“Being an ice addict is like taking the Concorde to New Zealand. The trip is good, but you end up in a bad place.” Dave Hughes
Apologies to Justine - NZ is lovely. I’ve been there. Honest.
We just like to take the piss.
And no-one would believe that you could take the Concorde to Mt Druitt.
So they axed the ABC’s highest rating show. And Our Mighty Leader denies all responsibility. He didn’t axe the show, he just appointed an “independent auditor” who did it for him.
Like Mary-Helen, I don’t do memes. But I do love science, and I have a natural instinct to poke things to see if they will bite me. Funny I never liked Steve Irwin….
But this is interesting.
I went to the GP today to talk about vaccinations for Vietnam, and the fact that I have been experiencing gastric reflux for a few months now. He sent me for a blood test that required FOUR vials of blood. Four. I nearly passed out looking at the vials as the nurse kept grabbing more. I’m being tested for Hep resistance (I have a vague memory of having the shots for Hep A, but we need to be sure), he’s also testing my iron levels (I’m a vegetarian, I must be unhealthy), vitamin D (no idea what that is about), and some bug that causes evil stomach issues.
If they don’t find hep immunity I’ll need some shots, iron and vitamin D have unknown consequences, but if they don’t find the stomach bug then I might need to have an endoscopy. Not entirely sure what that entails, but it sounds unpleasant.
I applied for a part time job a few weeks ago - I just got an email to notify me that my application was unsuccessful. There were over 600 applications - and I’m sure some of them had actual qualifications that were related to the job, so I don’t feel too bad. I had help to write a kick ass resume, and I really feel that I gave it my best shot. I would have been great at the job, and it would have been a wonderful lifestyle change - but perhaps I need to go for the filthy lucre at this point, and the universe is TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING. Justine - the bottle of wine you gave me has come in handy.
My friends Patrick and Linda, and their kids Hugo and Lolita came for lunch today, and we had a very pleasant day. Hugo was great with the bunnies, and I think they liked him. THis is the first time that Monkey and Blueberry have met a young child, and they handled it very well - but I think that hugo is an exceptional child.
Dad paid for our tickets today. We are going. It’s written in stone, and paid for with blood sweat and tears. Not Marks, not mine, but my poor self funded retiree parents. I hope they know what this means to us - it’s no ordinary gift, it’s the gift of a lifetime, and we know exactly how lucky we are.
It’s been a very long time since I have been a traveller, and I hope that Mark and I travel well together. He’s pretty easy going (and easily led), so hopefully we’ll both be able to take small hurdles in our stride.
Tomorrow I am having my first lesson in Vietnamese - Alf is taking me to lunch. If this is going to be my last week at TRS, I am determined to get out of the office for lunch every day. Emma came today, and left with a very garish new toy - very similar in many ways to Kris‘ new toy. I’m very proud of both of them, yet have no desire to follow in their footsteps.
Apparently lots of people want to buy “my” company. They have until Friday to submit an “expression of interest”, and on Friday afternoon the suits will decide if we have to turn up for work on monday or not. I have to admit to a sudden urge to book a pedicure for 9am Monday morning, but I do recognise that it would be petty. They own me, I might as well be good humoured about it.
Oh, and by the way - we were making money. We have a loyal, blue chip customer base, and the best view of any AppleCentre in Australia. We have a world class service centre, and possible the most smart mouthed sales person this side of the equator. If you’re looking for a business to invest in, drop me a line….
The picture is of the century plant we bought in Bellingen, on the way home from Heather and Hamish’s wedding. I planted it in a terracotta tub on the front doorstep, and this is how it looked after I watered it a couple of days ago.
Tomorrow I have to get out of bed for the last (guaranteed) week of work. I don’t anticipate that it will be a fun week - we’ll have to wind up the last sales, contact all our fave customers, say goodbye, and generally wind things up. I’ll have to take my pot plant, my knitting magazines, and my teabags.
So I’ve had lots of support, and offers, and everything is going to be fine. Wonderful. Brilliant.
But in the meantime, I’ve another week to get through. Unless they keep us open for another week. Or another two. Or until Christmas…. I can’t stand the waiting.
I am slowly getting the hang of the image resizing stuff in Ecto. It wasn’t as idiot proof as I prefer a Mac app to be, but eventually my wild double clicking in random places paid off (yes, I am a self taught mac user), and I found the image settings. Would have been nice to have that documented chaps, but still….
Yesterday I worked, and apparently it’s ok to say why I’m looking for a job. My brothers company - the thing he has put his heart and soul into for nearly 20 years, is dying. It was a great company, with lovely customers, and a philosophy that was all about helping customer find the right solution for them, and making sure that everything worked together. Telling our customers and distributors these last few days has been awful. Many of them feel an attachment to the place that is rare in a business - Adam’s shop was more of a community than most apple shops, and its demise is a blow to more than just the staff. But for Adam, it must be horrible. He’s got a new baby arriving at the end of January, and I hope he soon sees the positives that are bound to happen because of this nasty and abrupt change. I understand a bit better now why he’s been more prickly than usual, and I probably could have been a little more considerate (though not knowing what was going on was a bit of a handicap).
I’ll be OK. Two competitors have already called to ask me to come in for an interview, and two of my customers want me to sell their products. One of my suppliers has fixed me up with a his brothers company too. And I have probably only told less than a dozen people about what is going on up till yesterday, when everyone at SSK was treated to my tale of woe.
Speaking of SSK, there was a bumper crowd yesterday! Kate modeled her finished Picovoli, Jussi looked splendid (her skirt had shiny bits, I was distracted). Emma showed off the beginnings of her wedding shawl, (so I retaliated by stuffing up my latest swallowtail and demanding that she fix it). Mary-Helen was weaving in ends for the cutest little cardi ever, and Sandra was the official photographer.
I gave Julie a lift home (it’s so nice to finally have a knitter in my suburb), and she showed me her very productive little garden, and even gave me a cucumber. Yum! There were other people there too, but I think they may be blogless. They still exist in the real world, but I can’t talk about them on the internet. Sandra is an exception, because there are pictures of her on M-H’s blog, so she almost crosses the divide.
I am testing a new blogging app. It was recommended on Gizmodo, or TUAW, or something. Thought I might give it a shot, see what all the fuss is about. Apparently you can edit offline (which will be handy in Vietnam), it has a spell checker (which the web interface lacks), and it allows for easy html editing (which is better than a slap in the belly with a dead something).
Tonight Mark and I saw most of “The Prestige”. If you saw the ads and weren’t enthralled, give it some more consideration. I love a movie where you never really know who the bad guy is….
And in other news, I am officially looking for another job. I am not sure whether the details of what forced this change are official yet, but suffice it to say that last week ended with a particularly low note, this week started poorly, and degenerated rapidly. Nobody’s fault, just a shit set of circumstances, and quite a lot of uncertainty leading up to Christmas.
And in good news.
The secretary for the anti-christ rang, and the boss wants me to come in for a job interview next week. So I have a few days to ponder the question - just precisely how weak am I?
I haven’t bought the toothpaste yet.
PS. Ecto didn’t work. I kinda liked it, and I have hopes for getting it to work in the future, but not this time.
And nothing to report. A very busy sales day, met a lovely chap who does voiceovers (it was spooky, a little like talking to the TV), and basically hurtled headlong towards Christmas.
I had a meeting with a business counsellor, and clarified my goals for the future. I want a happy and healthy family, and financial security. And I have the means to get it (the financial stuff at least). The future is bright.
You may not see it at first, but this parsley has one, very large, trunk, like a fig tree in the botanic gardens in miniature.
A perfect metaphor for my day today. Sorry to be so cryptic, but let’s just say that life is interesting, and strangely fucked up, yet with a shiny and interesting character.
Perhaps I should have let it flower and produce seeds - just to see what the children were like….
I committed myself to a post a day for the month of November, but yesterday I skipped a day. I’ve done pretty well up to now, but really, there wasn’t anything I could say about yesterday.
Today I have friends coming for dinner, and the very hot weather has me thinking about what I should serve. Gaspacho is superb on a hot day, but what would make a good main to follow ? Most of my favourite dinner party food is chinese/thai, and wouldn’t make a good match with Gaspacho. I could try risotto, but I’ve never cooked it before, and I hate trying out new things on guests.
Perhaps I’ll take Dad up to the TAB, pop in at Cherryhills, and have a knit. That might help my thinking.
The Vietnamese phasebook and food guide I ordered from the Lonely Planet website arrived today, so even though we still haven’t booked the tickets, I can start my immersion into Vietnamese culture straight away. One of our suppliers at work is Vietnamese Australian, and has promised to take us out to lunch in Cabramatta and teach us proper pronunciation.
Tomorrow we’re going to pay for the tickets. I still don’t have my leave approved, but at this point, I think the trip is vitally important for my mental health - and for Mark’s too.
George’s estate has finally settled, and so today Dad gave me the cheque which is my inheritance from his estate. It’s very sad, but I know he would want me to use the money for something important (like saving for our house), so tomorrow I’ll have a little moment of silent thanks for having known him, as I sign the deposit slip that will add significantly to our house fund.
It’s full steam ahead for holiday planning - thanks Kate for the hotel tips! Mark has agreed to plan our trip to Halong Bay, and I’ll book hotels in Bangkok and Hanoi. The rest we’ll do when we’re there, as I think (hope) that we’ll have enough time up our sleeves to take some risks.
It’s been so long since I’ve travelled, and really entrusted my safety and wellbeing to the universe, that I am a little apprehensive that I will remember how to do it. But then I remember my first days in Thailand as a little kid - being offered a choice of chilli soup and porridge for breakfast on our first morning. At six going on seven, I’d never had porridge, and it looked disgusting. I chose the chilli soup, and a large watermelon juice.
I made the right decision then, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be all right this time too. And Mark and I get to examine our relationship anew in the light of travelling together.
I can’t wait.
Today was a very special day for a family that is very special to me, and if they weren’t so special I might have stayed in bed….
I made my fabulous hommous with parsley, but at the last minute decided to add a touch more salt. The universe decided that a tablespoon would be more appropriate, and the dish was ruined. Exasperated, I threw myself in the car, but I decided to race back inside for some perfume (if I’m stressed, smelling good might help a little). On the way inside, I tore my fab new dress, and then knocked my head on the door frame so hard I nearly knocked myself out.
I held my poor battered head in my hands, and counted my misfortunes.
1. Hommous
2. Dress
3. Concussion
Yup - three. A nice round number. I was now safe to leave the house.
It was a good day.
And in knitting news, the podcast is out, and I didn’t say anything too awful. I even liked the sound of my voice!
Check it out here.
Let’s take the worlds nuclear waste! Brilliant idea. We’ll make pots of money, and we won’t need to worry about contamination until after we’re all dead - we can leave the problems to future generations, while we enjoy economic prosperity.
I’ve been sleeping with the Lonely Planet Guide to Vietnam next to my pillow for a few weeks now, and in the last week I’d pretty much given up hope that the trip was going to be possible. Yesterday I decided to just MAKE it happen, and hopefully the consequences won’t be awful, and the trip will be wonderful, exciting, scintillating, jaw dropping, awesome, super, perfect, and just good fun.
When Mark and I got married, my grandfathers gift to us was to arrange for Roger Scott to photograph the wedding (he said he didn’t do weddings - but I loved his work so much, I pleaded with him and promised that it would be fun to photograph), and he also gave us some money so that we could go on a honeymoon.
We banked the cheque, but life kind of got in the way - first Mark was studying, then doing exams, then trying to find work, and then teaching his first class of pre-pubescent miscreants, and trying to keep breathing, keep turning up to school to face the little horrors, and hopefully to learn them something.
Now my fabulous parents have stepped in with a very generous, extremely thoughtful gift, and I feel like we’ve been thrown a lifeline. This trip is something we both desperately need, and the thought of not being able to go until next year was heartbreaking, and yesterday was like the sun peeking through the storm clouds. The storm clouds are still well and truly there, and rumbling ominously, but there is hope.
We’ll fly out of Sydney on December 30th, spend the night and the next morning in Bankok, and the arrive in Hanoi at 7.30pm on New Years Eve. I’d like to have a nice-ish hotel booked, I am accustomed to budget travel, but the thought of spending NYE in a hovel, in a new country where I don’t know the language, have any friends, or even know how to get to a good vegetarian restaurant is a little less than appealing. I’m not thinking five star, but something with electricity and running water would be good.
Anyone know of a good place to spend New Years Eve in Hanoi ?
Picture from here. Worth a read.
From Hanoi we’ll go to Halong Bay, which everyone has seen on postcards of Vietnam. Apparently it’s a magical place, if a bit of a tourist trap.
After Halong Bay, the plan isn’t fully mature. We’ll spend about a week going down the coast to Nha Trang, where we’ll be picked up by the people from the Whale Island “resort”, for a week on the island. Although it’s called a resort, I believe the accommodation is more bamboo hut than Club Med (which is totally fine by me !). The island has a wildlife sanctuary within walking distance, and I think I’ll try and buy the waterproof housing for my Olympus that I’ve wanted for ages so that I can photograph my snorkelling adventures. On the island I imagine we won’t have a lot to do, just relaxing, and snorkelling, and photographing creatures, and hopefully eating yummy food (they say they cater to vegetarians).
We’ll leave the island on the 19th, and head south to Ho Chi Minh City. We fly out on the 23rd, so we’ll have a couple of days to wander around the Mekong Delta.
I’ve created an account on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree messageboard, and will be doing loads of research in the next few weeks.
If you’ve been to Vietnam, and have a story to tell, some advice, a must see spot, whatever, I’d love to hear from you!
We’re going to Vietnam.
The picture is of the gorgeous Indigo, on the day of Hamish and Heathers wedding. She looks a little like I feel right now. A little bit scared, a little bit excited, but open to whatever possibilities the future might hold.
No ducks were harmed in the making of our dinner tonight, despite the fact that we ate “Crispy Duck Salad”, and “Spicy Fried Rice with Duck”.
We went to the Green Palace in Newtown, which is bloody superb. After a day of hayfever, I probably could have done with less chilli, but it was our own fault (mine mainly) for choosing dishes with more than a modicum of chilli. It’s refreshing to find a Sydney restaurant that actually uses a decent amount of fresh chilli, but we were caught out a little by it.
A selection of tasty fried morsels to start (the mushroom toast wonderful), and a “cleanskin” Pikes Polish Hill Riesling from Vintage Cellars (it’s a very good year for cleanskins, a $20 wine for under $10), a lovely Tom Kha, and the two mains, all for just over $40. And the staff were very smiley (I needed that to counteract today, and the interminable trance chanting “music”).
Buddhism is all well and good, and I am totally and utterly for any religion that advocates peace and non violence to all (humans and non- humans), but please keep the fucking chanting to yourself, and give me back my gin.
But if you feed me good, fresh, clean and intense flavoured food, I can take a bit of chanting with my crispy chilli not duck.
We’ll be going back.
I eventually got an email from the tech support monkey’s boss, that included the word apologise. I am impressed. They acknowledge that I got the rough end of the pineapple, and they are taking steps to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future. Woo Hoo !
In other news, the trip to Vietnam still hasn’t been booked (still not sure if we can take holidays for long enough to make the trip worthwhile - current holidays have us there for less than 2 weeks, which will be very rushed), I have finished another birthday present (unveiling early December), started another one for the same time frame, and procrastinating about starting the last major Christmas project.
Mark is still miserable about school, but he’s going back tomorrow, and hopefully the monsters won’t break him. There is the sound of bunnies munching on fresh hay coming from the living room, and a warm cat at my feet, so I must abed.
And if you haven’t heard, Australia has been having wierd weather. Snow falling on bushfires. Only in Australia. I hope Kate and David are OK.
Oh, and BTW - David interviewed me for the podcast last weekend, so tune in to hear me make a tit of myself in public again.
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