It was one of those days. . The hot water wouldn’t light and the drains are playing up. .. The train was ten minutes late. … Marita left the country for three weeks. …. Had to get home early to meet the plumber. …. But at least I don’t have to pay for the plumber. ... [More]
Crisis on Friday night when a certain girlfriend lost her handbag. It hasn’t shown up yet either. Perhaps the taxi driver liked the look of the two books contained within. And the glasses. Finally watched Bowling For Columbine. I can’t think of much to say about it than probably hasn’t been said before. I’ll just ... [More]
The Crow Road (Iain Banks). I just finished reading this. The ending nicely tied up the story, and it was a great read. I think for me one of the signs of a great writer is that Banks was able to throw up thoughts and concepts along the way that most would consider are thought-provoking ... [More]
Having a few good chuckles watching Goodbye Lenin on Friday night. Yummy meals: Thai on Friday night, pub on Saturday night, getting served breakfast in bed on Sunday morning, and a thoroughly delicious meal in Bendigo that made up for driving all that way in the wind and rain. Trying out my new dressing gown ... [More]
Plan A for Sunday: Take the kids to the footy, meet up with Tony, Rae and Phoebe and watch the Cats lose. Plan B for Sunday: Walk down to Dick Smith Powerhouse, buy an XBox game, come home, play it. Maybe have a bounce on the trampoline at some stage. When these two plans were ... [More]
I’ve been playing Scrabble a bit. The word that got me winning the last game was “zebra”, on a triple word score. 48 points, thank you very much… I think I had been trailing before that. My sister is the demon Scrabble player from hell. Or so her reputation says. I don’t know if I’ve ... [More]
Its arrival has been much anticipated, and finally it happened yesterday. We got a trampoline. It has been a long time coming. I have been looking around for trampolines for a while now. Just one element in a wide-ranging family exercise regime. We never had one growing up, but I recall visiting our friends the ... [More]
I unpacked my sparkly (not really) new flannel sheets last night, and immediately understood why they advise you to wash them before use. It’s not the excess dye that’ll get you, it’s the Pakistani cloth factory smell that comes with them (and at no extra cost). So I carried them to the washing-machine, popped them ... [More]
Okay, three doonas is too much. Might keep me warm on a cold night, but I can’t damn-well move under the weight of them. The third doona is relegated to the cupboard, and I went and bought some flannelette sheets instead. Meanwhile, you know that things are getting desperate in the public education sector when ... [More]
I think it’s safe to say that I live in the Coldest House in the Universe(tm). In fact I’m thinking of getting Guiness to come down here and declare it to be so. This morning, for instance, I awoke just the wrong side of 6am, and despite the double doona deployment on my bed, felt ... [More]
You remember in Day of the Triffids, particularly in the excellent TV version, how the plants would eerily click before attacking. It’s a bit like that at my house, at night when the wind blows. The enormous bush next to the front veranda, the one that defeated Cable And Wireless Optus Corporation, moves around in ... [More]
When I was starting primary school in the mid-70s, the second world war had been over for about 30 years. It was still in people’s minds — they still talked about it, a whole episode of Fawlty Towers was based around the recent memory of it. By the time I was in high school with ... [More]
Winter is coming. And I have conclusive proof. a) Last night I was freezing my arse off in the kitchen while on a phone call, and vowed to seek out a new battery for the cordless phone, so I can make calls from the comfort of my superheated livingroom. Or from my double-doona-covered bed. Either ... [More]
There was a cat on my roof the other night. First bats, now cats. What next… gnats? rats? meerkats? wombats?
Tickets for The Who went on sale last Sunday. At $99 to $199. Yikes. I considered booking, depending on whether or not good but cheap seats could be had. But then I found the damn Ticketek web site demanding some long-forgotten username and password (with no hints on the e-mail they had sent me), so ... [More]
A guy got on the train at Prahran yesterday. Very torn jeans. Obvious safety pins in one spot on them. Studded belt. Multicoloured jacket. And a luxurious coiffure of Fabio-style hair, but tied up… and carrying his very own hair dryer. ‘Cos hey, you never know when you might need it. Had a quick look ... [More]