Sunday 29th January Post

Having had four sunny days off you may think I did a load of wonderful things.   

But you know, I just schlepped it.  

On Thursday I did got for a walk from home to the beach.  Not a very long one.  About an hour.  It was stinking hot and even though it was around 4.30 I actually got a bit pink from the sun on a place I neglected to apply some sunscreen.   I had intended to walk back home but I thought it would be nice for K and S to come down and have something to eat.  

I took a few photos while waiting for them. 

 I love t-trees.  They are so gnarly and parched looking.  They even look like this in winter.

By the time K and S arrived the coffee shop had shut so we had to go and find somewhere else to eat.  We ended up at a trendy hamburger shop.  They don't make greasy burgers.  They make healthy ones.  And they cater for vegans.  They taste home made which is nice for a change. 

The thing is,  it was kind of weird sitting having a take away dinner when, the day beforehand, my uber Ilve stove had been installed in the kitchen.  However, I could not cook on it much because the range hood has not been connected.  And the range hood has not been connected because the ducting is very complicated. 

To tell you the truth, I am a bit scared of the oven.  It has a digital clock.  And programmable things.  I got K to light the oven because I was anxious.  I can light old ovens but not new ones.  Well, you know what I mean.  I did not want to make a mistake.  This was a mans job.  This new one has to have the door fully open to light the gas.  Then you have to leave it open for three minutes before shutting it.  Weird.  But I don't care.  It looks nice.

There is a rotisserie thingy in it.  There is no way I would use it because it means I would have to clean the oven.  Fuck that.  Oh, well, I will clean it when it needs a clean but I would not cook some fat splattering dinner in it.  That would be testing my care factor a bit much.  

So K lights the oven and I had to leave it on for an hour to burn the factory residue off the insides.  Tonight I am going to bake a cake or something.  It will be very different because it is fan forced and a fast oven compared to the 1960's one I have been using for a while. 

On the Friday I had to go and get my son's school books and he came with.  It was another stinking hot day outside and the place that sold the books was hot inside.  It was crowded and it was understaffed.  We got the books and then joined the queue,  After half an hour I rang K and asked him to come and pick up S because the queue was moving and a snails pace.  So he was picked up and I was left waiting.  It took over an hour to get to the register and get served.

The place had a portable evaporative cooler on and they did their best to make the wait less unpleasant for everyone.  There was water available and I made the mistake of drinking some and subsequently need to go to the toilet for ages.  A toilet trip was not an option.  I was not giving up that space.   By the time I got home I was hot, sweaty, dying to pee and had frizzy hair.  But at least I had the books.

After that K and I went to hire a fancy dress costume and drove to some inner city suburb that seemed to take forever to get to.  We are going to a 40th next Saturday and the theme is 1920's.  I hired the most fabulous costume and cannot wait to wear it.  I think it has been over ten years since I went to a fancy dress party.

My son has a new pet.  A blue tongue lizard.  It belonged to my sister in law (K's sister) but she found it hard to look after because she has not been that well.  He has it in his bedroom is a tank.  He loves it.  Introduced it to his toys.

It is very tame.  Does not do much.  Eats.  Sleeps and sticks it tongue out now and then.  But S is very keen on it and plays with it during the day.  I love lizards and snakes.  But a snake is out of the question.  K hates them as much as I hate spiders.

Today I woke up in one of those snitchy moods.  I was anxious (boo hoo) and just agitated.  Went off to the shops to buy a birthday present and got there before the heat of the day was too much.  All went well. Made a good choice and got home around lunch time.  Missed the crowds and the heat.

Later on I went into the studio and cleaned up.  I wanted to start on something but noticed that the paper I wanted to use had been wet and was now mouldy.  I think it happened last year when a lot of supplies in the old studio got wet during the flood.  So I decided to go to the local art shop and buy some more.  I had a gift voucher from my birthday.  K came with as he had cabin fever.  He loathes the hot weather and feels trapped when we have a few days of it.

So, we get to the store and the woman comes out the door and starts to take some display stuff in.  She looked most put out that we were coming in.  I asked her if she was open much longer and she said that they were open for another 25 minutes and that the sale that they had on would end then.  I said "oooookay" in that voice that suggests "gee, sorry for putting you out" because she spoke in a "what are you doing here I want to shut the door early" voice.  Not welcoming at all.

I picked a few things and went to the counter.  The girl there added it up and took of the sale discount.  There was a saving of $40.  When I handed her the voucher she said that the discount did not apply to vouchers.  I asked why not and the door bitch explained something about the money has already been allowed for and some other fucking stupid thing.  Mentioned that she had been through this so many times.  Well, not with me lovey is what I wanted to say.  Cow.  Instead I gave her one of my inscrutable looks that suggests I am saying one thing but thinking another.  I know the looks because my son gives them to me often.  It is one of those nice family traits we share.

I mean, a voucher is cash in my mind and why should I be penalised for wanting to use it during a sale.  I did not want to discuss it because I knew that my "patience 'o' metre" was very low and I would have been unbearably rude and I don't want that.  So I said "I see".

She then said I could use cash instead and save the voucher for another time.  Now, at that point my childish tantrum throwing self started to come out and I said that I would rather use the voucher thank you.  So the price went up again and I was left with a balance of $17.50 on the voucher.

As she handed me my bag of items I deliberately looked over her head at something out the window and did not say thank you.  Just took the bag, kept a conversation going with K and walked out the door.

Then I did this most childish thing.  I am a bit embarrassed to confess it but it was the most satisfying tantrum.  I took the voucher out and, within their view, casually tore it up and flicked it in the rubbish bin outside. It was a case of cutting off my nose to spite my face but it was worth the sacrifice of $17.50.

As I did it I remarked to K something like "well, I am not coming back here so why keep it".  Or words to that effect.

There was no logic to my actions but there was a great deal of puerile enjoyment.

There may have been a principle thing going in my head.  I don't know.  But it cost me money which is most unlike me.

Anyway, I had actually found a better art shop to go to.  Plus buying online is so much cheaper.

Damn, I wish I had told them that.

It's always afterwards you think of everything you could have said.

Then again, it is usually better to have said not much at all.

I still have a bag of nice things to play with though.  

And a great excuse to go online now to buy.

Ciao
LC