The Crow Road (Iain Banks). I just finished reading this. The ending nicely tied up the story, and it was a great read. I think for me one of the signs of a great writer is that Banks was able to throw up thoughts and concepts along the way that most would consider are thought-provoking ... [More]
Not feeling well. Stomach pain. Something disagreed with me. Whether or not it was the root cause, I’m betting I shouldn’t have eaten so much chocolate yesterday. Not much sleep overnight. Unsavoury lavatorial activities instead. Called in sick today. Took kids to school, then stopped past supermarket and got my standard sick food: Sprite and ... [More]
Having a few good chuckles watching Goodbye Lenin on Friday night. Yummy meals: Thai on Friday night, pub on Saturday night, getting served breakfast in bed on Sunday morning, and a thoroughly delicious meal in Bendigo that made up for driving all that way in the wind and rain. Trying out my new dressing gown ... [More]
After driving her to Kew to look at a fireplace… and to Bendigo and back to look at a wardrobe… and lending her a big bunch of money to help pay for the wardrobe (‘cos those ATM card limits are a pain)… and stopping for a snack, and buying a Paddle Pop while she was ... [More]
It’s the weekend. The long weekend. Queen’s Birthday weekend. Even though it’s not her birthday. Amusingly, in the UK they don’t get a day off for it. It’s also the last public holiday until Cup Day in November. I may not be a monarchist, but fully I intend to make the most of it.
Do I walk a bit funny or something? The heels of the two pairs of shoes I most commonly wear (the Monday to Friday work shoes) are wearing away on the outside edges. Further, one pair is re-developing the same hole which I thought was comprehensively eliminated a year ago. And in the same position ... [More]
Guess who left the car window ajar overnight? Yup. Fortunately it didn’t rain much this morning. On the bright side, I managed to do a bit of time-travelling on the way home today. Something like this: 16:50. Get to Flinders Street, just miss 16:49 Mordialloc train leaving. 16:52. Deftly leap aboard an Alamein train direct ... [More]
Oops. This fine site was down for a couple of hours last night after my web hosting provider pointed out the bill was three weeks overdue. Nothing like downing your site to make you sit up and take notice. I found the errant bill languishing in my e-mail inbox. Full credit to them though, they ... [More]
Plan A for Sunday: Take the kids to the footy, meet up with Tony, Rae and Phoebe and watch the Cats lose. Plan B for Sunday: Walk down to Dick Smith Powerhouse, buy an XBox game, come home, play it. Maybe have a bounce on the trampoline at some stage. When these two plans were ... [More]
Finally got around to watching Finding Nemo on Friday night. Great stuff. My favourite characters would have to be the seagulls. “Mine!” I think they captured them perfectly. It made me recall Andrew Bolt’s critique of the movie. It’s a terrific laugh, as Boltie usually is. I always make sure to check out what he’s ... [More]
Sunday evening, 6pm. In the supermarket. Two blokes staring up at the bewildering choice of bottles of olive oil. “How on earth are you meant to choose one?” “There’s only 5 million up there, I don’t know what the problem is.” My reply got a chuckle, and I went back to staring up at them ... [More]
…and how pictures make a story real. If there was a Daniel FAQ, these questions would feature in it: Why are you involved in the Public Transport Users Association? What’s in it for you? And can I tell you about how late my train was this morning? Perhaps another long rambling retrospective is in order. ... [More]