anyresemblance

Stop me if I've told you this

One thing about having had a blog for a long time is that you probably start to repeat yourself but indulge me.

When I first moved to Australia, I missed the familiar comforts of home: reading the Guardian, listening to Radio 4, buying knickers at Marks and 
Spencers, browsing book shops of reasonably priced items.  I used to travel for work and family visits and come home with suitcases laden with books, boxes of tea that didn't cost me $8 and Jaffa cakes.  As the years have passed, the internet made a lot more of that stuff accessible though now flipping amazon stops me buying books from the US and forces me to the woeful Australian site.  Even M&S ships to Australia though their return policy is sad.  

Being in Singapore, I thought I would pop into the local M&S to see what the selection is like in person and buy some of my favourite knickers.  On the plus side, the shops in Paragon mall are open until 10pm. That was the only good thing.  Everything on display seemed bright red, I'm guessing a shout out to Chinese New Year and new clothes, but every item I touched was a horrible, synthetic fabric, in terrible displays.  They did not have the knicker pack in the colour I wanted (standard black) and was 30% more expensive on what I pay on the on line site anyway.  I left empty handed and went back to my on line shopping basket which was offering 20% off for this week.  

 

Things that baffle me while travelling: an occasional series

 

• why do hotels have those hairdryers where you have to keep holding down the button to keep it on? don't they trust women with electrical gadgets?
• why can I never work out how to set the temperature in a shower (added complexity when you get a shower that shoots jets which massage you from the side;  I could not work out how to get the overhead jet on and had to crouch down to wash my hair)
• why is so complicated to turn the lights off in a hotel room and if there are controls by the bed they never include that one lone light that is usually under the sink in the bathroom or by the door?

Blue blooded

Apart from the fact that I gave myself a paper cut in the Qantas lounge and my finger was gushing blood and I now have to sport a blue bandaid as they had to get me one from the kitchen, I had a pretty good flight.  On the spur of the moment, I downloaded Good Girls which I enjoyed a lot.  Not perfect, and no idea if it really is a housewife's Breaking Bad as I could never get past the first episode of that (so sloooowww).  Anyway, it was the perfect length with ten episodes filling the flight to Singapore with only 10 minutes at the end to gaze out of the window.  Just as well as I could not find the cable to attach my headphones to the in flight entertainment and the movies looked rubbish.  Anyway, back on Good Girls there were many things to love about some great one liners, a gender fluid kid, some annoying characters who you actually could feel might get redeemed and a sizzling gangster.  There were some bits too long and others over egged and some gaping plot flaws but I enjoyed watching this over 10 episodes where moral boundaries had a chance to blur and relationships to form and can't wait for the next season.

Sometimes I have got off the plane in Singapore and been in the taxi in 15 minutes but this was not one of those moments.  Queues for immigration and a monster of a queue for taxis which took 40 minutes to traverse.  I listened to a podcast while that nonsense was going on.

I had vague plans to go to Marks and Spencers tonight but once I checked into my hotel room, all I wanted to do is put my pyjamas on and sleep.  I'll have to try and fit the emergency knicker run in after work one night.

 

Colonial

This time four years ago, I was here and now I am heading there again.

It is so flipping hot here again but I still have to remind myself how freezing planes can be setting out a merino sweater for the journey.

If not now, then when

I have been too much with my thoughts today.  I worked at home because the NBN guy was coming and sure enough it was a clusterfuck with him declaring I don't actually even have a Telstra phone line in my house and spending an hour on the phone to the Phillipines and really I can't even.

Anyway, I packed my computer away at 5 on the dot because I am done with the politicing and there will be plenty more next week so I just need a tiny window of me time.  My lovely colleague called me to give me some rather annoying news but he ended by asking how many books I was going to read this weekend as he was making me accountable for which I was glad.

I think I am going to revise that book goal one I reach the end of February as I making better than expected progress.  It sure helps to have no home wifi!

In other news, Roma is so good.  I can not stop thinking about it.   The clothes, the street noises, the dogs, the dignity of women, the smoking, the view from a child's height.  So good.

Green thoughts

I don't even like stewed fruit that much, reminds me too much of school dinners, but I picked some rhubarb from the garden of some people S was house sitting for a baked it with some orange juice and rind and ate it with yoghurt for breakfast the last two days.  I feel virtuous.

I took left over mushroom risotto for lunch and spent zero $ on coffee or any of that stuff.

I assembled the last bookcase and put all the books away.  It looks so much better but there is no room for anything else so I am going to do another book cull to make some space for anything that might be coming in.

I ate home made chicken schnitzel and steamed asparagus for dinner.  It was delicious. 

I'm half way through Roma.  It is so beautiful.  I strongly recommend you watch it.

I organised my trusty house sitter as I am going to Singapore on Sunday for a few days.  I have not left the country in 5 months which is the longest I have been country bound in 9 years.  I can not wait.

 

 

Minutiae

I finished another book but instead of being happy I am vaguely irritated as I don't have another with me and refuse to spend $30 on a stupid airport book.  Instead I have downloaded Roma to watch on the plane.  

I completed one tedious admin task, had lunch with a team member who could be an olympic champion in talking without drawing breath, and heading off a minor crisis.

Tomorrow will be more challenging as I have a meeting with some grumpy people.

The airport lounge is deserted.  Feeling very jealous that lots of people are still on holidays.

28 days till the pets come home.  I wrote a thank you note to their foster family and they replied they would miss cuddling Ned like a baby where he purred and purred and the daughter would miss taking Charlie to play D&D with her friends.  Such nice people.

Back to the salt mines

There was a meme on facebook "how the fuck am I supposed to go back to work tomorrow? I don't even remember what I do".  I felt it hard today.  I got to the airport and realised I had left my phone at home.  Fortunately, I was delivering a car back to the rental so turned around and went home, and fortunately I was running early, and fortunately I live less than 15 minutes drive from the airport, and fortunately traffic was light so I even made my flight but it was annoying to do something so fundamentally careless.

I had a good flight where I nearly finished my book.  This remembering to read and not just wasting time on social media really does wonders.  When I got the office, the cab driver had to drop me round the corner as a large crane was winching a piece of broken glass down from a very high floor.  No one was allowed the enter the building through the lobby so I got directed to the building next door where I had to go down to the basement and walk through the car park to enter the building from underground.  I felt like I was a cog in a convoluted plot in a heist movie.

Anyway, Melbourne is fine, I think I can still do my job and I ticked off a few things today.  I walked from the office to the hotel and the river looked fine and the people seemed relaxed.  Everyone is still in summer holiday mode and the city is quiet.

I am staying at a hotel where they tried to give me a room with no window.  Honestly, it had the curtains and everything but there was a wall behind it.  I kind of expect that in Eastern Europe but flipping Melbourne?  Anyway, I went back down where she tried to tell me it was a very nice room and I raised my eyebrows and she gave me an upgrade.

The 39,000 steps**

This was a day I wished I had a fit bit or Apple Watch as I swear I walked a zillion steps back and forth in my little house sorting out books.  First I had to take all the books off the existing shelves, then I had to put A-D in one room, empty a random bookcase and reshelve its contents, sort out all the cookery books in the right space, get a box for books who no longer needed to live in my house (nope, I forgot to thank them), assemble two sets of Ikea book cases, start filing the books U to L in those backwards as I still have the earlier one to assemble, hope like heck that E to K fit into the remaining bookcase once it is assembled.  (V to Z are in the hall bookcase). It took me from 7am until 6pm and I am exhausted.

Mission was accomplished, however, as I wanted the room to lighten up and to make space for this leather chair which was not really fitting in the study so I am happy with the day's efforts.

I can't believe I have to go to work tomorrow.  I need to reset my brain to work.

**I did find John Buchan's 39 Steps series while I was sorting, including the one I was reading when I went into labour with S.  I was thinking about this today as my step-son added me to Tiny Bean (baby-gram) so I could be spammed with glorious baby pictures.

The Library

I tried to search on line but the library had upgraded their system and my password didn't work.  That was ok as we were in the area and the local librarian was super helpful and reset it for me.  I picked this up and then went home and created a list of things to request in the future and felt accomplished.

I also reactivated my Goodreads account after about 5 years.  My dear, missed friend Karina was a voracious user of Goodreads.  I saw she was reading Girl in a Band before she died and I need to put that on my list as well.  I am sure there is a way to add my goodreads stuff as a widget rather than the typepad list but I haven't worked it out yet.

For the rest of the day, I moved some rugs around, went to ikea and bought some narrower bookcases (Billy, one sold every 5 seconds apparently).  They are heavy!  Good thing I had the kid with me and between us we worked out how to wedge three in car but not before dropping one of my finger, the nail of which will now turn an ugly black.  I did not assemble them but stacked them neatly in the hall pending removing books from the current ones (hemnes, going on gumtree even as I write this.)

We finally got a thunderstorm around 3pm which was bliss after more than two weeks of 33+. The temperature dropped 10 degrees in a hour and I finally slept without the fan on. Today is blissfully cool, the girls have gone to Sydney to see their new niece and I have the house to myself.  I am trying not to be glum about returning to work and make the most of the last day of my holidays.