Forecast: 8-13
Attained: 9-12

Went along with the cubs and their dad today to see Prometheus.
Interesting. Fabulous scenery and cinematography - I'll be miffed if it doesn't win something for that - and the tech was so very cool, human and other alike.
It wasn't as scary as the original two films, but not because we were familiar with the concepts and so had an idea what was likely to make us jump. No, this I felt was a more cerebral horror; there's implications here that make me twitchy, even though I know it's just a movie, really.
It was slow to get started, but to be honest I was so distracted by the scenery I sometimes didn't notice. But then again, I was so distracted at times I missed chunks of plot and dialogue... :)

Still not sure how I feel about David...

Forecast: 7-12
Attained: 7-10

Cubs' birthdays today, though I didn't actually see them for most it as they were off at their dad's for roleplaying.
What did I do with this time to myself? Nap, mostly, and not eat much, not after yesterday's feasting... :)

Forecast: 9-13
Attained: 8-12

So full...

Cubs' birthday party today. :) Aside from the Sigma!cub giving himself a cricked neck when he woke up, they both had a great time. Friends, food and presents: what more do you need?
(I overcatered a bit. We only used about half of what I brought! And that's not including the lollies, which weren't touched cos the cubs' father had supplied plenty. Iz ok, though, I generously left them - and the rest of the stuff - at his place so they won't be tempting me at mine. Cunning, eh...?)


The cubs' cake.

The blue flames and red cross are character symbols from Team Fortress 2, something the cubs play a lot of. The blue/red mushrooms are a bit of Penny-whimsy. :)
(Note the roman numerals in candles. That's traditional now.)
Thank you, Soulsis, for baking the cake and making the yellow icing. Thank you, Penny for the blue and red stuff. Cubs were very impressed, though not quite sure where the mushrooms fitted in...

~=o>

And now, some meaningful song lyrics.
I think there's something in here for everyone...

Come, a beautiful body.

I'm sorry astronaut pants donor
a laser would make whipped cream love on your body

against me

want a nice girl or man or somewhere sexy, oh
yes, I think is it hot baby

hold it, kiss me big in here
I love you money sugar
one word, nice shirt
be wearing, I'm wrong
can I? has anyone?

sex on my organ, the sunshine walk by again
taking off your clothes last night
I thought that was because a drink, piece of heaven
haven't told me you have a braille heart

can you talk if I told you you taste like this bed
at first sight, directions to a place

the best looking guy heaven, out of this world, die happy
I'm the spice god
but hi fine

[giggling] Although it does sound to me like a Chinese translation of a Japanese song, it is infact a collaborative effort between Ms Raven, Soulsis, Penny, Misha and a bunch of random magnet words on the fridge.
Like so:

~=o>
Cubs' actual birthday is tomorrow. They'll be at their dad's again, I'll probly still be sleeping off the food from today...

Forecast: 10-14
Attained: 12-14

Wow, this week has just galloped away. I look up and suddenly it's Friday...

~=o>

Still picking up bits and pieces for the cubs' party tomorrow. Went hunting for garlic bread tonight but wasn't impressed with any of the ready-made stuff so, naturally, I decided to make my own.
Seriously overestimated how much I'd need so I've now got a biggish tub of quite acceptable garlic butter. (Cheated a bit, though, I've used minced garlic instead of fresh cos I just couldn't be bothered. :)

Forecast: 7-15
Attained: 8-14

The valtari mystery film experiment
(nicked from the site:)

sigur rós have given a dozen film makers the same modest budget and asked them to create whatever comes into their head when they listen to songs from the band's new album valtari. the idea is to bypass the usual artistic approval process and allow people utmost creative freedom...

I shall be keeping an eye on this.
The clip featuring Shia LeBeouf is beautiful. Odd, but beautiful. (Warning: Nudity, Violence, General Brain Bending...)

~=o>

One cub's job is to take out the rubbish, the other the recycling. Both tasks frequently require gentle reminders from me for completion.
I warned the recycling cub last night that the recycling pile was so big now it was threatening to secede. He laughed.
Tonight I told him the pile had got as far as designing its own flag and drafting a Declaration of Independence. He laughed, then trotted it all out to the bin. :)

~=o>

I did quite well at the supermarket tonight: I didn't buy any snacky lollies or chocolate for myself, something that can be tricky not to do after work when I'm tired and hungry. (I did pick up some ready-made chocolate mousse but that was dessert for the cubs and I, and not something to scoff in the car on the way home, so it doesn't count.)

~=o>

'k, I'm just going to watch naked Shia Lebeouf again. (Though saying that is like saying Brokeback Mountain was just about gay cowboys...)

Forecast: 2-13
Attained: 5-13

Didn't see any frost this morning but it was still jolly chilly.

~=o>

I love this song.

Warning: LANGUAGE
(No, seriously, LANGUAGE.)

Forecast: 4-13
Attained: 8-12

Haven't seen a frost symbol on the bom.gov.au forecast page for quite some time. Tomorrow morning should be interesting...



~=o>

I've been swearing a lot recently. Given my current lack of manual dexterity - due to the cold temperatures - I've been dropping things, and knocking things over, and bashing my hands against things. [grump]

~=o>

Before we headed off to S.A. Niki gave me belated birthday presents, including these! Mini chinese lantern party lights!




Solar powered, so I park the light catcher thingy next to my bedside lamp.
Hee, they're not quite bright enough to read by, but perfect for these dark mornings when my eyes are still waking up and don't like full light, but I still need to see where I'm going. :)

Forecast: 10-15
Attained: 12-15

I've started gathering the 'food' for the cubs' party on Saturday. I say 'food' cos there's very little actual nutrition involved. Their dad jokingly suggested they might want to try something exotic for nibbles, like say, broccoli... :)

~=o>

It's a little awkward walking behind the cubs cos they're so tall now they block my view. On the plus side they act as icebreakers, ploughing through the mass of humanity, leaving me to step lightly in their empty, empty wake. Is good.

Forecast: 7-14
Attained: 10-16

I vacuumed my bedroom floor today, well, the bits that weren't under stuff.
Now's there just a pile of chaos in front of the wardrobe to do something with.
Why the effort? Rental inspection coming up in a few weeks...

(But I really should dust and vacuum my room more often. I don't wake up with a runny nose when I do.)

~=o>

Popped up to see soulsis this afternoon - incidentally dropping home one of her chicks, who'd stayed overnight - and was presented with a bag of goodies! She finds the best stuff in op shops :)



The 'Willow Pattern Story' is cos I love the Willow pattern; the 'Our Empire Story' is from 1906! The pate knife is gorgeous and will slot very nicely in with others of its ilk, as will the golden chicken. Classy!
The pink plastic fish-shaped tray is a match to the blue one I already have (which implies there's other colours out there!), and the leaf plate is just beautiful. I can picture that holding petite fours or miniature biscuits. Mmmmm

Forecast: 4-13
Attained: 6-14

Tch, can't remember what I was going to say. Must be the cold freezing my brain...
Have a cute owl instead.

Forecast: 8-12
Attained: 8-12

Wow, cubs will be 17 in just over a week.




(Uploaded without permission of the cub. Not that I'm entirely sure which one it is. Green hat? Could be Badger. We colour-coded everything when they were small. :)

[edit: just caught the cubs as they've come home from their dad's and after I said 'pleeeeeeeeease let me post it! they said ok.]

Forecast: 9-12
Attained: 10-10

(Temperature eased down to 10 around 6.30 this morning and has just... hovered there all day, right up 'til now. Weird...)

~=o>

I got my mitts on season 1 of Babylon 5, a series I've been meaning to rewatch for years. Happily watched the first disc of 4 eps then put in the second disc. Watched a couple of eps then was a bit annoyed to discover there were only 2 eps on the disc. Ripped off!
Except... it wasn't the 2nd disc I'd been watching, it was the 6th, the end of the season... [headdesk] I thought they'd been getting right in to the nitty-gritty of the plot really quickly. [sigh] Must remember to check the disc numbers in future..

Forecast: 6-16
Attained: 5-13

Howling winds predicted for tonight. I made sure the cubs brought the bins in. :)

~=o>

Spotted on Penny's tumblr.
I snorted my tea, srsly!



How to Live with Introverts by *SVeidt on deviantART

Respect my hamster ball! :)

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 8-14

So, I did a little more reorganising in the pantry, and confused a cub when he went looking for the pasta... :)

~=o>

We had an earth tremor this evening! Was only a little bit exciting here. Much more exciting closer to the epicentre, not surprisingly. I thought at first it was a truck passing - not something easily achievable in our side streets - and then thought it was maybe a very strong wind buffeting the house. Wonder if it felt stronger in houses not made of concrete...?

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 9-15

Finally, here on flickr are the pics from the Islandkateers' weekend...

~=o>

On a whim today I decided to reorganise the pantry. I finally let go of some of the very useful but ultimately unnecessary plastic containers. (My life, I know, so mad and spontaneous... :)

I've been forcing the cubs to get back to dealing with their rooms, sorting through more of the boxes.

They left one of the boxes unattended for five seconds...

Forecast: 10-15
Attained: 11-15

On skype last night with Joules:

Lutra: fiddling with my blog template...
Flare: let me know when done and I'll take a gander
oh, you won't like it much to begin with : )
I'll finesse it up a bit later. will be ready to peruse in a moment 
good show
 
[ten minutes later...]

blog's updated
dun dun dun
lotl
[blink]
AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!! 
[smirk]
I did warn you
you never take my warnings seriously
course not!
:P
[giggling...]

~=o>

Cubs and I watched X-Men: First Class.
We really enjoyed it! In fact, I enjoyed it so much I didn't even touch the crafty stuff I had ready to go. Was too engrossed in the story to pay attention to anything else.
Magneto's wandering accent made me giggle though: it ended up a bit Irish there at the finish...

Cubs and I were also really taken by the track in the closing credits. So we nipped over to our online purveyor of digital music and bought a copy.




You know, Robbie Williams really doesn't look like he belongs with the rest of them...

(Right, well, you may have noticed a change to my blog's appearance... Hard to miss, really, however...! I've had the previous template since 2002 and it really is time for a change. This includes loosing the now defunct commenting thing that hasn't worked properly for months, and stopped working altogether a few weeks back. Apologies to anyone who's been commenting and had no response.

I may find a more... restful b/g pic soon. Or not, I'm rather fond of that lobster...

I was just about to get grumpy cos I hadn't taken a screengrab of the old layout when I realised that thankfully it was still up in another tab. Phew, eh? All saved now for posterity... :)

Forecast: 9-17
Attained: 9-15

Today I've been swearing freely at minor irritations. I must be in a mood.
After a week of almost sugar-free, I should probly stop eating the hot choc mix straight out of the bag.

... I'm sure there's no connection.

~=o>

The gas company have been upgrading the service or something in our street. Gas was out for a few hours this morning while they dug stuff up.
The nice thing was that when they'd finished someone come 'round and offered to reset my gas hot water service. I said 'yes please' cos it really wasn't something I wanted to tackle. All good now. Hot water's back and I got my porridge.

~=o>

Triple J (my favourite radio station) this past week has been doing a retro indie 90s thing, including playing stuff from that decade. Great swathes of the 90s are blank to me cos I was raising children and not listening to the radio - let alone buying cds - so it's been great hearing some 'new' things, especially in genres I wouldn't normally consider. Like hip-hop:




Fabulous cruisey track, I love it.

~=o>

I cleaned the bath today. [sigh] Really should do it more frequently than 4 times a year.
Tomorrow it's the stove top, though I did only clean that a few weeks ago so it's not so bad...

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 11-16

Had another ENT appointment today, essentially to confirm that yes, I'll have the surgery.
...meep.
No, it'll be fine.
The surgeon couldn't promise but there's a chance it'll be sorted by the end of the year.
Getting my hearing back, listening to the Beatles in stereo, eh whatevs. No, I'm anticipating the two weeks off work that's recommended. Mwahahahaha!

~=o>

Just watched the first ep of Life's Too Short.
Cacked myself laughing! (And the 'making of' doco was hysterical, too... :)

Forecast: 11-15
Attained: 12-15

Eh, doing a proper sort of the Islandkateer photos is going to have to wait for the weekend. The need for sleepy bo-bos wins out every time...

~=o>

Just showed the cubs' father the (unsorted) pics. He said I had an almost autistic approach to photography, the way I hone in on patterns. Was quite pleased about that. :)

~=o>

Niki recommended the Tiny House Blog to me. It's great! Very inspirational. :)

And this is adorable. (Joules - a claustrophobia warning).

Forecast: 8-17
Attained: 7-16

I've been eating very lightly the past couple of days. Here's why:

Islandkateers Weekend Noms

On arrival, Friday night:
Chilli con carne, sans chilli, with salad.

Saturday:
Breakfast - Pancakes, toast, bacon and Pete's magic scrambled eggs.

Lunch - BBQ chicken and lamb, with green salad, tomato salad, Waz' magic garlic things.

Dinner - (very simple, as we were all still full from lunch) cream of mushroom soup, french onion soup, Pete's magic cheesey dippy bread thing. (Salad? There may have been salad, I don't remember. I was too busy skarfing down soup and cheesey bread...)

Assorted nibbles throughout the day.

Sunday:
Breakfast - pancakes, bacon and Adele's magic scrambled eggs, plus spreads, and caramellized bananas, strained onions from last night's soup.

Lunch - (Or rather Afternoon Tea, cos breakfast was very filling, even after a good long walk) Ham and cheese, bread, salady things, sandwichey things... The details aren't clear because I'd fixated on the last of the mushroom soup - big bowl full - and more of the cheesey dippy bread.
Alarice also made some extremely rich bacon/bourbon brownies, and 'chocolate crackles' with coco pops and melted chocolate. (... or were they on Saturday? Either way, I ate a significant amount of them.)

Dinner - Beef stroganoff and broken potatoes (Magic Pete, again) followed by chocolate self-saucing puddings from Niki (who is also magic cos she made these despite being completely off sugar!).

Monday
As we had to clean up before leaving the house early, breakfast was delayed, to be partooken of later at a coffee shop. No one really seemed to mind the wait. :)


Listed like that it all seems very reasonable but bear in mind there was generally more than enough of everything for second helpings, gods help us.
At the end of the weekend there were unopened packets of biscuits, chips and chocolate. They didn't get eaten cos we were all too full of proper food!


The Islandkateers Temporary Headquarters.




And the view from there...



Boats and water! Happy Lutra... :)

Forecast: 5-16
Attained: 3-16

Hm, thought it was a bit chilly this morning...

~=o>

I believe that many people have roles in life to fulfill, i.e.: Teacher, Healer, Chronicler etc.
My role is not that of Adventurer. When a sign says 'Unstable Cliffs...' I don't go prancing about on the edge.
(That magpie stayed obligingly still for a couple of minutes while I faffed about with the camera zoom.)




Though having said that, this pic was taken devilishly close to a cliff-edge. (Well, 'devilishly close' for me. But I could just peer over the edge to look at bits of the cliff that had previously tumbled to the beach :)




(Both photos taken at Robe this past weekend. Haven't quite got 'round to sorting out the pics fully yet...)

Forecast: ... no idea
Attained: (in Robe, SA) 3-15

Yes, I'm back from a fabulous Islandkateers weekend!
This time we were in Robe, Sth Australia. Drove up and back with Niki - a very leisurely 9ish hours each way, including rest stops.
I've got just over 200 pics to sort through then I'll post those somewhere.
However...

OMG BIG THINGS!


The Giant Koala at Dadswells Bridge!





'Larry the Lobster' at Kingston!





I touched both! (Akshully, there's pics of me hugging one of Larry's legs. Hee. :)
Will get on and do a post about the weekend but alas, right now I have to get ready to go to work tomorrow... [hand to forehead]

Forecast: 9-14
Attained: 11-14

These past few days at work I've only eaten fruit for lunch. It was more of a not-fancying-anything-else-available thing than trying to be 'good'.
It worked fine, really. I was hungry but not ravenously so.

~=o>



Gecko on the bathroom window at my brother's house.

Forecast: 8-14
Attained: 9-15

I find this strangely appealing.

Golden showers. [snicker]



see more Lovely Listing


I'd want someone else to clean it though.

~=o>

Cubs are usually still abed when I leave for work so I shout goodbyes through their doors. I generally get a response from one, even though I know he's not properly awake, merely conscious enough to be coherent. The other cub? Pffft Not a chance. This morning, because I was leaving much later than usual I did get a response. Was quite pleased about it, too. :)

~=o>

At the supermarket this evening I observed a little tacker - wouldn't have been more than three years old - get in to the freezer and pull out the biggest bag of frozen chips he could find. He was very pleased with himself. Needless to say, there were tears when Mum said 'no', and put them back...

Forecast: 10-13
Attained: 11-12

Well, only 1 degree of difference between today's low and high temperature...

~=o>

[giggling]

Forecast: 10-14
Attained: 10-14

I'm not good with household DIY: my first instinct when something goes wrong is to, frankly, panic, then call the agent.

This morning as we were just about ready to leave the house, a cub flushed the toilet then told me that it 'might have overflowed...'. [headdesk] Not something I wanted to hear. I peeked in and yes, there was water all over the floor but I didn't have time just then to do more than through down some towels to sop up the mess and confirm that the water level in the bowl seemed normal. Ok, I could probably leave it until I got back and there'd be no flooding in the meantime. Fine, good.

Zipped about, doing things then eventually had to come home and deal with the problem. Rang the agent to let them know, and while they were contacting the owner I decided to check if the loo was overflowing. So I flushed it again... and water came gushing out of the inlet pipe. Damn. Next time I'll remember to check the connections first. [grump] What's happened is the rubber seal between the pipe and cistern had perished and finally worked its way loose, something I could potentially fix myself. (See what I mean about panicking? I should've checked before I rang the agent, would've saved some trouble...) In hindsight there'd been some indication of this happening over the past year or so, little spills of water that I couldn't pin point, but anyway...
Agent called back with the news that the owner was having car trouble and wouldn't be able to come out until tomorrow. I said I could probably fix it anyhow but would let them know if I needed extra help. I pulled the seal off completely, checking that there wasnt going to be any extra leakage (there wasn't) then trotted off to my local hardware emporium.
Found the correct size seal and was back off home within minutes.

There was some awkwardness between the length and angle of pipe in relation to the cistern so I wasn't able to easily replace the seal and reattach the pipe. Removing the pipe completely from the cistern was the only other option so I switched off the water and emptied the cistern - just in case. Yay, for buckets. With the pipe free it was much easier to get the seal in place, then I simply had to reattach the pipe to the cistern. [snort] Simply.
Managed it, with lots of swearing and shoving while making sure the seal wasn't dislodged, but still, it was easier than trying to put everything together with the pipe in situ. However, I might have accidentally shoved a bit too hard and the cistern isn't quite attached to the wall anymore. Um... There's at least one point of contact left, I'm sure, and there's multiple rigid pipes holding it in place so I'm confident there won't be a problem. I've advised the cubs to not thump down on the flush button. Not that they do anyway, I think, but, you know...

(Bonus! Unlike the old place, the toilet in this house sits on a concrete floor so I won't have to worry about rotting floorboards. This is a win. :)

Forecast: 9-15
Attained: 10-14

The fun thing about sorting through photos for printing is that you rediscover all manner of stuff.

These are from 2007.

Advertising for a new chocolate bar, 'Fling', that disappeared without a trace a short while later. Pity, really, it was quite nice.
Anyway, note the princess in a dressing gown, and the sign on the front that says 'Forever is overrated, just have a fling'. [giggling] Maybe that was a bit risque for the supermarkets?

'Instructions' for a game. I think...

This was the illustration for a short, romantic story in something like the English Women's Weekly.
In short. Don't let the undead in to your car, let alone drive.

~=o>

Cubs and I are currently cracking up to The Upside Down Show.

This is one of the openings to an episode, recorded from someone's tv so the quality's not the best, but so, so funny...

Forecast: 7-17
Attained: 5-16

Penny sent me a pic of a Big Luck Cat somewhere in Japan.
Hah, and 10 mins later I'd tracked it down on Google Earth! Damn, I love the interwebs...

How cool is this? Pity it was foggy the day the Google van went by.
And those little blobs of colour at the bottom of the wall are more cat figures. :)

This is how the statue's constructed.
I... I want to touch it. I want to stroke its golden claws and boop it's nose.



This photo of Tokoname is courtesy of TripAdvisor


~=o>


Techo Viking!
Strangely compelling once you get past the 30 second mark.

Forecast: 6-17
Attained: 6-17

Black t-shirt.
Orange long sleeved, hooded t-shirt.
Blue windcheater.
Pink lambswool slippers.
Warm now.

~=o>

Outlook, the M$ mail program, doesn't query 'sith'...

~=o>

I wore my hearing aid again this week at work after months of forgetting about it. I find I'm more frequently startled when I'm wearing it than when I'm not. Without it I don't hear people approach on my deaf side and so am startled when I turn around and they're suddenly there. With it I'm twitching at all the sharp noises the aid lets me hear. There's a lot more of them than there are people sneaking up on me. :)

Forecast: 9-18
Attained: 6-17

We had an eventful night last night.
After taking ages to get to sleep an almighty crash woke me and a cub up about 1.30am. Bloody possum had got inside and knocked everything down off the sink! Made a mess but nothing was broken.
Cub said he saw something zip off towards my room... Tch. Couldn't spot the blessed thing so tidied up then went back to bed, thinking the damn possum could find its own way out. KittenKong wisely stayed out of the way: rats and mice are one thing but tackling something as big as herself was something else entirely.

At some point later I heard noises in the bathroom and assumed the critter was nosing about in there, knocking things over but wasn't so concerned I could be arsed getting out of bed again.
Of course, after the broken sleep I had trouble waking up so the annoying secondary alarm went off without me noticing the primary alarm at all. Fortunately I was rostered out at the fishpond campus - which perversely is the one furthest away but cos the parking is better I can leave the house later - so reset the alarm and got a bit more sleep.

When I eventually dragged myself out of bed...
Yep, piles of possum poos and puddles of possum wee in the kitchen and bathroom were testimony to the activity of our 'guest', that and the knocked over potplants in the bathroom. [grump]. I missed breakfast but managed to clean up the ick before I had to leave for work.

I hope the possum got itself out of the house last night, I really do. Cos of course if it didn't it'll wake up once all the lights are off and go rampaging again. [sigh] Eh well, if there's fresh poo and wee tomorrow I'll know.
Mind you, I had an interesting dream cos of all this. The possum in my dream was more like a cross between a joey - baby kangaroo - and a squirrel. It was called 'Squidge'...

Forecast: 11-15
Attained: 9-15

So, Eurovision was last weekend. I had sort of planned to watch it with friends this year but didn't. I did lope on over to the yutoobs to have a squizz though.
Oh ye gods. I couldn't bear to watch anything all the way through! Not even Jedward.
I'll admit defeat, Europop is just not my bag, baby...

~=o>

This time last year...
Cat up a tree!

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 10-15

[blink] The last time I went to see a movie at the cinema was in January this year. Problem is I'm always feeling so tired it's a lot of effort to get out of the house and do stuff...

~=o>

This is adorable. The song will probly find its way on to my playlist...

Forecast: 10-15
Attained: 11-15

Happy Lab (scroll down). For the mad scientist in all of us.

~=o>

I finally relented and bought a heater. Primarily to dry clothes when it's too wet outside.
KittenKong, given the choice between me or the heater... Well, let's just say, she hasn't been near me while the heater's switched on. :)

Cubs are enamoured of it, too. ("Ooooh, look at the heat distortion of the air...!") But they're not allowed to have heaters in their rooms until the ignition points therein have been dealt with. In other words, they have to tidy up.

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 10-15

Didn't get 'round to washing the kitchen floor, but the freezer is defrosted and the loungeroom vacuumed.
(And I ate icecream and watched dvds. Was all good. :)

Forecast: 9-15
Attained: 9-16

Cleaned the kitchen today, including the stove top. Even went so far as to take the knobs off the cooker and scrub them down as well. [gasp] I'll wash the floor tomorrow when the cubs are at their dad's.
I've also emptied the bar freezer ready for defrosting. Managed to squeeze what I wasn't using today or tomorrow in to the fridge/freezer. I think I deserved my nap today. :)

~=o>

I've been sorting out my digital photos preparatory to printing. In 2007 I took 4000ish pics! About half of those were from my first trip to Queensland.

The long-term plan is to get good quality photo display/storage, probably from somewhere like Zetta Florence. I like the immediacy of digital photos, being able to see something on a monitor, but there's something lovely and tangible about photo albums. You can plunk them in someone's lap. :)

Forecast: 10-15
Attained: 9-11

The cat is cuddling in my arms. I'm serenading her, loudly, with the Beastie Boys 'Sabotage'. She doesn't seem to appreciate it...

~=o>

Had dinner with the cubs and their dad at his place tonight, then we watched a couple of episodes of original Star Trek on his big telly. I have to get one of those someday - I could see all sorts of detail!

Also:
Quotes out of context!

Kor: Do you have a tongue?
Kirk: I have a tongue.
Kor: Good. You'll be taught how to use it...

[snerk] I mean, really, what was I supposed to make of that exchange?

Forecast: 11-17
Attained: 11-15

And in my dream last night I visited a brothel/massage parlour. Interesting experience but I was looking over the girls (and boys) and wondering, despite the sexy smiles, which of them were there because they didn't have a choice...
Also, at some point I was in a pub/pokies club, watching people gamble. A drunk schoolgirl wandered in and drifted around, wanting me to introduce her to people. She lost interest in me when she wandered off again to go and meet someone at a food court nearby. I followed her for a while, just quietly making sure she was okay.
At the food court she and her friend stopped at a seafood stall and ordered. There were something like scallops/squids being cooked on a grill, but they were still alive, popping and twitching. If that wasn't enough to put me off, there was also a documentary playing of these creatures in the ocean. There was a swarm of them happily feeding, darting about... I couldn't bring myself to eat the cooked one put in front of me. (Weirdly, it was lilac coloured with a pattern of white daisies. Ok, I've got no idea where that came from...!)

Forecast: 12-18
Attained: 11-20

I do so love browsing the tubenets.

The History Blog. I forsee hours of happy procrastinating reading here... :)

Forecast: 9-17
Attained: 10-18

I can't help it. If I've watched something often enough I can quite happily quote along with it. This is intensely annoying to the cubs, poor things, to the point that if they're watching a dvd and I'm in the loungeroom on the computer, I am requested to listen to music on the headphones so I don't quote over what they're watching. :)

~=o>

And in my dream the other night I was in "Japan". Plus, bonus, I was going through paperwork or something relating to my trip and discovered that I could cash something or other in when I got home and gain a few hundred dollars. This meant I wasn't going to land in Aus with absolutely no money. Something that happens all too often after holidays.

Forecast: 6-17
Attained: 5-17

Seriously, how many teatowels do I need?

I reduced this pile to just-a-bit-more-than-half. The boring but still good t's are going to an op shop; the good-but-too-stained-for-op-shops I'll cut down in to dishclothes. Only one went in to the bin, because even after washing it was still sticky and wouldn't even be good for washing up.
(Sorting the teatowels wasn't on The List, just a spur of the moment thing today. I'm going to sneak it on to the list anyway, so I can tick it off and feel like I've achieved something. :)

Forecast: 7-17
Attained: 9-16

Marked a few things off The List this weekend. :)
I can't remember why I got out of the habit of making a to-do list...

~=o>

How cool are these biscuits?

Quite easy to make, too, if a little fiddly. :)

Forecast: 11-16
Attained: 11-15

Mmmm... chicken oxo cubes in hot water. One of the good things about cold weather. :)

~=o>

Towering cranes, enormous holes in the ground. My inner 4 year old boy loves all that.

~=o>

Neat dream last night.
Mum and I were visiting New York ... in Tasmania? We flew over scenic, rugged coastlines to get there. Clearly it wasn't the New York of this reality but it was certainly a New York. The air was crisp and clear, the architecture like sculpture. The sculptures were enormous and there were a significant number of statues and monuments of otters. Hee.
This was our second trip there and I was wondering if we could go somewhere else next time cos, while this city was amazing, I thought it might be nice to see someplace different. I did glimpse a metallic hot pink VW on the streets. That made me squeak and I was little annoyed I didn't have my camera ready.

~=o>

The demon on the end of my bed...

Yerrss...

Forecast: 10-18
Attained: 10-17

Sooo, it's been a while since I've written myself A List of things to do, but it had to be done. There's so much to do it was getting overwhelming. :)

~=o>

Hee. From this blog.

Forecast: 8-18
Attained: 10-19

The cat is snoring in my arms. It's cute, if a little distracting.

~=o>

I has dis book. It is awsum!

And very, very funny.





(I haven't done an actual count/compare of the movies listed but I reckon I've seen at least a third. That's sit-down-to-watch seen, not just been in the room when someone else is watching it. That would bring my total up to about 50% :)

Forecast: 11-18
Attained: 12-16

Dream from a couple of nights ago.
I was checking out a very small flat, basically a bedsit, and wondering how I was going to get my stuff in there. The place still had the current occupant's things in there and it wasn't until that started to be moved out that I was able to see where my stuff would go. Then I was able to look forward to settling in. :)

~=o>

Um...




(Spotted on Triple J's Tom and Alex's blog. They had a Tom and Alex-ercise morning...)

Forecast: 11-16
Attained: 11-18

[snerk]




I've no idea what the connection was but this next one popped up in the recs at the end of the previous clip.
Wow...
Watch it all the way through.

Forecast: 10-15
Attained: 11-17

Hmph. I had a few things to mention but they're all complaints so I won't. (I'm not being precious, I'm just being grumpy and I don't care to inflict that on anyone. So there.)


Time for an inspirational message, methinks.

Forecast: 10-14
Attained: 10-13

Mother's Day here in Aus, and other parts of the world apparently, but not the UK. :)

The cubs made me a fabulous card! Plus I got a bag of choc-coated turkish delight - which I shared with them - and a block of fair trade, organic coffee-flavoured dark choc - which they tried but ultimately didn't care that much about - and a pile of poo from them and their dad.
And then we had fish'n'chips for dinner cos a: I really couldn't be arsed cooking, and b: I wasn't organised enough to have anything ready for the cubs to cook. Feeling very full now... :)

~=o>

Mother's Day Breakfast, 2010.
The cubs and Nana at Wild Cattle Creek Estate. Best bacon I've ever had.

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 9-16

Picked up a frozen meal from the supermarket last night, cos it looked nice and it was very cheap. Lamb fillet, vegetables and gravy.
You know that cheap ham, where the meat is squished in to a shape? It has a slick sort of texture and tastes mostly of salt. That's what they did to the lamb. Was very odd. The vegetables, by comparison were quite nice: carrots, green beans and half a dozen bits of capsicum.

~=o>

I do so love faux orgies with dancers in bodysuits.
This video loomed large in my youth. See if you can work out why.

Forecast: 12-17
Attained: 12-18

Cellophane noodles, while soft and delicious when warm, revert to their hard, too chewy state when cold.

~=o>

One of the cubs txted me asking if I could think of an onomatopoeia for "the violent bending or ripping of air-conditioning duct metal..."
My suggestion of "Kroink!!" was well received.

~=o>

I don't normally have a lot of interest in surfing but this clip - with this song - makes me all tingly.

Forecast: 11-19
Attained: 11-21

I spotted a few of the baby fish today. I am reassured. They haven't all been eaten.

~=o>

Oooh! I've encountered an original ST episode I haven't seen! The conscience of the King.
Hee, if I'd continued collecting the ST video series back in the 80's ('builds week by week...') I would've seen it long before now. Wonder if there's any others I've missed?

Forecast: 11-19
Attained: 18-22

Had a very walking'y kind of day today...
Had a work thing in the city this afternoon so decided to take the bus in to work this morning, rather than driving in and parking, then having to go back out there to pick the car up.

Walked to the bus stop - 10 mins.
Walked from terminus to work - 12 mins.
Walked from work to tram stop - 8 mins.
Walked from tram stop to forumy thing - 5 mins.
Walked from forumy thing to train station - 10 mins.
Walked from train station to home - 12 mins.

Ok, it doesn't seem like a lot of walking but considering I do as little as possible generally... :)

~=o>

I was walking home in the dark this evening, more or less, and for the first time I noticed that the bitumen path from the train station to the road side has sparklies in it! Was quite enchanting, really; the bits of whatever caught the street/traffic lights and twinkled. Made me ridiculously happy.

~=o>

Interestingly, the forumy thing today was held at my old workplace. I'd left there in '92, after being there for 8 years. I recognised a few faces - don't think they recognised me.
The once dingy, clattery staff cafeteria has been transformed in to a light, pleasant staff and general public cafeteria. The chips were still a bit ordinary, though the tomato sauce was free from a squirty bottle, not doled out in those miniscule plastic packets...

Forecast: 11-22
Attained: 13-20

I had a soy-related mishap at work this morning.
I made myself avocado nori rolls for lunch*, and took along a wee splash of soy in a container. A non-watertight container, as it happened. Got in to work and put my bag down on the desk while I got myself sorted out, as I do every day, but on moving the bag there was a brown smear on the desk. Oops. The soy had leaked out of the container, through the admittedly not completely waterproof lunch bag and then through the bottom of my back pack.
Did manage to get it all cleaned up and on the plus side, the place smelt very pleasantly of soy for the rest of the day.

[* The nori rolls weren't a huge success, alas. The rice was a bit too dry to begin with so it didn't stick together too well and I ended up dripping bits of rice all over the place. The avocado was lovely though, and being surrounded by rice and nori meant it hadn't gone brown...]

Forecast: 9-17
Attained: 11-15

Well.
I thought there's been a mousey smell in the laundry for some time now. I put it down to the cat's litter - the stuff itself, not what she puts in to it.

I've been temporarily storing the flattened out, good quality, reusable cardboard boxes inbetween the washing machine and sink. It was getting a bit full there so I decided to sort out the boxes...
Ah... I said as I pulled out chewed and fouled cardboard, I wasn't imagining the mousey smell, then. Except it wasn't mice, it was a rat. Probably a young one that KittenKong had brought inside and managed to lose, only it wasn't a young rat now, it was a fully-grown and well-fed rat. Hardly surprising it was in good condition, the cat's food and water is next to the washing machine!
Anyway, I pulled all the boxes out, and KittenKong immediately came to investigate. It wasn't long before nature took it's course and she caught the rat. She didn't kill it outright, but neither did she play with it once it was disabled. I think it was too big for that.
I know it would've been kinder to kill the damn thing but I just couldn't bring myself to do that, so I covered it with an icecream container and left it to - hopefully - die quickly and in peace.
I haven't been game to lift the container yet...

Haven't cleaned up the rat poo and pee yet, either. I'm letting it all dry out before I tackle it cos I know from experience that any brush used to sweep up the wet stuff will need to be discarded as well. The smelly boxes have been thrown out so at least one of the sources of pong has gone.

I pulled this out along with the boxes. It used to be a sock.

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 10-16

I usually have my porridge with milk and raw sugar but this morning I tried it with golden syrup. YUM! Will be doing that from now on. :)

~=o>

Was going to watch Return of the King this afternoon but had a nap instead. Would've fallen asleep during the movie anyway.

This evening I watched another couple of eps from the first season of Original Trek. Yes, some of the production/dialogue is cheesey but not as much as I remember. The plot's are akshully rather good, as is most of the acting. The interaction and banter between the main three charas - Kirk, Spock, McCoy - is already there and very funny. All in all, reaffirming my love for this series.

~=o>

I know it's getting colder, the numbness in my fingers from carpal tunnel is almost constant. Can more or less ignore it during summer but not when it's cold... Eh well.

Forecast: 9-16
Attained: 10-14

I watched Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers this afternoon. I'd forgotten how good they were, especially FotR. All those sweeping vistas (visit New Zealand!).
I did nod off for a short while in TT, though that may have been down to the couple of spoonfuls of chochazelnut spread I'd eaten.

~=o>

I've sifted through mum's paperwork, again, having another go at deciding what can go or stay. It's pretty much down to the archivey stuff now, things that can help chart her life. It's a little upsetting though, looking at photos of nameless people and places, knowing there's no one I can ask about them anymore. Some of the people I recognise, and some of the locations, but most of the time there's no date, nothing written on the back of the pics to give me a clue. Are the photos significant? I have no idea...

Forecast: 9-16
Attained: 12-16

I had something to say but I've completely forgotten what it was...

Forecast: 8-16
Attained: 9-13

It only got to 13 today. I do believe we're finally past the stupid hot days...

~=o>

The good news is the job vacancy at work has been filled.
The bad news* is it's been filled by one of our own librarians which means we're still understaffed.
The good news is that means I should still be getting the extra work for a little while longer.

(*I say 'bad' only so the joke would work, you understand. It's fabulous she got the job as it's a step up and she'll be brilliant in it.)

~=o>

The difference between cats and dogs...

Dogs: "I don't know why you're making me do this but I love and trust you."

Cats: "I will kill you in your sleep."

Forecast: 11-15
Attained: 12-15

This is intriguing:

Depths of lakes & oceans (via The Wilderness Society.)

The Abyss: it's rude to stare...

~=o>

Yummy dinner tonight, a sort of stir-fry with sauteed onions, peas, rice and marinated pork rashers. Plus there was enough left over for lunch tomorrow. Once again, staff canteen, I evade your vile clutches! Mwhahahahah!

~=o>

This is a little weird. Piggle is cute though...

Forecast: 13-21
Attained: 14-22

Another full-on dream last night that messed with my sleep. The stand-out bit this time involved me standing around with some very young people waiting for a posh night/dance club to begin playing music. Well, when I say 'standing around with' I akshully mean 'standing next to'. They'd have nothing to do with me and I certainly felt out of place. One of the PYTs was complaining about it taking so long for the music to start. I joked that perhaps they could play Racey's 'Lay your love on me' as that would certainly get things moving! I got a frosty little smile for that one.
Later, there was (appropriate) music but it was quite sedate. A PYT wondered aloud when things would pick up. I said, jokingly, that would happen when the ectasy kicked in...
The look I was given made me vow to myself to just shut up.

... also, there were costumes, really elaborate costumes, that everyone was required (?) to wear. A good portion of this section involved watching people getting get dressed and made up. Fascinating.

~=o>

Had to c/p some long links to ebooks in to our catalogue today. Unfortunately our dinosaur system takes exception to the new-fangled things like underscores and won't read them, causing problems getting to sites. [sigh] AM, my colleague, wondered if making the links shorter would work...?
She introduced me to tinyURL.com
Great site! Converts unweildy long links to snappy little links. Less chance of needing to c/p the link to get where you want to go. :) I approve.

~=o>

Childish, I know, but the journal name 'Journal of Japan Water Works Association' always makes me giggle.

Forecast: 6-19
Attained: 6-18

Yucky dream last night. I was staying at someone's place and had to go from there to the airport to go... somewhere. At the airport I couldn't find my backpack, with all the important bits of paper in it. I also couldn't find my 'phone so I couldn't ring the people I'd been staying with to ask them to check for my bag. Had to go back to their place and look around, all the while with the horrible thought that I was running out of time and was going to miss the flight...
I found my bag, after the third frantic hunt through the same areas. There it was, in plain sight. Everything was in it except my 'phone. I was checking to make sure I had the tickets etc. First bit of paper I pulled out was a voucher for a pre-flight photo! Oookaaay. The ticket itself was difficult to read, couldn't quite make out the flight details. When I woke up I remembered that I'm rarely able to read things in dreams. Wonder if it's cos I don't have my glasses...?

~=o>

Day 2 of the road trip, as my brother and were heading towards Sydney (this was r/l, not a dream. Just clarifying) Kester said he saw a someone dressed as a stormtrooper pushing a cart or something. I didn't see it so I couldn't say, but browsing the 'webs today I stumble across this:

Stormtrooper Jacob French completes 5,000km charity trek across Australia.

Well, I think that might've been him K spotted. :)

Forecast: 9-16
Attained: 12-17

Happy Birthday, Soulsis!

Forecast: 10-20
Attained: 9-21

Today I've mostly eaten chocolate and bacon. Not the best nutritionally. I'll probly pay for it tomorrow. :)

~=o>

I'm making a point of watching the dvds I have that haven't been viewed yet. In theory this will help me cull some of the collection. (Not sure if I've mentioned this before. Anyway...)
This afternoon - while cutting up old t-shirts for material - I watched Plunkett & Maclean, about a pair of highwaymen in the 18th century. This was lots of fun, if a bit gruesome in places. I loved the tagline from the trailer: They rob from the rich... and that's it. It's light enough to be background noise, will probably hang on to it for a while.
I also, finally, got 'round to watching the extended version of Chronicles of Riddick. Love this movie! A very rich world frame. Not enough Vaako but Judi Dench is great in it, andandand there's apparently a sequel on the way. :) I also really enjoyed exploring the behind-the-scenes bits, getting an idea of just how much work went in to the sets and costumes. Definitely a keeper.

~=o>

Part of a dream I had the other night:
I rescued a small furry animal - sugar glider, perhaps - from three large cats (one looked like a lion, another like a mangy lion, and the third was just a cat.) It bit me! Then escaped outside where it again became the centre of predatory attention. I couldn't work out if the wee thing was more scared of being captured and brought inside by a human than it was of the cats, or it was just addled from being attacked.

Forecast: 11-19
Attained: 11-19

I trotted off after work tonight to JB to look for a copy of TF3:DOTM (no, I couldn't be bothered typing it out in full.) They had it but at $28, down from $35, it wasn't what I'd call a bargain. However I had promised the cubs I'd get a copy this week so...
The girl at the check-out helpfully pointed out the 'buy one get one free' sticker on the dvd, then even more helpfully pointed out the stand with the other BOGOF titles.
So I picked up a copy of Cowboys & Aliens, too. Now that's what I call a bargain. :)

~=o>

This time last year I started moving mine and mum's stuff out of paid storage.

Forecast: 11-17
Attained: 12-17

Akshully, I think cats hear voices in their heads telling them evil things all the time, but cos they're cats they couldn't be arsed following through.
(Though I have known one or two cats who've had 'issues'. Not my moggies, of course...! My kitty companions might be excentric but they've never been evil. :)

~=o>

I was at the campus with the fish pond today. Couldn't see any of the baby fish but that doesn't mean they're not there. It was cold and wet, and I wondered if that had anything to do with the non-appearance? Everytime I've spotted the tiddlers it's been sunny...

~=o>

I'm not sure if it's an actual allergy/reaction or not but I've more or less stopped eating wheat bread, cereal and pasta and am feeling much better for it. For quite some time there's been a gluey feeling in my innards when I've eaten wheat-based products. I was able to eat wraps and flat bread for a while but even they started making me feel meh. I'm going to give couscous a try but won't be devastated if I don't like that either. There's alternatives to wheat. F'rinstance, I've rediscovered cellophane noodles! Delicious!

Forecast: 9-15
Attained: 11-16

Mmmm... Happily full of trifle. And pork chow mein, but mainly trifle.

Anzac day holiday! Slept in, then dagged about most of the day in my trackie-dacks watching dvds and sorting through boxes while the cubs were visiting a friend. When the cubs got home I cooked dinner - the aforementioned pork chow mein and trifle - and we sat down to watch Stardust. Was a good day. :)

~=o>

And here are the pics from the few days I spent in Qld, after the road trip.

Here's a highlight:

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 8-15

It's chilly. How do I know this? LimpetCat... Perhaps I should get a heater this year?

~=o>

Eww. [shudder] Noticed movement in my peripheral vision. There was a moderately big (2cm) shiny black spider crawling over my shoulder!
Flicked it off without freaking out. It's disappeared under my desk...
(Oh look, and LimpetCat wants up again. [sigh])

~=o>

These are the easter things the cubs and I got from Soulsis et al this year. :)

The steggie was mine.
Detailed, and delicious!

Forecast: 13-19
Attained: 15-19

While we were up at Soulsis' on the weekend I dragged out some more of the boxes stored under her house. A few of them turned out to belong to the cubs. Cubs brought the boxes inside and dumped them in their rooms.
"Nononono!" I said, knowing full well that if they disappeared in to rooms they wouldn't be seen again until we moved. "Bring them out to the kitchen, we'll go through them now..."
We went from 4 boxes down to a box and a bit. If we can maintain that sort of ratio with the rest of the stuff the cubs will have loads of space in their rooms. :)

~=o>

Not sure if I've said this before but it's very liberating knowing that I don't need anything more. Lots of stuff I want, naturally, but I have everything I need.

~=o>

Watched The Young Visitors today. Funny and poignant movie based on a book written by a 9 year old girl at the beginning of the 20th century. I wasn't sure it wasn't a clever spoof but apparently it's not. J.M. Barrie's introduction is a hoot!

Forecast: 17-23
Attained: 16-23

Well that was exciting!
Cubs and I went up to Soulsis' today to give Miss Raven her birthday present. It had begun raining as we headed home but by the time we'd come down out of the hills it was raining so hard visibility was down to about 5m. Could barely see the traffic lights let alone the road lines.
Wasn't going to drive in that so crawled in to a supermarket carpark to wait it out.

Through the windscreen:

Through the back window:

Three minutes later it was clearing up.
Probably could've pushed on, slowly, and driven out of it but didn't want to risk a bingle.

It more or less stopped raining then and the only thing we had to worry about was the moderate flooding where the drains hadn't managed to cope with the sudden downpour. Watching a bus throw up a 2m sheet of dirty water made me very glad I wasn't a pedestrian just then. :)

Forecast: 14-26
Attained:14-23

First batch of the road trip pics are up on Flickr. :)

Other than that, a quiet day. Had a lovely long nap this afternoon...

Forecast: 16-22
Attained: 15-22

New blogger interface. Let's see what happens...

~=o>

Went for a follow up ENT appointment this morning, to get the results of my scan.
The surgeon is certain I have otosclerosis and that we can confidently expect a favourable result from a stapendectomy. Not that I've decided yet to have it.
According to the surgeon, 95% of the procedures performed have excellent results, a return to full hearing. 4.5% have little or no improvement, and .5% end with a total hearing loss. Hm. It's only a tiny chance but it is there, plus, my hearing isn't going to get any worse anyway if I do nothing, so...
I have a couple of months to think about it. If I decide to go ahead I could be on the waiting list for a year. Plenty of time to change my mind. :)

~=o>

I like having a wide-screen monitor...

Though it's only been very recently I even realised I could actually have two browser windows open so I can do two lots of stuff. [shakes head] I'm very intelligent, yes, just not that bright sometimes...

Forecast: 16-23
Attained: 16-24

I dreamt last night that I was pregnant. Far enough along I could feel distinct movement, and see the outline of baby bits against my skin. I'll be honest and say it did promote a sort of nostalgia for me. :)
Also in the dream was another, much younger woman, also pregnant. She was really pissed off with me being pregnant cos I was stealing her thunder, or something.

~=o>

I was flicking through a book at work today, idly musing on how much I'd like a copy, when it occured to me it would be very easy to steal cos I know how to circumvent the security. Shocked myself!

Forecast: 12-24
Attained: 12-24

[sigh] Really should resist reading synopses [sic?] for episodes I haven't seen yet. Just found out what happens to a favourite character...

~=o>

I was doing some vacuuming then suddenly the vacuum cleaner stopped sucking!
I did some investigating and found this inside:

I'm no expert but I reckon that dust bag is full...

Forecast: 13-24
Attained: 11-23

Back to work today. Was all good. Bit tired though. To be honest I didn't get much of a chance to sleep in during my week off. 7am starts for the driving then similar times for being up and about with the children of the house...

But anyway, finally the cafe in our building has reopened and I can get a newspaper for the library from there of a morning instead of having to go traipsing hither and yon. That's a win in my books. :)

Forecast: 14-21
Attained: 15-21

New keyboard!

After being away from my 'puter for a week, I sat down at it last night and wondered why the hell we were still using the crap keyboard we'd been struggling with for months...

Most of the letters had been rubbed away - not such an issue when you touch type but still a dashed nuisance - and the spacebar had always been wonky. You had to really thump it to get it to work.
So, nice new keyboard - with a properly springy spacebar. A cheap model so the letters may well rub off again at some point but eh.

~=o>

Had a CT Scan today of my ear. The info sheet I was given for the procedure said there may be contrast used so I shouldn't eat or drink for 4 hours beforehand. Scan was at 11.15 so I only managed a few mouthfuls of water when I woke up.
As it happened, I didn't need contrast anyway so I probably hadn't needed to fast! Oh well, could've been 12 hours without noms. That would've been really annoying :)
So, got to the appointment early, and was taken in to the waiting room early... then had to wait while patients from the Emergency Dept were put through first. Not a problem, it was a possibility I was prepared for.
I was only in the machine for 2 minutes - fascinating thingy - but the most discomfiting part of the procedure was having to take out my nose stud. I've never done that in the 11 years I've had it. Had planned on practicing at home first but never got 'round to it before my holiday. It was a trifle awkward as the stud isn't a straightforward post with a simple angled bit at the end. No, there's a curved bit that sits at right angles to the post. Fabulous for not being accidentaly dislodged, but awkward to get in and out, especially with the low dexterity that comes with carpal tunnel. But I managed it, and now I'm looking at more decorative studs to buy. (Oooh, bat symbol!)

I've got an ENT appointment on Friday so I'll hopefully find out then if anything can be done to recover my hearing...

~=o>

Odd dream last night, kind of a mash-up of Hunger Games and Game of Thrones. Or rather, my interpretation of those as I've neither seen nor read either.

Coming soon...

My Roadtrip Adventure: Pt 1.