A Gay Garbage Man?

First night in the new bed. Buddy slept in his bed at the foot of the new bed, he seemed to be staying there and not jumping up onto our bed. I woke up at 5am for a piss and there he was sleeping between us on our bed.

The new bed was nice to sleep in, finally the Tempur mattress has the correct slatted bed base to lie on.

Sam headed to work. He called Buddy as he headed downstairs and Buddy followed, so did I. 8am is as good a time as any to get out of bed.

The sun shone, the sky was blue.

I waved Sam good bye at 8am. The Builder’s recycle bin had already been emptied and was sitting in the gutter out the front. It gave me a certain feeling of ease knowing that the lid not closing, after I had filled it up with our waste, hadn’t upset the guys who emptied it.

I ate muesli. I drank coffee. I read the news. I looked at Facebook. Buddy sat in my lap.

Just after 9.30am, I decided to catch the train to Camberwell to pay my parking fine I got in [mum’s street] the last time we were there to collect the dining room table. I left at around 10am, walking to Parliament.

Upon investigation, I could go to Glenferrie station and to the Hawthorn town hall right next door. It was the closest town hall/train station combination out of all the options.

I was dressed and leaving the house not long after. It was a bit cool, despite the sun shining, but I had on a woollen jumper and a copy of In Cold Blood in my hand to keep me warm.

Forth platform for a train to Glenferrie station from Parliament Station. I raced down to Platform 4, funny how there is always a sense of urgency when you are rushing down those escalators. The train from platform 4 was heading around the City Loop, I didn’t want to spend 20 minutes going around the City Loop, so I walked over to platform 3 where there was a train going directly to Flinders Street Station, 3 minutes later, so I caught that.

It was lovely catching the train. Very cool, relaxing, easy. I read my book and looked out the window. I try to catch the train, or walk, instead of driving now a days. If we all tried to catch the train instead of driving, you never know, we could possibly save the planet.

And it is nice to be driven somewhere, chauffeured, even if it is by a train driver. It gives you a whole other perspective to travel and your city and life really, it is unhurried and non-combative.

When I got to the Hawthorn Town hall, there were mothers and their children buying tickets to go and see something by Roald Dahl in the town hall. The woman in front of me, of course, wanted to know if she could get her 4 year old in for free, despite her having what looked like a 4 year old, a 5 year old and a 6 year old, so the guy had to go off and find out and we were all left standing there wasting our time while he did. The answer was that all children had to buy tickets to a kid’s show, (oh really, I was surprised, not) so she eventually did. As this was going on, another woman finally came out from the back office and asked if everyone were buying tickets.

“No, I’m paying a parking fine.”

“Oh, that’s no fun,” she exclaimed. “Everyone else are getting tickets and you have to pay a fine.” Big eyes.

I complained about the fine that I got in my mum’s side street. “When did a normal suburban side street have no parking signs?” I asked.

“Is it Hawthorn, or Camberwell?”

“Camberwell,” I said.

“Oh, where I live in Hawthorn, I get parking tickets all the time.”

All I could think was, idiot, at that comment.

In my entire driving years, this would only be my 3rd, of 4th parking ticket. There are very few things that are a bugger waste of money than a parking ticket.

On the way home, I got off at Richmond station, as by the time I faffed around at Flinders Street Station, finding a direct train to Parliament, then walking from Parliament to home, I might as well just walk from Richmond to Fitzroy. It was a crisp, sunny day after all, even if it wasn’t so warm.

Sam and I ate lunch at the Japanese restaurant, he had fried chicken, I had Ramen.

I sneaked off to the Salvos in Abbotsford and bought KD Lang and Joe Cocker CDs, 10 for $10. I love that. C&C Music Factory, David Campbell, and Leona Lewis’ first CD.

I waited for the rest of my Bette Davis DVDs to arrive in the post. What is it they say about a watched letter box?

It was a sunny afternoon.

Buddy kept sitting himself in my lap. He just crawls in, unannounced, like the unstoppable force, like I am incidental to the whole procedure.

3.30pm. What time does the postie usually arrive?

I got out my trusty serrated knife and chopped up all of the remaining boxes, half of the large bed box and all of the garden storage box. I cut it up in anticipation of the [shops name] recycle bin being put out tonight. And it was bin night, so I was determined that I was going to get rid of all the mountain of waste cardboard tonight. Cleared. Gone.

I cut it up on the front veranda, as I half waited for the postie to arrive.

Funny that I revel in being the old bin lady of the street. It is funny that I pride myself on being able to get rid of all of our rubbish, not matter how much there is. I am sure I get it from my mother. By hook, or by crook, just get rid of it all.

I cut the cardboard into easily handled pieces, for a quick dispatch. My hand hurt by the time I was done. As I was cutting it up, I noticed that the crazy blond bitch from the end of the lane had already put out her bins. I looked inside her recycle bin, it was a quarter full. I got our recycle rubbish from the kitchen and emptied it into her bin, so our bin was clear for the cardboard. We didn’t have so much recyclable rubbish, so her bin was still only half full, so I filled it with cardboard. I looked in her normal bin next to it, and it was almost empty too, so I filled that with cardboard. I cut the rest of the cardboard into even smaller pieces and managed to get a lot of it into our recycle bin. Then I put out our main rubbish and I managed to stack the rest of the cardboard into the top of our normal rubbish bin. And then I’d suddenly got rid of all of the cardboard. I was pleased.

The old bin master does it again.

Sam came home and said let’s take Buddy to the dog park.

On our walk around to the park, I saw that all the bins in the neighbourhood were out, many of them stacked with old boxes on top of them.

“Look at that,” I said. “These people just aren’t trying hard enough. Cut them up people, get this shit into your bins. You know the garbos aren’t supposed to take anything that is not inside your bin.”

Sam just looked at me like I was talking rubbish. (Do you see what I did there? Do you like it?)

“Really, these people should be trying harder,” I said.

I’d found two more Bette Davis CDs that I wanted, Winter Meeting and June Bride, which I have always wanted. To Sam’s credit, he just let me order them, paying for them with his PayPal account. I did say that I’d set up my own Pay Pal account, but he said, “No, just use mine.”

We ate rice and spicy pork mince and tofu and snow peas and carrots for dinner.

Travelling by train

I like it. It is relaxing, in a non-contact version of travelling the suburbs. There is always another pissed off driver on the roads now a days.

Glen Ferrie station, with sympathetic development.

Glen Ferrie, out in the burbs

Glen Ferrie, this hasn't changed since I was a kid

All The Things You Are Going To Do When You Have The Time?

Sam kissed me good bye, I was still asleep. I opened one eye. My hand waved from under the doona

I sat up in bed, got my laptop and read the news. Nice and warm and comfy. What is going on in the world, I half-heartedly tune into the world psycho drama. What is your tale of woe today?

8.15am, listened to Mitch’s morning explosion, as he always gets up late and then he charges from his bedroom to the bathroom, then he charges back to his bedroom, irons a shirt and charges out the door.

Ah the good old days, I think, as the front door bangs shut.

Sam sent me a list of directives, all the things he thinks a I should do.

9.15am.

Have you feed him (Buddy)? – Sam

don’t forget to do washing including the socks – Sam

yes, honey – Christian

we need to change our towels too. Check what’s in the study room big basket, if it’s nothing important, why don’t move the basket into the storage shed, now that we have it – Sam

I think the stuff in the basket is stuff we want to donate – Sam

Bevmark just called, will arrive between 10-12 10/7/17 – Sam

Okay, honey – Christian

I read all the news. When I found myself watching Donald Trump’s meanest moments on Youtube, I knew it was time I got up.

I don’t care about Donald Trump. I don’t care about Kim Jong-Un. The Gulf war, the Iraqi war, I would never have known about them, if they hadn’t been eagerly rammed down my throat by the world’s press in the chase for ratings.

I made coffee and muesli and listened to a Bette Davis history on Youtube. I have 5 new Bette Davis films coming, I can’t wait. Funny the stages you go through, it’s Bette Davis at the moment. Sometimes it is the Rolling Stones, sometimes it is Bette Davis, sometimes it is writing, sometimes it is reading fiction, and soon it will be miniature golf.

All the things you are going to do when you have the time? I’m sure it is the not-having-the-time that makes all those things look so attractive. When I have the time, I let the days drift, all the time in the world, I’m sure it will be Friday again in no time, and I still won’t have got anything done.

We are a perpendicular lot. Or is that just me?

This was my time to get stoned with abandon and to write something. Sam seems to have messed that up. Still, I’m sure there is plenty of time.

Speaking of plenty of time, my dad died at the age of 71, if I died at the same age, I have 15 years left. Plenty of time?

The new bed arrived at 10am, delivered by a very handsome wog boy. (I’m allowed to say that, as I once had an Italian boyfriend, and I have a lot of Italian and Greek friends)

10.15am.

let me know when the bed frame arrives – Sam

it arrived – Christian

big? Where’s it? – Sam

in the front hallway – Christian

heavy? – Sam

heavier than Buddy, but lighter than the Peugeot – Christian

I SEE. you think you been funny – Sam

Well, what do you mean, is it heavy? – Christian

do you think we can carry it to our room? – Sam

yes – Christian

manageable module? – Sam

I’ve carried some of it upstairs already – Christian

Lovely. just don’t hurt yourself. And don’t smash into furniture – Sam

Yes, honey – Christian

are you happy with the colour? – Sam

I haven’t opened the box – Christian

open it, have a peak – Sam

I thought we could carry it upstairs first – Christian

Ok – Sam

has the brick man come? – Sam

this arvo – Christian

we should go out for lunch today – Sam

okay, honey – Christian


The sun shone, the sky was blue, with Simpson’s clouds, even if you wouldn’t exactly call the day summery.

We went out for lunch at midday.

I looked through Cash Converters CDs. I bought Bette Midler’s, Experience the Divine, to get Wind Beneath My Wings, and the song she sang on the last Johnny Carson show. I can add those 2 tracks to one of her other albums I have on iTunes as bonus tracks and then discard the CD. For $1, why not. And I bought David Archuleta’s first CD because he was so cute on the cover. Adorable. (Google his first CD cover and see if I am right) You’ve got to love $1 CDs. I bought three seasons of Will and Grace and I bought season 4, one of the two missing seasons, of Weeds. I was happy with that.

I bought sausages at Woolworths for dinner.

Marked Woman and Little Foxes arrived. I have never seen either. Very excited.

Jill called late in the afternoon from Queensland, she told me her new wooden floors had buckled while the tenants, who have just moved out, lived there. Everybody is blaming everybody else, the builder is blaming the floor people, the floor people are blaming the tenants, the insurance company is blaming the plumber, and the plumber is blaming the tenants, and as Jill says, she can already see that the buck is going to stop with her, like a case of financial musical chairs. And Tony Abbot wanted to cut red tape for business, business that will lie and cheat anybody whenever they get a chance to pass the buck.

We’re supposed to be going up there in the first week of August, but Sam isn’t keen, he doesn’t have any more leave, as he exhausted it all with our trip overseas, not even for 2 days either side of a weekend.

And I have another skin cancer on my face that has to be cut out. It is me and Hugh Jackman and our basal cell carcinomas together. I’m going to see the plastic surgeon on the 19th of this month. I’m not sure I want to be visiting Queensland with a huge bandage on my face. Of course, Mark Iceman, Jill’s brother in law, is up there now with terminal Lymphoma, but what the hell.

But we have already told Jill that we will, oh, she will be disappointed. She will argue the point. Oh, that will be a pain. Jill can be spoilt and not understanding if she isn’t getting her way.

Sam came home at 4.30pm and we took Buddy to the dog park.

Sam and I set up the new bed. It is too big for our bedroom, it was a mistake, I could see that before we’d even finished setting it up. You see, we always only had a mattress and a bed base before, and now we have a bed head and a bed end, which are much bigger in the room. Oh, I guess I’ll get used to it. I hope.

I cut up some of the cardboard boxes, the bed and the garden storage shed had been delivered in, ready to slip it into the shops, on the main street, recycle bin tonight after they put it out. I figure, as long as I only put stuff in it after they have clearly finished putting their waste in it, what does it matter. I’m sure they aren’t paying by weight, or even volume, I assume they are paying by bin empty. The soft white padding that was around the bed head and bed end I wrapped up into balls and I walked to the bin on the corner of our street and slipped it in. (Well, it’s a bin and its public)

I waited until the shops had packed up and gone home, when the light had been turned off in the kitchen, and all was in darkness, then I sneaked cardboard into their large recycle bin. I only got a small portion of the cardboard into their bin before I couldn’t close the lid. What with the garden storage and the new bed, I still have a shit load of cardboard to get rid of. I hoped there weren’t any rules about the bin being too full so as not to allow the lid to close, as I scampered back to my house in the dark.

I don't think it was his mother, although I'm pretty sure that's where he got the hair

Morning sun, such gorgeous light

I Had A Dream

I dreamt that Alexandra Jones, and Joanne Suffolk, (two old friends, one of which, Joanne, I don't see, haven't seen for years, the other, Alexandra, I see from time to time, but not very often) and I worked for a supermarket. I was trying to make a phone call, the phone number for which I had to read from a telephone book, but Alexandra wouldn’t let me look at the number without me showing it to her, which I didn’t want to do. Joanne was in the back ground some how egging Alexandra on. Alexandra chased me all over the supermarket trying to see the number in the telephone book, no matter where I hid, she’d find me and I wouldn’t be able to look at the number and make the call. Joanne would be behind her. I ended up in a back store room, which was all dark, shadows, very noir, but she found me and I still couldn’t make the call. Then management got involved, in the form of long, dark shadows, discussing our behaviour, and separating us.

I woke with a start, it was still dark, early morning, I shook my head and thought, "What the fuck?"

I looked over at Sam, he was snoring.

I looked at the bedside clock, it was 6.4somethingam.

I hadn't seen Joanne for 20 years. The last time I saw her was at her wedding. I went with Leah, my childhood girlfriend, who leaned into me sometime during the wedding and said, "This is the ugliest wedding that I've been to." It is fair to say Joanne wasn't a 'looker.' The husband wasn't much to look at either. Leah laughed.

Alex I see on and off, we're still friends, although not as close as we once were.

I have no idea what that dream was about.

Don't Put Walnuts in Your Muesli

I dreamt I was in a group, some may say workshop, sheltered, or otherwise, and we were gluing together CD covers, the inserts, the booklets, for a record label, with layers and layers of coloured cardboard, mine was really cool, it was called... "Good bye, I'm going now." I felt warm lips on mine. My eyes cracked open, Sam was looking down at me. He was upside down. Mine was called... nah, gone.

"Oh, is it 8am?" I hear my croaky voice say. The last thing I remember was getting up for a piss at 5am.
"Yes."
"I was dreaming..."
"I've got to go." He blew kisses from the door and then the door closed behind him.

I was very comfortable, wrapped up in the doonas. Buddy has slept with us the last few days, but he slept in his kennel last night. I wanted him to snuggle up to. 

I leapt out of bed. I tip-toed across the cold bedroom, almost regretting it immediately. "Oo, ah." I grabbed my phone and leapt back into bed.

You could bring me my bulldog, I text to Sam.
And coffee.
My two favourite things.
That would be lovely.
Just like you.
Oh, and lip balm.
My lips have been sore the last few weeks, I don't know why.

I pulled the doona up around my neck and thought, What are you like?

Silence. That time after you wake up and before you get up, that is the best time of the day. You know it can't last, so you savour every last second of it. I could hear no footsteps coming back up the stairs, but, I also hadn't heard the front door open and close. It was very quiet, which was a good sign, in my favour.

The bed warmed me like freshly cook toast. I may have drifted back to sleep just a little.

Then the bedroom door opened. "Pst." I craned my head over the lump of bedding that was around my neck. Sam held a coffee cup in the air, then he placed it down on the bedside table. I made wide eyes in appreciation, with just a slight questioning after tone as if to say, lovely, and the rest of my request? Sam made a big hand gesture which his eyes followed out the bedroom door. We were both still for a moment, as the sound of claws clacking on floorboards came into ear shot. "Your bulldog sir," said Sam, as Buddy's face came through the doorway. We both watched Buddy's unhurried progress from the door to the edge of the bed. Herumph! Buddy leapt up onto the bed. He padded around the bed and sat next to me. I looked from Buddy to Sam and smiled.

"And?"
"Oh." Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the small tub of Blistex and tossed it onto the bed next to me.
"Lovely," I said.
"I trust sir is well pleased," said Sam.
"Well pleased," I said.
Sam kissed me on the head and left the room.

Oh, come on, I do lots of lovely things for Sam, don't you worry about that.

I make my own muesli, usually two big containers at a time. I like muesli for breakfast, but who can trust the manufacturers with their added sugar, you know the dreaded 'sweet spot' they talk about, so I make my own. I tend to put in what is on special, but generally that would include sultanas, pepitas, sunflower seeds, wheat bran, and cranberries. Sometimes, I put nuts into it, but as I can't eat almonds, generally I put in pistachios. This batch walnuts were on special, so I put them in. Don't do that. They appear to be too strong and all I can taste are walnuts, they have kind of overpowered the taste of my muesli. Damn. 

Anyway, it is now 9am and its time for another coffee and Mildred Pierce.

Life is good.

Sam messages me to tell me my five new dvds have been dispatched. It's going to be a busy week next week, I think.

Today

I headed into the city in the afternoon and bought The Man Who Came To Dinner. The dvds were way more expensive than I anticipated, so that was all I bought. Oh, and I bought Mildred Pierce, the movie for which Joan Crawford won her academy award. I bought it as an after thought, it was cheap. (That was how Bette Davis may have referred to Joan Crawford. Laugh)

Wow, they were expensive dvds, I thought as I headed home. Forty, fifty bucks. That is going to be an expensive distraction, as I'll need more than one, clearly. (How many dvds does one need for the rest of their life?)

Then I came home and bought five Bette Davis DVDs on ebay, for a 1/3 of the price, a 1/4 of the price, the same price as one at the city shop. Marked Woman, The Little Foxes, Phone Call from a Stranger, Where Has Love Gone and Beyond the Forest, that's the "What a dump," movie. Historically thought of as her worst movie, but over time, apparently, people have started changing their minds about it. (Even Benny Hill is considered a comedy genius in some circles)

"What a dump."

That's how I dealt with my lack of writing... today. Do you think watching old dvds is the same as reading? No. No, of course it’s not. Pity. It would be so much easier. Big smile.

Hey Siri

Sam was pissing around with his $30 computer, that looks like a reject Meccano set creation, his second computer screen and an old keyboard from my old desk top, I think. That funny little $30 computer, bigger than a normal matchbox, about the same size as one of those over-sized match boxes you get from the supermarket, the type I buy to light the open fire in winter.

I thought he was doing work, as I could see the black programming box up on his screen. He works at home sometimes. Occasionally, if he has a tough programing job he wants to get finished.

Then he started talking to Siri. “Hey Siri,” was what I was constantly hearing from then on.

The fire burned. I got sleepy lying on the couch, having tried, but not really succeeded in updating my blog. Milo lay asleep across my legs.

Then Sam was very excited, well, pleased with himself, would be the better expression.

“Hey Siri, turn off the living room lights.” And the lights went off.

“Hey, look at that,” he said.

“Did Siri just do that?” I asked.

“Sure did,” he said. He couldn’t quite get the smile off his face.

To get to the point, we now have a voice activated house.

“It’s on your phone too.”

“Oh… gosh.” Thinking about the big TV incident, where I was less than enthused, I thought I’d better sound enthusiastic.

“Ask Siri something?” said Sam.

I picked up my phone. “Siri, turn off the TV.”

And the TV turned off.

“How cool is that,” exclaimed Sam. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh, wow,” I said. Truthfully, we have remote controls of varying types that can do that, but be enthusiastic, I told myself. “That’s, that’s…”

“Oh come on,” said Sam.

“That is great, honey. Saves me picking up the remote control.”

“The lights in our room can be turned on from down here, before we go to bed, so you never have to walk into the dark bedroom again.”

Never be in the dark again, so many people have promised such things, I thought. I wanted to laugh. “That’s great.” I didn’t laugh.

“You could at least pretend to be impressed.”

“I am impressed,” I said. “I never have to flick a light switch again, how can I not be impressed”

Sam looked at me with “that look.” “I think it is cool,” he said.

I laughed. “It is.”

And Then it was Tuesday

I woke up with Buddy snoring in my ear. Sam entered the room milliseconds after I’d opened my eyes.

“Get up, take him downstairs and feed him.”

I looked over at Buddy, he licked my face.

“I’m going,” said Sam.

“Is it 8am already?”

“Yep.” And he was gone.

I made coffee and opened my laptop.

Get to your blog today, he says to himself.

Write them a narrative, give them something to read, that is what people like, I know that. That is what I was going to do today, but I ended up pissing around on-line all day to day again. YouTube is a killer, so easy to get distracted.

We ate stir fired noodles leftovers for lunch.

I lit a fire in the afternoon.

Write my blog? Yes. No. Do it. Oh? I gave in and wanted to watch an old Bette Davis movie. But the new teli? How does it work? Bugger it! I can do it. I have an IQ of 140, surely, I can play a DVD. So, I slid the dvd into the player. And… it all worked automatically and in no time the screen was up on the TV which wanted me to press play. That is all I had to do. Press play. Easy. So, I got the controller – we play all our dvds through a PS4. I knew the X worked the thing, so I hit the X… and… nothing. Nothing? Damn! I hit it again. Still nothing. You know, often I am hesitant and I don’t push buttons if I am unsure, but, screw it. The alternative was admit to Sam I failed. I hit every button. And nothing. Damn again! I’d done everything right and nothing happened? It didn’t work. Bugger! So, I googled it, but it didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know already. I pushed all the buttons again. And… nothing. There was nothing for it but to message Sam. Damn! I don’t want to admit my technology failures to him. I took a photo of the TV and sent it with me request.

“Have you turned on the controller?” was his reply. Damn! Turn on the controller. So, simple. Bugger it! Fancy giving it away like that. Stumbled at the finish line. Grrrr! Turn the fucking thing on. Who ever turns on a remote?

“Duh!” came Sam’s final message.

I watched the Bride Came COD. It was great, despite it being black and white, it looked modern on the new teli.

I have to say, the old black and whites look great on a high definition TV. They've never looked better. I’m glad we got the new TV.

The new TV

Monday Again

I woke up with Buddy stretched out next to me.

Sam got out of the shower and said to bring Buddy downstairs, which I did. I’m sure Sam was just making sure that I got out of bed, not Buddy.

Sam left at 8am.

I pissed around online all morning. I didn’t write my blog, as I planned to. Get back into writing, I’ve been telling myself. I haven’t been doing very much since I got back from overseas. I was planning to do so much, be so disciplined. Ah, the best laid plans.

It was cold. It rained.

I lit the fire to warm the room.

I headed out to pay some bills. Afterwards, I looked in all the op shops at the second-hand CDs. The op shops that charge $2 and $3 don’t get my business. So, I headed to Cash Converters for any $1 bargains. I have bought so many CDs at Cash Converters, CDs that I once had, that I have lent to people, and that I have never bothered to replace.

I load them into iTunes and then I never have to play the CD again. (One day I’ll have to box them all up and take them to the Op-Shop)

I got Santana’s Ultimate Collection, which I combined with my existing greatest hits double cd to update it to circa 2010s. I took the cover and added Deluxe right across the front of it. I love digital music, more fun than making mixed tapes as a kid. $1 and my Santana collection is updated, you’ve got to love that. And on the new Ultimate Collection the tracks have been remastered, so I replaced the old versions I already had for the remastered versions, and my big, if you like, mixed-tape of Santana’s greatest hits is modernised.

Sunday

Sunday is cleaning day, of course.

The new TV came in a great big box, what the fuck do you do with them? I'd ripped up the box and started putting it into our recycled bin, but then I realised shops around the corner their recycled bins hadn’t been collected, and as they sit in our street for an inordinate amount of time, I figured they could do their bit, so I slipped the rest of the box into their recycle bins. They were half empty and just waiting to be collected, so it is no like I put any of the businesses out, or anything. And in no time the mountain of packaging was cleaned away. It almost seems like an environmentally friendly way to deal with garbage, you know, no more energy had to be expelled to clean things up.

I got the last of my mum’s furniture, a few weeks ago, two dining room tables and 16 dining room chairs. I told my sister I wanted the dining room table and chairs and she thought I meant both dining room tables and chairs. My mum had got the second setting from my great aunt when she died and couldn’t bear to part with them, but she had a much bigger house than I have. I had to take 8 dining room chairs to the Op-Shop, what else could I do? Lottie would have been so disappointed in that decision. I took the two tables and 8 chairs, fortunately, one of the tables is drop-sided. Somehow, we managed to squeeze them all in.

We rearranged everything today. It was kind of fun, you know, changing stuff around. How many of our houses don’t change at all in decades? I like the change around.

The new TV is great, I have to admit.

Sleeping with Buddy

It was all about setting up the new TV. The wires, the kilometres of cables joining everything together is mind boggling.

We had to go to the city the get HDMI cables. Again, JB HiFi couldn't help us, so we got them in Big W.

Buddy slept in our bed, as it was going to be zero over night, which is really unusual for Melbourne. He is not a considerate bed partner, he just stretches out as he sees fit. He likes to rest his head on obe of our stomachs as he goes to sleep.

The new TV still in its box

Buying the New TV

This morning, I felt mean about Sam getting shitty about me not paying attention to the big TV buying and in my attempt to be make up for it, the buying of the giant TV somehow was back on. Damn it. So quickly it happened, it spun my head. It was all in the decision that a 55 inch TV was too big and that a 49 inch TV was more suited to our lounge room. That decision necessitated me agreeing to buy a new TV, even if that wasn’t, exactly, what I meant.

Sam left at 8am, with a whistle on his lips. I waved him good bye, as usual, knowing I had lost the battle over the large TV.

I pissed around on Facebook, looked at carsales.com and watched icon4X4 videos on Youtube. Buddy sat in my lap. I wrapped us both up in the grey woollen blanket, it was cold. Milo came and snuggled in under the blanket as well, so I had a bulldog and a cat sitting in my lap, which is no mean feat.

Then it was lunch time. Easy morning.

4pm. Sam wanted me to call JB HiFi in Thomastown and Nunawading to find out the availability of 49 inch TVs, neither were answering very quickly. Well, the receptionist answered straight away, but the TV department wasn’t picking up. The on-hold voice never stopped talking. NEVER. Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. Jesus fuck! And the departments eventually did pick up, thank the fucking planet. They both had two in stock.

Sam was home by 4.30pm. We headed out to Thomastown to JB to look at a new big TV. Thomastown, because I was thinking it was just passed Bell Street and that the freeway to the eastern suburbs would be bumper to bumper by that time of day. Of course, Thomastown is a long way passed Bell Street. Never mind, the traffic was manageable for a Friday night.

JB wasn’t so helpful, none of the sets we wanted to look at were on display. And the shop assistant didn’t seem so keen to get them. Sam wanted to look at the remotes – to see how easy the system was to use – but the shop assistant wasn’t even keen to get them.

Sam knew, exactly what type of TV he wanted, one with a Android operating system.

So, we went to Harvey Norman next door and the guy was much more helpful. The shop assistant was great. As I’d managed to get the size of TV down from 55 inch to 49 inch, that is what we bought, a Sony 49 inch.

In the same business park was BevMarks not far from where the car was parked. We have been talking about buying a new bed base ever since we bought the tempur mattress last year, the year before. The shop assistant was lovely, very helpful, nothing was too much trouble. And we bought a new bed frame for our room.

We were home by 9pm. We got Thai take away diner.

Looking At the New TV

We went to the body corporate meeting for Sam’s house in Brunswick. Oh yes, the dreaded body corporate meeting. Kill me now. Sam, as you probably know, doesn’t drive, so I have to drive him, every year. It is only once a year, though, I’m sure it is a legislative obligation thing before the EOFY. It rained heavily just as we were leaving. Yay!

Virtually none of the owners turned up, which made me buzz with excitement thinking it could only lead to a short meeting. This is unusual, as normally all the owners are there, with a couple of them always banging on about how beautiful the townhouses were when their mothers were living there attending to the garden. Oh, shut the fuck up, please! Thankfully they weren’t there.

Neither was the guy who I am sure is involved in organised crime. He is never in his place, he spends most of his time OS. He has shifty eyes and can never really explain what he does. Or why he is nearly always behind in his payments, or why, sometimes, he is way ahead.

Oh, I don’t know?

Thankfully, it has little to do with me. I just sit on the side lines like Barbra Streisand at the poker game in Funny Girl.

We ate Nepalese food in Sydney Road.

Sam has been on about buying a large TV lately. I have fended off the idea successfully for some time, not wanting a cinema for a lounge room, but it seems I am now losing the battle.

We went to Harvey Norman in Preston on Bell Street to look at big TVs. Sam gets chatting to the shop assistant straight away. I still don’t know about a cinema screen in the lounge room. I start texting Jill instead of listening to Sam. She, of course, is no help, she says she wishes she knew we were going TV shopping, she would have come too. Sam is walking between TVs with the shop assistant. He is giving me looks. There are lots of screens, it is all a big mind boggling. I keep chatting to Jill. Sam gives me exasperated eyes. Suddenly, he is walking off. I follow. He has cracked the shits and is heading to the car, because I was, in his considered opinion, bitching to Jill on messenger and not taking the giant TV buying seriously.

So, good job, no giant TV to ruin the lounge room. Bad me!

Bolognese for Dinner

I made Bolognese for dinner. Midmorning till I headed out to meet Sam for lunch. I found that I even liked it. It was fun cooking. Some music and the kitchen to myself, it was enjoyable. I thought I should do it some more. Why not?

I used to cook with my mum when I was a young teenager until I leaned to drive and could leave the house on my own. Lottie and I in the kitchen on Saturdays afternoon, me cooking, she doing whatever she was doing. So, much to the surprise of a lot of my friends, I know how to cook.

Sam cooks and I clean, that has always been our agreement. But, you know, now I am off work, retired quite possibly, I guess I could cook from time to time, especially if I find I like it. Friends have told me that 50 is too young to retire, and my answer has always been, “Watch me.” Oh, I don’t know if I am retired, or not. But, I can tell you one thing, I was finding work less and less fulfilling, And I guess I can’t sit on my arse for the next 40 years and watch Youtube? (Can I?) Gotta do something, if I am not getting on with that great Australian novel.

I’d do that job with my old boss, Beck, but all my friends tell me it is bad form to wish Mel’s (who has the job now) cancer back just to obtain gainful employment. Rachel (even if it was she who said to put Mel’s name in my freezer) Jill, Mark, David, all the people from who I take my advice tut-tut and shake their heads when I suggest it. That from one of them who voted for Tony Abbot, which I feel is far worse crime.

When will Tony Abbot ever just shut the fuck up? Mate, when will you realise, you are yesterday's news. 

Nobody likes to get dumped, buddy, we all know it hurts, but if you are still stamping you foot and herumphing about the place in a sulk, as you seem to be doing, buddy, you just begin to look sad. 

How Hard It Is? Or Do I Expect Too Much?

How hard it is? 

Or do I expect too much?

I ask you?

We have quite a gap under our front door and on these cold days, weeks, quite a breeze blows in and cools the house considerably. The hallway leads to the rest of the house, as you would expect, upstairs and downstairs. So, we have a door sausage that solves the problem neatly and easily. The problem being, the housemates can only manage to push the sausage towards the front door after they come in, most of the time. And in this case, near enough is just not good enough. Somewhere near the gap under the door does not, in fact, stop any of the cold air coming in.

Really, I think, the purpose of the sausage is quite easily to understand. And approximately somewhere near the gap under the door, is obviously not going to work.

Really? Is that too hard a concept to grasp?

Ha ha, just another thing to complain about. Maybe, I need to give sausage lessons?

"Now take your sausage in your hand like this..."