Puns

I'm a sucker for puns.  A man who has a repertoire of them has me ..  So here's my favourite from today...

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him ... A super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis

Is Grumpy

I get paid $17 per hour.  I work 32 hours per week.  Work it out.  It's not much.

On Friday, I was interviewed for a job with Coles.  The person interviewing me looked a little embarrassed when she said the pay rate was $19 per hour.

Frankly, it's about time that I got my shite together and challenged my employer.  He's getting away with murder,. $17 per hour is criminal, and I'm one of the best paid people in the place.

So, do I challenge this and maybe get a better rate of pay?  Or do I challenge this and get everyone a better rate of pay?  Or do I just keep on taking the shit?

Travel Adventures, courtesy of QANTAS.

God I love flying, and the landscape and skyscapes were absolutely stunning all the way to Canberra.  Here's a shot taken between Melbourne and Canberra.

Everything was sooooo green.

So the trip went well and I had a fabulous time catching up with friends and going to galleries.  I stayed with friends who occupy a penthouse (still don't quite believe that I know people who live in  a penthouse).  The views were spectacular.  Here's one looking off to the West.

Everything was going swimmingly until I got back from a party on Saturday night to hear that QANTAS had grounded its fleet.  I was supposed to fly out on the Sunday morning.  I'm still gobsmacked that the management of QANTAS took such a radical step.  I hear they have the same legal advisors as Patrick Stevedores, so I suppose it shouldn't be all that surprising.

So... I got to spend an extra two days in Canberra, which, to be honest, wasn't that much of a trauma.  It meant that I had to buy a new ticket to get home on Tuesday and the boss was thoroughly unimpressed that I wasn't at work.  I'm not particularly happy about having to take more leave.

The wash up is that I'll get the money I paid for the extra tickets refunded, thank goodness.  This will make the  credit card look a little healthier.  Apparenly QANTAS is also giving away fares, including to New Zealand, so there may be another holiday on the cards.

Unfortunately there are lots of other costs that I can't get reimbursed. I had to pay for another 3 days of cat minding and also had to go to a doctor on a Sunday to get scripts as I'd only taken enough with me for the planned trip.  There's an extra couple of hundred I didn't have to spare.

Anyway, the cats were well cared for but very happy to see me back.  I was covered head to foot in cat hair within five minutes of arriving home.

When I go away the cats are locked inside.  Dusty is a bit of an escapologist and managed to break out of the cat door so she was outside when I got home.  I suppose this is OK as she doesn't go far and she can get back in when she wants to.

They were both very pleased to get access to the back yard again, particularly as there are baby sparrows around.  Here they are attempting to be surreptitious and stalking a baby bird - without success as they are both belled.

So the family is back together, I'm back at work and life continues.

Back at one of the homes

I'm going to Canberra tomorrow.  First time in two years and I'm pretty excited about seeing lots of people.

Have realised that I've swapped a crappy lifestyle and great job with a great lifestyle and a crappy job.  Hmmm.  You can't have everything.

In the mean time, I dobbed the employer in for unsafe work places.  The place was inspected the other day.  They phoned me on Monday to let me know that they didn't want to be too picky as it might lead to the owner closing the place down.  Frankly, this wouldn't bother me, but there are about 10 other people working there that probably need the job, so I wont push it.

Will spend the weekend going to parties and drinkies with mates.  So looking forward to it.  There are loads of people I love and miss in Canberra.

Honey Eaters

My next door neighbour's front gutter seems to have a blocked down-pipe.  This probably doesn't sound particularly exciting, but it is.  It means that the gutter is always full of water and hence full of birds having baths.  Here's a New Holland Honey Eater fresh out of the bath.

I love watching them.  About six pm is the best time and now that we have daylight savings I get to see lots of activity.

The next shot does, in fact, show the bird in the bath but it's a bit of a blur.  I've included it as the backdrop is the view across the river, which is nice.

So it's nice seeing a bit of the wildlife having some fun.

In the interim I am still applying for jobs left right and centre.  One day I'll get a job with a better outlook.

I took the risk by leaping down here.  Now it's nearly two years since the move.  I'm happy with everything bar the job, so that sounds like a success to me.  The garden (one of the main reasons for coming here) is spectacularly gorgeous and I'm enjoying seeing birds sitting in bushes and trees I planted less than two years ago.  What a privilege.

Two things

My mate, Ampersand Duck, has a bit of a thing about typewriters.  So I thought I'd post this:

My brother gave me this years ago.  It's in its box and folds up all ready to carry around.  It's a beautiful piece of machinery.  I have no idea how old it is but it must be early twentieth century. 

In the mean time, I thought I'd treat myself and went to the garden place last weekend to get some veg for the season.  Someone there obviously had several trees/bushes which were producing gorgeous flowers.  They were selling bunches for $3 a pop. 

So I have fresh flowers in the house which is a bit unusual.  Fantastic to have a Waratah in the house.  And I'm very pleased that it matches the gorgeous quilt in the background made by my mother.

The table underneath belonged to my grandmother.  I didn't know her, but it's great to have a little bit of her life in mine.

Saving Daylight

It'a always a bit of a shift when daylight savings starts.  It 'gets late early' as my mother says.

Today I was invited to a mega veg cooking class and lunch.  The food was fantastic.  I was invited by one of the women from work.  It's strange, but I see three of the people from work outside of work, but getting them all together in one place would be pretty difficult.  They are very different people.

In the mean time, here's an embroidery I did years ago.  It's based on Elizabethan costume and a weird etching I done done.  It was a combination of computer stuff, etchings, printings and embroidery.

And for a bit of novelty, here are some gorgeous creatures I picked up in Wagga a couple of years ago.

They're lovely.  Made of plastic and wire.  I think they were made in Africa.  The images behind them are from me, and the thing in the frame is a beautiful silverpoint drawing Ruth Hingston http://www.craftact.org.au/portfolios/artist.php?id=285 . She does gorgeous stuff.