Satisfying Saturday

The cows seem very satisfied with their new scratching facility.  They do like a good rub and scratch.

As I uploaded the video, a message arrived that it would not be viewable in some countries because of the accompanying music, Hall and Oats I believe. I investigated further, and I could silence the music or change it to some YouTube approved music, so that's what I did. It kinda works.

My unimportant life

My state of Victoria has suffered from very bad fires. And now, along the well known tourist stretch, the Great Ocean Road, there has been flash flooding from storm cells, washing cars and caravans out to sea. The footage is quite dramatic, but it least at seems like no lives have been lost.

I need to work out if the tram or the new Metro Tunnel train line gets me to the city quicker. I know the trains at the moment leave clock face every twenty minutes, 7, 27, 47. When the full service begins, it will be every ten minutes during the day when I travel, 4,14, 24 etc. It takes me ten minutes to leave the building, walk to the station and descend to a platform. 

Travel time to Town Hall Station is 3 minutes, but with the full timetable, 4 minutes. This is too much time. The journey takes 2 minutes, and the train sits at Anzac Station where I board for about a minute, and then again at Town Hall Station, a minute. It should be 2 minutes to Town Hall and 2 minutes to State Library. 

What has been done is ridiculously stupid. Another minute has been added between Anzac Station and Town Hall, and then the time to State Library has been cut to 2 minutes, so over the same distance, the time is the same. This is how private companies get trains to run on time, by giving them too much time. I certainly noticed that the same happens in Sydney with trains, although not its new Metro system.

Good luck if you understood any of the above. 

Phyllis filled in my calendar with birthday dates of family and friends. He added each day he pays the fortnightly rent, on the wrong week, so he must pay the rent on the Monday when it is not due, for the next year. You had one job Phyllis!!!

I was worried about meeting niece Jo for brunch on Wednesday, needlessly. She had driven one of her mother's cars to South Geelong Station, dealt with some bus/train substitution and arrived on time. Once in the city, she made her own way by tram to the cafe where we brunched. We chatted away about all sorts of things. We walked together through town and across the river to the Arts Centre where she was going to see the musical Cats.  She complained about Sister, her mother, trying to speak Geordie in Newcastle, England, and trying Chinese in restaurants. By the end of something like five weeks of travel, Jo had had enough of her mother, although she didn't say anything about Bone Doctor, her other mother. As I always express to my relative children who complain, it is the duty of parents to embarrass their children.

It is odd that I struggle to walk a distance at times, but I had no problem this day.

Sister did well at last weekend's women's cricket match, with over one hundred runs. A day or so ago, she was in central Victoria bike riding and ticked off visiting two more public swimming pools, Nagambie being one, and perhaps the other was Murchison.

Today after taking the car out for usual Thursday shopping, I was home quite early and it struck me to visit Myer in town to buy some new shoes and a new short sleeved summer shirt. The planets were aligned, with a 40% discount on both, and I am happy with what I bought, Blaq casual non laces shoes and a Gazman shirt. 

I accidentally looked at the Big Man rack of shirts. The sizes were marked for different countries, and it seems our XXXL is equal to the US XL. It varies here by manufacturer. Sometimes an XL can be a bit tight for me, if the maker has skimped on fabric, but the shirt I bought today was XL and a flattering fit. Oh for the days when I was S.

At home, Kosov had sent Rover to remap the apartment. He was out when I returned home and Rover was stuck under their bed. Rover eventually died, with a message on the phone app that he needed to be rescued. I can't do under beds, so Kosov rescued him when he returned.

Butter chicken by Phyllis tonight, with rice and a simple side salad. Delicious. 

A rough ride

If you visit Sydney, it is almost compulsory to catch a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, with one side of the suburb facing the harbour where the ferry berths, and the other side, the open Pacific Ocean, great for surfing.

Once when returning from Manly to Sydney's Circular Quay, we were tossed about a bit and a little water sprayed those sitting outside at the bow. Seeing people outside being sprayed was very amusing. However, it was nothing like what is in these videos. The only dicey part of the trip is when the ferry crosses Sydney Heads, open water to the Pacific Ocean, and was no doubt where this occurred. I hasten to add, this is very unusual.

I believe these videos were taken by Matt Lambley, maybe. I've seen a different name embedded in the video. 

 

Rough rides for me? Nothing will beat the ferry journey from Fremantle in Western Australia to Rottnest Island. Grace, can you believe that in a couple of months it will be ten years ago when we were in Perth?

Me tucker

A comment on yesterday's post make me think you might like to see the menu I choose from for my  subsidised meals, for which I pay a bit over AU$11 for three courses, $34 a week. I receive three of the three courses each week.

I can choose three main courses, up to meal number 106. The roast meals are quite good, as is the meatloaf. Crumbed barramundi and salmon patties are fine. Bacon and egg quiche, and shepherds pie are ok. The Greek lamb salad is ok when Phyllis fixes it up a bit. The menu changes a little at times.

Then I can choose three from sandwiches and soups. I do love the potato, leek and bacon soup, and the pumpkin soup is nice. I usually take one soup and two sandwiches, which I divide into half and individually wrap them in cling wrap. 

I go on to choose from three desserts. I will alway select two traditional fruit salads, and halve them to put on breakfast cereal. I do love the bread and butter pudding, but I try to limit that to one per fortnight, and the alternate week choose all fruit salad. If there isn't any fruit salad for my cereal, I use half a banana. 

I haven't tried every main course but most of them, and I've gotten to know what works well and what doesn't. At times I freeze some food, but mostly it is kept in the fridge. I ignore use by dates up to a week after delivery, longer if frozen. 

The woman who delivers the food is cheery and brings the meals to my door. It is also a bit of welfare check, she noting if there seems to be something not right and making a report. I think for quite lonely or isolated people, she would stop and have a chat with them if they wanted to talk. 

I take a photo of what I've chosen, so as not to choose the same the following week. At one point I ended up with three roast pork meals before I began taking a photo. 

A bit of a non post

I need a break for one day of blogging, so minimal effort today.

Monday is an annoying day for me as I have to hang around home, this day until 12.30, awaiting my meals delivery. At least the cafe opposite has reopened after the Christmas/New Year break, so I can duck across the road before 11 for coffee.

At some point today I cleaned out the air conditioner drip tray of sludge. There was some screwing involved. I was careful with my back while screwing. I brushed the dried sludge free and then used the stick vac on its high setting to extract the muck. 

I then went out for a couple of hours, maybe less, to capture a mural photo. It was a Metro Tunnel train to State Library and then a tram. I noticed the mural when I was teaching Phyllis to drive, somewhere in Carlton. Ok, I'll come back and take a photo. Of course I will remember the location. But then I could not remember where it was. Using Street View, I did find it, and took photos, that have somehow disappeared into the ethernet. Another troll of Street View and I found it again, and for the second time, I've taken photos. 

What else happened today? I was individually wrapping my sandwiches from my food delivery and Jass jumped up on the bench. I pushed her off and did so again when she jumped up the second time. She was very cross and did some zoomies, ducked into under the lounge chair, then came out to scratch the standing lamp, and claw at the carpet. I am quite good at ignoring bad behaviour. She settled down after a bit. 

The Metro Tunnel timetable has been released. As I guessed, the times I will use the train, it will be a ten minute service. We were promised a turn up and go timetable, and I don't consider a ten minute wait is turn up and go. But having said that, the am/pm peak services look good. There are some improvements with other lines, with more to come as the year goes on.

Phyllis fed me with something he had prepared earlier, some delicious chicken drumsticks, a fried egg of course, fresh beetroot and a leafy salad with a tomato. As I type, Phyllis and Kosov have gone out for a walk, which I suggested was a romantic walk in the cool evening air. Kosov was not feeling romantic, but saying he would bend Phyllis...........

Monday Mural

Linking to Sami, here is this week's Monday Mural, the photo being taken by my friend Wombat.There are so many birds with different looks and by the nearby buildings, the scale of the work is huge. How do muralists have the concept of creating such works?

Sunday Selections

With River and others, here is my Sunday Selections using random photos.

Later edit: I don't believe what you can read at our public broadcaster is geoblocked, so if you are interested in Australian news, abc.net.au 

It is underground and I don't notice the train travelling past my building, but this on the first day of opening of Melbourne's new Metro Tunnel pleases me. Next stop, Anzac Station. I am so wowed by the new Metro train line, even if I can't  see the train as it travels past my place beneath the roadway.

An attractive old Melbourne scene, but to me it is immediately obvious that it is fake. AI, if you like, and not a good effort.

Who had lovely blue hydrangeas? I can't remember.

Jass, your 'butter won't melt in my mouth' vulnerable appearance does not deceive me. 

En garde.

An eerie evening light.

Phyllis bought Kosov a 3kg bucket of Nutella in October. In spite of my entries to avoid eating the brown stinky muck, he has, and there are only scrapings in the bucket now.

A few days after Jass arrived, she hid under my bedding. Two days ago, again I saw a lump in my bed. She was only there for an hour.

Oh yes. The elephant in the room. Our terrible bushfires. Fire Fighting nephew's mother in law's home and apple orchard is under threat as I type. She and the rest of the town's residents have been evacuated to nearby safe  places. Marysville where I with Phyllis and Kosov recently spent a couple of days has been evacuated too. As an Anon commented yesterday, the Friday night sunset was amazing, and full of fire threat. 

This Saturday afternoon, outside you could inhale the equivalent bushfire smoke of a full packet of Benson and Hedges.

It is disturbing to read how Australia's gun lobby is planning to fight back against more restrictive gun control after the terrible Bondi massacre.

I don't have a credit for this wonderful photo of a tram at its Elizabeth Street terminus, with Melbourne Flinders Street station clock tower dominating the photo.

I can't remember where but after sorting things post Ray's death, I came across this old $10 note. It doesn't even look green.