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the day of rest…

13 Jul

Today I enjoyed my first real s-l-o-w Sunday in a long while.

No pressing commitments at all. It’s Uni break… so no assignments; no huge jobs staring me in the face (because I turned my back on them) and no need to please anyone but myself. ‘Mr 50 Something’ took himself off to watch his old soccer team (oops, re-phrase… ‘ex’ team. Yes they are veterans… but old is probably a bit harsh)… so I was left to my own devices.

I’d love to say that I used my time well and created something spectacular… or wrote something inspirational… but no, alas not…I just pottered!  You know, a little bit of this and a little bit of that…. a few domestic chores, caught up with a friend for coffee and washed the car. A completely stress free day really.

But, having this time to potter did prompt a couple of reflections on domestic life and how it’s change … I seem to recall that growing up in the 60’s & 70’s (back when more Mum’s stayed at home than worked)… every day was allocated to a particular task. There was even a kiddies rhyme to remind anyone who forgot their ‘job of the day’. I think it started something like …”Monday is Washing Day… is everybody happy? ” .. So I googled to find out what happened on the other days… and discovered.

  • Monday – Washing dayhousewives 1
  • Tuesday – Ironing day
  • Wednesday – Mending day
  • Thursday – Shopping day
  • Friday – Baking day
  • Saturday – Cleaning day
  • Sunday – Day of Rest – go to church

WOW … to be so organised!! but I can’t quite figure what they did with all the other hours in the day … surely you can’t ‘mend’ all of Wednesday  …. Can you?  I mean seriously…. every week ?? who has that many damaged clothes???

Maybe it’s just organisation envy on my part… as I reflect on my style, where it’s more like:

  • the washing getting done whenever there’s enough time to complete the cycle and get it hung on the line (where it might stay for a few days)
  • the oversized ironing basket contains a bunch of last season’s clothes (well we don’t need them for a few months so why iron them?)
  • the mending is limited to replacing a lost button (and can take weeks to get around to it)
  • the shopping is a ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ style (grab what you need to cook on the way home from work).
  • the baking only happens on special occasions or when I’m bored and feeling inspired.
  • the cleaning  is an ‘as you go’ arrangement… if it looks dirty you clean it.

Anyway I’m glad to see that I got today (half) right . PHEW … my dear departed Mum would be proud.

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still mooning ….

12 Jul

So last night’s topic of the full moon has proven to be less silly than I thought it was….. with my ’50 Something’ lunch guests  debating the issue and also drawing blanks.

I guess it’s time to consult Dr Google … and to wait on a report from #1 son on the other side of the globe … (ohh…such a scientific approach)!

Always tackling the big issues ……

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full moon madness…

11 Jul

full moon

Leaving work tonight I walked out of the office and into a chilly evening, with a huge full moon shining down. It got me wondering…

Is it a full moon on the other side of the globe as well ???

Not right  NOW because it’s daytime over that way…. (I know that much) … but I tried to figure what was happening.. . There’s a lot of rotation going on between the earth and the moon, but the more I thought about it, all I got was dizzy.

So, for now it’s in the ‘too hard basket’… (along with those crazy birds all sitting in a row).

Happy Friday …. I’m ’50Something… but not dead yet’

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driving blind…

10 Jul

How is it that you can drive the same route every day… yet not actually see what’s going on?

As any regular followers will know, I often comment on the quirky, nonsensical and useless things that catch my attention while driving to or from work… You know, the ‘odd’ numberplate, bad spelling on a street or shop sign, crazy pedestrian behaviour…. anything really.

So you can imagine my own surprise when today I noticed a brand new house en route …  I have never seen it before, yet it’s clearly been under house buildingconstruction for many weeks if not months.

How does that happen?

Now I’m not talking about a new project home in a housing estate …. I’m talking about semi-rural living where generously proportioned homes take prime position on small or medium sized acreage. I know I’m driving to the conditions and attentive on the road; but it seems that somehow the busy and often odd thoughts going on in my brain must block out the more ‘routine’  sights along the way.

I can tell you about the cat laying in the window of a house I passed …. yet I can’t see a house …go figure!

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I want what she’s having ….

9 Jul

impulse buyI’m sure I’m not the only person who’s been sucked into ‘buying a bargain’ just because it lands in my inbox. When you open your email and there is a ‘catch of the day’, ‘cudo’ or ‘living social’ (just to name a few) offer that’s too good to refuse…it’s the perfect opportunity for a impulse purchase.

You don’t need it… you hadn’t even thought about it before now…  but suddenly you feel compelled to grab the credit card and buy it. It’s such a painless purchase… and you don’t even need to leave your lounge chair.

BUT… Today I had the craziest offer pop up in my in box…and I can’t imagine ANYONE who would say ‘oh wow, I might just give it a try… what a bargain’!!

No it’s not a set of sheets …or a cheap hour of go-cart racing… nor is it dinner on the harbour … It’s ….

laser eyes

(bet you didn’t see that one coming …. pardon the pun)

WHO in their right mind would act on the power of suggestion, and decide to get their eyeballs lasered …just because it’s cheap?

Maybe I’m just missing the point… but give me a set of sheets any day.

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office politics

8 Jul

kitchen sink

Cohabitation is a tricky deal wherever it happens. But more often than not… at least in our domestic worlds, we have choices; unlike the office where people of all shapes, sizes, religious and political persuasions are thrust together and expected to share space and tolerate habits.

Now for the most part I have worked in a harmonious environment that functions a bit like an extended (if somewhat dysfunctional) family. We don’t always see the world through the same glasses, but that’s not a bad thing really after all we are an eclectic and fairly tight bunch …on the whole.

However that doesn’t mean that there is never any domestic disharmony … there’s plenty. The kitchen clean-up is the one bone of contention that never ever goes away, but at the moment the other issue is space…. open-plan or closed off ? who sits where? who is noisy and who needs quiet ? who likes the air con on and who prefers windows open ? the list goes on…and on….and on ….. as we make room for a bunch of new people to move in.

It’s so funny how just ONE new person can change the dynamic of an office … (and when you consider it we’ve had quite a few changes and people coming and going lately )…so there is a definite sense of chaos ….and I don’t cope well with chaos! Spontaneity is awesome, but chaos is disastrous…especially when accompanied by noise!!

(can you tell that  I’m ’50Something’… but not dead yet?)

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big brother navigates…or does he?

7 Jul

My, how times are changing. The days of the humble street directory are fast vanishing along with telephone books and post offices. Don’t misinterpret this as a necessarily negative thing…just a puzzling phenomenon that makes me wonder what comes next.

So… Today I had a giggle when driving through a suburban street and I passed a car with a ‘super tall’ camera strapped to its roof. As it slowly navigated lawnmowerthe narrow roadways, it was recording the street view for ‘one or another‘ satellite navigation system. How strange to think the guy mowing the lawn minus his shirt will be captured in cyberspace and pop up when anyone googles that humble household.

But  you’ve got to admit the whole ‘sat-nav’ thing is pretty amazing technology… and something that many of us have come to love….(even with those crazy cyborg voices). BUT don’t be fooled, those small talking screens don’t know everything …even when they think they do.

satnav3Last night we were weaving through the cold, dark, city streets of Sydney, when our ‘not-so-friendly’ autopilot insisted that we turn right at a no-right-turn intersection…The instructions came fast and furious to ‘make a legal U turn’ … (now YOU try THAT on Oxford Street !) …A quick whip around the block resolved the issue with no guidance other than our own sense of direction (and ‘Sally Sat-Nav’ still yelling at us).

The morals of the story are… (1) make sure you are dressed and have your lippy on when gardening…and (2) don’t blindly trust ‘Sally Sat-Nav’…you never know when she will lead you astray!

(but some of us ’50Something’ women are like that!)

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birds of a feather …

6 Jul

the birds

I have never professed to be a nature expert …not even close.

I mean yes, I like to admire the beauty of a landscape or sunset…and I do like small furry creatures …. but when it comes to actually knowing anything about ethology or the environment I’m pretty hopeless.

If we take this a step further and consider bird-life and the habits of our feathered friends … then I draw a complete blank.

This brings me to my (pretty pointless) point.

Driving home the other day, I crossed the bridge and noticed a gathering, pack, group, gang, flock…(well a whole bunch)… of black birds perched high on the electricity bird on cablecable. There they sat, about 30 of them grouped tightly in a row, high above the MIDDLE of the river. There was plenty of cable remaining either side of them but they were huddled close, all perfectly positioned and facing the same direction, a bit like an army regiment on parade.

As I drove on, it got me thinking about the life of a bird and I realised just how much I don’t know … Like… what DO they do all day ? Surely they get tired of hanging around in the air, and if they stop to rest, they have to perch on a branch, (or worse still a cable like the ones in question), and cling on tight with those poor little claws. No kicking back and relaxing at all… and as far as I know they even sleep in that position, which doesn’t sound like much fun to me.

If there happens to be an ornithologist reading this nonsense, you may care to shed some light on the subject to help me (and no doubt, others) to more fully appreciate the life of these small feathered creatures.

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tall but true travel tales …

5 Jul

I had a  trip down memory lane today when I was reminded what an eventful and unusual life I have ( it could certainly never be described as boring…) Anyway as always truth can be stranger than fiction ….so here goes.

We were talking about long haul flights (and when good times turn bad) … and I was suddenly transported back to Orlando Florida 2010, where, on our last night of a fabulous 3 week holiday, I became ill…really really ill. I woke up in our Disney Hilton Hotel room vomiting and feeling like death … and it was the morning of our flight back to Australia.

What could one do …other than call the ‘Disney Doctor’ ?

Anyway he came (and thank goodness he was ‘real’),  jabbed me with something to settle the vomiting and eventually we set off to the airport (many plastic bags in hand, courtesy of the cleaner,  as ‘Mr 50 Something’ bundled me into the taxi).

deltaWe checked in at the airport and I promptly found some floor space where I could lay quietly in my misery … BUT it wasn’t long before the pain and vomiting were back with a vengeance. Next think, most ‘un-ladylike’  I am running through the airport and vomiting in the plastic bag, but soon discovered that the bottom of the bag was missing …mmm.. you can imagine.!!

There I was in the bathroom and our flight was being called … I was now facing a ‘do’ or ‘die’ decision…but figured I would give it a go. I freshened up as much as you can with vomit all over your dress …and we boarded the plane.

With lots of self talk, deep breathing and relaxation… I convinced myself I could do it. That was, until we were all strapped in, the doors closed and the plane began to draw away from the departure bay; right at that moment the woman sitting beside ‘Mr 50Something’ opened her home cooked snack box and the smell of greasy food was enough to set me off….passenger

so I DID IT !!

I broke all the rules …unbuckled my seatbelt, stood up and  proceeded to collect my hand luggage. ‘Mr 50Something’ was certainly looking a tad anxious and embarrassed as flight staff appeared from everywhere and I announced that I was ‘getting off’ !!

Next minute the Captain arrives to see what the commotion is … took one look at me and said he understood… and that I certainly didn’t look like I belonged on his plane, so back to the parking bay and we were unceremoniously disembarked … minus our luggage. I was never so pleased to be back in the fresh air and couldn’t care less about anything …as I hit the deck to lay on the floor of the terminal; and let my travel companion deal with the fallout ….and find us a room.

I’m happy to add that after a night in the airport hotel, a shower and washed clothes, we backed up to do it all again the following day…..and that our luggage was waiting for us here in Sydney.

Moral to the story ….avoid dodgy seafood the night before a long haul flight (or any other flight really..).

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4th july

4 Jul

fireworks

It seems big things happen on 4th July….

Lets face it …America cut ties with England in 1776…(and are still setting off fireworks in celebration)… ‘Mr 50Something’s’  father died’ (23 years ago) …’The world’s best hairdresser’ gave birth to a beautiful baby girl this morning … and finally… after a few months to get used to the idea… we waved ’20 Something Son’ and his beautiful partner off on  their European adventure, to finally settle and test out life back in her hometown ….(which is completely reasonable …. but just happens to be in Montreal… about as far from Sydney as you can get).

Thank goodness the world is an ever shrinking sphere… and that travel is so accessible for the majority of us … but I have to say I’ve been wondering just how much closer these 2 fabulous cities might get in my lifetime (AND how I go about maximising every single frequent flyer points system ?)P1000013

 

 

 

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