Alert but not alarmed

We were all very alert, and very prepared to be alarmed as we had been warned that at 2pm our national emergency warning system would be tested, with a siren blaring or blasting or ear splitting (the media were full on with their use of a thesaurus), out from our phones for ten seconds, along with a message to ignore the alert.

I was in Bay Street, Port Melbourne at 2pm with Phyllis and Kosov after a driving lesson for Kosov and a need for bahn mi for both of them. Kosov has a dry cough so they went into the supermarket to buy chicken meat to make a restorative chicken soup. I was sitting in the pleasant little park just metres away from the main street. As 2pm approached, I moved closer to the street to see how people would react to the siren.

Remember Big Ears and Noddy of the children's book fame? Noddy drove a car which when he sounded its horn, made a parp parp sound. Does that sounded like a horn blasting a warning. Parp parp.

That is how I'd described the alert. No one in the street seemed to react. An older woman wearing huge earmuffs tried to engage with a couple of young girls walking past, who acknowledged her but kept walking. I was a stationary target. She had a heavy accent, I guess Italian, as she told me told me her granddaughter said to her 'Nonna, don't go out as you will be scared when the siren on your phone goes off'. Nonna insisted she was going out. 'Nonna, take my ear muff headphones then', and she did wear them, and heard nothing. Had I have had my phone in my pocket, I probably would not have heard the 'parp parp' either. 

Nonna liked to talk. Her husband died eight years ago, her daughter of cancer two years ago. Her granddaughter is too choosy about men.  Her grandson was engaged but broke it off. 'He is so handsome, always looks neat and wears nice clothes, and is so funny. He is very kind to me, he works at a prison and has his own house, but he lives in another house with his friend.' Hmmm.

Where on earth are Phyllis and Kosov to save me.

The bastards eventually arrived and walked past me to stand about five metres away. I must have a word with them about what to do in such situations, where the default is to save me. I gave her a couple of pats on her puffer jacket enclosed upper arm and left her midstream talking.

Then they told me they has already engaged with her, as she complained about the toilets in the supermarket walkway being closed for two weeks. 

Did your phones sound an alert, I asked them? No Onnndrew. Mine is on silent, but I saw the message. (the alert comes through regardless of whether your phone is on silent). No Annndrew, I didn't hear anything. I think it probably did work for them but they didn't hear the parp parp.

It seems the alert worked for 94% of the population the phone towers and for those who it did not work for, perhaps a very old phone or a local tower was closed for maintenance.

ABC Radio uses an excellent alert sound when there is a fire or flood threat warning.

It was an alert, but hardly a sound to make you alarmed or even alert. Perhaps they should look at the sounds of older technology. 

                                                                                                             

The 90th birthday of Brighton Antique Dealer

She has lived an extraordinarily interestingly life, from being the daughter of an Sicilian immigrant green grocer in the western suburbs, to mixing it with the best of the ever so posh suburb of Brighton. Her wheeling and dealing with antiques was very successful. She had a long behemien period. Her English is fluent with clear diction, and she is well spoken. She also speaks Italian and can get by with Arabic and Greek. She is interested in theatre, films, opera, ballet and especially jazz music. She is world travelled, with about seven years ago taking an around the world three month ship cruise. Funnily, on the cruise she met the mother of my gay former workmate. We did subsequently all catch up for a meal. 

She wasn't averse to taking a puff of the weed, yet she being Catholic, went and still does go to church every Sunday. Her first husband was an Arab with the biggest... When she saw it, she thought it wouldn't possibly fit. She had two children by him, so apparently it did fit. Her second husband was a well to do, cross dressing yacht club commodore. She loved him dearly and he died just before we met her, late 1990s.

Her eightieth birthday party was fantastic, with Jazzie making her last performance before she died a few months later. 

As her dyke daughter organised her 80th, so too did she organise her 90th. The birthday celebration was great,with an open bar (I made sure I got my fill) and a two course sit down meal. There was a DJ, and the birthday girl was certainly on the floor, as were rather a lot of older people. The evening went flawlessly, and given the age of most of the guests, the party began at 6.00 and was pretty well over by 9.30. 

She is a very kind person but not one who takes rubbish from anyone. I am privileged to have known her for twenty five plus years. Her signature greeting at any gathering is, 'I only come to kiss the boys'.

Jazzie at BAD's 80th.

BAD at her 90th as we sang happy birthday, with fifty guests. Aside from family, I'd be lucky to rustle up ten for my funeral. 

The Easter that was

Boring Good Friday, everything was closed, except they weren't. Cafes were open and R took me to cafe he knew at Fishermans Bend. Once home I did do some serious cleaning on the balcony, a bit of a follow up after the air con remediation. 

Saturday morning we trammed to town to buy Easter eggs for kiddies and had a cafe brunch along with very unexpected good coffee, with a 15% pubic holiday surcharge. I used to think that this was ok, as staff are being paid extra for working on public holidays. I no longer think the same. Public holidays are a known thing and extra public holiday wage costs should be built into the budget forecasts for the business.

Sister, Bone Doctor and Jo were in town Saturday in the afternoon to see a Melbourne Comedy Festival performance. They went on to see the Titanic exhibition at the museum and we met them at The Oriental Teahouse in town for a nice dinner. Sister and her wife are both just post another bout of Covid, with Sister having caught it on a school camp. They happily returned to rest at their hotel while Jo came back with us to stay the night.

Sunday morning after a very small breakfast at the Scottish restaurant opposite, R and Jo made sandwiches and we drove to the suburb Oakleigh for a family gathering organised by Sister. Sadly Fire Fighting Nephew was on duty, and his wife, five year old daughter and two year old twin boys were staying with her mother at her apple orchard. 

Guest list:

Myself and R. 2

Sister, Bone Doctor and Jo, 2 adults/1 child.

Tradie Brother, his Ex Wife and her husband. 3

Oldest Niece and her partner and their three children, 2/3

Hippie Niece, her twin children, her partner and his two children. 2/4

ABI Brother. 1

Ex Sis in Law's husband's daughter and the daughter's luscious partner in his early twenties with a lean body and a perfect camera smile, and their daughter, 2/1

No one mentioned the missing person who would have been ninety years old. It was all about children and renewal. 0

So, fourteen adults I think and nine children. 

The picnic was at Brickmakers Park. We secured a table under shelter and had a lovely time. Walks were taken, the extensive play equipment was well used, trees were climbed, left over brickmaking equipment was explored and a walk to the nearby Scotchmans Creek undertaken. There was food aplenty and the obligatory Easter egg hunt. 

It was a very successful family gathering, the first really after scattering Mother's and Step Father's ashes. It was nice to not have to drive for an hour for a family gathering too.

Don't we all love a nice duck or two. 

Don't ask me, aside from a wind vane.

I could see two of the strange coolie hat like structures, but I can't in the photo.

A small and neat rotunda can be as good as a large one, can't it?

Another strange structure or something functional. 

I'm on steps to nowhere, just into a swamp.

It's a pity the grass is not irrigated and has turned brown. The next day we had 56mm or rain, say over two inches. This broke a weather record, as did the driest March for over a hundred years or something like that. Weather records just continue to be broken in great haste, but of course it is nothing to do with climate change. The grass will be green by the time this is published.

Some brick making machinery was left in the park. The sign in centre of the photo says no climbing on machinery. 

This boy was too young to be able to read the sign. Get down Lucas!

I've reduced the size of these photos compared to what they normally are as taken at a ridiculous size of around 6mb. Does it make a difference to you?

Matters Social

I haven't really mentioned much of the social things we have done this year, probably because nothing was too exciting, just catching up with people.

I think I did mention lunch with Mother at ABI's place. As Mother wouldn't go out, she paid for a nice roast chicken with all the sides from Red Rooster. I also mentioned lunch at the Seafood RSL with Ex Sis in Law and her husband, along with their grandchildren twins. 

We dined one evening with our Hairdresser Friend at Romeos in Toorak Road. 

We lunched and then a few weeks later dined one evening with Brighton Antique Dealer at Clocks, Flinders Street Station.

On our own we have dined at Nar Bangkok across the road and twice at the Elsternwick Hotel. 

One of the cafe late coloured twins had an appointment at the Dental Hospital, so we trammed to Carlton and had lunch with Hippie Niece, her companion and twin daughters. Staff said sorry, only one chef today. Lunch menu is limited to non spicy pasta, mild spicy pasta and quite spicy pasta. The girls can have spag bol. It is amazing how quickly you can order if you have such limited choices. The food was good and the service wonderful. Where was it? Ok, Ms Frankie. 

We caught up with our Sydney friend for lunch at Abory (sic) Afloat, and that was nice. Afloat means you are afloat, on a pontoon and it felt a bit strange when it moved. Who said you can't make real friends on the internet? 

This week past, we caught up with our Dyke Friend from Tasmania for brunch at Hobba Cafe along with our Hairdresser Friend. 

My acquaintance from the Gold Coast is in town and with a temperature of 38 degrees (100F) forecast for tomorrow, I have postponed our public transport roaming catch up until Sunday.

Early next month Ex Sis in Law is joining her Fire Fighting son, wife, toddler daughter and twin babies to travel to New Zealand. She is not backwards in coming forward and asked if she could stay the preceding night with us, leave her car here and we drive her to the airport, then pick her up a week later. She still works and has no understanding of how busy retired people's lives can be. At great inconvenience to us (we have to be organised early), we can do that.

Then Fire Fighting Nephew is staying this Saturday night after travelling to Melbourne from Geelong by ferry. I think he will be with mates and they are coming up to see a soccer match. He needs to come here to get a key and then I guess in the early hours of the morning he will return here to sleep OR he may go straight to the football match and now being sensible dad to three, may not stay out late and be home here before we sleep. He may have coffee with us in the morning but in spite offer of cereal and toast, he will find somewhere nearby to buy Bahn Mi. 

I will give the laddie a sentimental something when he visits. More on that later.