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.
Happy Gravy Day everyone. May you and yours all be together for Christmas.
Dan Brown: Angels and Demons. (Disclaimer: I was forced to read this.) The good: after a plodding start, the plot did get interesting, and exciting enough that I wanted to keep reading and find out what happened. Nice twist at the end. The bad: Wooden, two-dimensional characters. Romantic scenes written like Mills and Boon. Spelling ... [More]
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]
This envelope arrived in the mail. (Forwarded from my old address.) Wow. It must be really really important. Pah. Bloody Reader’s Digest. It’s going back “Not known at this address.”
This entry relates to the procurement of items designed for offspring recreational pursuits during this seasonal time of year. As such, it will be protected by a wafer-thin vineer, in a probably pointless effort to throw certain people who might be reading off the track.
Last night I saw a cat in my front yard. Tonight I found (most of) a dead bird in the back yard. Coincidence? I think not.
Astonishing literary discovery of the week: in the US version of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day it referred to Australia, not Timbuktu.
I know it’s Christmas, but this is ridiculous. Here is a list of the junkmail that arrived in my letterbox yesterday: Silver Star carpet cleaning Surfzone KFC BCC Computers Big W Target Repco Telstra Shop The Good Guys Prouds Jewellers Penhalluriack’s building supplies Lincraft Discount coupons booklet Ray White real estate Falafel Kitchen Direct Factory ... [More]
Red flag, white crescent and star. Name it. Wednesday lunchtime. The traffic lights weren’t changing. Two motorcycle cops zoomed up, lights flashing, shouting instructions, gesticulating and giving a blast from their sirens to gain attention. “You! Do your hook turn! You wait there!” We lunchtime pedestrians looked on, bemused. Intersection cleared, traffic and people waiting. ... [More]
Now that I’ve got a dishwasher, I’ve been making sure I have two of everything. Unless you’re a water-wasting Wally enviro-bastard, the cardinal rule of the dishwasher is only to run it when it’s full, so I’ve bought some extra cutlery so that in a typical week, I can run it every second day. I’ve ... [More]