Bunyips are mythological creatures from Aboriginal legend. They seem to vary a lot, but one thing I've definitely heard about them is that they spring up out of nowhere and take a big bite out of you or rip out your throat or some similar horribleness. Today I encountered one.

Miranda's school has an absolutely horrific parking situation. Basically, there isn't any. I leave the house anywhere from half and hour to three quarters of an hour before school lets out, so that I can find a place to park (I bring a book along). I'm extremely conscientious about where I park. I take care not to block the bus stops, not to block people's drives, not to park too far into the street, etc. This is always my habit.

Today, however, I was late. I often take a nap in the afternoon, and I set the alarm on my mobile phone to wake me. I did so, today. However, this weekend was the Daylight Savings Time adjustment. I thought my phone would automatically adjust, and it should, but I found out much later that the DST setting was off. So the alarm didn't go off and I was late.

When I got to where I normally park, it was full of cars. I pulled up behind one and checked to see that I wasn't blocking the drive behind me. I was close, certainly, but I wasn't blocking it, and I thought, "Well, I think that should be okay if they need to get in or out." That momentary lapse in judgment led to a rather vicious verbal attack.

When I got back to the car, the woman whose house was there told me to please not block her driveway. I apologised. It was sincere. She then went on some more. I apologised again, I told her it would never happen again (certainly, this was a one-off incident, given my usual habits of transportation and parking and so on). The more I apologised, the angrier she got. She accused me of all manner of evil, including having blocked her driveway previously. As I am absolutely and in all ways certain that has NEVER happened, I said, "I've never blocked your driveway before." She called me a liar. She said that if I did it today, I must have done it before. She told me she had my license plate number, and she threatened to call the police. She went on at some length, talking about how "all you people" constantly block her driveway and how selfish I am and a few other rather nasty accusations. I finally said, "Look, I've apologised, and it was sincere. I have told you it won't happen again. What more do you want?" Well, the answer was she wanted to abuse me some more.

Eventually, I just gave up and I got in the car and said, "God bless you. I hope you wake up."

I was telling the truth to her, I was sincerely sorry she had been inconvienienced, I told her I'd be sure it wouldn't happen again, and I was owning up to it. Seriously, what more COULD I do in that situation? Shoot myself in the head? Fall on the ground sobbing with shame, begging for her to please kick me to make sure I got her terribly important message? What did she want? Simple answer, she wanted to abuse me.

Normal people would have said, "Please don't block my drive any more," and the other person would have said, "I'm sorry, it won't happen again," and the first person would have said something like, "See that it doesn't. I've got your license plate number!" and then huffed off into the house or something. It was a minor, MINOR thing. I wasn't even all that close to her driveway (honestly, I sincerely believed that anyone who wanted to pull in would have been able to do easily, but she informed me that she had "a very difficult time", for which I am sorry).

How do you reason with somebody like that? Simple answer is, you don't.

You know, she's lucky I'm not a vengeful person. She's fortunate that I don't make plans to do something like, say, visit her house some night with a carton of rotten eggs. Or put dog poo in her mailbox. She's fortunate that I don't have any friends who are criminally inclined, who I might be able to persuade to come around her place and rough it up a bit. She's lucky that I don't have friends who are into graffiti tagging. Honestly, you can't just accost a perfect stranger on the street, and in front of their child, no less! She's a fortunate woman, because I don't have criminal friends, I won't egg her house or muck her postbox, and while her nasty little attack did trigger a Post Traumatic Stress flashback (haven't had one in ages), I don't wish her any particular ill.

I do, however, sincerely hope that she wakes up to herself, and gets over herself, as well. Life is way too short to be verbally ripping the guts out of a complete stranger who just happened - on a one-time event - to park a little too close to your driveway.

Well, it's definitely spring, finally. I'm still recovering from my bout of flu, still very hoarse and somewhat irritable and tired. I did work up the energy to go outside and do a bit of yard work (shock horror), mostly just poisoning the alien-appearing weeds that have cropped up in the front yard.

And then I cleaned out the produce area of the kitchen and got rid of a bunch of apples and potatoes and other fruits and veg that have seen better days. We've got a new-to-us (i.e., it's not new but we didn't have it in our possession prior to this week) composting bin, and so I've started filling it up. The used cat litter is going to go in there, as well (we buy paper-based stuff that is totally compostable/biodegradable). It's a pretty big bin, so I don't know how long it'll take to get the compost really going, but having a cat means you have a never ending supply of poo and litter, so maybe it'll take less time than I think...

I'm pretty tired now, though. I didn't do that much, but I feel pretty exhausted, and my cough isn't quite gone, nor has my voice returned entirely yet (I lost it entirely for a while there, due to all the coughing). But, I do feel pleased that it's spring. Spring is good. And so is life.

I hope this will be the last entry in the ongoing saga of my unfair suspension from eBay (more entries on my unfair eBay suspension, the letter I sent to eBay regarding this unfair suspension, and an entry on my father-in-law's unfair eBay suspension, and yes, I'm deliberately "seeding" those links so that search engines will more easily pick them up).

I got the email from eBay a couple hours ago (i.e., outside of Australian work hours, which means it was handled from somewhere else). There were two things to note. Firstly, there was no apology whatsoever, even though it was entirely their error. Secondly, they spelled my name wrong, despite having documentation in front of them (they even said in the email that they had reviewed the documentation!).

They also didn't mention whether they had removed the board restriction which led to all this. I have zero intention of posting on eBay's boards, but if my husband were to do so (since we share an IP address), we might have to go through this whole rigamarole again.

Meanwhile, my father-in-law has lodged a formal complaint against eBay with the Fair Trade Commission, complete with supporting documentation. He contacted eBay support SIX times and just got the runaround from them, so he just filed a complaint. What good it may do, I don't know, but I hope he gets some satisfaction from it, in whatever way it comes.

And my brother-in-law, whose account was the first one suspended (apparently), just got fed up with them, deleted all eBay cookies, and got a new account, which is, of course, against the rules, but I'm not going to tell eBay about it. I have, of course, just published it in my blog, but I think the odds of any human at eBay actually reading my blog are slim to none, and, well, I can't say I care much if my brother-in-law's account gets suspended again because he's actually breaking the rules (as opposed to not breaking them and getting suspended).

My in-laws are back from a trip overseas, and it seem that my father-in-law's eBay account is suspended as well as my buying account and my brother-in-law's account (see: this entry about why eBay are morons and then the entry with more about why eBay are morons and then this entry about what I wrote to the morons at eBay if you want/need to know more about this sickening ongoing saga). It turns out that my father-in-law's account is suspended, too. Apparently, he posted to the eBay boards, protesting the "required to use PayPal" thing and eBay decided that he was my brother-in-law and my brother-in-law was me or whatever it is that they decided. My father-in-law is not impressed, to say the least.

My mother-in-law's account is intact. Apparently, she didn't post to the boards, so that was okay. You can use the same IP address (and even the same computer) but you can't post to eBay's boards from any IP address that I've used. Whatever.

I haven't heard back from eBay regarding my suspension, but I only posted the letter yesterday. The probably got it today (generally, Melbourne to Sydney is an overnight delivery). They'll almost certainly drag their feet on it. I may hear back eventually. Who knows. I don't really care that much, and that's the truth. If they want to lose a customer, it's fine with me.

I did, however, receive an unpaid item strike on account of all this bullsh*t. As it happens, I know the seller quite well and I was in contact with her as soon as my account was suspended. I asked her to invoice me. She was very sympathetic, having had her own account suspended for stupid stuff in the past. However, she's currently on vacation, and I think she must have an automated thing to file a non-paying bidder dispute after seven days. Since I am currently suspended, she automatically "won" the dispute. She can (and I'm sure she will) reverse the strike against me when she gets back from her vacation and realises what happened. In the meantime, I'm wearing a strike because eBay thinks I'm my brother-in-law.

EBay deserves every bit of bad corporate karma they're reaping in the courts these days. Until and unless they do right by their customers, they're going to fail. I don't post much about their corporate bullsh*t here, but trust me, I keep an eye on what they're up to (because I follow e-commerce trends in general, and I used to be an eBay PowersSeller until I figured out how unreliable they are as a business platform... and said so on the eBay boards back in 2006... and got suspended from them...)

In the ongoing saga of eBay unfairly suspending my buyer account, I decided to go ahead and send them the paperwork they want from me, wherein I promise not to be naughty and I prove to them that I am who I say I am. I'm not sure why I'm bothering. Mostly, I keep getting emails from eBay about various things and I have no way to turn them off. It's annoying.

So I filled out the form and ticked the boxes and I printed it out and signed it. And then I photocopied my drivers license (both sides). And then I wrote them a letter. Mind you, they may well take exception to my attitude and refuse to reinstate my account, but I wasn't willing to just meekly accept that I was in the wrong, because I wasn't. Not this time. (I fully accept, as I've mentioned before, the suspension from eBay's discussion boards, and I have honoured that by not posting there since 2006).

Here's what I wrote:

To whom it may concern:

I have filled out and signed the required form and photocopied my Victoria Drivers License. Note that I have copied both sides, as we've moved and my address has changed. The address on the back is the current one, and is the one registered with eBay.

I am familiar with the rule under which my account was suspended, but I would like to note that I did not actually violate this rule. Back in 2006, I was suspended from the eBay boards (but NOT from eBay trading). I chose not to appeal and I have abided by the restriction and have not posted to the boards since then.

However, several months ago, my husband's brother was visiting our home and he used our internet service in order to connect to eBay (he is a buyer and a seller; I am a buyer ONLY). Apparently, he posted to the eBay boards. Ebay, in their wisdom, decided to suspend his account and mine, as well. Until the day my account was suspended, I didn't even know what his username was. I only worked out what had actually happened by piecing it together for myself; eBay's customer support was no help whatsoever in helping me to find out what had happened and why I was suspended!

So, yes, I certainly promise not to violate a rule that I didn't violate already and I won't let my brother-in-law use my internet service to post to eBay any more. I hope this is satisfactory.

By the way, my account has been in effect since 2000. I have spent literally thousands of dollars on eBay, and I frequently pay with PayPal, giving eBay even more money (at the sellers' expense, of course, but still, eBay pockets it). I have 100% feedback on my account.

Suspending me for something I didn't do, refusing to help me work out what actually happened and why I was being suspended, and now requiring me to promise I won't do it again (without even telling me what "it" was that I supposedly did; I'm fortunate that I was clever enough to figure it out, otherwise I'd still be wondering!) and send you copies of my personal documents isn't really what I call improving the buyer experience.

Please reinstate my account. I apologise for allowing my brother-in-law to use my internet service to post to eBay boards (though I didn't know he did it, nor did I think it would be a problem, given that he's not suspended from the boards and I haven't posted to them since my suspension from them in 2006).

While I'm at it, perhaps you might lift my board suspension to prevent this from ever happening again. I don't want to post on the boards (when I was suspended, I accepted it fully and was somewhat relieved, as a matter of fact), but I don't like the idea that if my husband were to log on from our shared internet service and post there (not that he does or would, but it's within the realm of possibility at some point), we'll have to go through this song and dance again.

I want you to know that this experience has left a bitter taste in my mouth. I am a good and regular buyer. I didn't deserve this treatment, nor did my brother-in-law. I don't know if you've also suspended my father-in-law and/or mother-in-law; they used the same internet service (I doubt they posted to the boards, though).

Thank you for your time. It is my hope that eBay will, for once, do the right thing.

As I wrote a couple days ago, my eBay buying account has been suspended. Note that my husband's account has not been suspended. Nor has my selling account (which doesn't actually have a seller component attached to it at the moment). Only my BUYING account.

After some detective work and help from third parties, I've worked out the the other user they think is me is actually my brother-in-law, David (who, by the way, still has not contacted me about this, despite the fact that he knows I was suspended; I had to work it out entirely on my own). Until this suspension, I had no clue what his eBay username even was, nor did I care.

What appears to have happened is that six months or so ago, David was visiting our home and he logged on to eBay via our wireless network (with permission, of course). While he was logged on, he posted to the eBay forums. Now, six months or so later, eBay suddenly compared IP addresses or something and decided that he was me and that I had violated my suspension from eBay's boards (which I most certainly have not done).

And in order for eBay to reverse their mistake, they expect me to fax or post them private documents to prove my identity. This is a BUYER account, folks. It is not a seller who needs eBay to make enough money to pay the electricity bill. This is someone who comes to eBay with the intention of BUYING things. You know, the person whose experience eBay is always talking about improving? Yeah. And because my brother-in-law, who did NOT have a suspension, posted to eBay's forums while visiting my home, I now am expected to jump through hoops to prove to eBay that it's really okay to let me buy things on their site.

They deserve to lose a buyer.

I haven't yet decided if I can be bothered to do this. I do NOT agree that I violated any rules, because I did not (it's not against the rules to allow a relative to use your wireless internet, no matter how eBay spins it). There are plenty of other places on the net that I can spend my money (and it's getting close to when I start doing Christmas shopping, actually). Do I care enough to send them in photocopies of my drivers' license and other documents they have no need to see in the first place? Hmmm.... tough call....

Got some weird sh*t from eBay today.

First, a notice that my "bid" had been cancelled on an item I bought months ago via BuyItNow. Item was bought, paid for, has been received. I have no clue how/why they would cancel a "bid" on an item I bought months ago. Weird, I think.

Then I go on to the next email and find that my account has been suspended.

This is an account I've had since 2000. It's my primary buying account, and it's associated with a PayPal account, so it's not like they can't check out who I am. I have literally thousands of dollars worth of purchases on that account, and 100% feedback. I have never done anything with that account except buy (I don't think I've even posted on any boards with it).

A few years ago, when I got just a little to outspoken on the eBay boards, they suspended my posting ability. They suspended my selling account (which I still have but no longer use), my posting ID, and my buying account from using the boards. No biggie (I was sick of the boards anyway), but they did manage to CORRECTLY figure out which accounts where mine.

This time, though, they can't work it out. They just plain suspended my buying account:

Hello [username], [email address]

We regret that your eBay account has been suspended due to the following policy violation:

*Previously Suspended User*
eBay prohibits users who are currently suspended from registering new accounts. Our records indicate that your account is associated with the following previously suspended account(s):
mysterycoms

To familiarise yourself with this policy, go to:

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/rfe-previously-suspended.html

For details on our other policies, go to:

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/overview.html

Due to the suspension of your account you are prohibited from using eBay in any way. This includes registering a new account.

Please note that this does not relieve you of your obligation to pay any fees you may owe to eBay.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards,

eBay International AG

My only response to this is.... WTF? I have NO CLUE who that user is. I have NO CLUE why they would associate my buying account with that user. And they clearly have NO CLUE because they haven't suspended my other accounts.

I'm in two minds about this. One part of me wants to fight it and show them that they screwed up YET AGAIN. Another part of me says, "Pffft. F**kit. They want to get rid of a 100% FB buyer, well, let them!"

Is there any way to appeal an eBay suspension? There doesn't appear to be....

Okay, just now I went and investigated a bit more. Apparently, I owe them $0 and this is why my account has been suspended. I'm not making that up.

Your account balance is: AU $0.00 as of Dec-22-05 07:53:36 PST

They give me the option of paying them by DirectPay, Credit Card, or I can mail in a money order. For ZERO dollars. On a seller account that I don't have (all my seller accounts are closed). For some association with some other user I've never heard of. I mean, W. T. F.

Okay, just for fun I tried to make a one-time payment of ZERO dollars. The system won't let me.

Honestly, what a bunch of idiots. They go on and on about how they want to "improve the buying expeirence"? Well, this isn't improving my buying experience... Really, I'm just to the point of not caring any more. They can't manage to keep their accounts straight and their stuff in order, well, they DESERVE to lose a customer.

Late last year, or maybe it was early this year, I wrote here about my resolution to be happy. It wasn't a New Year's resolution because I made it on Boxing Day (26 December), when we went for a family day out and just had a perfect and incredibly happy day.

Anyway, I've actually mostly achieved it. Seriously. I'm happy most of the time. And I don't mean just okay, I mean, I'm actually happy. Even when stuff looks crappy (and sometimes it really does), I tend not to get too bogged down with it. I just prefer to be happy and to believe that it will all work out and guess what? It does. And that makes me happy. And the cycle continues...

Mostly, this is a profound attitude change, and the breaking of a lifetime of habit of thought. It's taken some time and vigilance to re-train my habitual thought patterns, but I'm doing it, and the old, negative thoughts are becoming less and less common, and the new, happy thought patterns are becoming the norm.

I know, it probably sounds like some sort of weird denial or something, but honestly, it isn't. I know denial (trust me on that one), and I know that thing where you pretend to be happy or you ignore what's really going on and smile, anyway... This is totally different. It's real, genuine joy. It flows from somewhere inside me, like a wellspring. I am not always overtly aware of it, but it takes very little effort to just relax and let it flow. Even when I'm tired and cranky and situations are not what I would like them to be, I can tap into it. Sometimes it's just a sort of pleasant contentment, sometimes it's full on bliss, but it's always there, if I just let myself experience it.

Good stuff, happiness. And surprising, too. I used to think that it was impossible to be happy most of the time (let alone all the time), but that was when I thought that happiness depended on external circumstances. Now I know better. Happiness, joy, that all comes from inside... I'm grateful that I've found out how to tap into it.

Okay, the title of this post has nothing to do with the content, other than a very vague word play. I just really like Mel Brooks' History of the World Part 1.

We have a tree in our front yard, just outside my office window. In that tree is a birdseed cake. Just now I looked out to see that there were a mated pair of King Parrots in the tree, eating seeds. I can't recall having ever seen King Parrots before in the wild! Woo! Parrots in the tree outside my window! Woo!

This tree has also been host to a flock of about six Sulpher Crested Cockatoos, a pair of Crimson Rosellas, and, most commonly, Australian Magpies, who live in the bigger tree nearby and seem to regard the property as their own.

All the years I've been here and I've still never gotten over parrots in the trees. It never fails to delight me...

So I managed to get a nasty trojan/virus on my system. Yes, I run a very good virus software program, as well as several other protections (spyware, registry monitors, etc.). The thing is, the virus software is super sensitive and it gets all worked up over the smallest stuff, and it has been known to have false positives on some things that I KNOW were not actually trojans (it gets worried about the size of zip files, just as one example).

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure how it happened, as I was sorely distracted and not paying as much attention as I should have and I managed to click something that popped up (thinking that the virus warning was a false positive because I wasn't paying close enough attention *sighs and rolls eyes*) and suddenly my computer is very badly infected. Ugh.

Long, painful, aggravating story shorter, I spent hours searching around trying to find a way to fix this (it appears to be a very new trojan/virus combination, and it's a nasty hybrid, so nothing I had available would actually remove all of it, though several programs removed parts of it and I removed some bits of it manually). I got rid of the actual files that were causing trouble, but at some point during the adventure, the registry got corrupted. Big time. Like, you couldn't write to parts of it at all. I'd make changes and reboot and it was like that movie, Groundhog Day. Same thing over and over and over and over because the registry changes weren't being saved.

After trying everything I could think of to fix it (and having been mucking around with computers for more than ten years, that's quite a lot), I finally gave in and accepted that I'd have to reinstall Windows, which I did.

Happily, I thought to make backups of all my documents and settings and my bookmarks are magically saved via Foxmarks (good extension for Firefox, I recommend it!) and most of my files are on drives other than the boot drive, plus I'm a digital pack rat and I keep copies of files that I download, so I had almost all the files I needed on hand, including Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. I even had all my passwords backed up (I use RoboForm, another program I highly recommend).

I still have some more stuff to install, and I'm quite irritated about having wasted the weekend on something stupid like this, but I must say, doing the reinstall fixed a few really annoying issues with the boot sequence and it's always good to have a cleanup now and then. This computer has been running on the same Windows install for years now, and it was getting a little raggedy (which is probably why the registry corruption happened; on a more functional installation, it probably would have been fine once the offending files were removed).

It is quite weird that Windows has, for reasons that are beyond me, reassigned all of the drive letters. My boot drive is now E, and C is my scratch drive (i.e., a drive where I just put stuff I don't want to keep, so I can format the whole drive if I want to and clean it up). I didn't know that Windows could boot off of a drive other than C, but there you go. Learn something new every day, eh?

Andrew's a bit of poet. He's not like one of those dramatic, scarf-wearing, standing-in-the-rain type poets. He just likes to play with rhythm and word density. He writes amusing verse sometimes. On the main page for this very website is a poem Andrew wrote which is meant to sound like the King James Old Testament poetry, in fact.

Anyway, he now has a formally published poem, except it's not really a poem. More like... free verse meets haiku. It's on the public transport system (along with many others), but it's also on the web, along with with an extremely amusing autobiographical paragaph.

I did take him to task somewhat over the way he used the word "contemporary" in the description. I think he could have chosen a better word, and I don't think the way he used it was quite correct. He defended his choice of word, of course, but I still think he was wrong on the internet (which is why I must correct him; can't have people going around being wrong on the internet now, can we?)

I will complain slightly that I was originally the one who came up with the idea of nursing homes filled with tattooed people with pierced eyebrows, but he's forgiven for stealing my ideas. Fact is, we've been together so long now and our minds are so intertwined that it's hard to tell who thought what first. But I'm sure that this was originally my concept. No matter. I'll steal something from him and get it published one day. That'll show him. Or something.

Well, as I mentioned, we moved a few weeks ago, and it's been quite hectic and chaotic around. I've still got a ton of stuff to unpack. We have more books than any sane people need, we really do, but we got most of them unpacked tonight (still have a few more boxes of them at Andrew's parents' house in the garage where they've been stored for some years). Some of the books, the ones we want to keep but don't read often, got put back into boxes and shoved under our bed, which is a good enough place for them and a good enough use of the space.

We also acquired a new printer this weekend. We needed one, anyway, after my old one packed it in a few months ago (some sort of internal logic fault; it couldn't figure out when it was finished printing and it would think it was still going and, oh, it was just a mess). Printers are not, in fact, designed to last very long, and that one lasted for several years, so I guess it did what it was supposed to do: break down completely after a few years.

Anyway, the new printer is a Brother, and I chose it specifically because it has a paper TRAY rather than that stupid feed on the back where you stand the paper up. I hate those, they always jam up on me. This one is nicely contained and the paper is all tucked up nicely inside, so that's an improvement over the old printer, anyway.

I've had a cold for the past week and a half or so. Early last week I got the chills really badly, which turned into a fever, which turned into sweats. Ugh. I had to have Andrew take Miranda to school on Tuesday so I could sleep in, as I felt like I'd been hit by a truck or something. By the afternoon, I felt well enough to get Miranda from school, but I've been sleeping the days away most of the week. I just crawl back into bed after I get back home, and set my phone alarm to go off in time to grab a bite to eat and get out of the house in time to pick up Miranda.

Got a headache at the moment. I bashed myself in the head getting something out of the car this evening. It hurt like crazy when I did it, but I took some pain reliever and felt okay (the actual spot I smacked was still sore, though). Now, it seems, the pain reliever has worn off, because suddenly my head hurts like mad again. Could be the cold. Could be the bonk on the head. Could just be bad luck. In any event, Nurofen Plus is on its way (I love that you can buy codeine-enhanced pain relievers over the counter in Australia; you can't in the United States).

I also realised today how really, REALLY boring my blog has become. This is not because I haven't got interesting things going on in my life. I'm just not writing about them (well, not here, anyway).

Just today, there was a pair of rosellas in the front yard, having a nibble of the seeds I put in the tree, and we have some magpies that come around to have seeds, as well. Apparently, they also follow Andrew when he leaves for work, because they know he often has a muffin with him and he's been known to share (magpies are pretty clever birds; they know a soft touch when they see one). I did take some pictures of the rosellas, but they didn't come out that well, mostly due to the overcast day.

Anyway, I hope to soon be writing at least semi-interesting things in my blog. I used to be at least amusing, if nothing else...

I only intended/expected to be away from the net for a few days. It turned out to be more like two weeks. Gah. It's a bit of a long story as to what happened, but let me sum it up: moved house, Telstra (phone/internet) were idiots, modem/router wouldn't work, couldn't find necessary computer cords/cables, power supply in computer failed, and everything went from annoying to infuriating to absurd to totally beyond ridiculous.

The good news is that it seems to be okay now. Now I just need to unpack all this crap we have managed to accumulate. Honestly, where does all this stuff come from, and why do we have so many books? We have more books than any sane family of four need... *sigh*

I have a new camera. Okay, it's actually a second hand camera, but it's new to me. My old one, which I wasn't very happy with any more anyway (it had a lot of issues that bugged me, including the fact that it went through batteries like some sort of very battery draining thing and the fact that it had a completely crap white point and it was known to have utterly horrible purple fringeing), broke, and I wasn't going to pay to repair it. So I got a different one. And my new camera is smart. Smarter than I am, actually.

Tonight I took a few pictures with it and it actually could tell it was a night scene and set itself accordingly. Pretty cool. I even did a little short movie and it was set on night scene and it's not too bad at all. It's a pretty smart camera. It's a Canon PowerShot S3 IS, just for the record, and I've only begun to explore it and figure out how to use it well.

Anyway, we went to see Spamalot tonight, which I found to be typically Eric Idle-ish, in that it was clever, but not funny. Okay, I don't want to say the show wasn't funny. It was tremendously entertaining, and real spectacle, and I knew a lot of the lines and a few of the songs already, so that's always good (hey, I've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail quite literally hundreds of times, okay? After a while the lines sort of become a part of you!) It was funny, and it was clever, but the second act was better than the first. Or maybe it's that I had a glass of sparkling white wine at intermission and that made it just a bit better... Nah, I think it's that the second act really was better, and a bit more coherent.

The show takes lots of Python bits and lots of bits from other Broadway shows, and mixes them into a hodgepodge of campy, noisy, very entertaining stuff, and the ending is better than that of the film of Holy Grail. So it was good. I enjoyed it. No complaints.

Before the show we had dinner at a cool little Japanese restaurant we found in Chinatown. Yummy food (I mean seriously yummy), good prices, great service. The place is Meiji Japanese Cafe and it's at 105 Little Bourke Street in Melbourne, so give it a try sometime if you want a nice Japanese meal (but not between 3pm and 5pm on Friday or Saturday, because they're not open then. Yes, I have their business card here. I don't just go around memorising the hours of restaurants where I had a nice meal. I do, however, take a business card from them. So I can blog about it, obviously.)

I feel I should now interject and note that I don't like driving in the city. Any city (and yes, I've driven in several, from medium sized to Chicago at evening peak *shudder*). I want to emphasise that I really, really don't like it, and when I have to do it, it really wrecks my nerves. Not only do I hate city driving, Melbourne has this thing called a "hook turn" which is very, very nerve wracking. You basically have to drive out into the middle of the intersection and sit there until the light changes and then finish turning, while the oncoming traffic has no choice but to let you. In other words, you turn right from the leftmost lane. (This is done to keep from delaying or blocking the trams; it is not because Melburnians just find it fun to make a right turn from the leftmost lane.) So, I don't drive in the city. When I need to go into the city, I take the train, or I get someone else to drive me. (This is generally Andrew, but on a couple of occasions I've roped other people into taking me.)

My vision for the trip into the city today was that I would, as usual, get on a train and read a book while I rode happily to Flinders Street Station, there to disembark and walk over to St Paul's Cathedral and take a few pictures and say hello to God (well, I'm told it's His house, so it seems polite to say hello). I planned on meeting Andrew there around 5:30ish, and since the show wasn't until 8pm, we'd have lots of time to wander around, take pictures with my cool new camera, and pick somewhere to eat dinner. Then we'd take the train back (I was going to leave from a station a bit closer to the city in order to ensure there were plentiful trains running late at night, and on any ordinary night there would have been. Yes, this is foreshadowing.)

However, it was very windy today, and later it rained quite heavily. It was storming all day, in other words. Like, branches and trees flying into power lines type of storming. The power in our home kept flicking on and off, and power was out in many other places, as well, including traffic lights. It did occur to me that it was possible that the trains wouldn't be running on time, given the problems with the electricity, but I didn't check prior to leaving in the car.

Basically, there were no trains running. At all. It was a big clusterf**k, if you'll pardon the implied language. There were buses brought in to get people home, but none were going all the way into the city, I found out eventually. When I finally found someone who appeared to have some idea what was going on and was willing to offer advice, I said to him, "I'm trying to get into the city. Any suggestions?" The look on his face clearly said, "You're so f**ked!" He didn't say that, of course. He answered, "Pray! And take a bus to Box Hill and take a taxi into the city from there." And that, of course, would have cost a great deal of money, which I wasn't willing to expend.

So I just decided, "This is insane. I'm going to drive." Now this whole time at the train station I was calling Andrew every few minutes to tell him what was going on and ask him what he suggested we do. I called him back and said, "Okay, where shall we meet and how do I get there?" I ended up on the freeway (which I can handle) and then in an extremely slow-moving line of traffic going into the city, but it was a part of the city I'm quite familiar with, so other than being tedious, it was okay. I changed lanes when I needed to, no worries, no hassles. Handled the roundabout at the end of Alexandra Parade okay, and then made my way down Swanston Street, which was a bit more nerve wracking for me, because, well, I don't like driving in the city (I'm sure I mentioned that), and there are always a bunch of pedestrians and there are trams and so forth. By the time I reached Andrew, I was quite tense. Okay, a little giddy because I'd done something totally new and kicking your fear in the teeth is fun, but still tense. I parked the car, he got in the driver's seat, and we continued on because there's no way I'm driving around the heart of the Central Business District when I don't have to.

I think I told the story slightly backwards, but that's the way I wanted to tell it. And here are a couple photos (one is a little blurry; I was using a parking meter as a place to steady the camera and it wasn't a very good steadying object) to show off my cool new camera that knew it was night time and automatically switched into that mode for me. Oh, and a movie, in which you can hear Andrew ask "What's the red flashing light mean?" and me answering in a slightly silly and weird voice, "I'm filming!" (because I was so excited to be doing so). Click small images to open the full size one. Also note that the video is hosted on YouTube, for bandwidth reasons; comments there, however, are turned off because comments on YouTube generally make me despair for the future of humanity.

Ten years ago, on April Fool's Day, Andrew and I announced our engagement. On one hand, I can hardly believe it's been ten years already. On the other hand, it seems like it can't be only ten years. Weird. Einstein was right. Time is relative.

Andrew and I are going to see this show (note that I had to edit that Wikipedia page - because I'm white and nerdy - to change an incorrect use of "inferring" to "implying" because people can't seem to tell the difference between "imply" and "infer" and it drives me nuts). And it's at a theatre I've never been to, which is always enjoyable for me. So, just, yay. I'm very excited, even if it doesn't show in this blog post.

I've been looking for cherry-flavoured black tea for ages. I used to have it when I'd take Zoë to speech therapy, as they had some in the community kitchen. I tried to find out where they got it, but it was apparently brought in by one of the therapists who was never around when I was and I could never find out where she acquired it (it was St. Balfour, and this is in Melbourne, so if you know where I can get St. Balfour cherry flavoured tea in Melbourne, please, please, let me know).

Anyway, cherry isn't a very common flavouring in Australia for various reasons, and I've been unable to find cherry tea, despite having searched for it for some time.

Well, it seems that Andrew managed to score me some cherry tea, and gave it to me for Valentine's Day. He got it in a Japanese tea shop in the city, apparently. The stuff smells fantastic, and it's got little berries and stuff in it, very interesting to look at. And it tastes YUM, with a nice, slightly tart cherry edge. Mmmmmm. Cherry.

Pretty good husband, huh?

A few months ago, as I've previously written, we had a hatched nest of baby spiders in our bedroom (just follow that link if you haven't heard the story or want to refresh your memory, and also the followup post). In a nutsell, we caught them over a period of days (nights, really; they're nocturnal) and let them outside. In total there were about thirty of them. Only a couple were injured or killed in the capture process, and those deaths/injuries were entirely accidental.

In the process of capturing baby spiders (which, by the way, got a lot faster as the days passed and they got older!), I learned the fine art of spider wrangling. Basically, if you put a cup or jar over them, they'll pretty much climb into it and you have them. Well, most spiders, anyway. The one that was in the house today required me to catch it on a piece of paper and scoop it into the cup.

The thing is, the spider that was in the house today was pretty weird looking. I hadn't seen one like it before, so when I got it outside, I had a good look at it, to note any distinguishing features. As it happens, it had a distinctive white tip on its tail. (Australians who are reading this are now saying something like, "Bloody hell!" or similar.)

It seems it was a White Tail Spider. They're quite venomous. There are stories of the bites of these spiders leaving gigantic boils or welts, and even developing into "necrotising arachnidism" (i.e., infection sets in and the flesh actually dies, i.e., necrotises, on a wide scale... YUCK and OUCH). Some sources, though say that no verified cases of White Tail bites have resulted in anything like that, and that it was just media hype. Necrotitis or not, the bite of a White Tail Spider can be very painful and cause swelling and possible infection. It's not something you want to have happen to you.

It's probably lucky for the spider that I didn't know what it was when I caught it. I might have just squished it. I mean, as it turns out, it didn't do me any harm whatsoever, and I am quite careful with unknown spiders, but still...

Anyway, it seems that White Tail Spiders actually prey on other spiders. The best way to keep them away from your house is to sweep down the webs of common house spiders. Yes, I did catch and release some thirty common house spiders a couple months ago, and yes, I did release them right outside the door.... Hmmmmmm.....

Now I'm kind of torn. I actually like house spiders (so long as the webs are outside and not inside), because they eat flies and other bugs that I don't want in my house. But I'm not keen on the idea that I'm actually attracting venomous spiders by doing that. Bit of a dilemma, actually.

I do wish I'd taken that little White Tail a bit farther away from the house when I released it. Had I known what it was... then again, had I known what it was, it might not have gotten released at all.

I don't know what's up with me and spiders lately, I really don't.

It's stinking hot. Well, it was hotter earlier in the day. The maximum got to about 30° C. (which is around 86° F. for you North Americans stuck in an outdated and rather silly measurement system, no offence intended). Tomorrow, however, the forecast high is 40° C. (which is about 104° F.). Ugh.

We're going to the movies in the afternoon, to be where's it's dark and cool in the heat of the day (we're going to see Bee Movie in case you care).

Oh, and in other news, I finished the first draft of an actual client website. Woo. Actually, it's a friend of the family who needs a website for her new business (music typesetting and notation, if you're interested). Well, what the heck, I'll give her a link. It might get her some business, who knows: Copied Right Music Services.

For the past three nights, we've been spider wranglers. The first night, the night they hatched, there were a couple dozen of them that we caught and put outside. Last night we caught about eight more. Tonight we caught about that many again. There are still a couple hiding in the cracks in the panelling in the room (we tried to coax them out to catch them and put them outside, but they weren't cooperating).

While I still find the presence of many baby spiders to be both amusing and a blessing (yes, I really regard it as a blessing and as a positive sign of some sort, but then, I rather like spiders; I would imagine if you didn't like them, you wouldn't take it quite so positively), I'm wondering just how many nights Andrew and I will be in our room with a jar and a small broom (to chase them to where they can be caught), wrangling spiders...

Today is Zoë's birthday. I wrote a bit about that in her journal thingy if you want to read what I wrote. I'll be writing more tomorrow or Monday, after her birthday party at McDonald's on Sunday. She's eight years old today!

It's also my maternal Grandmother's 102nd birthday. I was very pleased when Zoë was born on Grammy's birthday (she was three weeks early; I didn't think it would be possible, but there she was, born not long before midnight).

So, happy birthdays (see? the title of this post wasn't a typo!).

It's also election day. I'm hoping we can get rid of John "Wouldn't Say Sorry if he Shot God in the Foot" Howard. We won't know for sure until much, much later in the day (due to time zones and all that), but maybe we'll have happy news before I go to bed (apologies to readers who support Mr. Howard; I just can't stand him for many, many reasons, and I'm going to vote accordingly).

So, Happy Birthday, Zoë, Happy Birthday, Grammy, and Good Riddance, Mr. Howard (I hope).

Despite the fact that I have no coffee tables, I have a thing for big, beautiful "coffee table" books. Well, Andrew and I both do, really. We have a rather pricey Disney one (limited printing, so we grabbed it while it was available), a book of The New Yorker's cartoons (yeah, all of them), a lovely Monty Python one, a few art ones (well, naturally!) and now I have gathered unto myself another: The Beatles Anthology.

Mmmmm. Beatles. Haven't gotten even most of the way through yet, but so far I'm enjoying it. All the pictures and the biographical stuff, very nice. It's a really good collection of information, if you're a Beatles fan (or, even if you're not that keen, you might still enjoy it; it's got lots of pictures!).

The only trouble with coffee table books is that they're too big to easily read in bed at night... Maybe we should look into getting a coffee table. Hmmm.

Andrew and I have these weird little geeky brain games that we play. For example, we'll try to think of as many songs as we can that have a colour in the title. It doesn't have to be a colour, though. We've done all kinds of stuff. Place names, women's names, men's names, animals, you name it. There are no "winners" in that game, by the way. It's just a fun little way to get some mind exercise, which is something we're very big on in our household.

We also play games like, "What's the world's most famous dog?" or similar. Our latest was "What's the world's most famous street?" We had some good suggestions. Wall Street, Fleet Street, Broadway, Sunset Boulevard, Champs Elysées. But I think the most famous street in the world (and certainly the most famous zebra crossing!) is Abbey Road.

Next time I'm in London, I'm going to make a point of going there, as a matter of fact, and - wait for it - crossing the street! (Along with all the other tourists, of course.) And what the heck, I might walk a couple blocks to Cavendish Avenue and look at the gates of Paul McCartney's house, too, although Cavendish Avenue is probably only famous to Beatles fans and the paparazzi.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be in an octopus's garden in shade. He'd let us in, knows where we've been, in his octopus' garden in the shade...

So Miranda came up to me and said, "Mum, why didn't you go to university to learn how to do something?"

To which I replied, "I did!"

Her father just laughed, but then he pointed out that not only had I gone to university and learned many useful and interesting things, I'd had a number of skilled jobs, and I knew a lot of useful things that I'd taught myself.

But he still laughed...

Well, I've voluntarily undertaken a fat-reduced diet. I've done this before (lost about thirty pounds in a year that way, actually), and I know I can do it. Nobody actually told me to watch my fat intake, but I did my own research on gallbladder disease and decided it would be wise. Plus, I really, really need to lose some weight for all kinds of reasons (none of which include vanity).

So I've been finding all sorts of lower-fat options to things I like. The chocolate is difficult, as there aren't too many low-fat chocolate options, but I've mostly cut chocolate out of my diet, anyway (I know, I know, but it had to be done). I got a burger from McDonald's the other day and instead of my usual Quarter Pounder with Cheese (yummy) I got a McLean Beef Burger, which I do actually quite like. Much lower in fat and calories, still got the pleasure of eating a burger, and no guilt.

Today I had a ham and egg sandwich. I cooked the egg in the microwave (no added fat at all) and the ham is extra smokey and very lean. The only fat I added was a bit of spread on the toast. Yum. Quite satisfying! If I'd had some low-fat cheese around I would have put on a slice of that, but it was nice just the way it was.

No, I'm not going to turn this into a diet blog. Generally speaking, I find those incredibly boring (not that I make any claims that this blog is particularly interesting), and, face it, most people don't really care what I eat or how much of it or if it's high or low fat and I'm under no illusions that they do.

BUT... I wanted to post that it IS possible to switch to a lower-fat diet and still enjoy the food you eat. If a fat-loving, chocoholic, cheese-devouring, mayonnaise-eating mama like me can do it, hey, ANYONE can!

Well, I finally gave in and called Telstra about the network outages. I worked out that the problem is pretty much only there when it rains (since we've been in drought for seven years until quite recently, it wasn't that much of a problem, eh?), and we called, and they sent out a technician. Amazingly, they didn't even argue or try to get us to go through stupid, purposeless steps to make sure that we really had a problem or that we weren't just totally stupid or whatever.

There's a thing that techs do when they realise they're talking to technically savvy customers, a sort of demeanor you take that you speak to them on a geek-to-geek level. It's a subtle form of geek acknowledgment. I expect it happens in other fields and areas, too, a sort of nod to the other person that you recognise them.

So a tech came out today (yes, on a Saturday) and Andrew talked to him about the problem and the guy tested the connection and listened to the symptoms and went out and changed a couple of parts in the connector box just outside the house. At the moment, the connection is actually fine, but it's not raining right now, so... Anyway, he talked to us about the situation and for the moment this is the best he can do. If it keeps up, call back and they'll come out and check further up the line (which means they actually have to go underground via manhole, so you can see why they don't want to do that straight away). He gave a couple of troubleshooting tips and was generally quite pleasant.

Here's hoping that the parts he replaced end up fixing the problem. It's extremely frustrating to lose my internet connection every time it rains. I mean, sure, it's okay during a drought and all, but every climate model they use is predicting the end of the drought...

We went to see The Pirates of Penzance today. Good production, very clever set design and lovely, subtle lighting. Good show. If you get the chance to see it, I certainly recommend doing so.

Well, lately I've been working quite intensely on matters spiritual and otherworldly. Generally speaking, I don't blog about stuff like that here. I touch on it now and then, but my actual spiritual adventures I mostly keep to myself. I am making what appears to be extraordinary progress in some areas, though...

It's taking up a lot of my time and attention, and I'm therefore not blogging that much. I am, however, writing in a private offline journal. Perhaps one day I might "come out of the closet" and share some of the things I've learned and seen and understood. Perhaps not. I'm pretty eclectic and quite unconventional, and I have a strong mystic calling (as in "Christian mystic", not as in "tarot card reader" or something like that, although this should not be construed as me putting down tarot card readers).

So that's where I've been and what I've been up to. It's actually quite intense at the moment and very deep, and a little bit scary sometimes, but it's also exhilirating in a way that defies words. If I can just keep myself centred and stay away from cycles of unproductive negativity and keep my eye on the light, I think I just might end up doing and being something extraordinary...

I've taken up Tai Chi. I'm only just starting, so I'm not doing a lot yet. So far I'm just up to the concepts of postioning and centering your weight and balance. One of the things you need to learn to do is a new style of walking, where you're kind of transferring the centre of gravity from one leg to the other, without the usual "fall forward until you catch yourself with a foot" kind of thing. It's an interesting concept, and I definitely get it, and can do it, but I have to concentrate on doing it, or I fall into old habits. I was practicing while taking Miranda to school today. It's just a slight shift in perception and balance, and it seems to put a bit less strain on the lower back (which is a good thing), and no more strain on the knees (also a good thing).

It actually reminds me a bit of when I was doing ballet (yes, I did ballet, and yes, it was a very long time ago), something about the position of the lower back or the centering of weight in the hips, I can't quite place it.

Anyway, for a while I'm just going to practice the walking and get that to where it's natural and normal for me, and then I'll move on to a few of the moves. The first one is "The Bow" which is easy enough to do, though I don't know how deeply I can actually bow at this point in my life...

So, walking five days a week, swimming fairly regularly (I try to go weekly, but don't always accomplish that), now Tai Chi. Maybe one of these days I'll find the motivation to get on my air walker (I actually really like the thing, but it's SO BORING!).

I got an unexpected visitor today. A magpie! I noticed it was on the barbeque on the deck, just outside the window, and I thought that was odd. When I looked again, it had moved, but was still there, staring in a window. I thought perhaps it was looking at its own reflection. Next time I looked, it was looking in a different window (the deck is surrounded on three sides by house, and all the walls have big windows in them). Finally I thought, "What the heck," and went outside with a crust of bread (yes, I know, it's not the healthiest food for birds, but it's what I had on hand).

The bird actually took food right from my fingers! I sat down outside and talked to the bird for a while, and then went and retrieved a block of birdseed we've had hanging in a small tree for ages, which no birds ever discovered, apparently. I put the block down and stepped back and the magpie decided it was worth pecking at. Then the bird went and had a drink of water from the dishes under the potted plants so I moved the seed block there, in a convienient place for the bird to eat it.

The magpie is still on the deck, but it's a bit more wary of me now. It's had something to eat so it's not quite as bold as it was earlier.

My in-laws tell me that it'll probably keep coming back looking for handouts now that I've fed it. Apparently, one of my mother-in-law's aunties has a magpie friend who comes right into her kitchen and "talks" to her, and comes back every year with its mate and their offspring!

Thankfully, magpies are big birds, and they can be quite fierce, so I'm not worried about cats. A magpie is more than a match for a household cat.

So, I guess we'll see if I've made a new friend or if it was a one time thing.

(click for full-size image)

Well, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is coming to Melbourne in June. I'm actually reasonably interested in going to see him. He's doing seminars and will be issuing a special blessing, which is described as:

As part of this four session series, the Dalai Lama will bestow the Manjushri Blessing. This blessing confers wisdom that empowers people, making it possible for them to achieve the joy of freedom from suffering, which is the goal of all living beings.

By receiving his empowerment and reciting the Manjushri Mantra, an individual is believed to become more intelligent, enjoy greater happiness, with improved memory and increased wisdom.

That sounds pretty good to me, actually...

If I could get someone to take Miranda to school on a Friday and to pick her up from school on a Monday, I could even go to all the sessions/seminars, which are at the Rod Laver Arena (easy train access).

The tickets, however, are on the expensive side. I believe it would be worth it, but I'm trying to decide if I want to spend several hundred dollars on them. I'll have to meditate on it. I'm serious about that, by the way, I really do meditate. Oh, and I'm not planning on becoming a Buddhist. After all, "The Dalai Lama teaches practical life skills for people who are willing to consider embracing his philosophy without necessarily becoming Buddhist."

Pretty tired today (as in "chronic fatigue" tired, although I'm "ordinary" tired, as well). I got up, got dressed, ran a brush through my hair, got Miranda sorted out for school (snack, lunch order, etc.), and then took her to school. Prior to leaving, I sat and thought, and even said out loud, "Okay, do we have everything?" and it seemed we did. Being tired, I wasn't quite thinking clearly, though...

We went on the approximately ten minute walk there, I had a rest while waiting for school to start, she went in, I walked home. On the way I was feeling pretty good, just thinking what a pretty day it is and how lovely the cool breeze felt, etc. And then, as I started up the actual front path to our house I realised.... I haven't got my keys....

In the not-so-distant past, that would have caused an immediate panic attack, but I kept it together (yay!). I walked around the house for a bit trying to see if there was a way in (I couldn't find one). Tried all the doors, all locked. Looked for the emergency key, couldn't find it. Finally, after about twenty minutes, some prayer/thought, a couple of rests to think about it, I thought I'd better go next door and use their phone and call a locksmith. I did think of calling Andrew, but he's in the city and it's about an hours' ride on the train from there and it just seemed like not the best plan.

Anyway, our next door neighbor, Chris, is a police officer (and his wife is a school teacher, but she's on maternity leave with a new baby) . Really good bloke, I like him a lot. We don't really socialise with them, but we're on quite neighborly terms with them, and I knew they wouldn't begrudge me a phone call and maybe a cup of tea.

So I knocked and Chris came to the door and I said, "I hate to bother you, but I'm locked out of the house..." and he said, quick as you please, "Oh, d'you want me to come and see if I can get in?" So I said "Yes, that'd be great, if you could!"

Took less than five minutes for him to find a way in, and less than five minutes for him to GET in. The windows in this house are... well, let's just say whoever designed them was an idiot. They're drafty (draughty?) in the winter and they're pretty insecure. Just how insecure I didn't know until I watched Chris break in!

Anyway, he got in a window and came round the front door to let me in, for which I thanked him profousely and kissed him on the cheek. He was away from his house for no more than fifteen minutes (closer to ten), I got inside, and all is well. Andrew's getting a new emergency key cut today.

The thing that is really staying with me on this is that I didn't panic or even get especially upset. I was a bit frustrated and annoyed with myself, and slightly concerned that I might have to have a wee in the back yard, but I just sort of knew that there would be a reasonable answer to the problem if I just stayed calm and found it, and so there was.

So, that's my adventure for the morning. I think I might go back to bed now...

Today is Andrew's and my eight wedding anniversary. We're still extremely married. We're still in love. We're still happily married, although, of course, that doesn't mean we're happy 100% of the time (nobody is, and it would be creepy, anyway). But the marriage is rock solid and that's my point.

Our anniversary always kind of sneaks up on me. You see, we were actually married on Easter Sunday, so I always think of Easter as our anniversary, and the date of Easter changes every year (obviously). But the Easter Sunday on which we were married happened to be 4 April, and today is 4 April, which makes it our anniversary.

We have no plans for doing anything special tonight, but this weekend we're going to see Puppet Up! at the Princess Theatre (I've always wanted to see something there, since the first time I set eyes on the place in 1997!). The show is part of the annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and all the reviews we've seen indicate that it'll be a great deal of fun.

Last time we went to the Comedy Festival it was to see Puppetry of the Penis, and I laughed so much I thought I was going to wet my pants. Not that it has much to do with my anniversary, but I'm pleased that I managed to coherently work the word "penis" into this post.

Anyway, our wedding site is still online if you want to have a look. I redid the pages a while back so it's much easier to navigate and it looks a lot nicer now, and the photographs have been made into a sort of digital scrapbook style thing. Hard to believe it's been eight years. In some ways, it seems like we've always been together, and in other ways, our wedding seems like it was only yesterday...

Special note to Andrew: Fiddly pea pods.

When Andrew's grandfather, Don, died of a sudden an unexpected heart attack, I wrote about it here. I wrote about it as it was happening, mostly for my own edification (gave me something to do) but also as a bit of a tribute to a man I consider to have been truly remarkable.

Apparently, several members of the family managed to find there way here to read it (which sort of surprises, me, but then, it always surprises me to find out people read my blog; it's just a strange sort of perception that I have of my blog and myself). A couple said how much they liked what I wrote, for which I thanked them.

Well... today I found to my great surprise that my blog entry was now part of family history! It has been preserved in the records of the Lawrence Carter Holmes family, which is a pretty huge family (LCH and his wife had a lot of children, and most of their children had a lot of children, who in turn had chidlren.... Andrew's grandfather, Don, was the grandson of LCH, so it's a lot of generations we're talking about, and they're spread out all over Australia and in New Zealand, as far flung as England and the United States).

So the next time someone says "What's the purpose of a blog?" I can say, well, one of my blog entries is in a preserved family history, so there. And yes, it pleases me to learn this. I'm happy that people liked my writing and thought it was a good representation of Don, whom I loved very much and still miss.

The other interesting thing is that the article that was done on Andrew and me (it was kind of an "internet dating" sort of thing, but a bit deeper than that) back in 2000 was found by someone and preserved in the family records. It's not uncommon for people to find newspaper articles or other things of that sort and send them to the historians in the family, who then carefully copy them and preserve the originals. At the Holmes Family Reunions, which are held every three years, they get out all these scrapbooks and put them out on long tables in the town hall (of an extremely small town, I should add) and have signs as to which family branch is in which book and then you can take a book and have a look through. It would be nearly impossible to see them all in the span of the weekend, I believe (told you, it's a really big family), but you can find the ones that interest you and go from there.

Anyway, now there's an article about Andrew and me and how we met on the net preserved in the family history books, too. That's kind of interesting, as the article was really a Melbourne-only thing (in one of those newspaper-like magazines that are free to the reader and get their income from the advertisers), and we couldn't even find a copy of it (they were supposed to send us one, but we never got it and when we called again, they didn't have any copies left). I presume it's on microfiche somewhere or something (do they even still use microfiche? or is it all digital now?), and I guess some clever family historian found it, so that's good, and interesting.

Someday, I may have descendants who will read that and think what a story of the times it was, and how much like his grandfather, Don, Andrew looks (well, he does, and there's a photograph of him with the article). (And isn't it clever that I managed to tie Andrew and Don in the same sentence there? Heh.)

It's nice to know I'm a REAL and ACCEPTED member of the family. I mean, I always felt welcome, of course, but now I've got an actual place in the family history books apart from being the mother of two great-great-great-great-granddaughters of Lawrence Carter Holmes.

Ten years ago on 3 Februrary, I landed in Melbourne on a three week holiday. It was the first time I met Andrew (and Greg, his brother, who I'd known for longer than I'd known Andrew). I went, with the help of some friends (one in particular, and to whom I'll always be grateful), after spending my lovely sojourn in the psych ward.

Anyway, we ate lunch at Fast Eddie's, which is, unfortunately, no longer there. I miss it, it was a good restaurant, and one of the few where you could get breakfast all day long. It was on Bourke Street, toward Parliament House. Andrew and I went there regularly for years when we lived in the city (well, we lived in a suburb quite near the city, anyway). We liked to sit outside and watch the weddings come to Parliament House to get their photographs taken on the steps, it was a bit of a laugh (during high wedding season, they actually have to line up to do the photogprahy there!).

Anyway, after I went back to the States I started to try to get things in order and found it was a good deal more difficult than anticipated, particularly since I was unemployed, still recovering from an excruciating illness, and I didn't have a car OR a phone...

Ah, well. Ten years, water under the bridge. I do have some really pleasant memories of that holiday, though. It was when I first saw the Southern Cross, and when I first fell in love with Melbourne and then with the Victorian countryside. It was the first time I ever felt like I'd found a true home (for a military brat, that's a hugely big deal).

Sometimes, I think it's very strange the twists and turns life can take. Particularly my life.

So, yeah, I haven't put much here. I feel really tired, and not really up to much in the way of my usual stunning wit. Hah.

Let's see. On Boxing Day we took a day trip west along the Victorian coast, up to Apollo Bay and back. We went there via the forests and mountains, came back along the coast. Saw a very beautiful waterfall, had a picnic lunch, ate fish and chips for dinner, saw a lot of really nice scenery, thousands of sheep and cows, and lots of hay.

Both the kids started to pick up on a game Andrew and I play when we're driving through the country. When you see hay (bales or rolls, as appropriate), you look and say, "HAY!" and try to get the other person to look. It's a very silly game, and it doesn't really have a scoring system other than being able to laugh at the person who fell for it, but it passes the time. Yes, we're extremely weird people and often easily amused. But the kids liked the game (I don't think they quite got that you're supposed to be able to actually see the hay, though).

Later in the week we went on Puffing Billy. When I say "we" I don't mean "including me". I mean "Zoë, Miranda, Nanna, Grandpop, and Uncle David". Andrew and I were in the car, beating the train to the various stops so we could take pictures. Yes, that's pretty normal (honestly, it is!). And as I was standing there waiting for a steam train with my camera poised, I said to Andrew, "Well, I'm taking pictures of a train. I know I'm a member of this family now for sure!" (Hint: It's full of railfans, including the aforementioned Uncle David).

We also had a picnic lunch that day, so I'm pretty picnicked out. We did get a very cool picnic set from Andrew's other brother, Greg (the non-railfan one), so it was okay to get to use it. Twice.

Today I took Miranda to a birthday party, which I found surprisingly enjoyable. I found I very much like the mother of the little boy whose party it was. The boy and Miranda are in the same class next year and the kids are very good friends, so I hope we'll be able to meet up again at some point again.

Andrew gave me The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker. Yes, it's a coffee table book (not that we have a coffee table). Yes, it's all of the cartoons from the beginning of The New Yorker, some of which have to be on DVD because there are so many of them. I should note that I really love The New Yorker, but it's quite expensive to get a subscription to it here.

The shopping cart on the retail site is slowing coming along. It's all uphill. Very tedious. Quite tiresome.

On the plus side, I've hooked up with some fantastic new suppliers, and I'm going to expand my product line to include a couple of totally new things (you know my fascination with gemstones and stuff? well, that's part of it).

And I'm listening to Weird Al. I just wanted to mention that.

Okay. I guess that's it. My stream of consciousness seems to have dried up. See. Told you I wasn't up to my usual stunning wit. (Sorry, I can't say that with a straight face.)

We've got tickets to see Pirates of Penzance. Mind you, the performance isn't until May (right around my birthday). But still, we've got tickets, and they're really good seats. Andrew and I will go out and have a nice meal together without the kids (woot!) and then see the show. First time we will have been to a proper show in years... Last one we saw was Les Miserables, I think... or maybe it was 42nd Street (we saw both, but I can't remember now which we saw last), and it was before Miranda was born (note: she's turning five in a couple of weeks!).

Also, Weird Al is apparently going to be performing in March, but the ticket information isn't available yet, dangit. If there are good prices and a decent show time/date, we might very well go. Because Andrew and I are both white and nerdy, that's why...

We went to USA Foods last week and one of the treats I got was some Welch's Grape Juice. I'm having some right now. Mmmmmmm. Blood of Christ. (Note: I'm not being rude; I grew up in the Presbyterian church and we always used Welch's Grape Juice for communion, and now when I taste it, I'm always reminded of taking communion).

They have grape juice here, of course, but it's not made from Concord grapes, which are, it seems uniquely American (and probably can't be imported to Australia for a million billion reasons having to do with quarantine and such). So the grape juice here is okay, nothing wrong with it, but it's not the same rich, sweet, unique flavor of Welch's.

And on the subject of Welch's, the whole fruit juice industry was pretty much started by Dr. Thomas Bramwell Welch, who, being a Methodist, wanted to find a way to make "unfermented" wine for communion services. The juice is, I believe pasteurised so that it doesn't ferment. (See, you knew I had to have a reason for mentioning the Blood of Christ, didn't you? I had a point - more or less - all along! Amazing!)

Well, I've come to a decision, finally. I've been sort of fudging for a few months now, trying to decide if I want to proceed with this online selling thing or just get rid of most of my stock and move on, etc. After a great deal of research, reading, thinking, and other such thought, I've decided that I'm going to move forward.

Sales are very slow right now for lots of reasons, most of which have nothing at all to do with me, and which are completely out of my control. Retail is like that. Sometimes it's all you can do to keep the shelves stocked, sometimes you twiddle your thumbs a lot. I know this, having worked in retail, and the same thing does apply to e-retailing, too. It's a sales slump. It's not the end of the world.

There are lots and lots of successful online businesses in Australia. I've done business with many of them, and I've come across them in my ramblings. I've got years and years of web development experience, and I know how to find things out (like learning about marketing opportunities, just as an example). I can do this. The retail slump may last a short time or a long one, but e-tailing and e-commerce is certainly here to stay, and if there's one area in which I'm both comfortable and knowlegable, it's the web.

So that's my big ephiphany for the week. Well, that and the fact that I've survived all manner of horrors in my life, including poverty, insanity, physical infirmity, near-death, assault, unreaonable criticism, loss of love, loss of family, loss of pretty much everything that ever meant a damn to me, loss of my own sense of self and my touch with reality....

If I can survive all of that, I can survive anything. Including building an online business in discount retail. And I might even end up thriving... Hey, it's been known to happen...

So we went to the National Gallery of Victoria to see the Picasso exhibit. As usual, it wasn't limited to just Picasso, but was more like "Picasso and his posse" (which is what they usually do). The show was limited to Picasso's work from 1935-1945 and included a lot of work by Dora Maar, the art photographer, who was his muse and lover during that period, and a few Man Ray photographs, too.

Anyway, I'm not the biggest fan of Picasso's work. I mean, I certainly recognize how very, very influential he was, and I know how prolific he was, but I just don't like most of his stuff. Now and then there's one that I like for one reason or another, but mostly I don't like surrealism (with the notable exception of Magritte).

Going to a Picasso exhibit is, for me, like eating my vegetables. You may not really like it, but you know you should, and you know it's good for you, right? Brain food and all that (and we're members of the National Gallery so we need to go to a certain number of ticketed exhibitions a year to make it worth our while). Really, I think Picasso is a bit overrated. There. I've said it. You can come round and beat me about the head and shoulders with a fish now if you want.

Which remind me of one of my favorite art jokes:

Q: How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: Fish!

Back to the topic of this post. We saw the exhibit and then went to the member's lounge and had a cup of tea and went and had an early dinner at a nice little Italian-style restaurant at Southbank. We were fortunate to get a table outside, overlooking the river, which I love. Southbank is probably one of my favorite places to be in the entire world. I just love it. And dinner was nice, too, yummy chicken cacciatore with fried polenta (to be honest, the polenta was why I ordered that particular meal). I also had a tequila mary, which is a bloody mary except with tequila instead of vodka. Very nice bloody mary mix, I'll have to have it again next time we go there.

We got home in time to watch the season finale of Dr. Who, and I was relieved to see that.... uh... I'd better not say. I don't want to spoil it for people who are Dr. Who fans and who might not have seen it yet. It was good, anyway. And David Tennant is definitely on my Cracker List (i.e., I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers).

I even managed to pick up a few good used books at the book fair they have every weekend at Federation Square. I got a biography and Think and Grow Rich (which I've been hearing about for years and thought I might as well read) and Chocolat (the one they made into a film with Johnny Depp, another person who is definitely on my Cracker List).

All in all a good day, other than having extremely sore feet, ankles, and knees. My legs have been troubling me greatly of late, for no reason that I can really see, unless it's my new desk chair or something.

Anyway. Tomorrow we might go to a movie, just Andrew and me. I'm a bit keen on seeing The Devil Wears Prada, having read the book (yeah, I'm starting to get into chick lit, so sue me...).

Went to bed last night immediately after dinner. I just felt really poorly, so I went to lie down and stayed there. Woke up this morning at 7:30 to the delightful sound of children fighting (don't know what they were fighting about; could have been anything, really). So I ended up sleeping about 12 hours, and my back is extremely stiff now. Owww. I feel better in general, though, so that's at least a good thing.

Today I'm going to be doing some backups of the critical stuff on my computer, the "can't be replaced" stuff (pictures, web stuff, etc.). I'm doing it not only because doing backups is a wise thing to do, but also because I'm getting my new computer today, woohoo!

The new computer has six USB ports, two of which are on the front (yay), and the case is black (cooool), and it'll have 2Gb of memory and an AMD64 processor with bus speed of 3.6ghz (I think 3.6, anyway, can't remember). New 80gb hard drive with Windows pre-installed (since you need a different version of WinXP for a 64bit processor), and, yes, a floppy drive, because I'm just so old school that I still occasionally use a floppy disk (no, seriously, I do).

Continue reading "Stuff & Computers"…

I posted this to The Perfume Blog. I may as well post it here, too:

Due to recent fee hikes by eBay, fee structures that we consider ridiculous and unwarranted, we are being forced to reconsider many things.

Foremost is our pricing. We try very hard to offer our items at good prices that are below retail and we even consider the price of the shipping when we set our prices. Now, however, eBay are going to be taking such a very large bite of the price that we will be forced to raise prices significantly or sell elsewhere.

It will no longer be viable to sell our perfumes on eBay at all, as the profit margin on them is fairly low to begin with and the many overseas sellers with false location details compete unfairly in the perfume category (or just sell fakes). Until we decide how to proceed, we will not be adding any additional inventory to our store.

We will also be preparing listings for other sites, ones that are Australian-owned and Australian-based.

Please note that this will affect ALL eBay sellers in Australia, the United States, and the UK who maintain stores, so you can look for and expect price increases across the boards, along with an increase in sellers who close their stores and/or abandon eBay entirely. (You may want to let eBay know how you feel about this.)

We recommend checking out the following Australian auction sites:

http://oztion.com.au/

http://aussiebid.com.au/

With enough support, either or both of those could give eBay a serious run for its money.