Ate at Subway yesterday with the kids. I am seriously out of my depth there. Must have spent a good couple of minutes staring up at the menu before even daring to approach the counter. Eventually figured out what we wanted to order, and the woman behind the counter started asking the hard questions. Like ... [More]
Was chatting the other day to Tony about radio web casts from across the globe, and I was remembering how much harder it used to be before the age of the Innanet. About 20 years ago I had a rickety old shortwave radio with which I used to listen to the BBC World Service. It ... [More]
With my sister and her husband having returned to Australia after about 3 years of being away (and for my sister, about 5 years away from Melbourne), I find myself explaining the little things that have changed while they’ve been away. Things that are new. They’ve been reading the news from overseas, they know the ... [More]
A pretty good Christmas haul. A brilliant (two volume) book, some DVDs, some chocolate, a groovy t-shirt, groovy CDs, and a stuff-yourself-all-afternoon Christmas lunch. I’ve got no complaints. Tonight I tried to make nachos. I think I may have given myself excess cheese poisoning. I was sitting at home, on my own in the dark, ... [More]
Here is my bookcase. Well, one of them, probably the most interesting one. There are others elsewhere in the house containing CDs and kids books; videos; boring geeky books and magazines. If there is one thing I regret about my book collection it’s that in early adulthood I was so addicted to TV that I ... [More]
Here’s the Christmas tree late last night, with the presents at their most impressive. Slowly, today, the pile is being depleted. I should just add that today would be a good day to spare a thought, and some cash, for those in need. Donate to Salvation Army (southeast AU) The Smith Family (AU) Red Cross/Crescent ... [More]
Christmas means different things to different people… some mark the birth of Christ, others the solstice, for some it’s just another public holiday, for many it’s a chance to spend up big on presents, max out the credit card. I fall into the camp of using the day to get together with family, to give ... [More]
I have a once-a-year chance coming up. In my kitchen is a six-pack of beer of a brand that I don’t normally drink. I think someone left it after the last party. I’d rather not take it to somebody else’s party, as I’d feel duty-bound to drink it, and like I say, I normally don’t. ... [More]
I’ve been going to the same dental surgery for the last ten years or so, every 6-8 months. It should be every 6, but in practice I tend to wait until they ring me to make an appointment (what, like I’d WANT to go?), and so it usually ends up at about 8. The actual ... [More]
I’ve got a couple of days off work… happy dance, happy dance, nyah nyah. Actually it’s not really smugworthy, given I’m going to the dentist this morning. On Sunday I unexpectedly went on a consumer electronics buying spree. First, the VCR started misbehaving. Tape playback fuzzy. Same with a couple of other tapes. Found the ... [More]
Not quite in the usual vein of Sunday photos, here is possibly the strangest self-portrait I have ever taken. It was at Altona beach this morning, and what you can’t see is the 50 gazillion flies that were zooming around my head (and indeed the heads of everybody else present at the time). Seriously, you’d ... [More]
“Hello, Mr Bowen? … blah blah drive shaft blah blah grease boot split blah blah steering rack problem blah blah exhaust muffler leakage blah blah $560…” I won’t even tell you what the eventual total cost of that service was, suffice to say that I may not be quite as extravagant with my Christmas gift-buying ... [More]