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The countdown begins

Tonight I got home to find a note saying there’s a registered letter waiting for me at the post office. Which, unless something completely and utterly unexpected has arrived for me by registered mail, means I have sixty days to move out. No surprise really – they’ve already started ripping the guts out of the  ... [More]

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Grave digging

Today I was out grave digging… uhhh, grave hunting with Danielle, who is down from Sydney for the week hunting down ancestors. We tracked down a house in Malvern where one of them used to live, then went toSt Kilda Cemetery to potter about among the graves. Creepy? No, not really. It was a glorious  ... [More]

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Nails

Feel much better now, though I didn’t get much sleep last night. I remember going to bed about midnight, and trying to get to sleep, and every so often looking at the clock with increasing frustration… 1:00… 2:30… 3:30… 4:00… and thinking oh, this is getting ridiculous. What caused that? Surely not the few squares  ... [More]

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Oh FFS

2:05pm. Oh FFS, Mr Speakerphone’s office just got invaded with one of his colleagues and his entire family. Come to admire the view. So, the 28th floor is a fucking tourist attraction now? Am I the only one doing any work here? (Well, apart from stopping in anger to write this, that is.) Time for  ... [More]

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Busy busy busy

Busy busy busy. So, what have I been up to? I’ve been disorganised. A pile of mail grew steadily over the last week or two on a chair in my study/spare room/computer room (whatever I’m calling it this week), and – not for the first time – the pile included a credit card bill that  ... [More]

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Headlines

MX’s Showdown with Saddam page bar. Over on the other end of the bar is a little aeroplane. With the war continuing, I thought it interesting to look at what the various media outlets are calling it. Some have gone for something of a neutral title (mostly the purely geographical "War in Iraq"), and some  ... [More]

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Weekend of living relatively safely

Winter must be on its way – for the first time this year I saw some bloke in Lonsdale Street actually wearing a scarf on Friday night. A real scarf that is, not just a footy scarf. I didn’t think it was that cold. But maybe he was on his way to an all-night candlelit  ... [More]

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What did I tell ya?

9:45am. You know what’s funny? This morning as I left, three blokes were snooping around the car park, obviously planning what havoc they can wreak during the forthcoming renovations. What walls they can knock down without the whole place falling down, etc. And parked outside? A BMW, of course. 4:08pm. Mr Speakerphone is at it  ... [More]

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Beamers beamers everywhere

I got home on Monday afternoon to find wall-to-wall BMWs parked outside. Which could only mean one thing: inspection time. My landlady is bowing out of the real estate game. Evidently at 81 years old she has better things to do with her time and money. A fair bit of money apparently – a word  ... [More]

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Old bag

The major supermarket chains are engaged in a new battle – to reduce the number of plastic bags issued. A laudable goal, certainly – the reduction of land fill and hazards to animals are worthwhile benefits. My local supermarket has risen to the challenge in a number of ways. On those little conveyor belt divider  ... [More]

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My hilarious office

Why is it that the guy with a corner office next to me is also the loudest guy on the floor? I mean, even when measured from outside his office. Loud music has been my saviour in the past few, deadline filled, stressful weeks. If I put my ear plugs in and pump up the  ... [More]

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Cartoon

Twelve years ago a bloke in Sydney and I conspired on a cartoon about the last Gulf War. It seems timely to dig it out again now.