…BOO…
Archive | October, 2014
and the answer is ….a lemon….
30 OctI think all of you beyond the age of 40 will relate to the occasional lapse of memory …you know… the struggle to remember why you walked into the room, or what you were looking for.
I know MY brain sometimes feels like a jam packed hard drive that desperately needs de-fragging… So sometimes retrieving the pertinent facts can mean a bit of mental gymnastics. But I was struck by the effort it took today to retain a head full of numbers and regurgitate them in the right order.
Having filled the petrol tank, I needed to get in a queue to pay the cashier. While reciting the pump number, the odometer number and the PIN number for the fuel card…over and over, I inched closer … but not quick enough. The line was long and I was afraid someone would distract or speak to me and the numbers would fall out of my head,. never to be seen again.
Now I know you are probably thinking …‘why on earth didn’t you just write them down?’ but I was determined to challenge myself, thinking I can do it …I can do it…I CAN DO IT…. (but what if I get to the counter and lose the lot …..eeek)
I played games in my head and tried visualising the ‘look’ of the numbers …as the queue moved slowly in the right direction ….FINALLY when I got there the attendant wanted to engage in some small talk, and all I could think was ‘please no ….let me spit my numbers out first’ … and anyway I don’t ‘do small talk’. Next minute the lovely woman asked if I had lost my voice, so rather that try to explain, I smiled and nodded yes, to which she replied … ‘oh don’t worry I have lots of mute customers’ ... what the ??? ….please just let me punch these numbers out and get out of here.
Fortunately all the repetition paid off and I was able to perform when the keypad was put in front of me, but it certainly was a stressful 7 minutes.
just ticking along …..
29 Oct
Speaking of batteries last night, as we were… today I’m wondering how long they actually last? Come to think of it I’m also wondering how they actually work !! Just one more thing that I realise I know NOTHING about, and my life is past half way.
I mean when you think about it… how does all that energy get trapped inside the casing ? and then how does it not discharge itself until it’s put in place (maybe sometimes it does …. but you know what mean).
This conundrum was triggered when I went to get a new battery in my wristwatch yesterday. The friendly young guy ‘in charge of replacements’, commented that it was a lovely watch, and how long since I had changed the battery?… I stopped and thought …actually NEVER.… but the watch is 5 years old, so how can that be ??
Think about it , a watch runs constantly 24/7 … not like other battery run goodies that may get used for short periods infrequently… Added to that, the size of this thing was unbelievably small … smaller than any hearing aid power cell that I have every seen.
So I’m making it my mission to get some battery knowledge as a priority (maybe then I can keep myself going long enough to write my blog every night)
flat batteries …
28 Octbig day …dyslexic fingers…brain fade…eyes closing…
see you next time ….I’m 50Something and tired …. but I’m not dead yet !!!
lucky 300…
27 Oct
Woo Hoo ~Today is the 300th day of the year !!
…. “how on earth does she know that”? I hear you ask …or more likely …“so what”?
Well I know, because this is the 300th blog post this year… 300 peeks through the window and into the nonsense that goes on my head.
Back in the beginning… (January 1st to be exact) I made a commitment to write something…, anything, every day for a year. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I guess on reflection it was… But while it does force you to stop and think about one random aspect of life every day ….it’s certainly not for the faint hearted.
- I’ve learned lots about myself … and lots about what I need to learn about (… mmm like the truth about chickens and dolphins)
- I’ve discovered an unusual number of my observations take place in toilets (like… where DO put your handbag?).
- I’ve figured that there are themes in the things that catch my attention (eyebrows, bad spelling…and birds ..)
- I’ve realised that there are an awful lot of coincidences in this life (what are the chances…?)
- I’ve embraced the fact that I’m 50 something … but not dead yet !!
- and I’ve understood that it doesn’t matter whether you know if anyone is reading … but how lovely it is when you get some random feedback… or bump into someone and the next thing they make a comment about something they enjoyed (or hated) …and I think “well there you go someone IS out there after all”.
So…. as I continue to tap away for another 65days, I I hate to say it … but that means it’s 59 days until Christmas !!!
raise you an eyebrow …
26 OctSunday = maintenance day …and today it was all about eyebrows.
Those of you regular readers, will know that I have a fascination with eyebrows…My follicularly challenged brow bones cause me to be somewhat obsessed with these useless bit of face furniture. Lets just say, the words feeble, fine….and fair …are not understating my dilemma.
Feeling that a trip to the beautician was a bit over the top to tint my sparse offerings….I opted to do it myself. … but without warning ‘Mr 50Something’ not to come into the bathroom. All I can say is he thought Halloween had arrived a few days early when he walked in to discover ….. this …
After reassuring him that this was not a new fashion statement but a means to an end … he was fine. So after 10 minutes of waiting for the magic to happen I had the ‘big reveal’… only to find they are still awfully scrawny, but at least a few shades darker.
In my next life I want real eyebrows …..please!
stuff it ….
25 Oct
How is it, that we seem to accumulate so much STUFF ?
I almost feel embarrassed at the amount of useless junk that is tucked away in this house ‘just in case’ …. So today, while finding homes for a couple of lovely birthday gifts, I was thrown into that ‘moving deckchairs on the Titanic’ spin.
Now I’m pretty good at being ruthless, can easily discard stuff and clear those decks … but somehow the stuff just comes back. And the time has to be just right… today just wasn’t that day.
I opened cupboards and draws to discover stuff that I had completely forgotten…. and have probably forgotten again, 8 hours later…..stuff that I no longer like … stuff that I never did like…and stuff that no longer serves a purpose….so WHY do I need all this STUFF ?
Yeah, I know I’m beginning to sound like a hoarder … but no I’m actually far from that, I’m just an outa-sight-outa-mind 
kinda girl, so once things are securely stashed… I’m likely to overlook them (unless they’re a daily essential). I love to be surrounded with a minimum of clutter, so the temptation to hide things if there’s a gap or a bit of cupboard space is very tempting. I’ll find a way to fill it, stash it, or jam it in, in an effort to maintain the calm visual exterior.
BUT I feel a massive cupboard detox coming ~ just waiting on those planets to align and then …charity bin look out ….again !!
from rolling stones to flathead…
24 Oct
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that the Rolling Stones have made the trip Down Under, and are currently here in Aus about to start their tour in Adelaide. That in itself is pretty amazing on so many levels …. not-the-least-of-which is imagining this bunch of septuagenarians rocking it on stage !!
But equally as curious was the fresh faced young reporter 
in her late 20’s who introduced the story on morning TV… and who excitedly reported that ‘the boys’ had been strutting their stuff wildly in rehearsal. What a crack-up …. I mean for them to call each other ‘boys’ is one thing …. BUT when they could be your grandfathers ??? (..mind you, I’ll bet ‘the boys’ love it.)
Which brings me to the fish market.
On my way home I stopped to grab some fish (as you might in a fish market). I was served by 2 sweet young women (mmm maybe somewhere around 15yrs and 17yrs). Both helpful, attentive and came complete with ‘westie bogan twangs’ …All was well until one of them called me ‘daarl’ …and then the other called me ‘sweetie’ . I mean… what’s with that ???
Don’t get me wrong… this is not about me wanting respect, based on my tender ‘50Something’ years ….it’s the bizarreness of our language, and the sense of familiarity exuded by two young some-ones from whom I just bought one slimy sea creature.
I don’t think it quite constitutes friendship …or even stronger still, an intimacy that might call for words like ‘darling’ or ‘sweetheart’…. Maybe I’m wrong…but it’s got me wondering.
fly swatting…
23 OctWhile engrossed in domestic chores today, I began to wonder about the seeming abundance of dead flies that needed sucking up the head of the vacuum cleaner. Now, it’s not as if I haven’t swept or sucked for months, in fact it’s only been a week…and yet today there were a small number of fly corpses lying on the carpet in front of each of the loungeroom windows. 
I imagine that they made their sneaky entrance over the weekend when the spring weather was warm, and the doors were open to welcome it inside.
What I can’t fathom is why they were dead !!
Don’t get me wrong I was thrilled that they were …. BUT it looked as though they were headed for the windows in an effort to escape…but for some reason, they perished en route.It’s not as if I had pulled my usual trick of adding to the hole in the ozone layer by drowning the flighty creatures with insect spray ….so what killed them ?
I know stuff …. but I don’t know that !!
face painting for the 50Something…
22 OctSo… there I was preparing to head out for the day with Mr 50Something, when I sense he is becoming a little toe-y. I heard the pacing and the car keys rattling and knew instantly that I was getting the ‘hurry-up’, so rather than finish the job properly, I figured I add the final touches in the car.
I emerge from the bathroom ready to go and he looked at me quizzically…
‘ummm … you look good …BUT …you haven’t finished ‘colouring in!’
I replied that I had my paint box and tools and that I would complete the work of art en-route…
He was then completely amused as he watched the portrait take shape layer upon layer on the blank canvas. A hint of colour here and a touch of gloss there, extra fibres for eyelashes, tinted gel for those (ever important) eyebrows, a defining edge for the lips and finally a quick powder dusting to set the lot.
Done … from ‘early morning bedroom’ face to ‘happy to be seen in public’ face in only 2kms….. and with endless commentary from the man who first questioned what was missing and then proceeded to ask ‘why do you bother with all this’ ?…. sigh…. Because I’m 50Something but not dead yet !!!
Wonder Years 