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For the love of FRED...
Jan. 26th, 2003 10:44 pmSo, it's Monday, and I've had the day off because Australia, being the land of the public holiday as well as the Fair Go, decided that having Australia Day on Sunday wasn't fair and gave us Monday off to recover. And I needed it, not to recover from Australia Day celebrations, but from the sheer manual labour that is moving into a flat. Gotta tell you people, I'm bushed.
Also happier than I've been in a while. Here I am, happily tapping away on my laptop in my new flat, with my books in the bookcase in front of me, my whole CD collection retrieved, and the warm, comfy feeling you get from being able to dump stuff wherever the hell you want and run around completely starkers if you want to. Although I might have to close the front door if I want to do that - I've got it open to let in the rather pleasant breeze that's blown up.
The move itself... Well, I certainly know how to pick my days. By nine am, which is when we were meeting my dad and my brother, it was 32 degrees C. Um, about 90, possibly more, for you Farenheit folks. Luckily, between the four of us (Dad, my brother David, Phil and myself), we managed to get the trailer unloaded in about an hour, and then Dad and David headed back before the weather got much worse, and Phil and I got some serious hydrating done before Phil had to take off for work-related social things. Whic left me, alone in my new place with a mountain of boxes and furniture. for someone who doesn't value material objects that much, I sure do have a lot of stuff. Less now, since I've been pruning as I unpacked. And when I packed everything, six months ago. But yeah, me and a lot of stuff and a day that was steadily getting to officially Insanely Hot. I stripped off to the minimum (a pair of shorts and a sports bra), filled up my water bottle and waded in.
Three hours later, I'd made substantial headway, but I was also about to pass out from lack of food and over-heating. So I made myself decent by virtue of putting on a shirt, and headed out to see what I could find in the way of food. My weaving steps (it was about 43 outside, at this stage), led me to the Soul Train, one of those trendy-type club/cafe deals. Usually a bit rich for my taste, but it was open and close so I thought "what the hey?"
And I'm glad I did. Not only did I have the best vegetarian foccacia I've ever had (and this might sound like hyperbole, but it isn't), but the staff were friendly, the place was cool, and they have Cosmopolitans for about $5.50, IIRC (And no, I'm not trying to get anyone who lives in Brisbane to come down for a visit, uh-uh). So yeah, definitely one for a repeat visit.
Fortified by good food and about a litre of water, I returned to my task. Only to decide that my afternoon would be more healthily spent taking a nap through the worst part of the heat and doing more when it had cooled down. I had a couch space free, and a pillow, and that's exactly what I did. I napped for a couple of hours, then stunbled around blearily for a bit until I woke up enough to tackle another box.
Two-thirds of the way through the kitchen, I'm startled out of my skin by the sound of the phoen ringing. Why? Because the thing isn't supposed to be connected yet. And to add to the surprise, it was Dex on the other end, which was great, since I haven't spoken to him since I left Toronto, just about, and he's not the most prolific LJ updater or emailer. *grins* So yeah, it was great to hear from him. And a good break - I'd been unpacking for another three or four hours by that stage and was feeling pretty wiped.
Once off the phone, I decided by the woozy feelings that food again would be a good idea. Problem was, I hadn't uncovered the box with the can opener in it, although I had found the box with the dry goods and tinned stuff. Dilemma. In my search for the elusive box, I remembered asking Dad for one of his Army can openers (nicknamed FREDs, for Fucking Ridiculous Eating Devices, as they have a weird little sppon thing happening on one end), and after a bit more searching, I found which Safe Place I'd put it in. You know the Safe Place thing - you put something there and then promptly forget where it is, which makes it so safe you never find the object again. So, FRED in hand, I opened a tin of salmon (ues, I eat of the fishy things, remember?), and made some couscous, and had salmon and couscous with soy and Thai chilli sauce. Out of the saucepan, with the FRED. :)
And having eaten, I decided that was it for the unpacking and watched High Fidelity on video (I need to pick up an adaptor for the aerial, as I've got cable connection issues before I can watch ordinary TV), until I passed out on the couch. The sofa bed was buried, you see.
The next two days passed in much less physically demanding fashion, although there has been the Moving of the Furniture when I wanted it somewhere else, and the Carrying of the Boxes. The weather has been far, far kinder, with it even raining last night. And now I sit, beer at hand, about to cook dinner and call Seraph, and deciding that Life is indeed, as my t-shirt from Cali says, Good.
And no, that kitchen box didn't show up - it's still at home. But no worries, the younger sibling has a girl he wants to see down here, so he's always got an excuse to come down for a bisit, box in tow. :)
Catch you all later.a
Also happier than I've been in a while. Here I am, happily tapping away on my laptop in my new flat, with my books in the bookcase in front of me, my whole CD collection retrieved, and the warm, comfy feeling you get from being able to dump stuff wherever the hell you want and run around completely starkers if you want to. Although I might have to close the front door if I want to do that - I've got it open to let in the rather pleasant breeze that's blown up.
The move itself... Well, I certainly know how to pick my days. By nine am, which is when we were meeting my dad and my brother, it was 32 degrees C. Um, about 90, possibly more, for you Farenheit folks. Luckily, between the four of us (Dad, my brother David, Phil and myself), we managed to get the trailer unloaded in about an hour, and then Dad and David headed back before the weather got much worse, and Phil and I got some serious hydrating done before Phil had to take off for work-related social things. Whic left me, alone in my new place with a mountain of boxes and furniture. for someone who doesn't value material objects that much, I sure do have a lot of stuff. Less now, since I've been pruning as I unpacked. And when I packed everything, six months ago. But yeah, me and a lot of stuff and a day that was steadily getting to officially Insanely Hot. I stripped off to the minimum (a pair of shorts and a sports bra), filled up my water bottle and waded in.
Three hours later, I'd made substantial headway, but I was also about to pass out from lack of food and over-heating. So I made myself decent by virtue of putting on a shirt, and headed out to see what I could find in the way of food. My weaving steps (it was about 43 outside, at this stage), led me to the Soul Train, one of those trendy-type club/cafe deals. Usually a bit rich for my taste, but it was open and close so I thought "what the hey?"
And I'm glad I did. Not only did I have the best vegetarian foccacia I've ever had (and this might sound like hyperbole, but it isn't), but the staff were friendly, the place was cool, and they have Cosmopolitans for about $5.50, IIRC (And no, I'm not trying to get anyone who lives in Brisbane to come down for a visit, uh-uh). So yeah, definitely one for a repeat visit.
Fortified by good food and about a litre of water, I returned to my task. Only to decide that my afternoon would be more healthily spent taking a nap through the worst part of the heat and doing more when it had cooled down. I had a couch space free, and a pillow, and that's exactly what I did. I napped for a couple of hours, then stunbled around blearily for a bit until I woke up enough to tackle another box.
Two-thirds of the way through the kitchen, I'm startled out of my skin by the sound of the phoen ringing. Why? Because the thing isn't supposed to be connected yet. And to add to the surprise, it was Dex on the other end, which was great, since I haven't spoken to him since I left Toronto, just about, and he's not the most prolific LJ updater or emailer. *grins* So yeah, it was great to hear from him. And a good break - I'd been unpacking for another three or four hours by that stage and was feeling pretty wiped.
Once off the phone, I decided by the woozy feelings that food again would be a good idea. Problem was, I hadn't uncovered the box with the can opener in it, although I had found the box with the dry goods and tinned stuff. Dilemma. In my search for the elusive box, I remembered asking Dad for one of his Army can openers (nicknamed FREDs, for Fucking Ridiculous Eating Devices, as they have a weird little sppon thing happening on one end), and after a bit more searching, I found which Safe Place I'd put it in. You know the Safe Place thing - you put something there and then promptly forget where it is, which makes it so safe you never find the object again. So, FRED in hand, I opened a tin of salmon (ues, I eat of the fishy things, remember?), and made some couscous, and had salmon and couscous with soy and Thai chilli sauce. Out of the saucepan, with the FRED. :)
And having eaten, I decided that was it for the unpacking and watched High Fidelity on video (I need to pick up an adaptor for the aerial, as I've got cable connection issues before I can watch ordinary TV), until I passed out on the couch. The sofa bed was buried, you see.
The next two days passed in much less physically demanding fashion, although there has been the Moving of the Furniture when I wanted it somewhere else, and the Carrying of the Boxes. The weather has been far, far kinder, with it even raining last night. And now I sit, beer at hand, about to cook dinner and call Seraph, and deciding that Life is indeed, as my t-shirt from Cali says, Good.
And no, that kitchen box didn't show up - it's still at home. But no worries, the younger sibling has a girl he wants to see down here, so he's always got an excuse to come down for a bisit, box in tow. :)
Catch you all later.a
