16/12/16

Sitting here in Clk, already it has been 30 minutes, which is my usual wait time, and still no response - just how long should one wait? There is a bloke here who just said he waited two (2) hours the other day, and then gave up!
Oh this is just abysmal! I mean, seriously, WTF???
Went for a ride earlier, out on Ole's circuit up Princes Road, and then back in along Portalington Road - worked out to 40 km, so that maybe a better circuit to try? Saw Greg turning off Boundary Road, gave him a wave. Spent most of the ride on a higher ratio (50-18?), which made for an 'interesting' ride ... was glad I got out there & rode, however - in fact, initially I got up at 6, sprayed for thrips, came back in, and ended up crawling back into bed ... still dressed in my knicks & jersey!
Fuck this wait is so interminable, and the music irritating - although, to be fair, any music would be after this long ...
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Well, discussing all that took three (3) hours, aka 180 minutes!
Turns out that my application, which was received 18/09/16, had not been entered, so the CSR did it for me there & then ... whilst I was put on hold & had to wait ... anyway, promised that it would be done ASAP, but to allow 42 days to process the application! WTF?
Discussed that I was in severe hardship, etc & was forced to eat the last of veggies, including the kale - well, at least that got a laugh!
Anyway, promised to expedite things, which should change the wait time to six (6) weeks ...
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Interestingly, some money ($$$) arrived just before the end of 2016 ... a better ending to a horrible year?

26/11/16

Well, off & away again ... finally ... on Wednesday, I was so confused by the incipient violence, both overt & implicit, that I went to SLSC, had a few of the Balter XPAs, and decided that the additional expense of flying home early would balance out my feelings of being unsafe ...
Now, as I sit here flying back, I wonder if I have (perhaps) also confused the time for arrival - I have a sneaky thought that I may have said 1400, and the plane won't get in until 1500 - oops :( mind you, for some reason (see above), I thought it was departing at 1010, so made everyone get up & moving at 0830 ... they all stopped for coffee, then I managed to get them (finally) to leave ... used the remaining time to call PA, who is recovering from bi-lateral mastectomies, due to breast cancer, and is a bit confused; M has also been quite ill, and is taking some time to establish what the priorities in life are ...
Still not quite sure what is happening with study - do I push on, or take the semester off? Of course, if I do stop, what will I do instead? :p apart from the garden, the house, riding, etc.
Seriously, this keyboard can be quite frustrating! Hitting keys & getting no response is never a good thing - although, it could be that I have too gentle a touch? Perhaps in being designed for children, other considerations come to the forefront?
Not much other news ... R big toe is swollen up - bit like the 1st p/e in fact - and is quite painful :( Trying to discuss it with Mother was interesting - it is gout, and would not hear of anything different ... talk about closed ears! Apparently I am also severely overweight, and should be 80kg ... a number which I do not (necessarily) dispute, but it was such an arbitrary number, and one that she could not explain the justification for ... yet still she stuck to it, as if her saying it made it the number to aim for ... of course, she said 'ask your brother what he weighs', to which he 'declined' to answer - 'why, what do you weigh'? and then said that was what he weighed ... did I mention I am glad to be out of that environment?

I will die alone, you know ...

Where is that Supermoon?

Sitting here, waiting for the supermoon … clouds have cleared, so I should be able to see it, but it is still a bit too well lit out there … Yet …

Tried watching Class, but the receptions gone weird again …

Tempted to have a class of Durif; tempted not to …

Did dinner with/for Felix/Kristie on Saturday:

• Antipasto;
• Flash-fried sardines;
• Dates wrapped in prosciutto;
• Roast duck, with vegetables; and,
• Mixed berries with whipped cream.

Kristie did the last; Felix bought the duck & a six pack of Mercury hard cider. So I had to go & buy another six pack. Also served a bottle of pinot noir (Colton?), from South Australia. They all had fun, then left me with all the washing & cleaning up … bit over that response … would have liked to have gone see the Gala parade too - had planned the meal around that to allow it to happen … could have gone by myself, left them to do the washing up :p

Yeah, fuck it, will open that bottle of Durif …

I feel that there really is too much effort going into helping others, as I look out over the kitchen that needs finishing; jobs in the garden; and, the need(s) to look after myself ...

Pretty much took off Sunday - the only real effort was a walk around to river, along the path, stopping at Barwon Club for a beer, then coming home … Today, have slept a lot & only ventured outside to stare in amazement at the empty seed ring - birds have demolished the rest of it! Also started slicing the papavar …

PA seems to be suffering big time from the effects of recovering from breast cancer, and Laura has sworn off alcohol in the week that I will be up there … c’est la vie, baby ...

Finished the exams :) - evidence seemed to match more my study patterns; C&CL asked a question which was on the revision page. Which I had not looked at; and IBL made relative sense, even if I am uncertain if I managed it … still, as long as I pass, hey?

Hmm … where IS that moon? False sighting - still cannot see anything … ah, it will get here in good time. I hope :p

Have been riding a bit more, doing some upper body exercises and got a card from Mere …

Still waiting for CLK to resolve AUSTUDY application, ran out of medicines - Scheeling is away, so went to Anna Harris (at EGMC), who gave me scripts, but I can’t afford them yet … Tuesday I will go to CLK & get a HCC …

Hmm, now the clouds are rolling back in ...

Still no moon, either ...

Here we go!

Well ... not sure if it has been a 'great' weekend, but things have got done, and so it is now time to relax with a bottle of Leo Buring Clare Valley Reisling, vintage 2011 ... nice, very nice! There are three chicken drumsticks in the oven, coated in sweet chilli & soy, on a bed of vegetables - including some beetroot & parsnip from the garden :) Also pruned about 12 artichokes, and then cooked up in thyme & lemon - also utilised the stalk of some coriander, so will be interested to see how that all turned out!
The rains have come again, but I did manage to finish putting mulch around the roses at the side:
pizza boxes;

• sheep manure/blood & bone/granulated rose pellets;
• wet newspaper sheets;
• straw;
• sticks & cuttings from the garden; and,
• some larger bits of wood - to hold done the straw, when the wind blows.

Also (finally) cut up the final sheet of ply from the kitchen and utilised to hold the garden back on the outside fence line. Tomorrow it will be time to prune some of the outside branches, etc. - got served a notice from the council that there is overhanging vegetation ... TBH, NFI what they are talking about, and (strongly) suspect that it is in response to a neighbourly complaint ... but who would do such a thing, who could be so pathetic as to not just advise me??? Apparently, the regulations are no more than 100mm horizontally, and minimum of 2500mm vertically - well, my overhanging branch was 105mm :o but, it was at 2505mm height, so ... WTF???
Had coffee with Simon and Bagley on Saturday ... both got their cards, but neither said much in response to them - all that thought & consideration for naught? Anyway, after that, went and bought two bottles of a cheeky little cabernet sauvignon (Clare Wine Company Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 2012 vintage - n.b. it had crust) from Dale - it was rather nice, too! Lashed out (literally - $48) on f&v, but did not buy anything too crazy ... although, I did buy some yogurt & honey ...  made for a crazy ride home though, with all of that in my bag  - makes me pine for when the show ends, and I will be able to go back to buying the f&v from there, instead ... although, having said that, I suppose I could have gone to one of the other markets ...
Then, last night was the UCI world championships for the women ... so, after 1/2 that bottle from Dale, I dropped in to pick up some cider, and then went to visit Felix, to watch it ... surprisingly, it was seven laps, rather than a lot of travelogue - I mean, I know a lot (most?) of Doha is desert, but still ... mind you, looking at the riders it was rather hot & dry - many were riding & breathing through their mouths ... I know what that is like - it dries out your nostrils, almost burning, so you have to breathe through your mouth ...

031016

Well, have done a bit of riding - Garmin shows that I have averaged every 2nd day this past week. Which is good

• Rode with GTC yesterday - we went out along Queenscliff Road, up Swan Bay, left through Mannaheim (into headwind), coffee at Clifton Springs, then home along the railtrail. Almost got blown off the trail at one point! Felt it was a very hard ride, especially with the effects of the wind - came home & collapsed ... took my 'last' $10 & went to buy chips & cider ... did manage to vacuum the front room & put futon onto floor, so maybe not a completely useless afternoon?
• The past week has been a bit frantic with essays, etc. - one of which I discovered was 1 000 words short ... shall be interested to see how that one works out ... (sigh) I really do not think this semester is working out too well? Still, just as long as I pass ...
• Have started another compost - pine needles, seaweed, blood & bone, sheep & chicken manure, some granulised fertiliser and a bit of paper to balance it out ... still have to add the charcoal, and wood chips, that I have forgotten, but it is a bit full now! Will also need a good soaking, possibly in a few days - the rain is continuing, and many days are cold, but Thursday is expected to be 25c, which will make a difference to be sure!
• Indeed, in terms of the weather, there has been more rain; although, not as much as was predicted - it has come across from SA, who have had a lot of flooding. Welcome to Australia, hey? We get all the extremes here - flooding to droughts ... reminds me of the wry comment re global warming - imagine if we were wrong, and had spent all this money for nothing but a cleaner environment ... Anyway, I do wonder if there is much storage going on?
• Did get to the library - I had come across a reference to this prose poem, called 'By Grand Central Station I sat down and wept' by Elizabeth Smart, and then found that it was in the local library system, so I requested it ... barely started it yet. Story is 'interesting' yet mundane:
• she was a daughter of a wealthy lawyer;
• came across some poetry;
• invited the poet to visit;
• fell in love, and started a love affair with him. Even though he was already married;
• followed him back to UK;
• had three children with him;
• he continued to live a 'bohemian' lifestyle; and,
• I don't think he ever divorced ...
• This, to me, is an unusual relationship - the love, the obsessions, but stringing multi-partners along offends my sense of propriety and morality - I blame him, of course ... TBH, reminds me of people in my life :( which is possibly a reminder to do 'something' about them ... (sigh) at this rate I will not have any friends :o not that I actually have any friends :p but so be it ...

250916

Well, some things are better; some remain the same ...
Been a lot of rain lately, so ground is very wet - much more of this, and I will survive Summer! But, just to be sure, have been (progressively) spreading bales of straw around. Did the apple trees & mandarin - that is the citrus done now!
Had the Evidence moot yesterday, got killed! J was a criminal defense lawyer, seemingly with little tolerance for the prosecution argument - who were, conceivably & possibly, under-prepared ... however, he did seem to pay a lot of attention to leading the defense arguments to where he wanted - 'I agree with that, now what about the probative value? What arguments can you give me about how the prejudicial value of the evidence would outweigh the probative value?' Of course, I may be just miffed that he did not like my 'dying declaration' submission ...

040916

So ... a new toy, hey?

• This new OS (Win 10) is taking some getting used to, I tell you ...
• ATM there is an ongoing struggle - since the hospital visit & job loss, I am really struggling a lot, and it is showing in odd ways, e.g. I am currently about twenty (20) kilos over optimum weight - 10 was hard/bad enough, but 20??? WTF, right?
• Not riding much, although I have been toddling off to the Crit track 2/week;
• Eating too much, although it does tend to be healthy food;
• Garden is going awry, although some larger prunings have occurred;
• Minimal socialising, although I am regularly having the EG Men's group over for tea. Which has also been giving me an opportunity to cook;
• Am using a lot of endone, although it has been good having the access and it often motivates me to do other things - whatever it takes, hey? Plus, when the pain rides in, I can bear up better;
• Study is really hard to commit to ... there is no real compensation to that, I am afraid.
• Might need to get a library book to explain how Win 10 works?
• Got up this morning, staggered off to the markets (buying only eggs, mushrooms & avocado - bread people were not there), then came home & collapsed ... had planned to go riding with Nicole, but energy levels were just too depleted ... ironically, the peleton then rode past the hous about one hour later! Anyway, library opens at 1300, so prepped to go to that, do more study, prepare for this essay due tomorrow ... yet, here I am at 1335, still in bed & not quite either ready or out that door ... WTF, right?

Best not to fight

The next day I managed to get to the 'Garden of Eden’ - that is strange sounding, or is that just me? I had a falafel, with salad and sweet potato chips … the parsley inside & sweet potato chips were magnificent - which is not to say that other aspects were not, just that those particular elements really stood out, IMHO. I am unsure if it as magnificent as it could be, but that maybe because of the retail environment that it is in? The waiter was a queer fish, as he showed a certain lack of manners TBH … but I overheard his conversations with other people, and he seemed to be bringing a lot of joy to peoples’ lives, so it is (probably) just me ...

Went for a swim up at Rainbow Beach, then went to RBSLC for some XPA - and, just for a slight aside, it amazes me that at one end (RBSLC) it is $6.20, whereas down the other end, at the Coolangatta Sands Hotel, it is $7.50 for the same size of this product - which I am starting to get a bit of a taste for … certainly the strong flavour declines any intention to have more than about three (3) schooners at any one time. Which is always a good thing - in this environment, it is rather easy to settle back and enjoy a beery afternoon suffused by the warm weather & sun - see photo below. Although, having said that, the wind really, really blew up in the afternoon - it got to the point that when I went to walk back around the rocks, having been waiting for low tide - the ‘real’ reason I had spent the afternoon at RBSLC - the wind was so strong that I actually struggled a bit crossing the rocks, as it would blow me about as I tried to cross them. See the other photo below for how the sands looked as they blew along …

Also transferred funds around, so that Barwon Water & insurance could get paid … Also rang Black Bull to ‘confirm’ & pay for the Austin Wines dinner on 7 July, which coincides with Felix’s birthday, so we three are going to go celebrate, and drink lots of wine … maybe, doubt it will be an open bar, but we shall see, we shall see ...

Stopped at Aldi to get the pork mince & ingredients; also decided to get some ingredients for ‘toasties’ - got home to find that the sandwich maker I had seen, hence the inspiration, was in fact a pie maker … Anyway, as I was walking down the road, I saw a girl carrying a surfboard, with her watch on the right wrist … so stopped and asked after it. Paulii (?) explained that it was more comfortable, and that she was right handed … then she asked why I was enquiring, so I showed her my right wrist …

Got home to find that Clint had arrived, so invited him for pork mince rolls, and he bought some Corona. Later went down to Coolangatta, where he almost started a fight … Awoke feeling rather seedy …

Walking around Coolangatta at night, around 8PM, I was surprised that it seemed quiet, or (almost) empty ...

Amazing to hear that 'Brexit' went ahead, and that David Cameron resigned - seems a bit petulant TBH ...

Holiday in the sun

Well, foot hurts, awake too late watching Blindspot, so slept (erratically) until lunchtime. Then dragged my sorry arse down to have lunch at  'Garden of Eden eatery' … but apparently there had been a medical emergency, so it was shut! Ended up going to Jake’s and having breakfast - sausages, eggs, toast, mushrooms, bacon (yeah, I know, I know) and Jake’s famous sauce. All for $8 too. It is truly one of those places that is ‘old school’ - does traditional foods cheaply & more than adequately!

Wandered back to the bookshop to pick up Rosemary Hemphill’s herb book, then got another coffee & settled to read some of it … There are many good ideas in there, and plenty of worthwhile hints - especially for $5, as I think I will get a few amount of use out of it. Books are good like that!

Taking my new found energy, thanks to all that coffee, I managed to get up to the movie cinema to see ‘Hunt for the wilderpeople’ … cor blimey, am I glad I did that! The 1st six chapters & the car chase are very, very funny - which is not to say that the rest of the movie wasn’t, just that the 1st six chapters were more understated, IMHO. I especially enjoyed the way(s) that Sam Neill & Julian Dennison played off each other, as I found a good rythmn there. Although quite fantastical (& majestical), the plot was extremely secondary to the fun of the movie - quite enjoyed that one!

Here is a photo of the BOG Bullpup bag out for a walk:

Away we (I) go, again ...

Well, now is as good a time as any other … so much has happened, and so much more will happen, which I will share, I promise, but for now, let me concentrate on today :)

Sitting out on the verandah, out the back of my favourite Brother’s, with my favourite Sister’s upstairs, but both are away, so it is secluded & peaceful - makes a bit of change from the drama going on! I am trying to swim each day, which gives you an appreciation of how warm it is around here - even when complaining of the ‘cold’, it is still 20c …

Alright, first the ‘bad’ stuff around here:

• Coolangatta SLSC: Had been for a swim, thought to stop in for a beer to recover, but told that if I did not have a driver’s licence and/or a card from a Queensland club, I was going no further! No ifs, buts, or maybes … tried to explain, initially, that one simply did not carry such things as a matter of course when going for a swim - ID to enter the beaches? But, that was of no consequence, and to no avail;
• Red Cross: (sigh) came back from morning stroll along foreshore at Coolangatta, saw the mobile unit, and stopped to ask if I could offer some blood. As you do when on holidays. Five (5) minutes later, having stood around like the proverbial, being ignored, I then walked away - what ever … Apparently the woman who was standing there (volunteering?) was more concerned to regal the other woman there (donating?) with tales of how bad the coffee was at ‘The Mirage’ … Worst thing was, listening to them, as I was, hoping to find a break in the conversation to gently interrupt to offer my services, was a recognition that the conversation was going something like this:
‘OMG, the coffee was dreadful there, but what was worse, was the lack of customer service!'
‘Oh, I know what you mean! The last time I was there, they just ignored me, and left me standing there’.
‘That is so true! You know, I even made a complaint about them to the manager - who then had the audacity to apologise, and try to explain that they were very busy. Don’t they know who I am?’
I kid you not … and, they were not busy at the blood bank that morning; and,
• State of Origin: Seriously, it is just a game, not a life/death matter, so stop treating it like that! Although, to be fair, being on the border, there is a little more piquancy, I suppose? Mind you, compared to how Geelong used to be, maybe I should not complain too loudly? :p

It is quite noticeable that the rain here has been successful - 70 mm the other night ...