Home again, home again. We had a very lovely weekend, and I even managed not to get too sunburnt! (It's seemed thus far that every time I come back from Canberra I'm as red as a very red thing.) Aidan is really well, looking great (although I'm slightly biased), very fit and healthy. He's a bit stressed, and no wonder, but otherwise good.

We had dinner with my brother on Saturday night, and did our Christmas thing - I know it's a bit late, but it's the first chance we've had! He was in Japan for Christmas, and Aidan and I were at home, and our parents were at their home. I had to collect mum and dad's pressies from my brother as well, so I need to pass them on to their rightful owners shortly.

Me, I am also good. Very tired... I actually had to get up early this morning, as work has recommenced normality from today. Or as normal as it ever gets, which isn't much. I'm really really hungry, I'm thinking of going to the cafe across the road shortly... I was thinking of a toasted sandwich with bacon, egg, and cheese. Soooo unhealthy, but so nice!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow, you're always a day awaayyy!!! Just think - if nobody had written that crappy song, I wouldn't have it stuck in my head now. But I WOULD still be looking foward to tomorrow. I'm visiting Aidan, I'm visiting Aidan! I'm sorry, but I'm excited! It's been three weeks since I've seen him! I believe this is the longest we've been apart in over three years. Although next time will be longer - after this weekend, I won't see him again until the very end of February. Oh no!!! That'll suck.

So anyway, I'll be away for a few days, then when I get back I probably still won't have a computer. Have a happy Australia Day, everybody - even those of you not in Australia!

My brand new whiz-bang expensive computer has died in the arse. Again. I'm going to take it back to the shop this afternoon, which will be the third time it has had to be returned since buying it early this month. I'm reduced to blogging at work, which will have to stop next week anyway when my boss gets back from holiday! Anyway, Aidan's dad is procuring a copy of Windows XP for me, so installing that instead of Vista might be the way to go - depending on the outcome of this new attempt at getting it fixed at the place of purchase.

In other, more exciting news: I'm visiting Aidan this weekend! Two more sleeps! I like it when there's two days to go, because I say to myself, "Tomorrow it'll be tomorrow!" which I find mildly amusing plus it makes it seem sooner.

To answer Within Without's question, the picture at the top of my blog is of a sunset in Budapest, taken from just outside the catacombs under the castle. Yes, taken by me. I loved Budapest, I want to go back there one day. There is a link on the right hand side of this blog to Europe Photos, which is a selection of my favourite photos taken during that trip, and it does include the full-sized version of this photo. Enjoy :)

I, my hair and clothes, and my house all smell like smoke. I would probably smell less like smoke if I hadn't gone out into the street to watch a nearby house burn. Local drama today! I didn't really see the house itself, it's around the corner and tucked in behind a house in our street. But there was an awful lot of smoke covering the neighbourhood...

I don't know a lot about what happened, but since half the population of the suburb was out on the street, we exchanged theories. I did hear somebody say the residents of the house were not at home and nobody was injured. An ambulance was there, but with no lights or noise and no fuss and bother. Probably just a precaution.

So that was today's excitement for the area. I have heard it said, and honestly, that if you ever need assistance you should yell "FIRE!!!". You can yell for help until you're blue in the face, but everybody turns out for a good fire.

I am very happy to be a person who likes to play a game. Winning is secondary to the fun of a boardgame and the company of my opponent. Actually I almost always lose boardgames. Which is fine!

[Interesting point - spell-check says "boardgame" is incorrect, but the plural "boardgames" is acceptable.]

I played three separate boardgames tonight with Andrew, and I lost all of them. Thud, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit. And then I tried to turn him into an X-Files fan and I lost on that, too!

Still, it was a fun night. I hope we can fit in a few more of them before moving. Actually I hope we can keep doing it after the move, too, although probably slightly less often!

I am often a not-very-sociable person, but when I do see people I surprise myself with how much I enjoy it. I have seen people every day since Wednesday, and again tomorrow. That's four days in a row! For a time when I'm not working, that's unusual for me! I really need to do it more. Anybody want to come over on Sunday?!

Nothing makes me sadder than the knowledge that there is no law in this country against being a complete wanker.

Read this and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Well, I've done a few serious and pissed off and depressed posts of late. So I figure it's about time I told a joke.

Q - What do you get if you cross a sheep and a kangaroo?
A - A woolly jumper!

I apologise to my fellow Australians, who have all been sick of that joke since age 5. But it is just possible there's somebody out there in the big wide world who hasn't heard it!

Sometimes I feel very selfish! I worry about my reduced pay while I'm on holiday throughout January, I worry about having to move to Canberra, I worry about finding a job and somewhere to live there. But what I should be worrying about is the fact that malnutrition rates in children under 5 has almost doubled in Iraq since the Americans came barging in. I should be worrying about the fact that almost half of the organisms that currently exist may be extinct by 2100. I should be worrying about the fact that I need to take my shoes and socks off to count the number of homeless and destitute people in one street in Fitzroy. I should be worrying about greenhouse gases and global warming and world poverty and hunger.

What right do I have to worry only for my own sake? It was chance, luck, pure random life, that put me into a reasonably well-off family in a western country. By being born here, by taking certain things for granted, by consuming and by self-absorption, I have contributed to all of the above. I have bought petrol, and used it, spewing poisonous gases into the atmosphere. I have bought clothing and other goods made in countries known for child labour. I have put round-up on my garden, and if my mother knew that she'd have a fit.

But what can I do? How can one person fix all the world's problems? People, religions, and charities have all been trying for years. We applaud their efforts and call them saints, or set up charitable funds named after them, or occasionally donate some money to their cause. But children are still starving, people are still being exploited, countries still go to war and kill each other's citizens for no particular reason.

I think if I ever get the chance, I might go to a third world or developing nation. My Australian money would be worth a considerable amount there, and merely by living in a village I may be able to help the people there. Imagine one person in a village being able to afford to set up a productive business, and being generous enough to make it some kind of cooperative? Get everybody involved, or at least ensure a decent distribution of wealth or goods. How? How? When, and where? Is it an impossible dream?

I'm such a socialist.

Things that are still wrong with my "fixed" computer:

Still freezes up during installations, at which point my only option is to hit the reset button because of the following point...

Ctrl + Alt + Del (Task Manager) still does not work most of the time (particularly when I actually need it, when something is non-responsive).

Still occasionally cannot handle doing too much at once - it crashed while ripping a CD and creating a shortcut on the desktop at the same time. Again, no Task Manager so I had to hit reset.

I cannot access Windows updates - it comes up with an error message for which there is no resolution anywhere, only references to other people making the same complaint.

It will no longer properly load my profile, putting me on as a "temp" user, meaning that my files are no longer easily accessible. I hope that the creation of a new profile will fix this, I'll find out next time I turn on the computer.

The Ethernet connection to my modem has mysteriously failed due to an apparent lack of some file or other, although this was working previously. The modem is still recognised just fine via USB.

A couple of times the computer has utterly failed to boot up - first it kept cycling, going through the start-up screens and then re-starting itself without ever reaching Windows proper. Then after I turned it off and gave it a bit of a rest, a couple of times it just got stuck after the start-up screens and sat there until I turned it off again. That hasn't happened for a little while now, might be ok now.

Despite the assurance of the technician, the USB keyboard is still not being recognised until Windows is fully booted up. This means that to boot from a CD or enter setup, I have to get out my old keyboard instead.

I think that's about it. Take my advice and do not get Vista - at least not until Service Pack 1 is available. I tried to find Windows XP today, but apparently it is no longer made and retailers aren't allowed to sell it. Not available at all anywhere. So I'm stuck with this piece of crap OS. So long as I don't try to do anything complicated or useful, it'll be ok. I can blog, listen to music, and watch movies. But I cannot play Civilization IV or install AVG anti-virus software. I feel like I'm wearing the proverbial kid gloves, walking on proverbial eggshells, afraid to try too much in case I have to re-install Windows (for the fourth time since getting this system about two weeks ago). I've already put all my essential install files on a CD so I won't have to download them all again.

I mean, ok, I'm not a professional in IT, and I am a girl. But I have been using computers for personal purposes for ten or fifteen years now, and I know what I should and should not be able to do. This is not the rant of somebody with no clue about how computers work or the limitations of computers. Heck, my OLD old piece of mega-shit computer managed things that this new one can't! Right up until it started dumping physical memory instead of booting up, and then got left in the backyard in the rain for a few months.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure what to do about all this. I really don't feel comfortable or happy about going back to the place of purchase again, not after they claim to have fixed it and charged me for doing so. Perhaps I could email them and ask for advice. Or email somebody else. Or scrounge a copy of XP off somebody, or curb my temper and put up with it all until Service Pack 1 comes out ("first quarter of 2008").

I might become Amish.

Just don't even ask me about this week. I'm going to tell you anyway, but seriously, don't ask. Sheesh. For starters, our whiz-bang new expensive computer... I've got it back, "fixed", but it's still not exactly perfect. I had to re-install Windows again because it wouldn't boot up at all. It seems to be working ok now, but I'm holding my breath. Secondly, the boredom. Oh god. I wish there was more to do at work so I could spend more time there. I've been home alone without a computer. So depressive. (Remember I don't watch TV at all either). I've been reading a bit. Yesterday and today I saw my parents, who came down to the city for a couple of days for Christmas. I know it's late, but mum had hurt her back and couldn't come sooner. After they dropped me back at home this afternoon I spent a few hours crying without really knowing why. Loneliness, frustration, boredom - some kind of combination. The last few days the lack of Aidan has been a physical pain. It's as though something is missing inside of me, it's a big gaping hole where he should be. Every now and then I just need to wallow in self-pity for a while, indulge myself before pulling out of it. I'm a bit drunk now, the final stage of the wallowing. Tomorrow I hope to find something constructive to do. I don't like my chances though - it'll be Sunday, after all. At least I have the computer working again, so I'll have some form of company in the form of bloggers and trivia players. Also my mum gave me a gift voucher for a book shop, so I might go shopping tomorrow! I'm in desperate need of a new good book to read. I love reading. There's a book called "The Mysterious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time" which is supposed to be very good, I might get that.

I am at a public computer. I never thought I'd see the day... I am five minutes from my house, yet I have paid to use the internet in a public environment. There is a reason for this... You know that new computer I was talking about the other day? Well, it went kaput very emphatically. After owning it for only three days, we had to take it back to the shop, where they have had it since Thursday, and we still have no news on it's recovery.

Aidan has gone back to Canberra now, and I won't see him again until Australia Day weekend - 26th-28th January. I'm all alone and by myself, and only working a few days a week, and so bored and lonely! I know Aidan misses me too, but at least he's being kept very busy. The time will fly for him, he won't even notice the three weeks go by, I'm sure! I, however, have very little to do besides trying to keep myself fit and healthy. (Not easy, immediately after Christmas, as I'm sure you're aware!)

I took my scooter to the mechanic this morning to try and get the speedometer fixed... they need to order a part, it could be a week or more until it's there, so scooter remains out of action for the moment. Which is a shame, because Aidan's mum has invited me down there for a day or two next week, and I'll have to take the train and get her to pick me up from the station if I go. At least I can read on the train, I'd hate to try reading while riding the scooter!!

I don't have much time left on this thing, so I'll do a quick recap of the rest of Christmas/New Year:
Aidan's parents shouted us a night at a beautiful golf club/resort down in Cape Shank the day after Boxing Day, so that was lovely. So nice to have a night away from home, with nobody else, and no cooking or cleaning or anything to bother about. Just time for the two of us.
New Years Eve, we piked out - stayed at home and were in bed by 10pm. That's fine, no big deal. New Years Day I don't even remember what we did... probably stayed at home...
A few days after that, we went back to Aidan's cousin's place for his birthday party, it was fun but rather overshadowed by the fact that Aidan may not see them again for a very long time.

Anywho, my time on this cursed public computer is just about to run out, so off I go. I hope to be able to get back online at home soon!!!

Firstly, happy new year to everybody! Reading your blogs over the last year has been wonderful, I feel like I've been included in so many lives by doing so, and I hope we all continue to influence each other (for the good, mainly) for at least another year.

Now...We had torrential rain in the few days before Christmas, with hailstones as big as half-bricks and flash-floods just about everywhere. Fortunately we have a drain in the driveway area, but even with that cleared we still had a couple of inches of water on the concrete for a while. That was fun! (I had to walk home from the train station in that rain, a good 15 minute exposure!)


This was our Christmas lunch. Lovely and simple - black pepper salmon, and baked wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce. It is, perhaps, not quite traditional... but that's a good reason to do it, don't you think? If something's been done the same way for hundreds of years, it's about time for a change!

And this was Boxing Day lunch at Aidan's cousin's house. Kim is fixated on feeding people, there is always far too much food, but it is always extraordinarily nice and tremendous fun to go there. They're wonderful people, they're really adopted me into their family and I just love them to bits. It is probably quite nasty to say that I wish my own family were more like them, but it's a little bit true!

I'll do another post soon-ish about the days following Christmas... the resort, the new computer, the shopping trip... this will do for now :)

All the news that's new and approved! Actually just a very quick update. Aidan has been home for a good little while now, and I've gotten used to tripping over his boots again. Christmas was, happily, spent at home with no guests. My parents were unable to come down for a visit due to my mother's unfortunate back injury, however she's recovering now and they should be down next weekend. Boxing Day was spent at a family/friend/gathering place thingie, that was a lot of fun. We then spent a very lovely night at a golf club/resort courtesy of Aidan's parents as a Christmas gift. We now have a nice big powerful new computer, too. Don't ask me specs, I haven't paid much attention to the world of IT for a good few years now so it no longer makes sense to me! It's stinking hot and I'm sweating like a pig - however a few days before Christmas we had thunderstorms and torrential rain. Typical Melbourne. Anyway, now we're going to do something. I want to make a few cocktails (since I finally got a Boston Cocktail Shaker for Christmas) and get squiffy, but we'll see about that.

Pictures relating to the below post, in no particular order...

The lovely Princess Theatre, which I'm sure I've been to but I don't remember what for.

A photo of Aidan taking a photo of a beach near our house - well, 3km down the road.

Looking back at the city from along the Yarra.

Flinders St Station (the sprawling orange thing), with Grollo's tower, well, towering to the left.

Things I Will Miss About Melbourne
(in no particular order)

1. The, I don't know, 20 or so theatres in or near the city centre. Melbourne is the place for theatre, musical and otherwise!
2. The goths at Flinders St Station, particularly on a Friday night. Their presence is such a fact of life, it is hard to imagine the city without them! Same goes for all the other subcultures, they give layers and depth to the city.
3. Flinders St Station itself. Somebody once told me a magnificent story which I'm quite sure isn't true... she said that an architect was designing a train station for Melbourne and a palace for India at the same time. She said the plans got mixed up, and our train station ended up beautifully ornate while the Indian palace looked an awful lot like a train station!
4. History! Sure, we've only been here a couple of hundred years... but we have our share of ghosts and murders and other grizzly stuff. I've been in the old Cobb & Co coach depot a few times (now a carpark), it is meant to be one of the most haunted sites in the area... it does feel sort of creepy, but I've never seen anything.
5. The bands that visit Melbourne. Nobody goes to Canberra! Well, hardly anybody.
6. Beaches. I don't go to beaches very often, but the fact is that Melbourne is a lovely bayside city while Canberra is inland. I'll miss knowing the beach is there.
7. Grollo's cigarette lighter/penis extension/tower. Sure, it's awful. It completely dominates the Melbourne skyline. But I know it, and my friends know what I mean when I refer to the cigarette lighter.
8. The Yarra River. Specifically, being able to say this ditty: If I were a bird, I'd like to be a sparra - so I could sit on the Westgate Bridge and help to fill the Yarra! But I also like watching the rowers on the river... I suppose Lake Burly Griffin has people rowing on it too, but it's not the same!
9. The relative lack of spiders. I recall Canberra as being unbearably spidery. I hate and fear spiders above all else. (Having said that, I just had to kill a nasty big one in the kitchen, yuck!)
10. The simple and happy familiarity that comes from living in one city for several years. I'm comfortable here! That's not to say that change is a bad thing, necessarily, but I do like knowing where I am and how to get where I'm going.

I think ten things is enough. At some point in the future I'll try to come up with ten things I can look forward to about moving!

I am listening to music from Les Miserables. It's been a good long while since I have done so, and I'd forgotten its effect on me. I have shivers running down my spine, and I dearly wish I had the vocal range to sing every part. I sometimes wonder if I could/should attempt to sing for a career, but I fear my talent falls far short of requirements. How I would love to, though! Imagine being poor wretched Eponine - loving so desperately one who never sees her until too late, finding understanding and compassion only in her dying moments. In truth I would love to have a man's voice. Not for me the wussy women roles, I would be Val Jean or Javert! Or in Jesus Christ Superstar, I would be Jesus! Not for the vanity of being the central role... but because these roles have the most powerful songs, the most beautiful music, and the most moving stories. Imagine singing "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" to a full house... poor poor Marius, bereft of his beloved friends, the only survivor of the ill-fated revolution. It is my strongest desire, to have a voice worthy of these songs... I say perhaps I just need more training and practice... but how and when and where, and how to afford training? How to afford to dedicate myself to music in this real world of bills and rent? It is a pipe dream. I know that. But such a very nice one...

All else has been overshadowed by the news that one of my favourite authors of all time is ill. Terry Pratchett, creator of the Discworld, has a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's. I find it fascinating and a little scary how one can feel a closeness and affinity with somebody one has never met - like authors. For me a good book is like heaven, and Pratchett has provided so very many good books.

I remember when Douglas Adams passed away due to a sudden heart attack. I cried, and carried a towel around for a day (you'd have to be a fan to get that).

I can only hope, firstly, that Pratchett and his family are coping with the news, and secondly (selfishly) that he has a few good books left in him yet.

Every year, RMIT puts on a "kid's play" at around this time of year. As my very good friend Andrew has been heavily involved in the theatrical scene at RMIT for several years, we went along to the gala night last night - an adaptation of Roald Dahl's "The Witches"!!!

It was tremendous fun! There weren't actually that many children in attendance, for a kid's play, but I'm sure the adults enjoyed it just as much - I know I did!

Yes, I saw Spamalot with Andrew last night! It was sooooo funny! Loved it. I won't say too much in case I give anything away. But if you get a chance and you haven't already seen it - see it.

The speedometer on my scooter is broken. So I can't ride her until I get it fixed, but I can't get it fixed without riding her somewhere. It's a conundrum, and anyway I haven't got around to calling this guy I need to call about it yet.

In other, much more exciting news: I'm seeing Spamalot tomorrow night with Andrew! Yay! More on that afterwards.

Recent musings: Half the people I consider good friends are people I've never met. Most of them are probably reading this now. You oughta know who you are. I've never been too good at socialising, making small talk, all that guff. I'm getting a bit better, but sometimes I wonder if I want to. It stands to reason that the more people I know, the more disagreeable people I'll know. I don't feel that I'm really missing out on anything. I think that I've made up for quantity with quality. My friends are the best I could imagine having, even though there's not too many of them. I'm including both bloggers and normal people (?!) in this summation. I've been very lucky in coming to know some wonderful people. I think I can safely say that if you're reading this, you're likely to be one of them - unless, of course, you've just wandered in and I've never heard of you before! So if you're one of them, and you certainly should know if you are, thank you for being who you are.

I'm really tired and need to get to bed. I would have continued the above theme, but my mind just crashed- it was like an error message saying "No more thinking permitted until after sleep". Night night.