it was full of seaweed:
~
I'm not sure I want my food to announce it's going to make my jiggly bits dance but this was a wonderful dinner on a hot evening:;
And how could I resist wine with a label like this? It was actually pretty good and I've bought another bottle... :
This is what I chose. Mmmmm...
I've been sitting at my desk bawling for the last hour.
Dad doesn't seem any worse than usual, but it's hard to tell how much better he's getting. He doesn't say much. (You know how dads are...)
And mom is still making idiotic comments about the visiting therapists continuing to make appointments and how it's only "pounding it into his head that he's an invalid." Oh shut up already. He IS an invalid.
Anyway, the question is...should I get out in the 36 degree weather and walk to lunch and get a little head-clearing exercise? Or should I indulge my doldrums and go get a barbecue-bacon-cheese-greasebomb from Smashburger?
Yeah.
Huge storm last night. This was after a day where it hit 40 Celsius here in western Sydney. A day where I went to the city to meet my Economist son for lunch and in my "wisdom" decided to ride the Monorail from Darling Harbour parking over to city centre (Pitt Street).
There was a notice at the "station" warning that due to extreme heat the a/c in the little cars would not be efficient. Well, I got a $9.50 all day ride (cheaper than a return) and got on it anyway. Holy Moly - it must have been over 50 degrees Celsius in the little tube!!!. "I can do this; I can do this" - I repeated to myself - surely it won't take that long.......
There are more stations now than I remember and it seemed to take a very, very long time though it's probably only 15 minutes - but 15 minutes in that kind of heat and stuffiness is no fun. I considered getting out two short of where I wanted to go but that defeated the entire purpose of taking the monorail in the first place as the walk would've been longer but surely it could not have been hotter.
I had images of a news story "woman collapses in heat of monorail" or worse - the monorail breaking down and everyone expiring before we could be rescued.
Last night there was a tremendous storm with lightning so intense I saw us all being fried in our little tin huts.
So today it is raining and there is a bus strike so it should be fun on the roads - but at least it is cooler.
This is Rose Bay, Sydney - I have a friend who lives in this idyllic location:
I know this is not a big surprise for this week's Quest! This quest runs for 2 weeks so you have time to get some photos during this busy season.
Photos can be recent or old...you are free to use any photo enhancements, color or b & w or sepia tones. Make a collage, a Christmas card, a poster or just a single photo. Post how you took the photo and what enhancements you used.
If you haven't ever posted before just jump in and have some fun. No worries we are all learning here and enjoy seeing everyones photos.
Get creative and show the Photo Quest Group what Christmas means to you. Is it about the ornaments, the tree, the cookies, friends, children, parties (this is for Yan), pets, nature, church...what makes a Christmas special for you.
Since this quest runs through Christmas...I want to take time to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
Maureen
This was the first time for this subject, shoes on Photo Quest. It was fun to see what you creative minded photographers posted for this quest.
First to post was Realworld with his Cat Shoes. I want to know how he stuffed that kitten in the shoe? OK so that probably didn't happen but what a cute, candid photo! Nice job Realworld as it is hard to get the cat's eyes clear on a photo...mine sometimes look orange or a strange green.
Next post was from Maju, with her purple sneakers trying to run away from the boring black shoes. Great composition with the purple shoe in the ROT spot. This photo really made me laugh...nice work Maju!
Then along came CountrybyDesign with a very mystical photo of her shoes in the stream of light. WOW this is a very cool photo and I think you should use this technique again with other subjects. I like the slightly out of focus shot here as it makes the photo have a more mystical feel.
Not to disappoint, Cap'n Stephel brings us some very Jazzy, Saxie shoes. Very nice play on dark and light and lines. I liked the second photo the best as it has just enough light to make me want to check it out closer.
Finally Yancunyong brings it home with party shoes. Japan must be a lot more fun than I ever thought. Yan seems to be parting it up big time. Loved seeing the shoes of his fellow party goers. I like the last photo the best...the red lighting and the reflection of the shoe was very cool.
Thanks again all for a great quest...hope to see you again next week.
What are you hoping to find under the tree this year?
The 2010 Cute Overload calendar!
Hmm...maybe I should be dropping hints to one of Santa's "helpers."
There's a guy on the local newspaper discussion forum who has been a bigger wanker than usual lately. This is the guy I've mentioned before who thinks it's his right to confront people who have handicapped parking placards that he doesn't think they deserve.
Well, this time there was a house fire, and a disabled man (one leg and wheelchair bound) lost his life. This assclown has posted several times about how it was inexcusable that he died, that it wouldn't have happened if they had working smoke alarms in every room, and he should have been able to pull himself to safety with his arms, and they should have done this or that or the other thing.
Every time any tragedy happens, he's there with an arrogant declaration of how HE wouldn't have been in that situation because HE would have done such and such different and what the hell ever.
So this is the reply I just drafted to him, but I don't have the nerve to click "Submit":
Stick a sock in it, [...]. You're a judgmental know-it-all, and everyone is tired of your sanctimonious pronouncements every time something goes bad. It's easy to be intelligent in hindsight, safely behind your computer monitor. Someday you may find yourself in a crisis, and then you can show us how easy it is to be perfect.
I have 67 kg (148lbs) of photos to get back to DC which somewhat exceeds my United baggage allowance even if I leave all my clothes behind. I've had these stored in my son's garage but now that he has a wife she will be moving in with her own "stuff". It's time for me to get these so that I can scan/preserve them.
So ... research was required. First I tried Australia Post which is how I got my worldly possessions to America nearly 10 years ago. The lady told me in 3 minutes that it would cost an exorbitant.1,228.30.$$$$ - though she didn't actually use the word "exorbitant" - she had a tone that suggested I was getting such a bargain that I should race home pack them up and get back in time to catch the last post of the day.
I had actually saved up and budgeted an amount of $1,000 for this exercise but I was not really expecting to have to use it all.
I
had seen an advertisement for Fed Ex International Economy so I rang
Lawrence in India and had a nice conversation where he used my name a
lot as well as "that's a good question Emjay, I can tell you the
answer"... After 10 or 15 minutes Lawrence decided that Economy service
was not going to work for me and that actually the 25kg flat rate boxes
sent at Priority service would be cheaper (apparently the economy
service just means it takes longer to get there!).
So ... today they will start their journey to the manservant's office and the cost of getting them there in about 3 days will be less than $800.. (FYI: Oz Post could send them by sea for about $650 but I've seen those statistics on how many containers go overboard every year...).
****
The landscape got a little greener as we headed towards the Hunter Valley...
This little church was in the middle of nowhere ( I love the "outhouse"):
A few of the very small towns have these fancy big signs:
This place thinks it is in the Mediterranean - these are all olive trees:
And, now, we interrupt our pleasant country drive to bring some ugly open cut mining....
I remember a couple of years ago you could not see this from the road...
