really enjoy breakfast if it's later in the day and involves bacon.

~=o>

Chicken adobo was delicious. It smelt very vinegary to begin with but the vinegar cooked out and we were left with a lovely, tart and sweet sauce. Even the cubs liked it! Plus, there's some of the sauce left over: that's going to make an awesome gravy tomorrow for my chips. Mmmm...

Forecast: 17-21
Attained: 12-20 (temperature lurked uncomfortably around the mid 20's all night before dropping to 12 at midday. And then there was rain, yay!)

2000th post! (Not too bad given I didn't post at all for almost 2 years... Should probly do something about the comments, though. They haven't worked properly for weeks. Suspect I've lost the ones already posted.)

~=o>

Definitely feeling better. Once I can sleep through the night I'm on the mend. Back to work tomorrow.

~=o>

Marinade base for chicken adobo. Smells divine.

There's a squillion versions of this Filipino dish but I'm trying out the recipe I recently nicked from the foodie section of a local 'paper. It has apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, onion, garlic, bay leaves and brown sugar. I've left out the chillis and peppercorns.
That's dinner tomorrow night. :)

Forecast: 17-28
Attained: 17-27

Feeling better, I think. By this evening I wanted to do more than just lie on the couch feeling sorry for myself. :)

~=o>

Odd dream last night. But I can't remember the details now. Annoying...

Forecast: 13-27
Attained: 13-28

Ok, so I'm having a couple of extra days off work this week. I've got a doctors certificate and everything. Feel a little twinge of guilt about not going in, but I seriously need to rest or the lurgy will get even worser!

~=o>

Finally got 'round to watching Billy Elliot. It was as gorgeous and soppy-making as expected - loved it. (And my goodness, [should there be a spoiler warning here?] grown-up Billy (Adam Cooper)... phwooaar! I do so... admire ballet boys... :)

~=o>

This is fantastic!
Blurb from the yootubes page:

Australian band Skipping Girl Vinegar sent a hobo monkey (Baker) to the edge of space, in a low rent spaceship made from foam and gaffa tape. On the morning of Sat 27th Nov 2011, attached to a giant weather balloon, Baker and the onboard camera soared to 110,000 feet (4 times higher than Mt Everest) capturing the rolling image that is now part of this new film clip. Reaching speeds of over 200kmh and experiencing temperatures as low as -50 degrees Baker carried an Mp3 player beaming out the new SGV single 'Chase the Sun' and messages to the Universe from the people of Earth.

Enjoy... :)

Forecast: 14-23
Attained: 14-23

Considerably miffed.
I was s'posed to go and see my favourite movie this afternoon, at my favourite independent cinema, with some of my favourite people. Unfortunately, the 'mild' lurgy got worse overnight and I couldn't go. [grump]
I did however have a good afternoon with the cubs, watching Real Steel and eating comfort food. (Thanks for the rec, Joules. As luck would have it, one of the cubs' friends had a copy, which he borrowed for me after reading your post. Being that it's about robots an' all, I had an interesting reaction to it... :)

~=o>

Oh gods! [gasping] Just found this on regretsy.com.
Read the post all the way through, and then the comments.

LANGUAGE WARNING

Wesley Crusher, Teenage Fuck Machine

... can't breathe! Laughing and coughing not a good mix!

Forecast: 13-22
Attained: 13-21

I made a thing!

And I was able to make the thing cos I knew where - and was able to reach - all the bits that I needed. (The green cloth is some calico - organic, if I remember correctly - that I dyed years ago and recently unearthed. Heh, akshully that calico was part of the 100m or so I bought to use at my wedding. Wow, I felt so wealthy, being in possession of so much cloth. :)
The actual sewing took 2 evenings. All hand done cos that was the least effort compared to clearing the sewing desk/setting up the sewing machine.
Path of least resistance, me.

~=o>

[snuffle] I has a mild lurgy, so for the moment it's all mint tea and honey when what I really want is lollies. But, I still have a sense of smell and that's good.

~=o>

[edit: Cubs have just come home from spending a day at their dad's. They saw me on the 'puter, in basically the same position I was when they left this morning, and asked: 'Have you been there all day?!'. Irony. That's usually what I'm asking them! :) ]

Forecast: 20-24
Attained: 18-23

Well, that was a week of procrastination - aside from the birthday stuff.
Wonder if I'll get anything done this weekend?

~=o>

Fascinating site.
Dictionary of medical eponyms.

Forecast: 22-29
Attained: 21-27

There was a fight in a house just around the corner from us early this morning, leading to a serious assault. End of last year there was a murder several streets away.
Can't say I live in a boring suburb...

~=o>

D'aww... eww!

The 6 deadliest animals too adorable to run away from...

[warning for language and ick]

Forecast: 18-31
Attained: 18-32

Happy Birthday, Penny!

Forecast: 13-30
Attained: 14-30

Well, after all the happy fun tiems yesterday I don't really haven't anything else to say today. Hm...

Forecast: 13-24
Attained: 16-24

Facebook is telling me it's my birthday today so, Happy Birthday Me! :)

Had a really good day. Penny and I took a drive to the Patchwork Teahouse in Warburton, where we ate tasty noms...

(Mmmm... Chicken and Mushroom quiche...)
And then went for a stroll along the Yarra...

Penny bought me a present! A pattern for the most adorable needle keeper evah.

The motto stitched on to the underside of the front leaf says: 'Oh to be a dragonfly and dance amongst the lillies...'. I won't be using that. Mine will more likely say something like: 'Daleks. They're like weevils.', or 'Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!' [snicker]

The cubs had a huge box of chocs waiting for me when I got home this afternoon (they weren't awake when I left this morning. It being a public holiday an' all) and eventually, a card they'd drawn. D'aww...
Was too full to consider dinner but the cubs' father turned up a bit later in the evening with chocolate cake so ate that instead. :)
Was all good...

Thanks for the birthday wishes, y'all!

Forecast: 12-22
Attained: 13-21

I'm a little bit twitchy. We've had another fecking huge spider in the loungeroom the past couple of days, but I can't see it now. The last time a fecking huge spider disappeared from view it ended up on me and I squealed like a girl...

(Yesterday the Vortex!Cub very kindly nudged this most recent fecking huge spider away from the computer to the other side of the room. I told him he couldn't leave home now cos I needed him to deal with the spiders. Adorably, he wasn't overly impressed. This is a far cry from when he and his brother informed me, when they were much, much younger, that they were going to stay with me forever and ever! :)

~=o>

[giggling] Love this show.



Hmph. Finally out on DVD but not avaiable in Aus.

Forecast: 15-21
Attained: 16-22

Akshully, flicking through my dvds today... there won't be that many I'll be getting rid of...

~=o>

Cubs tonight were amazed that I could talk authoritatively about an interest of theirs that I don't have much to do with. Understanding dawned when I told them I did actually listen when they spoke. :)

~=o>


Ah, the Nutbush. Timeless. :)

Forecast: 15-22
Attained:

I'm down to do the minutes for the April staff meeting but as I'll be away I offered to do them this time.
Once again I didn't take adequate notes. 'Oh, I'll remember that!' I airily thought to myself...
The hell I will! Once again I'll be relying on work colleagues to fill in the gaps where I neglected to write shit down. >:( Hopeless, really.

~=o>

Aifink it's time to do a cull of the dvds. True, a good many of them are out of their plastic cases and in pockets instead, but still, there's about 400 individual titles.
So. Watching the ones I haven't seen yet: I started tonight with Miami Vice, the 2006 remake. Not dreadful, but not good, either. That one can go. I quite like Colin Farrel, however, he does a very good wounded lover. :)

Forecast: 14-23
Attained: 15-21

I thought that a pineapple salsa would be a good thing to have with my pork chops tonight. I had to hand pineapple, zucchini, spring onions and red capsicum. The mix was ok but unfortunately the pineapple was insipid, not sweet and juicy as I'd envisioned. There's some left: perhaps it will be better after it's sat for a day.

~=o>

[snorfle!] This turned up in the work email yesterday.
Seem legit!

From: Rt Hon David Cameron MP [mailto:thalyta@transultransporte.com.br]
Sent: Tuesday, 6 March 2012 11:36 PM
Subject: Your ref:...Date: 06/03/2012





PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
TREASURY AND MINISTER FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE,
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM.

Our ref: ATM/13470/IDR
Your ref:...Date: 06/03/2012

IMMEDIATE PAYMENT NOTIFICATION

I am The Rt Hon David Cameron MP,Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury
and Minister for the Civil Service British Government. This letter is to
officially inform you that (ATM Card Number 5454 7168 0041 0640) has been
accredited with your favor. Your Personal Identification Number is 1090.The
VISA Card Value is £4,000,000.00(Four Million, Great British Pounds Sterling).

This office will send to you an Visa Card/ATM CARD that you will use to
withdraw your funds in any ATM MACHINE CENTER or Visa card outlet in the world
with a maximum of £5000 GBP daily.Further more,You will be required to
re-confirm the following information to enable;The Rt Hon William Hague MP
First Secretary of State for British Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. begin
in processing of your ATM Card.

(1)Full names: (2)Address: (3)Country: (4)Nationality: (5)Phone #: (6)Age:
(7)Occupation: (8) Post Codes

Rt Hon William Hague MP.
First Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Email;
fcoaffairs11@msn.com
Tel: +447 (0) 744 813 4476

TAKE NOTICE: That you are warned to stop further communications with any other
person(s) or office(s) different from the staff of the State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs to avoid hitches in receiving your payment.


Regards,

Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister

Forecast: 13-23
Attained: 14-22

At the coldest point of the night last night, KittenKong decided she wanted to sleep on me. As this was just before I had to get up it wasn't very satisfactory for either of us. She couldn't settle and I missed those last few precious minutes of sleep because my cat was kneading along my ribs...

~=o>

I opened a plastic box of carefully packed old clothes that I'd been saving for... something, and decided I really wasn't going to use them after all. :) I'm sure there'll be a rag collection soonish.

Forecast: 15-21
Attained: 16-22

I was actually a little bit chilly at work today, and wishing I'd brought my shawl. That hasn't happened in a long time.
Mind you, it won't do to get too comfortable with the lower temps just yet... I'm sure there's a few more stupid hot days to be got through before we're back in the reliably cool weather.

(And it must almost be time for a haddock change. It's been still dark in the mornings when I'm getting up for work...)

~=o>

[giggling] So funny... :)

Biertijd.com // Media » Ventriloquist Paul Zerdin

Forecast: 16-22
Attained: 16-22

Ok, so, the crafty cupboard in my room isn't neat but it is organised.
I've also sorted the buttons into 'buttony' and 'novelty', and cut down on the amount of empty containers lurking about. (The box of spares will go out to the shed cos I know I'll eventually need them...)

Sewing desk is the next thing on the list to be sorted out. It will have to be, if I ever want to use the sewing machines!

~=o>

This time two years ago we had a storm with hailstones big enough to smash the kitchen window. That was exciting...

Forecast: 16-26
Attained: 17-27

An excellent day today, spending the afternoon with people I haven't seen for ages, complete with mini pizzas and chocolate! Mmmm... And fingers crossed it looks as if another Islandkateer outing is in the works!

Alarice was wearing a gorgeous flying fox pendant. I've browsed the site and gone 'Ooooh...' a lot. :)

~=o>

KittenKong is happier with the cooler weather and greater opportunities to cuddle...

Forecast: 16-21
Attained: 15-18

At last the jumble of ribbony things has been neatly sorted. I now have ribbons, cords, trims/lace and thonging. :)
I also sorted through the big bag of assorted bed linen and towels. Got rid of some while other bits were relegated to visitors' sets. I'm down to 3 complete sets of my own, rather nice sheet sets plus a couple of flannel pieces for winter.

~=o>

D'aww, adorable cat is adorable!

([grump] Ok, fine, looks like the camera on my 'phone's not completely right in the processor any more. That, or it and blogger aren't on speaking terms. Landscape oriented pics from my 'phone display correctly on the 'puter, but when they're uploaded to my blog they'll only display in portrait. Doesn't matter where they're uploaded from either. Annoying...)

Forecast: 16-22
Attained: 15-23

This is the note Badger!Cub left on his slice of cake this morning... and my response (in black).

Forecast: 17-22
Attained: 16-21

Sooo, Melbourne's still wet...

~=o>

I got a little extra in my pay this week, which is nice but I'm usually suspicious of such things in case I have to pay it back. I figured it might be back pay for the annual pay rise I was sposed to - but didn't - get at the beginning of the year.
It was. (15c extra an hour! Party!)

~=o>

Captain Scarlet & Captain Jack Harkness

Both brunet with blue eyes.
Both part of organisations that deal with aliens.
Both won't stay dead.

Just an observation. :)

(I could also say something about the cleft chins, the uniforms, unsubtle vehicles and the not-deadness due to alien intervention.
Points of difference: Harness will shag anything that moves, Scarlet doesn't seem much interested at all. Captain Blue, however, that's another story. And I know Colonel White finds plenty of excuses for Lt. Green to be under his console.)

Forecast: 16-24
Attained: 16-23

Wow.
I was playing with this while listening to dance music.
Trippy...

The Scale of the Universe 2

Forecast: 18-22
Attained: 18-21

Aaaand looking ahead at the 7 day forecast, mid to low 20's every day! Niace.

~=o>

I've been musing to myself, again, about what I'd need on a houseboat... Not an extensive list. :)

~=o>

Can't remember how I found it but this little fic is very cute, very funny.

'Upholding the Laws of Time' by AstroGirl

Summary: Calvin encounters the Doctor.

~=o>

This time(ish) last year - the kitchen window as reflected on my 'phone's screen.

Forecast: 23-28
Attained: 22-25

It rained today, for most of the day. It's still raining, in fact. Much cooler outside now but still annoyingly stuffy and sweaty inside. Even with doors and windows open it's taking a long time for the house to cool down.

However, cooler temp means more of a doing day at least. Ticked a couple of things of the List and caught up with the washing up. Also - gasp - did tonight's washing up after dinner! That won't become a regular thing, I can assure you...

~=o>

Do I really need to keep those eps of The Professionals I recorded from the telly 12 or more years ago? I don't have a video, and I can get dvds of the show that are much better quality. Plus, they have extra bits and no station breaks.
'k, I think I've more or less convinced myself now.

~=o>

Just finished reading 'The Guardian Book of Playlists' (Dorian Lynskey, 2008).
Synopsis from link:

Anthology of the much-loved weekly Guardian column * The 'Readers Recommend' column has a huge following in the paper and online * Offers 100 imaginative and idiosyncratic playlists for the multitudes of iPod users to download and enjoy * Provides an informed guide to the bewildering number of tracks available on iTunes and other online music libraries.

It was very interesting but I was miffed at the lack of Aus music. Sure, Nick Cave got on to a few lists but other than that... one track each from The Church, The Go-Betweens and The Triffids. I think I forget sometimes that, happily immersed as I am up to my eyeballs in local product, outside of Australia there's probly not that much widely noted.

Anyway, I'm going to make a point of having a listen to some of the tracks listed. Always a good thing to expand your musical horizons, even if ultimately you don't care for what you hear.

Forecast: 26-34
Attained: 25-33

HAPPY BIRFDAY, JOULES! :)

Have a, uh, transforming great day!

~=o>

It wasn't much of a doing weekend - too flippin' hot! - so my List was barely touched. I did however get a few boxes out of storage at Soulsis' place when I dropped the W nephew off. 2 of the boxes were old crap of the cubs, mostly rubbish and so easily dealt with. (Why they packed actual rubbish, I have no idea. Even I don't do that...) The other box was, I think, the last of the xmas decorations. Finally. It included the beautiful Elven Star ornament Joules gave me several years ago that I missed putting on the tree last xmas. See, I knew it would turn up in a box somewhere. :)

~=o>

And now the temperature's dropped, and we've had a little bit of rain. Hopefully the upcoming week will be reasonable...

Forecast: 23-38
Attained: 25-36

I'm currently working my way through the Captain Scarlet dvds. Love this series.
Many years ago I shared a house with a Gerry Anderson fan, which was an education in itself! Anyway, he'd managed to pick up some videos of CS - this was before anything much was commercially available. Something was niggling at me while we watched, some memory, that I couldn't quite pin down. I told my friend and he got this mischievous glint in his eyes... then he turned the colour down on the telly and I was seeing it in b/w.
Suddenly, I was four years old and in the loungeroom of our house in England! I had seen this show before, when I was little!
Of course, I appreciate it more now... :)

~=o>

Not quite sure what I was actually looking for when I did an image search and got this.

It's very... pink. It even took me aback.

Forecast: 16-35
Attained: 15-36

Interesting day, today. A day of yay and woe.

Finally had the ENT appointment this morning - the one that was booked 10 months ago. I'll need to have a CT scan to confirm but it looks as if I could have otosclerosis. That's what Gil Grissom had! Though both his ears were affected whereas I've just got probs with one. (I'll have to watch the scene again but I'm pretty certain Doc Robbins wouldn't have been able to diagnose that just by looking in Gil's ear!)
There's corrective surgery for the condition, that has a high rate of success. Could get my hearing back! Mmmm... stereo...
Mind you, elective surgery, could be years before I go under the knife.

~=o>

Later today I was at work getting things ready for our annual book sale on monday. (What do medical libraries do with superceeded or damaged books? Sell them to med students, of course!)
The boss put Di and I in charge of this and between us we've managed to get it under way, despite us only being at the same campus one day a week. Lots of emails...
Anyway, I did the pricing this afternoon. It was pretty arbitrary, have to admit. Big book? Surgery? Eh, $10. I've got my eye on a couple of the older books: if they're there on Tuesday I'll pick 'em up.

~=o>

About an hour out from hometime, as I was trying to finish the pricing, I get a call from the cubs. When they'd popped home after school to pick up stuff for the sleep over at their dad's, they found the hot tap in the bathroom sink fountaining forth! Ack!Shit! Their dad managed to close the tap off enough it was only about half the flow, but still.
Rang the agent to let them know; they contacted the owner. Short time later I get a txt from the agent saying the owner will be coming over >:< No! Just send the fracking plumber...! I thought, agitated. But it was fine, just a broken washer that the owner was able fix. (Why no, I didn't know how to fix that myself. Though I should be able to do it when the next tap goes...)
That was exciting. Yes.
I'm anticipating a quiet weekend after all that.

Forecast: 16-29
Attained: 16-25

All the dreams that I can remember this week featured run-down houses...

~=o>

I noticed today that the pond at the smaller work campus (not the big pond in the park near the main work campus) had little bitty baby fish darting about in the shallows! At least, I think they're fish. They're very small, streamlined and almost transparent. Tadpoles are more lumbery than darty.
Still, very cute. It means the fish in there are breeding!

Forecast: 16-26
Attained: 15-26

Hot, hot weekend coming up. [sigh]

Forecast: 16-24
Attained: 18-24

Was very busy today at work. Didn't once feel like nodding off. Now however... :)

~=o>

Tch, I want the cubs to see the Buffy series but I can't find my copy of the first season. We could start from season 2 but I like to start these things at the beginning.
Eh, it's probly in a box I haven't got to yet. We'll just have to go through Firefly in the meantime...

Forecast: 17-23
Attained: 20-23

Penny and I went op-shopping today. :)
Found a faaaaabulous metallic hot pink case thing!

It was a make-up set. Or what was left of one, anyway.
Easy enough to get rid of the make-up tray, that was just a plastic insert. The light/mirror thing looked a bit trickier...

Of course, as soon as the tray was out of the way, KittenKong had to 'help'...





And it turned out the mirror/light thing was designed to be removed!
So now I have a metallic pink case. Yeah!



(The last two pics are off-centre cos Blogger's 'insert image' tab was being stoopy and I had to link from Flickr instead...)

Forecast: 18-28
Attained: 19-29

Hee, the clearing and sorting continues...
This weekend I tackled the kitchen drawers! Reduced the load by a little but more importantly got the stuff organised. Now the baking stuff is in one spot, as is all the roasting stuff, chopsticks and choptstick rests etc.

I have a few choptstick rests, gleaned over the years from opshops, ebay, cheap Asian supermarkets, expensive Japanese shops... :)

Didn't think they were all going to fit with the chopsticks, but they did!

I also did a quick sort of the two drawers in the hallway dresser. They'd become a dumping ground for miscellania as I was unpacking, but now it all makes sense. I'm keeping the special cutlery in there, like Mum's bone-handled fish knives and forks, and the really pretty bamboo style cutlery set I talked her into buying me several years ago.
Bonus - I also now know how many coasters I have.
I'm not quite ready to tackle the shelves of the dresser yet, but soon, I'm sure.

I would really like to find a way to display the pate knives I've collected as well. They're all in a tin in the pantry. I also have a collection of cute/tacky ceramic toothpick holders. Like to get them up somewhere, too.

Forecast: 16-28
Attained: 17-26

My boss tends to be surprised at my ability to sort out M$ Word, Excel stuff. It's not that I'm an expert, not at all. I know a bit, enough to know how to phrase online search queries. :) The internet can be a wonderful resource.

~=o>

A little while ago I saw online someone's 'pattern' for folding paper envelopes for discs. Great idea - I immediately envisioned all my pic/itoon archives in pretty, matching envelopes. Yeah! Today I actually got 'round to designing the template.

To demonstrate:

Started out with marking up an A4 sheet.

Was easy enough in Word to get the text boxes in the right place, but it wouldn't let me turn the text upside down.
I almost settled for putting up with hand-writing the heading...

Nope, wasn't happy with that.
Ahah! Publisher...
... which will let you flip text boxes.

Neat, eh? :)

Soon my need for order will be (a bit more) satisfied...

Forecast: 19-24
Attained: 19-23

Couple of unsettling dreams this week.
In the first, I'd been given tickets to something really cool/interesting (honestly don't remember what it was but I would've liked to go) but I'd got my dates mixed up and instead of the event being the next day, it was now. I did consider diving in to the city but that would've taken an hour at least and I would've missed half of the show. I decided to stay home, while feeling that I'd failed at something, somehow...
(Interestingly, that one had me double checking myself most of the morning, making sure I was where I was s'posed to be.)

Last night's dream had me in the back garden, looking for something in the dusk. It was getting dark, but I had a torch - or the light from my mobile phone, can't remember which - then the cubs' father came out to hurry me back inside. Something was out there, some lurking menace that I was dimly aware of. What really struck me was that the cubs' father was in such a lather to hustle me back in to the house he stumbled on the uneven ground and hurt his knee. This wasn't funny, this meant things were serious. There was a great sense of relief when I stepped back in to the house and shut the door...

[shudder]
Ok, freaking myself out now. Time for kewt!

Forecast: 22-32
Attained: 22-27

Today was a day of minor disasters averted. :)
Got to work earlier than usual cos one of the staff carparks was going to be closed for construction work and I guessed that the public carpark, where I normally park, would be busier than usual. I was right but I managed to get a spot - good.

I'd decided to buy my lunch today so I could save time to get to work early. After I got to work I realised I'd been so focused on getting out of the house early I'd left my purse on the table. No lunch, no atm card to withdraw cash - bad.

Fortunately I have coins secreted in hidey holes all over my backpack so I was able to scrape up enough to get something to eat - good.
Didn't have enough cash though to buy milk on the way home so no cereal for breakfast tomorrow. That's all right, I can have toast - not bad.

Getting ready to leave work this afternoon I realised I hadn't collected a ticket for the parking place. The boom gate was up so I just drove in...
It was probly free parking today to accommodate the extra staff using the public carpark but if it wasn't, then I had no ticket and no money to pay any exit fee - bad.
I thought I may be able to be winsome and apologetic and talk my way out of trouble, but when I went to get the car the boom gate was open anyway - good!

:)

~=o>

It rained this afternoon. Lovely, lovely rain after a significant drop in temperature within an hour. Thunder and lightning, too, and howling winds. No trees down however, or flooding to contend with. Probably should've got my washing off the line yesterday though.

~=o>

This time(ish) last year the cubs and I were at Sovreign Hill, soaking up the Colonial ambience...

Forecast: 18-33
Attained: 18-35

[sigh] It's hot again.
The worst part is that when it's hot like this, it doesn't matter how many cold drinks I guzzle I never feel like I'm cooling down...

[grump]

Forecast: 16-28
Attained: 16-29

Hm, thought I smelt smoke this evening. According to the MFB there was a 'structure fire' not that far away...

~=o>

Aardman vs Superheros

Sooooo funny...!

Forecast: 15-25
Attained: 17-24

The cubs are pretty good about turning the lights off after themselves if I go to bed first. Occasionally I've woken up to find lights on but a gentle reminder is usually sufficient.
Last night they both went to bed fairly early while I stayed up for a little while longer. Not that unusual on a school night, however, when I finally bestirred myself to turn in, I switched off the lounge room light... and was suddenly plunged in to darkness!
First I squawked, then I lol'd, then groped my way to the kitchen to switch the light on again. Why didn't I just switch the lounge room light on again? Cos it's a lamp, an awkwardly placed lamp - that I'd already moved away from before I realised it wasn't just my eyes taking too long to adjust to the small amount of light from the kitchen - with more things to stub my toes on around it than the relatively straight-forward walk to the kitchen.
Really should get 'round to replacing the globe in the lounge's ceiling light...

Forecast: 16-23
Attained: 16-23

This past week has been lovely, weather wise. Day temps not over 26, and the nights cool enough to be under the bedclothes. Nice! We've a few hot days coming up, but not stupidhot, thank heavens...

~=o>

If I bought everything on my wishlist on eyetoons it would cost me over $1000. Good grief!

~=o>

Woke up in the middle of the night last night then had trouble getting back to sleep. Seriously considered getting up and having some icecream.
I didn't, though, which is probly just as well seeing as how hard it is to keep my sleeping pattern vaguely regular as it is. :)

~=o>

There's a pond near my work. This is what it was like two years ago.

It's recently been refurbished. Much nicer now, not the mud-scummed puddle it was.
I'm sure the ducks will be happier, too.

Forecast (Fri 10/2): 15-24
Attained: 18-26

Forecast (Sat 11/2): -20
Attained: 16-22

No blog update yesterday cos I was feeling bleurghy. Stayed away from the computer and indulged instead in Downton Abbey and chocolate icecream :)
Today, however...

I've just spent a happy 45 mins unravelling a big knot of guy ropes. Very satisfying, especially as it was something I've been meaning to do for about a decade.

~=o>

Our ABC has just started showing a fabulous comedy, Outland. Essentially it's about the trials and tribulations of a gay sci-fi club.
It was fecking hysterical, and I now have a new quote. "Daleks. They're like weevils..."
If you get a chance to see this show, do. :)
Beta Go!

Forecast: 13-25
Attained: 13-25

Good grief. Couple of nights in a row of crap sleep and I'm rubbish at work. Had to sneak off during lunchtime for a nap in my car. Fortunately I was at one of the quieter campuses. Did feel brighter though...

~=o>

This time last year I was sorting through my dvds, getting the majority of them out of the plastic cases and in to holder things.

Forecast: 13-22
Attained: 14-21

Weird kind of day. Had a nommy dinner though. Potatoes slow-cooked in ham/roast chicken stock, with cauliflower and meatballs. Mmmm...

Forecast: 14-22
Attained: 15-22

Oooh! My favourite Muse song has a clip!
Jolly interesting, too. It plays up the slightly sinister feel of the track. No simple love songs - or simple any sort of songs - for this lot. No wonder Joules is a fan... :)

Enjoy...

Muse - Feeling Good.

No embedding allowed, sorry. Here's a screen grab:

Forecast: 14-22
Attained: 14-23

I've heard a fair bit about Downton Abbey but not having a telly per se I missed out when it screened here last year.
I <3 New Year sales: picked up the DVD at a reasonable price. Two eps in and I love this series! I've been cheering, and booing, and laughing... much to the amusement of the cubs. :)

This is a very funny spoof of the program. It's probably a bit spoilery...

Forecast: 23-33
Attained: 26-31

An interesting day to go up to the hills to visit cousins, what with the high winds and dry conditions meaning a fire alert. But it turned out all right, by 4pm the temperature had dropped by 10 degrees and it was raining hard enough to cause flooding.
Ah, Melbourne... :)

~=o>

This evening that dratted spider put in another appearance. Half-way down the wall this time so, from a safe distance, I bravely talked the VortexCub through the container/cardboard method of catch-and-release-well-away-from-the-house.
Still twitchy.

~=o>

Animal Song - The Europeans.

"There is a fine line between being artistic and being a fruity ass freak in a white leotard shouting at a parachute..." (Quoted from Funny or Die.)

Early 80's. I loved this song. Tracked down the single - it was an import - and played it to death. Alas, it was one of the treasures I lost in a fire a few years later. Would love to have another copy... :)

"The Animal Song" by The Europeans - watch more funny videos

Forecast: 17-31
Attained: 16-33

[rattled]
You know that (effing huge huntsman) spider that's been lurking about the lounge room? Well, it was out of sight, out of mind - as I thought, until I PICKED UP THE PAPERWEIGHT IT WAS RESTING ON.
[hyperventilating]
Spider ran over my hand, with all of its eight horrid feet, whereupon I squealed and desperately shook my hand to dislodge the thing. Consternation was high as I couldn't see where it had landed so I went to call the cubs - AND THEN NOTICED THE FRACKING THING WAS ON ME!
Squealed even louder - verily, like a girl - and convulsed in my clothes, flinging the thing from my t-shirt. At this point the cubs came running cos they thought I was in serious trouble. Which I was! They didn't seem to think so though they did mention it was the highest pitch they'd ever heard from me. They were, however, prepared to get a container to try and catch the thing, once we spotted it again, but it scuttled up the wall out of reach. Where it's still sitting, right now, and I'm being vigilant. Or paranoid. Same thing.

Right, need something cute to take my mind off it all...

This'll do. :)

D'awww...

Forecast: 14-27
Attained: 16-27

Several years ago, I bought this:

A Bat Signal shaped portable stereo! (Wow, what a rubbish pic...) It was cheap and Batman related: I couldn't resist!
I let the cubs use it in their shared room at the old place, and at some point someone had stepped on the stereo's cord and bent the plug out of shape. [sigh] Was very miffed, I can tell you. I hung on to the unit with the intention of getting another cord someday...
Fast forward (probably) 3-4 years to today. I bought another cord for the stereo!
Alas it didn't work. I think the stereo itself is borked after so many years of disuse. It's probly not worth getting repaired, and I do have other stereos. Just, I was looking forward to using this one again. Eh well.

~=o>

I have a List of things to do this weekend. Not a big list like the last The List, but maintenance type things. Enough to be getting on with. We're in for a hottish weekend, let's see how I go with it. :)

Forecast: 15-27
Attained: 14-27

Hee, cubs went back to school today and I didn't get a 'your child was late' txt! An excellent start. :)

~=o>

Needed to do a little shopping after work. It's always a little weird hearing iconic music from my youth past being played in the supermarket - very glad we've moved on from that godsawful muzak - however, for some reason it was particularly disjointing to hear Sting's Moon Over Bourbon Street as I was rummaging through the organic pasta...




Just... weird... :)

Forecast: 13-24
Attained: 13-24

Ahhh... It was finally cool enough last night to sleep comfortably. Here's hoping there's a few more nights of that before it gets hot again. Will give me a chance to catch up on sleep.

~=o>

Cubs are back to school tomorrow. Their dad and I took them out to dinner at the Piggy Place.
I had the Hog Wheel (pork belly) again. Iz very nom.

~=o>

This time last year I was playing with my new camera...