Sometimes Sundays are lazy; I spend most of the day just sitting around the house doing nothing. Not yesterday. A series of events — some planned, some not — had me running around like a maniac. Walking a dog, driving across town, rushed buying of a birthday present and unrelated card, down to Southland not ... [More]
Near where I used to live in Glen Huntly is the very first house that the now-huge AV Jennings corporation ever built. I seem to recall it’s a brick Californian Bungalow. It certainly doesn’t look like the off-the-plan McMansion-type residences they’re probably better known for building now. Neither had I thought of my house as ... [More]
The rustling sound was back the other night, louder than before. I couldn’t spot anything. But around 6am this morning I heard the familiar noise of vermin doing calisthenics in the roof. And I found a tiny little beetle clinging to the wall in my room. Haven’t spotted any other insect life in quite a ... [More]
Oh, great. The central heating is now my new “Did I leave the oven on?” stress. Worried about that all morning. Not that anything would happen if it was left on all day. Apart from the house burning down and a huge gas bill, of course. (Got home to find it was, in fact, off.) ... [More]
In 2004 the water company reported I was using an average 300 litres per day (at the old house). A year later, I was using an average 347 litres per day. Another bill arrived last week which said I’m now using an average 239 litres per day. Woo hoo! Perhaps having a much smaller garden ... [More]
Some random things that make my life easier: The dishwasher. Run it every few days (when full). Cool. RSS. Lets me catch up on news and blogs in seconds flat. The 8:06 and 8:17 expresses. Bentleigh to Parliament in 17 minutes. If there’s a faster way into the city in peak hour (barring helicopter) I’d ... [More]
Yesterday I followed a time-honoured tradition, something done by countless millions on the Easter Monday holiday, right across the western world. I returned stuff to Ikea. As many did, I had gone along on Saturday, full of good intentions and a cashed-up wallet, ready to splurge on something new and exciting to spend time building ... [More]
Ah, Good Friday. It seems like ages since I’ve been able to sleep in, then laze about the house in my pyjamas. Shortly I’ll watch the vid of last night’s West Wing, then maybe, maybe I’ll consider having a shower and shave and getting dressed. But no rush. I’ve decided, by the way, that the ... [More]
Someone from a finance company in Sydney kept ringing for a Peter somebody, leaving messages on my answering machine. Despite me ringing back and leaving messages on theirs saying there was no Peter here, every few weeks there’d be another call. The last about a week ago sounded… well, a little ominous. Excerpt from answering ... [More]
The wintry weather appeared to show up right about when we went off summer time last weekend. Last night I turned on my central heating for the very first time. After a few minutes the chill was gone. Ditto this morning — it send the temperature from very cold to a pleasant 20 degrees. I’ve ... [More]
In the misty-eyed view of my childhood, us neighbourhood kids got up to all sorts of mischief in the rear carparks and alleyways behind the flats where we lived. There was no DVD/VCR, there was no computer or XBox. In the early days there wasn’t even any Nintendo Game And Watch. There was Lego, but ... [More]
The other morning I woke about 6am to an unfamiliar sound: rustling, coming from somewhere to the left of my bed. I lay there in the darkness, trying to figure out what it could be. It wasn’t the kids getting up. It wasn’t outside (the window is on the right). Having caught a cockroach in ... [More]
When I was growing up, we always used Redhead matches, made at the Bryant and May factory in Richmond. I don’t honestly know back then if there were any other brand matches available. Manufacturing has gone to Sweden (half-surprised they haven’t been renamed “Blondes”) but I’ve kept buying them. I think the quality is dropping ... [More]
We lived in a number of places when I was growing up, but this block of flats at 62 Hotham Street, East St Kilda, was where we were the longest — seven years, for me from the age of about 4 to 11, covering most of primary school. The place doesn’t seem to have changed ... [More]
I didn’t hear this radio programme, but apparently there are a lot of cockroaches in Melbourne at the moment. Danny Katz had a funny piece on them in yesterday’s Age. I’m glad its not just my house that has them. In fact I almost used yesterday’s Age to squash one I found in a glass ... [More]
The kids are getting to an age where things like pocket money and household chores should be part of life. In most cases they seem willing already to help with things — there’s always enthusiasm to use the garden shears to trim the bushes, or flatten boxes for the recycling, for instance. As for watering ... [More]