Category: Home life

I have a big general rubbish bin, a paper recycling bin and a bottle recycling bin. They all get collected weekly, but I don’t put them out every week. I only put them out if they’re more than half full or have something smelly in them. Otherwise, why bother? Just wastes my time and the  ... [More]

The old desk, to my utter surprise, reached $137.50 on eBay. It was bought by a guy from a few suburbs away for his daughter to use for studying. She seemed happy, he seemed happy, and I certainly was. Win-win. That’s why I like eBay. He came to pick it up on Australia Day. I  ... [More]

The gas people finished their upgrade on Friday, and I found a note in the letterbox telling me I had a nice shiny new gas meter, and that it was turned off, and how to turn everything back on. Following the instructions, I started with the stove… after much spluttering it seemed okay. Hot water  ... [More]

On my nature strip this morning is a little bulldozer. Unfortunately it’s not a late Christmas present. Some guys from the gas company have been digging up various bits of the street all week, including parts of my driveway around the gas meter. This has meant the gas has been disconnected between 8am and 5pm  ... [More]

One of the things on my To Do list that I did get done over the holidays was to invest in some new desks. The old big desk doesn’t suit the new home-office at all, partly because it’s so damn big and doesn’t fit into the space properly, but also because it’s dull corporate grey,  ... [More]

Well it had to happen sometime… the summer holidays have finished for me. Back to work today. Of my to do list: Completed: 2 Substantially done: 4 A little bit done: 2 Thought about, but ultimately, not even started: 4 Hmm. Could be worse. Could be a lot better. But at least I spent plenty  ... [More]

I was considering writing some new year’s resolutions, but most of the ones from last year still apply, many unfulfilled. Some are just continuing goals… the major one I did get done was to buy a house (though it wasn’t before the winter as intended). The new goal for this year is to get the  ... [More]

A few days ago I found a cockroach in the cupboard. I couldn’t think of a way of extracting it without touching it, so I got the vaccuum cleaner and sucked it up. Yesterday I had to get the vaccuum cleaner out again. Got it out, and found a cockroach sitting on top of it,  ... [More]

To their surprise and delight, the kids found a Lego train set, left in the fireplace by Father Christmas. Much fun building it. All batteries purchased in readiness for Sonic Screwdriver and TARDIS. All gifts well received. So were the gifts for the adults. Had a big Christmas lunch at my mum’s place. Less people  ... [More]

I thought I’d done all right with my $9.98 Christmas wreath from K-Mart (bigger, better, handmade one to come next year, I hope). Until I saw this one at 101 Collins Street. Aye Carumba! Oh well. That one wouldn’t fit on my door anyway. Have a great Christmas, one and all.

A short day at work, and three weeks holiday starts today (pretty much right now, in fact). Things I’m planning to do: Complete the big clearout of the house. Some stuff will get chucked out (rubbish, recycle, freecycle), some will get tidied away. The plan is to get the spare room into the kind of  ... [More]

Woken up early this morning by this idling, rumbling outside my door at 6:40. Thankfully it’s not some Hitchhiker’s Guide scenario. The house they’ve been ripping into is down the street. On Tuesday morning it was there. By dinner time it was gone, a flat piece of land with three big trucks parked on it.

My name is Daniel, and I have a cockroach problem. The first: a few days after I moved in, on the front doorstep. I squashed it with a boot. The second: a couple of weeks ago, jumping out from the cupboard underneath the sink. It scurried away and escaped. The third: last night in the  ... [More]

Marita and Justine’s dog Maisie doesn’t like a lot of things, but she does like chasing other animals. Rabbits, cats, birds… By far her favourite type of bird to chase looks a little like a pigeon, but has a pointy head, and makes a funny noise when it flies. This delights Maisie, and when she  ... [More]

You know when you’re starting to settle into the neighbourhood when… …someone knocks on your door to let you know you left your car lights on …you remember what day is garbage day, without having to check …the various shortcuts (by foot or by road) to strategic locations have been figured out …the local amenities  ... [More]