In which I don’t throw myself off a bridge

Today I have:

1. Woken up late after a night of disturbed sleep;

2. Snapped the photo above while waiting for my morning coffee (and avoiding making my appearance in the office);

3. Made said appearance in the office and been promptly bombarded with emails from a particularly demanding client;

4. Struggled to keep my temper (and verbalised profanities) under control;

5. Avoided calls by forwarding my phone to my assistant;

6. Not finalised any of the tasks that I was hoping to complete due to the phone not ringing;

7. Spoken extremely firmly with an unfortunate external conciliator who happened to call me just as my blood sugar dipped before lunch;

8. Enquired of my colleagues whether anyone else felt the need to throw themselves off a bridge, or whether it was just me;

9. Been caught in the rain (hurrah for summer); and

10. Settled in for a long night of drafting final submissions.

How is your Wednesday going?

Read Full Post »

Everyone loves a list, yes?

I’m in Beechworth tonight, having driven from Jindabyne via the Great Alpine Way.  Truly a glorious drive if you like winding roads, steep ascents and descents, and amazing views of Australia’s highest mountain range.

As I drove, I reviewed my trip over the past few days in my head and found that my analysis was taking the form of various lists.  I know that I have recently written that lists of the “life list” variety haven’t been doing it for me, but it was nice to find that lists of no import still give me no small amount of pleasure.

Anyway, here is how it’s panned out so far:

Types of roadkill I have seen/swerved around:

1. Fox.

2. Kangaroo.

3. Wombat (x2).

4. Goanna.

5. Wallaby.

6. Brush-tailed possum (too many to recall).

7. Magpie.

A veritable panoply of iconic Australian wildlife (save the fox).

Vehicles behind which I have been stuck in “no overtaking” zones:

1. Utes.

2. Semi-trailer.

3. Horse float (with 2 horses in it).

4. Water tanker (x2).

5. Winnebago.

Seriously, people.  A massive Winnebago on a narrow alpine road??

Food stuffs discovered in chicken & salad sandwiches that don’t/shouldn’t constitute salad:

1. Onion (raw).

2. Pineapple.

3. Cheese.

Note to sandwich makers everyone:  cheese is NOT a salad vegetable.  Write it down if you have to.

General observations from the past 4 days

1. Number of times I have had chicken parmagiana for dinner out of the past 4 nights: 3

2. Number of newspapers read: 0

3. Number of naps taken: 4

4. Kilometres driven since yesterday: 720 (forgot to count kms travelled over the first 2 days)

5. Number of books read: 2.5

6. Number of skinny flat whites consumed: 5

7. Number of skinny flat whites consumed in Huskisson: 4

8. Photographs taken: 284

Homeward bound tomorrow via a country art gallery and after a run in the morning.  Then, a quiet New Year’s Eve celebration with dear friends.

This journey nearly complete.

Read Full Post »

Incy wincy spider

Everyone, meet Fred.*  I met Fred one night last week as I was going to bed.  He was clinging to the ceiling directly above my pillow.  I was very pleased to meet Fred at that particular point of my day.  Let me assure you that at no stage was I concerned that Fred might choose to drop from the ceiling onto my face during the course of the night.  Not at all.

Instead, I lay in bed wondering what the best outcome in this situation might be.  Very quickly, I realised that the best and most fun way to pursue my friendship with Fred would be to pursue him literally – around my house.  So, each morning when I wake up I do a quick check to see where Fred has located himself for the day.  It’s like a game really – “Where’s Fred?”  Is he in the kitchen?  Or perhaps the hallway?  Or has he gotten himself wedged between the stove and the fridge?  Silly Fred!

I can’t say that I love Fred, especially since he never really does anything to help around the house.  Would it kill Fred to bring me the odd cup of tea, or wipe down the benches once in a while?  He’s a bit of a freeloader, if I’m honest, and I still can’t work out whether it’s better to know where Fred is or not.  And while it’s not that I don’t hope that Fred has a very happy Christmas, I will admit that I would not be displeased to find Fred had moved to alternative accommodation by the time I return from my Christmas road trip…

*Apologies for the poor quality photo.  I shot it with my iPod touch at night under fluorescent light.  I didn’t think that Fred deserved anything more.

Read Full Post »