Happy Gravy Day everyone. May you and yours all be together for Christmas.
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Angels and Demons
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]
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The problem
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]
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Chasing birds
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]
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Settling into the neighbourhood
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]
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In the mail
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.”
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He who hesitates is lost
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.
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Front/back
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.
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Astonishing literary discovery of the week
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.
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Junkmail
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]
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Name that flag
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]
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Two of everything
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]
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The morning that went askew
Sneezing attack at home. Which (may have) caused me to forget to pick up my mobile phone. (By the time I realised, it was too late to go back.) Which caused me not to get the SMS advising the train before mine was cancelled. Which meant my train was packed. (Though admittedly not up to ... [More]
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Restaurants past
I’ve moved away from Carnegie, but our old regular Friday night dinner places are worth a thumbs up… Herbs Pizza, corner Koornang and Neerim Roads, Carnegie — These are brilliant pizzas. Seems a little expensive until you find the Two Large Takeaway Pizzas for $19.50, which should leave enough for breakfast or lunch the next ... [More]
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Stupid machine
Stupid damn printer/fax machine/copier. I put a document in to fax, and punched in the fax number. 7010 2168 (or something like that). But I hadn’t set it to Fax mode. It decided it was in Copier mode, but will only allow three digits for the number of copies, so it started printing 168 copies ... [More]