Another day, another gas bill. You know, I got divorced almost five years ago, and have moved twice, but to this day my ex-wife’s name is still on the damn gas bill. At one stage they claimed they couldn’t change the name, they could only open a brand new account, which would cost $20. At ... [More]
I look down my street, and wonder how this exists elsewhere in my country: (From The Age: ‘Chicken coop’ village fights to shed despair) Successive governments have let things get this bad. Please Mr Costello, don’t give me a tax cut, use the money to fix this and other problems of poverty in our society.
More from the TMI department. I can still feel the after-effects of Sunday night. I don’t feel sick, but I can feel the strain my stomach went through. You know how you hear about people who can’t throw-up. Physically can’t. I’m not in that position, but I’m probably not far away from it. Even when ... [More]
Okay I got tagged by Kathy. What were you doing 10 years ago? Working in St Kilda Road, dealing with a toddler at home, preparing for a trip to the USA. I was on crutches for some of January 1996. What were you doing 1 year ago? Much the same as I’m doing now, except ... [More]
Sunday started out so well. Long sleep in. Stroll down to the shops to buy ingredients for muffins, and get a newspaper. Lunch with globetrotting Doug in Kensington, where he was in residence for the morning. (Marita and I rolled in as some of his other friends rolled out). Much laughter with the discovery that ... [More]
One of the great Christmas traditions is the Christmas cracker, and the appalling jokes they come with. Cast your mind back to the Christmas just gone. Did you get an SMS on your mobile phone, with an appalling Christmas cracker-style joke, from the number 19900025, that you didn’t expect? If so, check your next phone ... [More]
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — Good stuff. I’m not sure if I agree with the other reviews saying it’s the best HP movie ever, but I really enjoyed it. It’s not really worthy of the M15+ rating the OFLC gave it. Had to chuckle at the (probably unintentional) Doctor Who references: the ... [More]
Recyclable plastic products have a numeric code on them, called a Resin identification code (1 to 7), indicating what kind of plastic they are and how they can be recycled. But in Melbourne (and, I suspect, much of the world) only types 1, 2 and 3 can be recycled. This leaves an awful lot of ... [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]
A little project originally I started about two years ago — to move my entire online diary (which goes back to 1994) into WordPress — has finally been completed. I’ll spare you the boredom of the details of trying to write programs to convert the old handwritten HTML into something I could import, and instead ... [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]
Those sales people in the station concourses are annoying. They’re all about 15, and stand by their little cardboard booths advertising Amex, shouting out “How are you?” and gesticulating wildly as you rush past. Ditto the charity people, most of whom seem to be British backpackers, standing on street corners with clipboards, wearing today’s charity ... [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.