Res Publica

That's it - Blog Off

Sometime in the next few weeks my annual subscription to Typepad comes up for renewal but after something like 570 posts I'm all blogged out.  In between possibly changing jobs in the next few months and moving to Brisbane after Xmas I'm really not going to have the time to devote much attention to blogging in any case.  So I'm going to let my subscription lapse.  I've got a new credit card so the renewal process will trip over and I presume Six Apart will ultimately reclaim the hard disk space.  Blogging has become harder because of time pressures and lack of web access at work and I'm also heartily fed up with the special delayed action backspace facility in the compose editor since Typepad upgraded the software.

I've 'met' some great people and I shall continue to follow a few of my favourite blogs.  It's been fun but it's time to move on.  As Irish comedian Dave Allen used to say, "Goodnight, thank you and may your God go with you !"

Not So Special

QANTAS cycles through a range of Kellog's breakfast cereals, dished up in single serve bowls.  On Friday's early flight from Townsville to Brisbane it was the turn of Special K.  Milk doesn't sit well with me, maybe lactose intolerance (?), so I only use it sparingly which allows me to fully savour the texture and taste of the cereal of the moment.   After much reflection, I'm prompted to ask exactly what is so special about Special K ?  True to form, it tasted like sweetened, crisp cardboard, nothing more, nothing less.  I conclude that there is absolutely nothing special about Special K. Just another marketing con job.

Not much different to the two-slice toaster we saw in Woolworths today - as if anyone would be stupid enough to buy a single slice toaster these days.

Last night on TV there was an advert for mattresses with gussetted pillowtops.  What the hell is a gussetted pillowtop ?

Double Billing

Remember I had a whinge about Telstra's failed attempt to send us a single bill a short while ago ?  Back home from work I ploughed through the usual pile of correspondence to find a Broadband bill from Telstra.  We now appear to have advanced from getting a 'single' bill sent in two parts to two different addresses to getting a single bill sent in two parts to the same address (one electronically, one on paper) - which isn't really very far from where we started out.  We'll get there eventually I hope.

Fruity Hair

Given that I don't  have a great deal of hair and I'm definitely not the one around here who's trying to keep up appearances (within reason) it has befallen to me to use up old shampoos that clutter up the bathroom, ones that overseas visitors leave behind, little bottles from motel room stays and anything that has fallen out of favour.  So it is with the remains of the Garnier Fructis fortifying shampoo which seems to be very unloved these days.  It is actually intended for anyone with dry, coarse or rebellious hair which makes me wonder why we bought it because that doesn't really apply to anyone here, least of all me, I barely have enough hair to comb let alone turn rebellious.

The bottle says it contains reinforced active fruit concentrate with fructose and glucose, vitamins B3 and B6, fruit AHAs (whatever the bloody hell they are ?) and fortifying lipid.  That's nice and obviously accounts for the very tangy citric smell although I can't help thinking every time I use it that it also smells like cat's pee.  Perhaps this is why everyone else has stopped using it ?

I had my hair cut the other day.  I only hope the hairdresser's nose doesn't work on the same wavelength as mine.

Laundry Blues

Yesterday morning the iron malfunctioned or rather the lead did. Sparks were coming out of it down at the plug end (probably not a good sign) where the wires were protruding from the fabric sheath.  I guess it wasn't earthing otherwise our system would have tripped out.  Fortunately a suitable replacement has been obtained which will allow The Handbrake to happily continue her wifely duties without interruption.

The washing machine is also on the blink.  After 9 years of faithful service (except for a couple of replacement pumps) the gearbox has decided to dispense with any form of lubrication and dumped a load of oil on the concrete floor of the laundry.  Mr Repairman says it's not worth fixing but could continue to run 'dry' for some time before finally expiring.  Either that or the weird noises its making will force us to buy a new one in due course.  Sadly it doesn't look as if it'll be making the big trip to Brisbane with us in the new year.

Shopping Spree

Today we finally bought a wooden toilet seat.  A snip at $67 up at Bunnings.  I can't tell you how long I've wanted a wooden toilet seat.

And in a disgusting display of rampant consumerism I ordered £60 of CDs from Amazon. Stage 1 of replacing my old cassettes which are no longer playable - because we don't have a cassette player any more. The Yes Album, amongst others, I can't wait.

Round the Corner

Hurrying through Brisbane airport the other night I heard someone calling my name.  I looked around quickly but recognised nobody and hurried on, assuming it wasn't aimed at me.  Then I heard it again and looked around a bit more closely.  A former colleague hove into view, much heavier than when I saw him last but he's had major financial issues and life hasn't been easy for him these last few years.  He has easily added some 30 kilos, if not more, and looked positively unhealthy.

Then, a couple of nights ago, while I was finishing off my nightly phone call to The Handbrake, I turned a corner in Townsville and saw a familiar looking young woman unloading a 4WD outside the motel I'd already checked into.  She was stacking no end of baby-stuff, pushchairs and other infant paraphernalia, onto the motel's luggage trolley and simultaneously trying to stop it from rolling off the pavement into the side of the car.  It was quite funny to watch but all the more so since I actually knew the lady concerned.  I rang off and offered my assistance. It had been 18 months or more since we'd last had a chance to catch up and we ended up getting through the best part of a bottle of wine before I headed for my room at 11.30 which was just as well because I had to get up next morning at 4.30 to catch another sodding plane.

On a sadder note, one of the chaps at a nearby work-place went to the doctor's with a bad stomach ache a few weeks ago.  He was buried last week.  Yes, the big C, the discovery was far too late to do anything about it.  In his mid 50s.

You never quite know what's round the corner, do you ?

Dire Straights

Young A has one of those hair straightening devices which she got last Christmas.  It has proved most popular and has become something of a morning ritual.  This morning she also straightened her left ear with it and gave herself quite a nasty burn which looks quite uncomfortable.  Well after the event I suggested that next time she should run cold water over it for 30 seconds, an unwelcome suggestion it would seem or perhaps she's just not a morning kind of person.

Too Buisy to be Polite or Spell Correctly

We headed off to the Woodgate Fair yesterday along with hundreds of other people from the Bundy area.  Woodgate's a few ks south and on the coast and we were quite surprised how big a turn-out there was.  We'd seen many of the stalls the day before at the weekly Shalom College markets in town but it did get us out of the house for a while.  We bought some very nice local kalamata olives (Burnett Valley Olives over Murgon way) and sampled some very  good pecan pie.

A lust for fried food overtook us at one stage so we headed for the fish and chip van so we could share a cup of chips ($4 for about 1 large potato - there's money to be made there).  The van was run by Mr Antisocial, one of the most depressingly miserable and rude people I've come across in a while.  A sign on the side of the van announced the buisness was for sale, complete with 'Fully equipted food van'.  Perhaps it's the same attitude, can't be bothered to be polite, can't be bothered to spell properly.

Crap Thursday

Sometimes you get a Crap Thursday before a Good Friday.  Work had gone well, the last day of the shift being typically busy with meetings and hand-overs to the oncoming crew and it was with the usual sense of relief that I headed into town for the flight back to Townsville.  That's when everything started to go a bit pear-shaped.

One of our Cairns bound planes had just started its run-up when the right wheel locked up sending the plane off the runway at right angles. Mercifully this happened while he was travelling slowly. I dread to think what might have befallen the plane and passengers if this had happened just prior to take-off.  So there it sat, marooned on the edge of the runway, going nowhere fast. Meanwhile, our Townsville plane, which was an hour late started flying in circles overhead waiting to see if we could get this thing clear of the bitumen strip.  We eventually did, courtesy of a lot of pushing and rocking and a 4WD with a snatch-strap.

I eventually got to Townsville, but so late that I had to cancel a much-anticipated pizza and wine dinner with some good friends.

So I went to the Scottish Restaurant in Flinders Mall just before they closed for the night.  I asked for a McFeast (now they've finally deigned to serve it again after x years where x is a very large number) but they declined to cook one for me.  So much for fast-food, I wasn't going to order a three course meal for crying out loud. So I went to the Cowboys Club.

The Cowboys Club insisted my membership had expired.  I'm damned certain it was a lot less than 5 years ago when I opted for the 5 years membership renewal option.

The hotel I had made a booking for through Wotif had no record of my booking.

I ended up having yoghurt and fruit juice for dinner.

Friday has been considerably better, good in fact.  Apart from the having to get up at 4.15 bit.