Forecast: 9-15
Attained: 9-14

Spent a lot of time asleep again today but I think my sense of taste is improving...

~=o>
And now the continuing saga...

Thursday morning. I'd made it through the night and just wanted to go the hell home. Couldn't do that though until I'd been assessed by the surgeon. 9.30 was the time I was given for being discharged.
So I waited, and had breakfast - cold toast, cereal, tinned fruit. And waited, and listened to the radio. And waited, getting more and more annoyed. The nurses were great, getting cross on my behalf and chasing up the surgeon. :)
He turned up at 11.30. (Apparently he'd been operating at another hospital.) So finally the bloody IV was able to come out, I could get dressed and leave.

The cubs' father gave me a lift home - he'd been waiting around since 9.30 as well - and bought me some Maccas for lunch. It's a worry when takeaway is a step-up from what was served in the hospital.
Penny dropped 'round with some chocolate, and a shower cap, cos while I could have a much needed shower, I couldn't get my ear wet...

Photos!

While I was waiting:

Part of breakfast. The label was a lie, unless, 'Quality' meant 'average'.

Also while I was waiting; cup o' monitor pads. I peeled these off myself.
Found another one in the shower later, and another one the day after, on my shoulder.

Forecast: 8-14
Attained: 9-14

Was only up for a couple of hours this morning before I had to go back to bed for a long nap. I think this is going to take me longer to recover from than anticipated.
Also, my sense of taste seems to have changed. Not an unexpected side effect but disconcerting nonetheless.

~=o>
So, continuing on with my hospital adventure...

Woke up in recovery and the first thing I asked the nurse was whether I'd thrown up or not. There was a reason for this: as I'd thrown up before under anaesthetic it was inevitable it would happen again. (I hadn't been sick this time, as it happens, because I was given something to prevent it. I know exactly when that wore off though...)

Right, so when it was clear I'd survived the surgery I was taken down to the ward for the night.
... I hate hospitals. The temperature is always too high for me and the recycled air makes me feel like I was drowning. As for the food... How can you manage to kill a sandwich?
An interminable night with me being unable to stay asleep for any length of time what with the uncomfortable mattress, and the IV cannula in my arm catching on the hospital gown, and the horrible, dry mouth (a combination of the effects of anaesthetic and the air conditioning) which was barely relieved by the unfiltered tap water I was given to drink...

(Whinge moan complain. I feel I have justification. :)

Fortunately I was able to listen to the radio/music on (a single) headphone; the best distraction possible. If I hadn't have had that I would have undoubtedly gone mad, or had to resort to asking for sleeping tablets.

But, on the plus side, the nursing staff were lovely, I only needed plain panadol for pain relief, and I was already able to hear better in my affected ear.

I got through the night.

(aaaaand again cont'd later. :)

Warning: Potentially icky pic!

I really loathe IVs...

Forecast: no idea
Attained: 8-11

Forecast (yesterday): 10-14
Attained: 9-11

Had the stapendectomy yesterday but had to stay in hospital overnight, which was a bit of an unwelcome surprise. I'd gained the impression - either from me misunderstanding what the surgeon had said, or him not expressing himself clearly - that I would be able to go home the day of the surgery. Eh well, it only took some quick phonecalls to the cubs and their dad to let them know about the change of plans.

I had planned on thriftily taking the bus to the hospital but faced with rain and hail, and already tired out from several days of anxiety, I decided to go by taxi instead.
Went through the admission process quite quickly, gaining an id bracelet or two on the way, as well as a very not flattering hospital gown and dressing gown. I got to keep my shoes on.
Got in at 11 and my op was scheduled for 1.30. Seems like a long time to wait - especially after fasting since 7 am - but time always flies when you're dreading something. :)

Was taken up to the theatre floor, and answered the same set of questions again before being popped on to a gurney. Even more nervous? Oh yes. The theatre staff were great though, they all introduced themselves and were very reassuring.
The dreaded IV was placed, I was wheeled in under the lights, the mask went over my face and I was instructed to breath deeply...

I dreamt while I was under anaesthetic, or was dreaming as I was coming out of it. Intense dreams but I don't remember any details. And then there I was recovery and it was almost 5pm.

... con't tomorrow cos I'm really quite knackered. :)

Forecast: 6-17
Attained: 7-16

Slight change of plan for tomorrow. I don't have to be at the hospital until 11am, plus I can have a very light breakfast instead of fasting all the way through. Mind you, because I have to eat before 7am, if I want to have breakfast I can't sleep in. [hand to forehead] Oh, the trials and tribulations...! :)

~=o>

Forecast: 7-15
Attained: 7-14

It's kind of interesting in my head at the moment.
There's two personalities, if you like: the calm, rational one, who thinks things through, and the other, who (over)reacts emotionally. She's currently flailing about like a muppet over my upcoming surgery, squealing along the lines of: omigod, there's going to be needles, and I'm going to be unconcious in front of strangers, and omigod, I could die, and I don't have a will...!!
[sigh]
The rational one has given up trying to offer well, rational advice - cos frankly it's falling on deaf ears - and is just standing back watching the performance, knowing the emotional one will eventually exhaust herself and shut up. :)

~=o>
Heh, and I finally have all the bits of paper I need to get on with my tax return. My finances are not the least bit convoluted - pay in, donations out - so I'll put it through online again this year.
I'm hoping to get a rebate but not counting on it: not sure how the salary packaging will impact the outcome.

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 10-17

I entertained myself this afternoon sorting through stuff in my room. Hadn't realised quite how many Professionals 'zines I had. A few are very good and I'll definitely reread those, but not sure what I'm going to do with the rest. Eh, probly just stash them somewhere. Good to have them all in one spot, though. :)

Plus I unearthed a whole lot of pre-digital photos in packets. Some of them are even named and dated. [rolls eyes] 'Oh, I'll remember when that was, I'm sure...'
But at least those are now in one spot, too, or rather, one other spot as they won't fit in the big plastic tub with the other pics.
There were some super adorable photos of the cubs: I'm going to see if they'll let me post some...

(And yet, there's still boxes and boxes of unsorted stuff at Soulsis'. I'm sure there'll be more photos in them...)

Forecast: 8-16
Attained: 11-16

Dinosaurs on a spaceship are pretty cool... :)

Forecast: 8-16
Attained: 9-16

So, all being well, I have one day of work next week then two weeks off. Woohoo! Oh, and there's the surgery, too, I suppose.

~=o>
Gorgeous.

Humans faces??? i know there are alot of humans faces …we never get to know the real face of person..
American photographer Bobb Leland presented his new photo exhibition entitled «Half-Drag» to the public. The heroes of his photo project transvestites involved in a burlesque show and featured a make-up applied only to half of the face. i find it unique and interesting just have a look…

Forecast: 4-14
Attained: 3-12

Hee, thought it was a bit nippy leaving the house this morning...

~=o>
While having the cat sleep across my hands/wrists when I'm at the computer does afford my hands some protection against the cold, it's still bloody awkward to type.

~=o>
Last day of library training today! Got to play around with the cataloguing module. Hoo boy, it's been a while since I've had to think about MARC tags. It'll all come back to me, I'm sure...
Had a very nommy - free - lunch of a beef burger minus the bread roll. Didn't need it, not with the grilled onions and cheese, and cos lettuce, and tomato and mayonaise and relish and potato crisps. Mmmm.
There may be another day of training I can attend but it won't be organised until the boss comes back from holidays.

Forecast: 5-15
Attained: 4-14

I was distressing myself with imaginings the other day, as I am wont to do at times. I think these episodes balance out the unfeasibly sunny optimism.
Anyway, I've found the best way to deal with a distressing is to indulge it for a bit then pull back, break it down and do a dispassionate analysis.
This particular distress was that old chestnut: "omigod! What if we get evicted...!"
Yes, money will be an issue, but enough has always appeared from somewhere. Yes, the rental market is appalling - it took us eight months to get this place - but we've always managed to find somewhere eventually. More importantly though, the packing and moving itself will be an absolute doddle compared to the distressing, gods-forsaken, emotional clusterf*ck of last time. (Which I wouldn't have been able to get through without the help of so many people, but especially the cubs. :)

However, this time I'm won't be trying to sift through and pack ten years of detritus. This time, I won't have anywhere near as much stuff to move. This time, I know how much and what will fit in my car so I'll be able to organise more efficiently.
In conclusion, if I have to move it will be fine. :)

Forecast: 6-15
Attained: 9-15

... there was something I was going to check out on utoobs but for the life of me I can't think what it was.

~=o>
Hee. There's a weekend seminar later this year in Mildura. I've 'expressed my interest' to the organisers, as the saying goes. Was thinking about driving up but it's 7ish hours, whereas going by train*, it's still 7 hours but will cost about half the amount I'd be spending in petrol. Yes, that sounds much better...

[*Well, two trains and a coach as there's no direct line. Either way, eeee, train! :)]

Forecast: 8-13
Attained: 7-16

Following this story today about someone losing the keys to Wembley Stadium, my favourite radio station was calling for other 'lost keys' stories.
I didn't call in but here's mine:
Way back when, in the times Before, when I was living on my own in a shitty, but charming, one bedroom flat I woke up one morning and couldn't find my keys. This wouldn't have been a problem except there was only one way out of the flat: through a door that had an old-fashioned deadlock that couldn't be opened without a key.
Yerrs.
Tore the place apart looking for the bloody things, getting crosser and crosser, and panickier. Time was ticking away and I had to go to work. Note, this was in the days before mobile phones, plus I didn't have a landline 'phone cos the place was slated for demolition and the telco wouldn't install one.
The situation was hopeless, but did I despair?
Well, yes, a bit - I had visions of calling out pathetically to passing strangers and asking them to contact a locksmith, and I was calculating how long my food was going to last - and then it dawned on me that perhaps, possibly... did I leave the keys in the lock last night when I came home?
Managed to open the kitchen window enough to crane my head around to view the front door... Yup, there they were. I swore, vociferously, cos now I had to climb out of a window - the loungeroom window, as that one actually opened wide enough for me to squeeze through. (I did hang about for a few minutes on the offchance a neighbour would pass by and I could ask them to fetch my keys, but no, the indignity of climbing out of the window was mine to be suffered.) [sigh]

It was fortunate that no one had let themselves in to my flat overnight, I suppose, and I did have an amusing story to explain why I was late for work...
And now I always check what sort of door lock a place has before I rent.

~=o>
Mwhahahaha! I now have all my Beatles albums on my new shiny!
Only a little bit less that 500mgbs - still have 10+gbs of space. Niace

Forecast: 7-13
Attained: 7-12


Weird weekend, didn't do a lot, or feel inclined to do a lot. The cat's loved me sitting still for so long, though.

~=o>

Still playing with my new shiny.

~=o>

Every now and then I check in with my phobias to see how they're progressing.





Yep, robots are still freaking me out. Time to leave well enough alone for a while longer.
Speaking of which, I found these pics from October 2007, when Asimo was touring the country. Our school got free tickets to the show. The children were quite excited.

I found myself growling when Asimo came out, for all it was designed to look as non-threatening as possible. :)

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 8-16

So, the London 2012 opening ceremony was good, was it? Hopefully I'll get to see it: it's not being replayed online anywhere yet.

~=o>

Interesting.

Michael Pollan's 7 rules for eating...

"Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot..."

I like Pollan's distinction between 'food' and 'edible food-like substances'. :)


~=o>

We take hand-hygiene very seriously in our hospitals...

Forecast: 9-14
Attained: 10-14

...
I'm caught between enchanted and bemused.

Rockabye Baby!
Lullaby rendition of baby's favourite rock bands...

Rockabye Baby transforms timeless rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies. Guitars and drums are traded for soothing mellotrons, vibraphones and bells, and the volume is turned down from an eleven to a two. Rockabye Baby is the perfect way to share the music you love with the littlest rocker in your life.

The Cure, Smith's, Coldplay, Beatles, Radiohead, Police, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Van Halen, Metallica... there's a lot of bands covered. Some tracks lend themselves beautifully to being lullabyed, others not so much.

~=o>

I've been playing with the camera on my new shiny.
Can you guess what this is?

(It's the bit on the mandarin where the stalk meets the fruit... Was quite a nice mandarin, too.)


This is a thing from work. I think it needs bunny ears. :)


Asleep...

Awake...

Forecast: 9-14
Attained: 9-13

I went to the dentist today. This is significant in that it's been twelve years since my last visit. In that time my teeth have been slowly chipping and crumbling but what sent me scurrying off for treatment this time was that it's started happening to my front teeth. Not such a problem when your back teeth are getting snaggled: completely different when it's your front teeth. So vanity, yes. :)

Anyway, this dentist had been recommended by the cubs' father and as a new patient I was expecting to have to wait weeks for an appointment but I was able to be seen within a couple of days.
The drilling part is still extremely unpleasant but the new 'flash-setting' amalgam is pretty amazing. No having to wait a few hours for it to set before eating.

It was pricey though, which is the main reason I've not been to see a dentist in so long. I don't have private health cover, and dental is not covered by the government provided Medicare.
I digress.
Was a little over $200 for the examination and filling. I'll need a further 3 or 4 fillings/reconstructions, and 3 extracts. I figure I'll be up for about $1500 to get everything sorted. Wince making, but manageable spread over a year or so.
Wot fun, eh?

~=o>

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 9-15

Parent/teacher interviews went as expected - with universal praise for the cubs' intellects, and universal cries for them to 'get organised'! :)
And then we - including their dad - had takeaway chicken and chips for dinner.
Mmmm

~=o>

These are the cutest earbuds.

Unfortunately they only lasted for a few uses before losing sound in one of the buds. They're quite comfortable, designed to sit in specific ears. Alas the bud that lost sound is the one that fits in my good ear. I can use the other bud in that ear but it's not at all comfortable.

Forecast: 6-16
Attained: 7-15

Coming home this evening from the LMS training I nipped in to a 7-11 cos there was a 20% off deal on the itoons vouchers. Bargain!
The cashier was going to charge me full price but I said 'but but...' and pointed at the sign. He checked and was most apologetic - the special had finished a day or so ago, but cos the sign was still there he gave me the discount anyway. :)
I'm currently loading up my new shiny with more Torchwood stuff. Mwahahah.

~=o>

The inspection went fine today. Apparently. I wasn't here but the cubs' father was. Did I mention the saga? Anyway, the inspection was scheduled for Monday, which wouldn't have been a problem as I normally don't work on Mondays, however this particular Monday I was doing the Cultural Competency workshop. Wouldn't have been a problem as I was going to have Tuesday, today, off in lieu, except the LMS training had been rescheduled for today. I found this out after I'd contacted the agent to change the date.
[sigh]
But, cubs' father was happy to sit in for us so panic (mine) was averted.

~=o>

Olympic humour.

Forecast: 7-16
Attained: 4-15

Spoke to my boss about the potentially awkward time for surgery and she said to go for it. The opportunity may not come around again for some time. She also said to take as many days off as I'm given, I'm not to skimp on sick leave. :)
So, providing the surgery isn't cancelled, I should be getting ready to go under the knife in two weeks time...

~=o>

Attended a Cultural Awareness Competency seminar today, centered around Aboriginal/Indigenous people. Was excellent. A very engaging session, and thought provoking. I wasn't tempted to fall asleep once, even after a choppy night.

More library management system training tomorrow...!

Forecast: 8-16
Attained: 11-16

For the past two days I've been hunting high and low for a Very Important Piece of Paper.
... and then I noticed it was on the 'fridge, where I'd put it because it was a VIPP. [headdesk]

~=o>

(nicked from somewhere by someone...)

[snerk] "... only thinks of you as a friend..."

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 7-17

Rental inspection on Tuesday so I spent this afternoon cleaning. Scrubbed down the tiles in the bathroom - which won't look clean ever again until they're regrouted but eh, [shrug], I can only work with what I've got.
The rest of the time was spent in my room, clearing the bed and sifting through the pile of chaos while being entertained by Torchwood audio books/radio plays.

With the help of Sigma!cub I finally got Mum's Australian wrens tapestry up in my room. It's been sitting on the floor behind a door basically since we moved in but today there was at last, space to reach the wall and hang the thing up. Happy now...

There's not a lot left to do in the house, to be honest. Some general tidying, scrubbing the bath, and vacuuming. Will be glad when the inspection's finished, naturally, this coming week's going to be a bit weird anyway...

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 10-16

Part of the fun of the training day last week was sitting in the upmarket cafe, eating lunch and pigeon-holing - just quietly to myself - the people that came in. Corporate, Legal, IT, student, tourist... :) No idea if I was correct about any of them, of course, I didn't check.
There were however some beautiful suits coming in for their gourmet wraps and vegetarian soups. Tailored, expensive, rich yet understated colours with perfectly accessorised ties and pocket hankies. I was impressed with them.

~=o>

Discovered a couple of not-so-good things about my new shiny. First it chews through the battery like cookie monster through baked goods; second, the music player is too good. Lovely system, beautifully balanced and consequently rubbish for me through headphones. It all sounds tinny and echoey with half the track missing. [sigh]
However, it does sound awesome through speakers, and is way more versatile to lug around the house than the old cd-player.

~=o>

And speaking of hearing issues, in the post today I received notification that I can go in for my op on August 8th. Ye gods, that was quick! My first thought was that that was a bad time to be away from work, what with the new system coming in and the boss going on holiday. However, maybe it's a better time than later, as it'll be before the new system goes live. Will need to discuss with the boss...

~=o>

Thought for the day...

[giggling]
(nicked from here.)

Forecast: 5-15
Attained: 4-14

The training went well today, helped by a very civilised start to the day (I rolled out of bed about the time I'm usually heading out the door...)
We spent our lunch vouchers at The Old Chamber. I had an especially nommy poached chicken wrap with rocket and avocado/lemon yoghurt dressing. So very, very niace. :)

Morning and afternoon tea was supplied on site. Mid-morning there were muesli bars, and mid-afternoon, chocolate. Unsurprisingly, I had trouble staying awake for the last hour...

~=o>

This is the last pic I took with my previous 'phone.
It's one of the carparks at my local shopping suburb. There's a new system been installed there: green lights mean the parking space is empty, red means it's full.

Have a close look...

I didn't know there were invisibility cloaks big enough for cars.

Forecast: 9-14
Attained: 9-14

I'm off to the city tomorrow for library training. Should be good, not least because it's a shorter day - 9.30-4.30 - so I'll be able to have a bit of a sleep in, plus I'll be able to amble out of the house around 8, instead of haring out before 7.30.
Also, apparently, we're being given $15 vouchers for lunch. Prices in Melbourne - that'll be a sandwich and a cup of coffee. :)

~=o>

I realised today that before my new shiny can go 'net browsing I have to tell it it can. [rolls eyes] So simple to operate when you know how...
But now all the apps and games are belong to me!! (Subject to cost and download limit, naturally...)

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 11-16

I have holidays booked for the first week in October.
I'm not counting down the days or anything.

~=o>

If you know what question to ask, the 'net can be a wonderful source of information. If you don't know what question to ask, you're stuffed :)
(Out of interest I now have a Transformers transforming sound effect set as message notification on my 'phone...)

~=o>

This is the first picture I took with my new shiny.
It wasn't deliberate, more of a 'so what does this button do...?' moment.

(That's a close up, btw, of the steering wheel cover Penny knitted.)

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 11-17

I haz a new shiny!

New on the left: the screen is twice the size of the old phone. :)
Going to take a wee while to learn how to drive the thing, it has completely different idiosyncracies than previous 'phones. And no radio*, which is a bum, but the old 'phone still works as music/radio player, just not as a communication device anymore.

[*I can listen to the radio but it involves streaming it online. Nice idea but as I've got less than 1gb a month on the 'phone to play with I'm not sure it's something I want to do, given how often I listen to the radio.]

~=o>

Bought a new shower curtain today - as it was the manky old one that came with the house washed up ok, but it'll be good to have a spare, I guess - and I finally dragged out the nifty curtain hooks soulsis gave me ages ago. They look great!

Forecast: 7-15
Attained: 7-15

This made me snerk today.

Fandom wank wiki: Het

WARNING: The following entry contains subject matter which many may find to be disgusting and perverse

Het is a bizarre underground subgenre of fanfic written by fetishists who can only become aroused by portraying characters engaged in heterosexual intercourse. It is estimated that at least .03% of fan fiction is het. Het is, for all intents and purposes, the opposite of slash.

[snerk]
It's not for no reason some fanpeeps have a 'My Fandom Warns For Het' icon.

~=o>

The system went down at work on Friday. And by 'the system' I mean 'The System'. No 'phones, email or 'net access. We couldn't even open files on the 'puters! Scary. Fortunately it only lasted ten minutes, but it was a very long ten minutes...

Forecast: 10-13
Attained: 11-14

I dance, and KittenKong just looks at me... :)


~=o>

Finally a couple of Aus songs from the '80's that I rilly, rilly like have appeared on itoons.
This is very camp. Not sure how Iva Davies feels about it now. [smirk]






When I first saw this next clip I found it thrilling. You'll see why from about 1:50.




Dig that funky '80's saxophone!
Browsing the Flowers/Icehouse tracks on itoons has reminded me how much of their stuff I liked. My wish list has just expanded...


~=o>

(Shall I make a note here about how much I'm writing? Not sure. Might just get discouraging if I'm not doing much. Anyhow for now there's the prologue and half a chapter.)

Forecast: 10-14
Attained: 9-15

We're getting closer to the implementation of the new LMS (library management system). The first training day is next week! And for the first time evah* in the history of our amalgamated campuses, only the main one will be open - and staffed by just one person - so the rest of us can do the training. There'll be five of these days in all. I'll have to miss one, cos I'm already booked in for something else that day. It's all go, now!

(*Akshully, not sure if that's true. We have a limited service between xmas/NYE, but I can't remember precisely if it's only the primary campus that's open...)

~=o>

Was experimenting with the photocopier at work today, printing out a document in 'booklet' style. The result was very cute; it reminded me of how I used to make my own books, scrolls etc when I was little. Asked my workmate, J, if she did anything similar and she confessed rather sheepishly to making library-style pockets and return date slips for her books, which I thought was adorable! Yes, she's a librarian now. Who'd have thought it, eh? :)

~=o>

For various reasons I haven't written any fiction for a very long time. (When I'm down on myself I call it 'laziness', though it isn't, not really.) However, despite not writing anything my writer's brain is constantly churning out stuff, threads of plots and snippets of scenes that waft up to tickle my consciousness, be dwelled on and expanded then filed away again until they're ripe.
Happily today a few of those threads bumped in to each other and I had an 'ahah! moment. Actually, it was more of a stop-dead-in-the-office-squeak-a-bit-and-say-'OMG, yes, of course!' Fortunately perhaps I was there on my own.

Part of the problem with not writing was that there was so much back log from when I was writing, and I couldn't make a decision. Do I go back to the fan fic, old or new? Should I be writing something original to publish? There was plenty there milling about to choose from but nothing really grabbed my attention, until now.
I should've known something was afoot when I recently started actively noticing and collecting odd words and typos. In the past it was from a similar list that I picked out non-standard names, placenames etc.

So yes, I have a definte base to work from now. It will be original fantasy, aimed at young adults. I've read a lot of YA stuff over the years and there's a lot of leeway given for more adult content than children's books. It won't be too dramatic a change from what I've written before, just toned down somewhat. :)

Forecast: 11-15
Attained: 12-14

At the staff meeting today, it was put forward that we have a launch party when our new library management system goes online. I foresee... cake!


~=o>

When I got up this morning at 6.30ish I switched on the solar-powered chinese lantern party lights strung up over my bedhead. (Always a cheerful way to get out of bed :) Anyway, I forgot to switch them off as I was leaving for work but wasn't too worried cos they'd be recharging this evening with the light from the bedside lamp.
When I got home just after 6 I found the lights were still shining! Quite impressed with them. :)


~=o>

This is way more amusing than it should be. [snerk]

WARNING FOR LANGUAGE AND CARTOON PENISES

Forecast: 10-15
Attained: 11-15

Found out today that Sesame Street is going in to it's 42nd year!
I remember watching it when we first moved to Australia. I was six at the time, now I'm 48. That means I was probably watching the first or second season.
I still like the show, though I still take issue with the way they pronounce 'z'. :)

~=o>

Heh, this time last year I was being fitted for my hearing aid. Not that I've worn it overly much in the meantime...

Forecast: 10-13
Attained: 11-14

Been waiting for notice of an inspection from the estate agent. Letter arrived today - finally! Date's been set for a couple of weeks ahead. Unfortunately it falls on a day that I would normally have free but this time I've got a work thing on that I really don't want to miss.
Eh, I'll ring and reschedule. Even if the date comes forward a week it shouldn't be a problem, the house is almost ready as it is. :)


~=o>

I've been contemplating sausage making. Doesn't look that hard, and you're guaranteed to know what's in your snags.
Could also make my own sausage stuffer...


~=o>

WARNING FOR PICS OF GIANT SPIDER IN THE FOLLOWING LINK

Joules' tarantula, Rosa, has recently moulted. Joules, because she's the sharing sort, kindly posted pics.
I'm a little bemused by my shuddering horror, to be honest...

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 10-16

Cubs and I went to see Pixar's (and the Holy Rodent Empire's, I suppose) movie Brave today.
It was so much fun! Well cast, and the animation was as always, superb. I've read some reviews that have said this isn't a particularly good, or innovative additon to Pixar's collection but pfft I say to them, pfft!

Oh, and I'm in love with Angus...

...Merida's gorgeous horse. [happy sigh]

This is a featurette released online. It's not part of the movie but it's so funny!




~=o>

I roll my eyes at the current trend to re-do old movies in 3D - it's a cynical cash grab. I will however be going to see Finding Nemo when it's been converted. Hypocritical? Eh...

~=o>

I've had a big box of pencils lurking around for months, part of my Mum's stash o' stuff. I was going to dump the lot off at an op shop but I sat down and actually looked at what was in there...
Derwents!
I had a set of 24 colours when I was younger, and loved them. Spent probably too much time putting them in order. Happy memories. So, I'll be keeping these after all. :)

Forecast: 4-15
Attained: 3-15

House cleaning, yes! [drumming up enthusiasm. srsly]
Washed the kitchen floor this afternoon. KittenKong reappeared from wherever she'd hied herself off to when the vacuum cleaner came out. She stepped on to the wet floor and gave me a look that was both baffled and slightly accusatory... :)

~=o>

While cleaning up I found a piece of paper from 5 years ago with 'Sons & Daughters - Gilt Complex' written on it. I generally write down the names/artists of songs I hear and like, for further investigation. This one apparently got overlooked. So I checked it out.
Cracking tune!



I have a copy now, of course.

Forecast: 3-14
Attained: 3-14

With no heating in the house sometime's it's so cold you can see your breath. I noticed this evening that it also happens with the cat, little puffs of steam from her nose. It's adorable, and very funny. :)

~=o>

SAD BALLS

[snicker] A pic from xmas 2007, from when we were decorating the tree.

~=o>

I've just rewatched Akira for the first time in years. This was the movie that changed my mind about anime, allowing me to understand just how good it could be. Prior to this I'd only seen Robotech and some dreadful pr0n. (Oh, and even earlier there was Kimba, of course, but I won't hear a word against that one.)





So yes, Akira, I'm still not entirely sure what was going on there at the end but the versatility of the animation still blows me away...

Forecast: 5-14
Attained: 6-12

Heard this on the radio this morning, listening on headphones. Made me laugh out loud. I was in the loo at the time, at work.
Fortunately I was alone...




Best bit:

"They call me the Hiphopopotamus
Flows that glow like phosphorous
Poppin' off the top of this esophagus
Rockin' this metropolis
I'm not a large water-dwelling mammal
Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis?
Did Steve tell you that, perchance?
Steve..."

~=o>

I spend a lot of time online at work, doing actual work related stuff, for the most part, but I still can't resist following shiny links.
I found this! Is pretty damn awesome.

European Southern Observatory.
I spent some time browsing through the Picture of the Week. Wow.

Forecast: 7-14
Attained: 5-13

Hm.





Hee, thought I recognised the voice. [Karl Urban] Not sure that alone would be enough to tempt me to the cinema. Never was a huge fan of "I AM the law."

Forecast: 8-13
Attained: 9-13

What was weird about the Prometheus experience on Monday, was having Bobby McFerrin's 'Don't worry be happy' playing as we left the cinema.
A bit incongruous, yes.

~=o>

Cubs' are usually with their dad on Friday nights but he's o/s for a couple of weeks which means I'm going to lose my time-to-myself. [hand to forehead] But iz ok! Cubs are organising a sleep-over this Friday anyway. :)

Forecast: 8-13
Attained:

Woot, a bonus of school holidays - the local TAFE allows hospital staff to use their carpark! Mwhahahah! It's about a third of the distance of the trek across the park.
Yes, I know the walking is 'good for me' but I don't like it cos I start work grumpy and sweaty...
Wuss? Absolutely.

~=o>

So, Muse is doing the Olympic London Games Theme 2012, are they?
It's a bit OTT even for them! I think they're taking the piss... :)

This is just the music clip, but scroll down for the lyrics.



"...Yes, I am prepared
To stay alive
I won't forgive
Vengeance is mine... "

[snort] Oh yes, very stirring.

I prefer this version.

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. :)