A few days ago I found a cockroach in the cupboard. I couldn’t think of a way of extracting it without touching it, so I got the vaccuum cleaner and sucked it up. Yesterday I had to get the vaccuum cleaner out again. Got it out, and found a cockroach sitting on top of it, ... [More]
A little project originally I started about two years ago — to move my entire online diary (which goes back to 1994) into WordPress — has finally been completed. I’ll spare you the boredom of the details of trying to write programs to convert the old handwritten HTML into something I could import, and instead ... [More]
To their surprise and delight, the kids found a Lego train set, left in the fireplace by Father Christmas. Much fun building it. All batteries purchased in readiness for Sonic Screwdriver and TARDIS. All gifts well received. So were the gifts for the adults. Had a big Christmas lunch at my mum’s place. Less people ... [More]
I thought I’d done all right with my $9.98 Christmas wreath from K-Mart (bigger, better, handmade one to come next year, I hope). Until I saw this one at 101 Collins Street. Aye Carumba! Oh well. That one wouldn’t fit on my door anyway. Have a great Christmas, one and all.
A short day at work, and three weeks holiday starts today (pretty much right now, in fact). Things I’m planning to do: Complete the big clearout of the house. Some stuff will get chucked out (rubbish, recycle, freecycle), some will get tidied away. The plan is to get the spare room into the kind of ... [More]
Those sales people in the station concourses are annoying. They’re all about 15, and stand by their little cardboard booths advertising Amex, shouting out “How are you?” and gesticulating wildly as you rush past. Ditto the charity people, most of whom seem to be British backpackers, standing on street corners with clipboards, wearing today’s charity ... [More]
Woken up early this morning by this idling, rumbling outside my door at 6:40. Thankfully it’s not some Hitchhiker’s Guide scenario. The house they’ve been ripping into is down the street. On Tuesday morning it was there. By dinner time it was gone, a flat piece of land with three big trucks parked on it.
Happy Gravy Day everyone. May you and yours all be together for Christmas.
Dan Brown: Angels and Demons. (Disclaimer: I was forced to read this.) The good: after a plodding start, the plot did get interesting, and exciting enough that I wanted to keep reading and find out what happened. Nice twist at the end. The bad: Wooden, two-dimensional characters. Romantic scenes written like Mills and Boon. Spelling ... [More]
My name is Daniel, and I have a cockroach problem. The first: a few days after I moved in, on the front doorstep. I squashed it with a boot. The second: a couple of weeks ago, jumping out from the cupboard underneath the sink. It scurried away and escaped. The third: last night in the ... [More]
Marita and Justine’s dog Maisie doesn’t like a lot of things, but she does like chasing other animals. Rabbits, cats, birds… By far her favourite type of bird to chase looks a little like a pigeon, but has a pointy head, and makes a funny noise when it flies. This delights Maisie, and when she ... [More]
You know when you’re starting to settle into the neighbourhood when… …someone knocks on your door to let you know you left your car lights on …you remember what day is garbage day, without having to check …the various shortcuts (by foot or by road) to strategic locations have been figured out …the local amenities ... [More]