End of the Month

End of the month, another end of month, there seems to be an end of month every week. The year is almost over. Another year is almost over. It is just about done. Halfway through the decade. The decade is heading towards being done. Five years ways from Covid. All of that palaver now 5 years away. And we thought we'd never get through it. 

Its one thing you can be sure of, this too will pass.

The months are flying by, as the years are too, the decades are disappearing. Fuck me!

Soon it will be summer, and warmer weather. Nice. Except for the fear of scorching hot days and bush fires burning us all to death. 

I do wonder at what point the world will collectively start taking climate change seriously?

Soon I'll be in shorts. I'm in shorts for months. I get so used to being in shorts, long pants always feel weird when I get back into them, kind of suffocating for my legs. Shorts are so free.

1st November tomorrow. Pinch, punch, first of the month.

Evolutionary Change

When I think about it, the only field in which the human race has sustained revolutionary change is in the medical field, we haven't really done that in any other area of life.

Not really.

I, guess, you'd probably have to say space travel/exploration also simply because it didn't exist before.

We have evolved many areas of life in the last few thousand years, but, essentially, we still live the same way. Family structure & shelter, need for wealth, of some sort, need for sustenance. The very essence of our lives hasn't changed so much.

I guess the tech guys would tell you differently, but we have always had a need to communicate, the very basic nature of that hasn't changed and that's all the tech guys give us at a very basic level. They have essentially only really evolved the carrier pigeon, or the smoke signal. They haven't developed telepathy, or teleportation technologies, now have they.

Hump Day

I am still feeling like I should be doing something, you know, niggling somewhere in the back of my mind. It's weird, annoying, hard to let that work thing go, hey.

I'm still playing with AI image creation and re-writing stories.

I have created small pieces of art work to go with my stories on my fictional blog. They are kind of amateurish, created with photoshop created by hand. Well, I went through and put descriptions of each into an AI generator and the results were impressive. Not sure at present if I am going to replace my original artwork, or not.

This made me laugh, on the news, it was said that a 13 year old boy was saved from a sticky situation in Alphington. Rescuers  pulled him to safety. Don't the news writers hear what they are saying?

Anyway...

Have I ever told you I find boats creepy. Not speed boats, I guess that's because I was bought up on them as a water skier as a kid. But anything bigger, especially ocean liners, super creepy. The thought of them just gives me chills. I wonder if there is a name for that?

I'm not sure that I would call it a fear, I just find them creepy, but anyway, 

The fear of ships is known as naviphobia or navisphobia, a phobia that can also be connected to other anxieties like megalophobia (fear of large objects) and submechanophobia (fear of submerged man-made objects). It can be triggered by past negative maritime experiences, movies, or the sheer size of vessels and may result in symptoms like panic, sickness, or anxiety. 

It is a glorious day, the sun is shining, the weather is just perfect. Sam is in the office, apparently all his bosses have turned up and he has to go into the office for the next few days to meet with them.

He said, "kill me now." Closely followed by, "have I told you I don't want to work anymore?"

Every day, hun.

Go To The Gym

Is it Wednesday? No, it's Tuesday. No, it's Wednesday. Tuesday. It's Tuesday. It's Tuesday. I can't tell you how much I love being on holidays.

The sun is shining, it is a gorgeous day outside, really spectacular, even if it isn't as warm as it looks, but that just makes it deliciously fresh.

I could sit here and continue generating AI cowboy images all day, but, really? I should drag my sorry arse off to the gym.

In fact, as David says, think it, do it.

So, I get up and take myself out the door to the grim.

Writing Day

It was a lazy kind of day, I sat on my arse, and the day drifted away.

I didn't go to the gym, which means I won't go Mon, Wed & Fri, if I go tomorrow it means I will only go Tue & Thu.

I did finish a second short story though. I have lots of short stories that I have started but have never finished, so I've decided that during my holidays I'm going to try and finish them. I've finish two so far.

I had already written parts of it in note form and I just had to extend those out. It just flowed. Those days when it flows are what it's all about. Then once I am done, I feel drained.

So what inspiration I can get back tomorrow.

I did have a crack at a 3rd story this arvo, but it was hard work, not just flowing out of me, but that's okay. I got something. I always think whatever you get, even if it isn't much, is still good as, you know, it will lead to the next bit. And you just need to get the next bit, then the next bit, and hopefully, one day, the rest will just flow.

I put the first completed story on my fiction blog. It is supposed to be dark humour, it's too early for me to see if it works, that comes after some distance.. It will need to be re-written again, but it's okay so far.

And now I have finished a second one. That's not bad, hey. I'm well pleased with that, as Katherine Tate would say. (Or Nan's cute grandson) I'll put the second one on my fiction blog next.

I continued playing around with AI image creator.

Sam worked all day in the study. He's been really busy lately, with meeting after meeting, after meeting. He says he doesn't want to work any more. Who does, I tell him.

Grey, Wet Sunday

And the rain came down. It is predicted to be torrential, but then it so often is. I guess, we'd better get used to it, changing weather being what it is. Governments inaction being what it is.

We're inside, couches, blankets, thick socks, what else is there to do? I'm tempted to light a fire, except it isn't really cold.

I've been playing with AI images, broken up by Sam insisting I do the vacuuming.

Now I might write a story.

The rain falls continuously on the lounge room roof.

We're doing screens.

Sam is perusing The Hungry Panda menu for lunch. I told him I want the mango desert, when he asked what I want. Sam just looked at me in response.

Charlie has only just got up, oh to be 22 again.

The rain starts to fall heavier.

In the end, Hungry Panda didn't get the gig. Sam stir-fried noodles.

I watched DailyDrivenDeathTraps, and their 64 Barracuda. Sean and Alex have the best arses on YouTube.

Eventually, the torrential rain came, and boy did it come down. It didn't last for very long, but in that time parts of the city flooded from all reports.

Saturday

Late morning we head into the city and have haircuts. Oh, it was a what-to-do kind of day and that was the best we could come up with.

It was gorgeously overcast and threatening rain all the way on the walk in.

When Sam was having his haircut, the rain did start falling gently on my head, which I love. Enough rain to notice, but not enough to encourage you to try and get under shelter and away from it. It is a certain kind of freedom.

After haircuts, we head across town to get Indian food. 

We’re walking down Little Bourke Street, and what appears to be a homeless woman pushing suitcases walks towards me. 

She looks at Brun and she says to me, “God that dog’s ugly.” 

My mind, of course reals, with answers like, and you appear to be doing so well in life, or how do you seriously think I would respond to that comment? I say nothing, it’s a free world she can say what she likes. She’s entitled to her opinion.

And I’m lucky. And she's not.

It kind of made me feel smug, in a weird kind of way. That I just didn't care what she said. I just kept walking, without missing a beat.

I buy a Tina Turner CD on the way home. Tina Turns On The Country. It is the only CD of hers I don't have. I never thought I would actually buy it. Country, nyr. But there it was, and so I did.

It was quite a nice day to be out walking, despite the grey sky.

Family Time

It was dinner tonight at the local pub with my cousins. My brother, Will, organised it. We did it near my place, in fact in my street. We all keep saying we need to catch up more, so Will organised it

We all had a good time. My brother, and sister, Roz, both came with their partners. My brother and sister in-law, Reece, bought their dog, Boo, which they left at my place. But, he's a very small dog, so we left him separately to our dogs. Er, I'm pretty sure they would have all been okay together, but better to be safe.

I ate Caesar Salad. Sam ate fish & chips, so did my sister in-law Reece. My sister Roz and Cousin M had Beef Ragu. Brother Will had Gnocchi. My brother in-law Grant had chicken schnitzel, because Roz ordered it instead of Chicken Parmigiana. Oops. Cousin G had Barramundi. Cousin H and her partner D had Chicken Parmigiana. I drank two glasses of shiraz, which is almost unheard of for me. Cousin M and Cousin G drank white wine, they like a drink. 

My cousins are great. We all get on really well. We all laughed.

I sat next to Cousin M, who is really funny, she even made her recent breast cancer treatment sound not so frightening.

It's nice to spend time with family, we never do it enough. We all promised to catch up again soon.

The Gym

I went to the gym early.

During my previous gym visit, a couple of days ago, I realised that it made me feel better than the effort it took to do it. It was somewhat of a revelation, I minor one to be sure. But a good thing.

The revelation made me feel as good as the workout.

I was somewhat pleased with all of that.

No, I was. Funny the things you think sometimes, hey?

Anyway, I am feeling some much more positive about the gym than I did, which I am sure is only a good thing.

I will stop referring to it as The Grim. Maybe? Soon.

Armageddon

It was raining early in the day, I think when I woke up, but then it stopped late morning.

We were warned of catastrophic weather conditions starting this afternoon. A thunder storm asthma warning was issued.

So, I took the dogs for a walk in the morning.

Then I sat on my computer in the lounge re-writing an old story waiting for the sky to fall in.

It was, actually, kind of sunny all day where I was.

It got grey late afternoon, and maybe there was some light rain.

Apparently, the wind and the rain did eventuate in some parts of the city. Trees blew over. The SES had a full dance card. I believe a person died due to something falling on them.

None of the catastrophic conditions happened where we were. I'm guessing even the weather report has to make the ratings, though.

Buildings & Clouds

 

Nice clouds. Interesting light. Great glass building. I thought it looked as though it might take off. Well, there was movement, sure there was. Make it bigger, it kind of goes 3D. (said the footy player to the groupie)

Sleeping In

I've always been a good sleeper, Sam and I are both asleep within minutes of putting our heads on the pillow. Sam can fall asleep while I am in mid sentence to him.

In recent years, I have been waking up at 5am, I just thought that was how it was going to be for now. I have learnt to go to bed early because Sam goes to bed early, so I go to bed at 10.30pm instead of 12.30am like I always was used to. I thought that had something to do with it.

Apparently not, since I have been on holidays, I have been sleeping in again until 7am. Maybe that is just the beginning. 9am, here I come.

How bad is work for us?

There is a part of me that doesn't mind getting up early, that time to myself is great, but it would be nice to get up early because you choose to, and to sleep in because you choose to.

Sunday

Is it Sunday? That's right, isn't it? Every day feels like Saturday, even today. It's difficult to know what day it is when all your reference points fall away. What day? I have to stop and think. It is deliciously, oh, I wanted to say decadent, but it's not decadent, that would be downgrading decadent just a touch, it is deliciously comforting, knowing that it is all smooth sailing for as far as I can see into the future. It's lovely really.

We went and at lunch out. 30 degrees was promised, which, you know infers sunshine. It look as though it was going to rain the whole time, but it didn't. It stayed grey overhead and threatening, but the threat never eventuated.

We stumbled across the Italian festival as we transversed suburbs, that was interesting. And, as you'd probably expect, it was all about food. And cars, there was a whole display of Italian cars.

I fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon. Ah, that is the best, just drifting off, just like that, not a care.

Saturday

The sun shone, it was a glorious morning. We walked the dogs in the sun to the shops. It is always a nice walk.

We did the shopping in Abbotsford. There were none of the, shall we say, socially challenged in sight today. That part of town has a diverse range of punters, shall we say, of which I always love being apart, from drug addicts to lawyers, although the distance between the two may not be so wide, just one always gets up Monday morning and goes to work, and the other doesn't.

There is a guy with a gangrenous leg in a wheel chair who abuses you if you ignore him, there are those who are clear 'sped up' on who knows what. There are the are-ya-chasin, to the got-any-change brigade. There are those with portable speakers on full out completely oblivious, there are those who cross the road, completely oblivious to the traffic. There are those who do drug deals right in front of me, seemingly oblivious.

Oh yes, it is a glorious melting pot.

We bought pork rolls and sesame balls for lunch. The bánh mì shops have multiplied in recent times, so the shop we go to now has shorter queues. 

We walked home in the sun shine. I seem to remember getting all the lights, which is no mean feat with a couple of bulldogs.

We ate the pork rolls for lunch.

I made tea. We ate the sesame balls.

We watched multiple episodes of Celebrity Traitors. I was determined not to get sucked into it, but I did get sucked in. It's not a stupid piece of shit like Taskmaster, it is actually entertaining.

We did screens for the rest of the afternoon.

Every Day Is A Saturday

That's my first week off done. Every day seriously feels like a Saturday. It is a bit disconcerting and huge satisfying all at the same time.

Oh, it is nice to switch off, really nice. Switching off may be one of the greatest joys. Who cares? Not a care. I can say whatever and really mean it. You have got to love that.

I may never go back work.

Smashing Glass

Smashing up our lives

smashing up the world,

voting right wingers into power,

inexplicably, I don’t know why,

who won’t do anything to save us,

who’ll do everything to make a buck for themselves,

and we all seem to be okay with that,

when from all report’s emissions 

are increasing at an alarming rate,

and the only thing we seem to be doing 

is smashing glass on the ground under our own feet,

Why? because we hate ourselves so much?

Who can say really?

This is just a guess. Truly.

Keep smashing that glass, if it makes you feel better.

If you think it makes the world sweeter.

But, I can’t see it, not really.

I just think that is kind of silly.

And where do you think that will take us in the end?

It’s hard to defend.

Broken glass lying on the ground under our feet.

The news gets more dire.

The leaders of so many countries are such liars.

And we all feel powerless, 

to stop the world going to hell before our eyes.

So, we smash glass all over the ground,

as such a tantrum is all we have left to make a sound,

against everything turning the world to shit,

so, we are told every night by the next news rating hit.

Little cogs in a big wheel, we’re now being told how to feel

Protests are legislated out of our reach…

Smashing Up Our Lives?

Do you think the epidemic of smash glass on our footpaths in our cities is evidence of people hating their lives, and wanting to smash things up in response? 

There just seems to be smash glass everywhere. Don't you see it covering our footpaths? We're all walking on broken glass. A metaphor for the world we live in today?

The Rest Of The Day

I went and bought CDs from an opshop, one of my favourite things to do. Rummaging through all the shit to find the diamonds. Sometimes I only buy the CD for one track, but when you are paying $1 for the CD it is cheaper than buying the tracks online. Upload them into my iTunes, there done. Cheaper than buying them from Apple.

I pumped up my bike tyres (I like my bike tyres like my men) and rode that to the shops.

Sam and I took the dogs for a walk in the afternoon. It seems so different walking the dogs on a day off. It is more like a lovely break from whatever I was doing, to feel the sun on my skin and to breathe in the fresh air and less like a chore that has to be done. Not that it is ever really a chore, but you know, sometimes when you are tired from work. Stretch the legs and all that.

It didn't hurt that it was a glorious day, weather wise. It honest to goodness sparkled.

That's what I did on my first day. Nothing else. I didn't have to do anything else. I couldn't work in the garden as my green waste bin is full, and you know, that is the kind of drama in the day I could get used to.

Off To The Gym

I guess this is my first day of holidays.

Off to the gym. Er! Groan.

As Sam says, it's either go, or cancel your membership?

Grimace. He's right.

Big exhale. Yes, yes, get fit. No, no, don't waste money.

Grrr!

And Exhale

And today I feel sick. I think it is my body expelling all the work toxins.

The good tra la la bacteria is being reinstated.

The right side of my brain is taking over again.

The moons are aligning.

For a future being bright.