Seeing something new

 Well, that was an interesting experience - stayed up & watched 'Apocolypse now redux'. More about this later, but there were a few scenes that I do not recall ever seeing before - turns out they were the ones that were added to the 'Redux' version! Occurs to me that I have seen this movie a lot, over the years - it may, in fact, be up there with 'Blade runner' - if only because of the age of it? Although, having said that, have not watched,e.g. 'Citizan Kane' nor 'Metropolis' anywhere near that number! Two other things occurred to me: it has a huge psychological significance to me, in many different ways & for several different reasons; also, had not thought about this for many reasons, but I had a cassette of the soundtrack, which I would take along to immersion sessions, in a flotation tank, where I would use it as the soundtrack! For this, I blame 'Altered states'!

Wassup?

 Been a bit sick, with flu-like symptoms. Which led to Warren giving me a pair of RATs to use & try- tried one & a negative result. Have spent a lot of time resting & reading. Also seem to have lost a lot of hours watching television ...

Had a trio of chicken marylands, so tried doing them,with a few different things:

• Browned them off first in a mix of olive oil & butter;
• Slow cooked ('carmelised') the onion, in a dash of butter;
• Added cubed carrots, pumpkin & sweet potato to some warm oil, to soften them; and,
• Then stirred in four teaspoons of green curry paste. The aroma was quite subtle & so did not add any more! Added a can of coconut cream, stirred & put in a moderate oven - with the Fleche Wallone on, would pull it out & stir every hour.Then turned the oven off & left it in overnight. Got up the next morning to be greeted by a most wonderful flavour! Although - the curry had intensified overnight. Quite significantly!

Actually got out for a ride - which may explain whyI got sick? Anyway, where Moolap Station Road crosses, a bloke came in from the Townsend Road direction & seemed to be angling to do a 'hook turn' -may have been visiting from Melbourne? Anyway, that did not work, so rolled through the intersection & then did a u-turn, in front of the cars going straight ahead, as their light had gone green ... Then promptly turned left, onto the highway! Just getting over that shock & started to roll forward, when this little old lady rolled through, on a Trek. Which was fine, as was just setting off, but then she just kept pulling away - which was bad enough, but was also not really turning those pedals with any urgency or apparent effort! May have been battery powered? Even though we were doing 28+kph ...

Changes begin

 Back into the office this week! Given the 'choice' I decided to do three days (Wednesday to Friday) one week & Friday the 2nd week. Wednesday was very busy - forgotten what crowds look like! Not to mention the roads - people streaming back to work meant pedestrians, traffic congestion & having to actually stop to allow cars to  pass! Also, many drivers seemed to have forgotten how to drive! Needless to say - but, I will say it anyway, parking was further stretched, as students have also started to return to F2F classes.

In the office, there were a lot of new people, so it was good that I got in early, to set myself up & assign the callbacks, etc. - many (most?) needed assistance to set up screens, etc. & so I did what I could. Later, I folded the laptop up, so as to keep an eye on the chats, whilst wandering about & checking in with people - at which Di threw a 'hissy fit' & told me to sit down, so as to keep an eye on the chats. To which I pointed out that I had my laptop with me, but declined to mention that if the only I was going to give was to be virtual, I may as well as not come in! I think that some people, e.g. Di & Jacqui, got quite distressed and/or overwhelmed this week, with all the bits & pieces going on, with multiple surveys starting & Charlotte peering over their shoulders? Anyway, gave Martin a card for NIB, so I achieved something! Bumped into quite a few people not seen in awhile, e.g.  Jayne, Ric, Angela,  Justin, Caitlyn - who has a very exciting job with DCDC, Hannah & Megan. Also, there were a lot of people that I had never met, including, but not limited to, Kristi, Alex, Kaitlyn, Sam, Rosa, Jaya & Jessi - who had walked into work, so I mentioned that there were showers available? Also, there were  alot of people for whom Wednesday was their last day in the office, as they were being shuffled across to the new office. So, a lot of tears, laughs & disparaging comments - usually at my expense! Wednesday was a costless day, but then it ramped up, with Thursday being coffee & pork roll, whilst Friday was two coffees & a pork roll - could indicate that I cannot afford to go into the office?

Actually, it must be said that Friday was a very odd day, with me yelling at the screens a few times - which was quite perturbing for the neighbours, e.g. Ian & John :p But, people were making such stupid comments, e.g. SO asked if to refer to SFMP if ABN cancelled in '21 & the response was to get the 3Ws - if the ABN was not active for the quarter, the provider is out of scope ... <sigh>

Anyway, on Saturday,I got off my fat arse & went up to Melbourne - see the reference from last week ...

Changing the coffee date, but Simon won't be there anyway!

Dentist - as a part of 'adulting' took the plunge & went to the dentist. Started with replacement of a filling & a clean - although, only did the bottom. For some reason! Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the original quote holds true again? Dentist has grand plans, e.g. to rip out 'wisdom tooth' & to 'renovate' the front tooth, so this is a bit of a 'try before you buy' option, for me at least. Ever since, however, teeth have been quite sore & have worken up several mornings clenching my jaw - not sure that is supposed to happen;

Doctor - as a result of that, went to Dr. for a consultation & drugs. Neither were particularly successful, however! Still, did get a repeat on Tramadol, which proved yourself in the coming weeks - but do wonder if it was chicken or egg with these things? Certainly am getting bereft with this attempt to be an adult, to find a successful relationship with a doctor; however,this could, if I am honest, be reminiscent of my failure to establish persoanl relationships, in general; and,

Walking vs riding? Ah, an interesting question! Especially as much of this is predicated upon getting to work! In fact, both are annoying, in that I have to do one or the other so as to go to work - neither are required when WFH ... Having said that, walking takes longer, but gives a greater variety in patthways & time to view the surroundings, whilst riding is more fun, dodging the other road users, but is a lot more dangerous - especially as many people are going back into the office, whether here or in Melbourne & yet many seem to have forgotten how to drive and/or common road courtesies!!!

Addendum:

Well, that did not work! 

• Cobbler was shut, but still exists & opens at 0730;
• Mitchell's was an empty,vacant allotment, on the side of the road;
• Pellegrini's does table service outside - apparently I was a bit of a dumbo for not knowing that!; and,
• NIB was open. Spent $15 & got a free postcard - but,possibly not such a great range, as anticipated?

On the train back, it is overpowering how rude people are - most are not wearing masks, despite a government mandate to do so on 'public transport' & most people either sit in the window seat, but put their bag on the aisle seat or, sit in the aisle seat. Despite the carriage being half empty ...

Mugged by a kid

 An odd Saturday night - walking over to deliver some brown rice & lentils, at about 1950 & this child (11-13 years old?) almost runs me over, on the footpath - had a light & helmet on, but no bell/shouts! Anyway, remonstrate on the corner & get called a 'fucking cunt'. Which stops me in my tracks! Then this 4WD pulls up at the corner, checks in with the child, who then rides off, leaving me flabbergasted. To say the least ... Anyway, continue on my merry way, down one road & then around the corner of another. Which is where this 4WD - not sure if it was the same one? pulls up & starts accosting me: who are you? what are you doing? I am filming/recording this! It was the latter that finally irked me & so I took my phone out & pretended to phone the police,to report a late model, white Honda (?) SUV, with licence plate 1ZX, or something? To which they yelped something & drove off, leaving me very shattered & scared ... consequently, delivered the rice & took a circuitous route home. Then spent Sunday shivering & only going outside twice, to feed the magpies ... So much for the big trip to Melbourne, to get new boots, go to Pelegrini's, visit the flower show & see about some more books?