Broad focus: Don’t be a sheep. Make your own decisions. Narrow focus: Don’t just follow those other people walking across the road against the lights. Look where you’re going. (Yeah, I’ve talked about this before.)
Categories
Making the ideal commute
The fuss over Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky wanting to deflect complaints elsewhere should be a reminder of the big problems on the public transport network — which some would argue those in power are trying to avoid hearing about. As it happens my commute home that night was a dream. From work to the ... [More]
Categories
Keep left
What “Keep left” sign? Whatdyamean, “Keep Left”? Tram stop? What tram stop? It doesn’t apply to me. I’ll go where I want. (Sorry about the pic quality.)
Categories
The family business
The other week I dropped past Hattams in Elsternwick, where I worked part-time as a teenager. Had a good long chat with Ian, who runs the store now. Hattams is a family business, started in 1879. They’ve had clothing stores at various places around the state, with their last two (for the past few decades) ... [More]
Categories
Seen and heard
Heard: I don’t recall noticing it this time last year, but with Passover in full swing, the last few nights there has been some quite haunting singing heard from the nearby synagogue. It makes a pleasant change from the normal dull roar of distant traffic and toots from trains. Seen: A lady walking along the ... [More]
Categories
Fish on Good Friday
On Good Friday, it’s traditional for people of a Christian background to eat fish, rather than meat. So, with 68% of the country identifying with Christianity on the census, naturally last night it was pretty damn crowded in the fish’n’chip shop. A 40 minute wait, in fact, even with about ten people working behind the ... [More]
Categories
They’re back
10th of February to 5th of April. That’s how long the bug bombs lasted. 54 days. Last night I found two cockroaches, alive and kicking. Not sure how they made their way back into the house, but there they were — one in the livingroom, one in the main bedroom. Yeuchhh. And I’d found a ... [More]
Categories
Easter petrol prices
With Easter almost upon us, the usual people are complaining in advance about how the price of petrol will shoot up when hordes of people take to the roads for the long weekend, with the oil companies mysteriously wanting to cash-in. Well, duh. What do you expect? This is how the free-market economy works. And ... [More]
Categories
Relic of a bygone era
(On King Street, near Collins Street.) I wonder what ever came of the Melbourne Steamship Company? Hmm, Google found there’s a model of their boat the Duntroon.
Categories
Maccas for speed
Marita and Justine are using the Footscray (Ballarat Road) McDonalds during their renovating, for quick snacks and tea (awful though it is) and access to a working, clean toilet. I hear tell the service there is pretty poor: incredibly slow (come to think of it I’ve seen it myself, on occasion), with often only one ... [More]
Categories
Inputs and outputs
When will I learn? Last week someone at work had fundraiser chocolate for sale. Two bars and $4 later… This week? Pimples. I seem to be getting a pot belly, too. Well, a little bit. No danger of going up to the next trouser size… yet. Need to keep decreasing the inputs (better diet) and ... [More]
Categories
Margaret Joyce
My grandmother died on Friday night. I didn’t know her well, and hadn’t seen her since 1999. She’d been unwell for some years, but all the same, it was sad news — perhaps because like the rest of my grandparents, I grew up distant from them — either in miles or in years. Unavoidable, but ... [More]
Categories
Our time has come
I have to admit, when I was growing up, Doctor Who was never really one of the cool kid shows. Scifi generally probably wasn’t something the cool kids watched. But now, on the eve of the third series (starts Saturday night in the UK; who knows when we’ll see it in Australia), David Tennant’s Doctor ... [More]
Categories
Good morning world!
My garden (apart from the grass) is thriving, despite the drought. Evidently it’s almost all native plants, which survive fine even with a lack of water. Indeed, one of the hedges has grown so much I had to trim it back so I can see into the mailbox without bumping my head on it. But ... [More]
I’ve heard from two completely independent sources of Pastafarianism in the past week. Could it be that the age of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is upon us? RAmen. Anyway, here’s some quick reviews. Michael Palin’s diaries 1969-1979 — Very interesting, especially for a Python fan like me, giving the background story behind the group coming ... [More]
Categories
Captain Vegetable!
Things I like about Captain Vegetable (from Sesame Street): 1. I don’t remember this song from when I was a kid. I discovered it when my kids watched Sesame Street. 2. The message! Yeah I’m getting health conscious. Not that it was ever likely to convince any kids. 3. The dodgy rhyming. “My name is ... [More]