You can do everything in the Post Office nowadays. I suppose that’s why they’re calling them Post Shops instead. They sell cards, telephones (mobile and fixed line), music CDs (what’s the point of those year CDs, eg 1970 including hits from 1970? I was born in 1970, but why does that mean I would identify ... [More]
What the F— do you think you’re doing, Mr White Stationwagon? Where the F— did you get your driver’s licence? Why the F— do you think you can decide as you’re driving through an intersection in the left hand lane, that you are suddenly going to turn right, across three lanes of traffic, cutting me ... [More]
I have an oversupply of cream cheese. I don’t mind cream cheese on occasions. A week or two ago I was wandering idly through the supermarket and picked up a tub. I’ve dabbed it onto a piece of toast or two. I might just get through it before it expires. Yesterday at Parliament Station as ... [More]
(To recap: Last year the flat I was renting was sold to developers. They kicked everybody out; debated about how much notice they’d given; their builders made a nuisance of themselves; my eventual move went well (Nando’s aside); the flats were renovated and put on market again). Noted with some amusement the other day that ... [More]
Okay, here’s my VCAT story. Several years ago, my father went into hospital following an accident. There were complications, and he was there for quite a few weeks. Eventually it became apparent that things had changed permanently: he was getting old (older than ever before!) and would no longer be able to live on his ... [More]
Thursday 7:50pm. Phone rings. “Hello, is that Daniel?” “Yes” “It’s the Comedy Club here. You said we should ring you back on Thursday, and –“ “No, I didn’t say that. I said I got your stuff in the mail, and that I’d get back to you. And I’d appreciate no more calls.” (Humbled voice) “Oh.. ... [More]
You what? 2nd of March and I can see my own breath in the air when I go to get the newspaper?! Last night I did the unthinkable. I succumbed to a telemarketer. I know I shouldn’t. But somehow I did. I didn’t actually buy anything, but when a woman rang up and was selling ... [More]
Hello. Happy leap day. Sunday is Big Grocery Shop day for me. I’ll usually wander down to the local fruit market-ette (it claims to be a fruit market, but really it’s just a quadruple-sized greengrocer) with the kids (detour to park on the way) and a cloth bag and pick up the fruit and veg ... [More]
Last Saturday was St Valentine’s Day. It’s been some years since I had anything to celebrate on Valentine’s Day. Fate has ruled that the last four or five of them, I have been single, so I was somewhat out of practice with the whole Valentine’s Day concept. Thus I was extra keen not to stuff ... [More]
When you’re out to dinner in a group at a nice restaurant… and you get the bill… and the organiser says she’ll pay the balance of whatever everyone else puts in, as she’s also paying for others who had to leave early… and everyone else decides to put in $30 each — which is a ... [More]
Junk mail with a difference arrived in the letterbox last week. A piece of weatherboard cladding, about 30 x 5 cm, merely a sampler of what the manufacturer promises is a new generation in cladding. It’ll solve world hunger, it will bring peace, it’s a permanent solution to maintenance, it won’t chip, split rot or ... [More]
This arvo I went down to the local electrical warehouse place and bought an evaporative cooler. So far I’ve tried it out only to the extent that I can on a day which is patently not hot. And my conclusion is… well, it blows out a heap of cold air. Which is a good thing. ... [More]
Too damn hot yesterday. And last night. I’m going to go evaporative cooler shopping. There’s a parent at the school who looks like Billy Connolly when he was in his beardless phase, complete with the windswept and interesting long grey hair. But he has an Australian accent. There’s another parent at the school who looks ... [More]
Spellbound: documentary following 8 fourteen-year-old American kids getting to the national Spelling Bee finals. The tension mounts as the competition goes on, and along the way there are some genuinely funny moments (well done to the Hooters restaurant people for cheering their local competitor with a big "CONGRADULATIONS" sign) as well as providing an insight ... [More]
It has come to my attention that there is someone I know, someone who is a Gen-Xer like myself, who… and I’m not sure there’s any easy way to say this,does not have a mobile phone. There. I’ve blurted it out. Now I’m not going to reveal who this person is, because they have made ... [More]
Over the years, my taste in clothing (as well as other things such as food) has improved immeasurably. Various influences – in particular certain girlfriends – have led me to try and take a little more care of my appearance. I’m not quite up to the standard proffered by The Age recently of the "Metrosexual", ... [More]