At the moment I’m reading a book about Melbourne’s architecture, told through the story of Whelan The Wrecker. The Nicholas Building (corner of Swanston St and Flinders Lane) went up in 1925. I think it’s a pretty impressive sight. It was designed by Harry Norris, who also designed the equally impressive Majorca Building around the ... [More]
I’ve finally figured out how to fix the washing machine when the outlet hose gets blocked up, thus avoiding a $75 call-out fee and the inconvenience of having to arrange to be at home when the repair man goes. 1. Take clothes dryer off the top (it’s slightly lighter than it looks) and move it ... [More]
Things I have to do tonight: Tidy up the damn place. Do the (non-dishwasher) dishes. Run a quick errand down the street. Done Figure out how to get that burn off the bottom of my nice Le Creuset enamel pot. (Been postponing that for about two weeks.) Go to the supermarket and get some milk, ... [More]
Took the day off today, but was too busy to blog. Back tomorrow hopefully. PS. Thursday morning: Here’s why.
My favourite cold-night dining-alone dinner is soup with toast. Perhaps one of those nice Heinz spicy lentil soups; perhaps pumpkin; perhaps tomato. Heat it up in the saucepan, chuck a slice of bread in the toaster, and eat. Exceptionally low effort, quick, yummy, warming, and healthyish.
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]
Bizarre thought #574: In the building where I work, there’s a security guard who is sometimes seen wandering about the place. He looks kind of top-heavy, like he’s got a lot of upper-body muscle. For some reason it reminds me of an old video game I once had back on my Commodore 64: Ultima II, ... [More]
Up for a little light reading on why public transport is important, and what needs to be done to make it better? The government is coming out with its Transport & Liveability Statement next week, but in the mean time, the PTUA’s book from 2002 “It’s Time To Move” is now available for download 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]
Word on the street is that if you want to see any movies, do so this weekend, because by the following weekend they’ll have all been swept away by blanket screenings of the bloody Da Vinci Code. On the train, which do you think there’s more of? Dan Brown books, or iPods? Dan Brown books ... [More]
My bloody car is still playing up, despite a service the other week that included an astronomically expensive ultrasound on the fuel injection! Given that that was prompted by reporting the same fault it’s still suffering, what are my statutory rights here? Anyway it’s been at the service place since last night (so they can ... [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]
During the week I often only get about 7 hours of sleep. Usually this is okay. I might feel tired, but don’t particularly feel the need for a daytime siesta. On Friday night I got almost 9 hours. On Saturday night I got 10 and a half. It was good to catch up, mind you ... [More]
Bananas at the moment are… small green $8.99+ per Kg and pretty much off the menu at the moment.
135 metres to Parliament Station In the City Loop, there are signs at odd intervals, saying things like “Parliament station 135 metres”. They’re placed under every third light. The lights are at 15 metre intervals, the signs at 45 metre intervals. This is because the loop was designed before the switch to metric in the ... [More]