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Two days
At the beginning of the month it was Labour Day here in Western Australia and we had a three day weekend to celebrate. I don’t really think much celebrating of the holiday was done but there were plenty of events on last weekend. We had plans to attend events on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday there was an event called Splash on at Hilary’s Boat Harbour and we had plans to have a look-in later in the day. This was mainly an off-shoot of the Fringe Festival and there were lots of performers to watch throughout the weekend. We showed up in the late afternoon and not a lot was happening at that point. We wandered around and I guess we were just at a point between shows. Eventually we settled on getting some food and stopped at a restaurant we’ve never been to. I ordered a fajitas dish and the Scientist ordered a side salad. Our meals arrived about five minutes later, which was a huge red flag. No way fajitas are prepared so quickly so we only presume it was reheated. It tasted okay but it wasn’t really fajitas and was sadly lacking. We checked out the timetable of events while at the restaurant to discover the program we’d wanted to see was in progress. Afterwards not much was happening for a bit and we finally came home. Part of the problem here was our lack of planning and not the events themselves.
We then decided to find a movie on a streaming service to watch. It seems I mostly see tv programs and not too many movies even though we no longer rent dvds either. So watching a film was a good plan. We’d heard that Magic Mike was supposed to be worthy of seeing at various points so we watched that. It was terrible. Not even the supposed eye-candy was worth it and the artsy effects to the film just highlighted the dire state of things. It wasn’t art and there was no real story and it wasn’t believable. So it’s fair to say that Saturday’s entertainment was a bit of a washout.
Sunday our plan was to go to Hyde Park Fair which is near the city. I’ve been to Hyde Park a number of times and it’s a beautiful place with lovely old trees and lots of fauna and flora. We headed out late morning and arrived just around noon. We took a bus from a local shopping center as the parking in the area is almost non-existent. We kind of overshot the stop we needed so got off the bus and caught another one going in the opposite direction and had a more direct route there. Once we arrived we checked in on the local covid tracking app and joined the crowds. Yes, there were crowds although it wasn’t terrible and most people were keeping a respectful distance. The nice thing about this event is there were lots of people but I never felt crammed in like sardines like at some events. The park is quite large and includes a couple of large ponds that have islands in the center where local fauna seem to reside.
We found ourselves taking a slow walk around the park and checking out lots of stalls, including one where I bought some tea. It was all quite relaxed and the variety of stalls was pretty amazing. In recent similar events we’ve taken to collecting new plants and there were some pretty awesome ones here. One stall had homemade blocks that were designed as pot holders. If it weren’t for the fact we had to travel by bus, we might well have bought one. There was also a gin seller giving samples. I tried it out and nearly choked on straight gin but found a mix with tonic a bit easier. I’m not a huge fan of gin but it was nice to try. I didn’t end up buying there either. After getting halfway around the park we found some food trucks selling interesting foods. One was a corn truck, which we saw at another event and I forgot to try out. This time I got a cup full of buttery corn and some topping, maybe chilli flakes or something. There was also a stall run by a Canadian guy selling doughnuts and bagels, some of which were vegan. The bagels were Montreal style which I had actually heard of due to Lego Lover sharing his knowledge at some point in the past. As explained by the owner, they mix the toppings into the bagel instead of being on top of it. Anyway, I bought some bagels for later and a couple of doughnuts too. The bagels were really nice but we didn’t eat them quickly enough a couple ended up going bad. One of the doughnuts was chocolate with icing and wasn’t all that great due to being a bit on the powdery side in texture. Also, it was a bit sweet. There was another spice one that was okay but it didn’t make me want to rush out to have more. I ended up getting lunch from the same stall, which was a bagel sandwich with a veggie patty. It was quite nice but I was kind of disappointed to discover they used veggie patties I can get at the supermarket.
The Scientist and I sat under a big tree to eat and it was just wonderful to sit in the shade and enjoy the sights and sounds of everything going on. There was a water playground a short distance away and kids were having a great time playing in amongst the water that would shoot up from time to time. Afterwards we headed off to some food trucks near the entrance I got one of the best smoothies I’ve ever tasted. The Scientist got a drink of his own which suited his requirement of being not too sweet. And afterwards we headed to the bus stand to go home. But before that we stopped in a little bakery across the road and got some really delicious bread and pastries to take home.
So although Saturday was a bit of a wash in terms of just about everything, Sunday was beautiful in weather, atmosphere, and location. It was lucky we went on Sunday because Monday was quite stormy and the fair ended up being canceled on the holiday.
Big trees providing shade 
Lots of stalls 
Coffee truck with a neat vehicle 
Pond view 
Pond view 
Birds having fun 
More birds 
And more birds
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Glasses
A couple years ago, I saw an optometrist and I got some new glasses but they were only for computer use. My regular multifocal lenses weren’t working for the middle distance of a computer screen. So I’ve been switching out when I’m using my laptop since then. This has mostly worked except that I sometimes would forget to switch back. Anyway, I was overdue to an eye appointment so popped in last week while I had some free time.
I forgot about taking my computer glasses so I couldn’t have them checked for the prescription. The optometrist spent a long time examining my old glasses. He noted they were really scratched. Funny but I didn’t notice it until he mentioned this. I’ve had them for probably five or six or maybe even seven years so that shouldn’t be too surprising, especially since I have knocked them off the night table next to my bed on a regular basis. For that alone, I needed new lenses. Anyway, my prescription has changed so I was off to see the optician just after. There were three tiers of multifocal lenses so I went for the top one as I had never been able to read well with the old ones. I usually had to remove my glasses to read.
My new glasses arrived today and I picked them up soon after I got my notification. I immediately could see better in that everything looked sharper. I suppose lack of scratches could do that alone. :) I have also noted that it seems I can read with these so the days of moving my glasses off and on might just be over. Alas they are of limited value at the computer, which isn’t unexpected. I will continue to use the special pair for that and I keep the old glasses in the car for future needs. Even overly scratched they will suit my needs for driving. One other thing I noticed is I didn’t feel all weird when looking around like I have in the past. It was quite a bit more money but it seems the premium will be worth it. I do wonder how many years these will last.
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Audiobooks
For almost my entire reading life, I’ve always read to myself. I have no recollection of ever having books read to me as a child. That’s not to say it didn’t happen but possibly once I learned to read it stopped happening. Or something along those lines.
The one exception on this was when I was in fourth grade and our English teacher read Charlotte’s Web out loud to our class in preparation for us to take a field trip to see the animated film. I don’t remember it that well aside from us sitting on a rug or something while she read. That was the only teacher who I recall doing that.
I didn’t go to kindergarten but once I was in first grade I was super-ready to read. I was in the top reading group from early on and stayed that way throughout my primary years. So again I read to myself and there was never any notion that I would be read to.
I few years ago I read The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker and I really adored it. I read it a couple of times and still go back and read parts occasionally. Barker just released a sequel this week, but it’s currently only on audiobook. I was quite torn because I want to know what happens next but I really prefer to read for myself.
I read books on Netgalley which provides advanced reader copies in exchange for reviews. Occasionally something good comes along and this time the audiobook for the sequel showed up. I went ahead and requested it and happily, I succeeded.
I’ve been listening for the past three days now. It’s really weird to listen to the book instead of reading it for myself. The worst part is I have my own imagined voices and images of the story and now I’ve got someone else inflicting a different version on me. Of course there’s no way around this but it makes for a totally new “reading” experience. I did find the first couple of chapters to be a bit rough and didn’t find the reader did so good of a job at differentiating characters voices. It’s gotten better as it’s gone on. What’s really funny is that one character has a longish name and it’s pronounced fully each time. But when I read for myself, I tend to create a mental shortcut while reading so as not to take up so much time. It’s really funny to keep hearing this long name spoken.
I’m only up to chapter ten and there’s a lot more to go. I am kind of getting into it a bit more now. Initially I was listening with earphones but last night I connected with a bluetooth speaker and just let it play continuously. I’ve also played it in the car but I find it gets stuck after each chapter ends. I think I listened to three or four last night without pause, so that set up seems to work okay for me. It says I’m about a quarter of the way through the book so progress is happening.
I really look forward to the ebook/print versions being released in June or July so I can read it again with my own personal voices and images. One thing that I do wonder about is whether this would have been an issue had this been the first book or a standalone story. I might have to try it out some time just to see.
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Pilates
In the last few years I’ve had issues enough that I see my physiotherapist reasonably often. Well, the past few months it’s been quite often as I have had one issue after another. A few weeks ago it was suggested I try the clinical pilates classes they offer so I decided to give it a go. I had to attend an assessment session first but I’ve now gone to two classes and it’s been quite interesting. I have used some of the machines in the regular appointments but it’s quite different using them for a whole hour. The first week the exercises weren’t too difficult although a couple really brought on a muscle burn. This week they have ramped up a couple to more difficulty. The worst one is standing on a bosu ball for balance. I can stand on the flat side and let go but balancing on the ball side was a bit too hard when I was there this morning.
I also said I wanted to work on my abdominal muscles as they tend to be pretty weak much of the time. I can’t help thinking it will be beneficial to get that toned up a bit. It might make a different in my swimming when I one day get back to lessons.
I’m scheduled for ten sessions and then we will see how I am doing and reassess my needs. I will likely take a break at that point since I can’t afford to do it through the year. But it’s nice to have this option available to me.
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Nearly normal
Our lockdown finished over a week ago, then we had some restrictions, including wearing a mask, until Sunday. Amazingly we had no new cases of community transmission here and so life returned to nearly normal on Sunday. Mask-wearing was annoying at times but we made it through that short period. I feel I can’t complain about it since we’ve only had a tiny taste of what most of the rest of the world has dealt with.
The Scientist and I went off to a local market/food fair for lunch on Sunday. It was pretty busy but our timing seemed to work out well since the event started in early morning and the stalls weren’t particularly crowded. It was a good thing as it was really hot and steamy during the day. We got our food and found a shady place to sit on the grass and eat our yummy foods. Afterwards, we walked around the stalls, bought a plant in a handmade pot, bought some brownies and fudge and then I got a really delicious smoothie that had raspberry, banana, mango and several other nice ingredients. It wasn’t sweet at all and was really refreshing on a stinky hot day.
Later we went home where I finally had to wake up Lego Lover to go out. He’d asked the night before and I said possibly okay. We went to a shopping center that is about half an hour away. I like the fact this place has five or six bubble tea places. I also hate making decisions on where to get a drink, lol. We walked up and down the place and stopped in the usual spots. We stopped at Nando’s to get him some lunch since he didn’t have time to eat before we left. It was super crowded at the shopping center so we were both relieved to get out soon afterwards. There was a stop at a toy store that has taken the space left from Toys R Us and then we headed home. On the way there and back we listened to the No Such Thing as a Fish podcast which we enjoy and learn a lot from.
We arrived home and there was still Game Fanatic to feed. There’s a shop where we used to go regularly for charcoal chicken and then it suddenly changed to a kebab shop. Then months later it added the chicken back in. So we went there and again they are only doing the kebabs. I think that one is a lost cause. Then we thought to go to the fish and chip shop but we wanted to watch the latest Wandavision episode first. So we did that and pondered on various parts of this week’s show before heading to the fish and chip place. Which was closed for the upteenth time. We nearly came home when the Scientist thought of a Thai restaurant we recently discovered and liked. It was a bit out of the way but surely was open.
And that’s how we found ourselves sitting in a park, next to the little strip where the Thai place exists. We had a half hour wait for our order and we’d wandered around the playground and tried out the swings. I tried to take a photo of the Scientist but the growing darkness and the movement meant it was all a blur and it wasn’t an aesthetically appealing one. We laughed at the notion that some would claim it was a ghost if they saw it. :D
We eventually sat on a park bench and took photos of each other and then of both of us together. He has a Samsung Note and I have an iPhone so we have mostly different apps for photography. After several false starts we both got a couple of decent shots. It just happened that a car’s headlights were on in one of mine, which lit his hair from behind and caused a bit of a glow. And overall we both looked decent. I found most of my other ones had me and/or him with closed eyes. Anyway, we had such a nice time for such a simple thing as waiting for take away order. And that was the highlight of my Valentine’s Day.
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Strange times
We’ve just finished one month of 2021 and it feels as though the world is less stable than ever. For the first time in a little less than ten months, we had a case of community transmission here. Within hours we were in a hard lockdown. We spent late Sunday afternoon rushing to get requirements before the shops closed. It was not a pleasant experience.
We didn’t hear about the lockdown until well after the announcement when a family member sent a message about it. We’d been watching tennis on the tv but no news was broadcast about it. Lockdown began a t 6pm Sunday and it finishes at 6pm today.
For the first time we needed masks and they were nowhere to be found. Well that’s not really true because I found some at my favorite tea shop. The owner had sold them last year so we went there on the chance he might have them and he did. He wasn’t selling but was happy to share his supply with us and we got a handful of disposable masks, and that ensured we were covered until we could get cloth ones.
There was another run on toilet paper and I saw a couple people with several packs in their trolleys at the grocery store. The Scientist went in and managed to get a massive pack that was left. Not the brand we like but it is better than nothing since our supply had dwindled to the end. I’ve been doing better at keeping stock but admit I missed this time. Lucky we got in in time. There was also a run on meat and milk but we were fine in that area until we needed it.
I must admit that wearing a mask has been a novel experience. I knew there would likely be issues, especially with my glasses and now I have a better idea of it. I ordered cloth masks from Amazon on Sunday night, mostly as I knew there was a better chance of them arriving more quickly than just about any other place. I got two with filters included and they arrived earlier than expected on Wednesday. For the most part mine is quite okay but it is difficult wearing it for long periods of time. Yesterday another order arrived with three more masks. These aren’t as nice as there’s not filter but they should work for the boys should they go out. The last one will got to an outside family member.
Work has been a bit off kilter this week. My long time client is staying with family and I only supported him briefly this week. Another client has quite different needs and I did provide support but not for the usual time frames.
The state government implemented contact tracing through an app and qr codes back in December. This enabled them to narrow down all the places where the case had been, and people have been testing in large numbers through the week. So far, no new cases have been found so our hard lockdown will end tonight at 6pm. We will have to continue to wear masks and follow some restrictions until 12:01am on February 14th when it will be two weeks since the previous case turned up.
Meanwhile, a major bushfire started on Monday and has been ever present in our lives all week. So far 81 homes have been lost and the fire is still not contained. It’s been super windy here much of the week which is hampering efforts to bring it under control. Tuesday was one of the worst days when we woke to ash falling from the sky throughout the Perth area. We don’t live that close but also not that far from the fire and we ended up in the lowest alert zone for a couple of days. Today we have been moved out of that zone so can relax a bit more. The danger for us was more about embers travelling from afar. In all the years living here, we’ve never been in that blue emergency zone before. So while we weren’t in immediate danger, we were in an area where we needed to be on alert for sudden changes to our safety.
It was quite eerie on Tuesday afternoon when an ice cream truck was moving up and down streets nearby. I haven’t noticed it around much lately although maybe I tuned it out before. But still it was almost creepy to hear it moving along when everything was so still and quiet. Not to mention yellow and grey skies about. We couldn’t run our air conditioner due to the smoke and ash so we spent much of the day without air flow. I went out to the hardware stores and got an industrial sized fan to help and that worked well until temperatures dropped later in the day. Also there was a fire reported in our suburb that day and it was quite worrying until I later learned it was a garbage truck that had caught fire. That was handled quickly and the danger was passed easily.
I went out walking last night for the first time in ages. The winds have been gusting so I decided not to try my bicycle. I’d taken it out on Monday and there were a few places where I felt really unsteady. Not to mention I didn’t want to go too far from home and that’s easy to do on bike. My walk was okay aside from the wind slamming into my face. I didn’t walk all that fast but I think that was okay because most of my exercise has been on bike lately and I needed lower impact this time. I had to stop as parcel lockers to pick up the second order of masks along the way and just managed to get home a few minutes before my hour was up.
While all this has been going on, the northern part of the state has been dealing with a cyclone for a few days. There’s been rain and flooding in some areas, which I think is connected. Those rains should be moving into our area this weekend and hopefully the rains will help with containing the fires nearby. We also have cooler temperatures right now, so I hope that will improve the ability to get things under control.
And so our new year carries on, with all sorts of news to keep us on our toes.
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Summer
It’s now the fourth of December and we are well into summer here in Perth. The month started out with the Scientist having a birthday. I took him to iFly to do indoor skydiving and he loved it. I took part in it too but I’m not quite as enthralled. I might do more in the future but it wasn’t quite so smooth sailing for me. The Scientist has got a ten pack of visits to use and he’s hoping to become independent of the instructor by the end of them. I look forward to taking photos and videos of him while he keeps learning.
With the warmer weather, the ants decide to take refuge in our house and we had pest control out yesterday. The guy was 45 minutes late and there was no apology and his manner was kind of off, like he had to stop and think after every second word. Even when he arrived he sat in the truck in the driveway for a good five minutes or more without coming to the door. Anyway, here’s hoping the barriers work because we had a terrible time last year with ants, even after treatment. This was quite an expensive service so it better last a lot longer.
Last week we had tree people out to do some pruning and bush removal. One of our lovely bottlebrush plants bloomed a couple months ago and then promptly started dying. Not sure what happened but it needed to be removed. Also we had bushes growing into the gutters so they were pruned back severely. They still need some light trimming as the work done was just major removals.
And with that we need to get someone out to do our gutters. The one quote I had was expensive and they can’t come out until late January, which doesn’t seem very helpful. Which reminds me I need to grab a community paper and see if I can find someone else to come out.
The nicest thing at this time of the year is how we have daylight running so late. I haven’t ended up out on my bike quite as much as I wanted but hopefully that will soon change. The weather is just becoming quite pleasant for riding, aside for the sometimes strong sea breeze that comes in during the late afternoon.
Anyway, it’s summer and Christmas season and after so many years I have adapted to this notion of the holiday during the opposite season to what I grew up with.
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Almost novel experience
I remember Sizzler growing up and our family went there on occasion, if I remember correctly. That said I can’t recall exactly where they were located any more. Then I came to Australia and found they existed here. Turns out it’s been THE place to go for family get-togethers most of the time I’ve lived here. Even our family used to go there occasionally and it worked out even for the vegetarians in the family. But in that last several years, we haven’t been there at all as it’s been too poor value for money to make it worthwhile. The location nearest us, however, has often been crowded despite the increased prices.
The company here in Australia has had some difficult days and most of the restaurants closed over the past few years. There were three left in our state. Unfortunately COVID made sure these didn’t survive and an announcement was made several weeks ago of the impending closure of the remaining restaurants.
Both the boys have fond memories of going there in the past, and we all like their cheese toast a lot. We had a plan to make a final trip there. They close on Sunday and we went there today. We had to stand in line for an hour before being seated. Social distancing wasn’t too good there but we did our best to manage. We finally got to the front and place our orders but were told it could be half an hour or more for meals to come out. We were okay with that seeing we’d already been waiting so long. Anyway, we had the salad bar to help us along.
There were a few issues along the way with the meal. The restaurant was obviously understaffed and the poor people working were doing multiple positions. The cutlery was lacking at the salad bar and there were limited plates and bowls. Soup spoons were in abundance but we almost never have that. The Scientist stopped a worked to see about a fork as there were only knives available. I got a meal that was mostly typical for me. I mainly went to get the baked potato and the salad bar. Too bad there wasn’t an option to get the potato only with salad bar.
The salads were not really all that great and the selection was quite limited. It used to be there were some savoury items included but aside from some shrimp fry and scalloped potatoes, there wasn’t any. They had taco shells and salad fillings but no protein available. The Scientist order just a one trip meal but he had barely enough to satisfy him.
Then the dessert bar was out of almost everything and the soft serve machine looked pretty awful for the vanilla…There didn’t seem to be enough people to keep things going.
There seemed to be nobody to bus tables for quite some time. Most of the ones around were empty with dishes left behind for most of our visit there. There were staff that came around but they were in such a rush that some tables weren’t quite as clean as they could have been.
What was good were the staff were quite good and treated people well. The cheese toast came out promptly. We weren’t crowed in like sardines…well there are regulations on the crowds so that shouldn’t have been an issue. The boys managed the people really well and even went up to the salad bar without one of us along. My baked potato was cooked well. :)
So was a day of some nostalgia for us and a kind of novel experience since it’s been so long since we’ve been there.
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Novel experience
I wrote about seeing a different doctor in my last post but wanted to write a bit more about the doctor. When I made the appointment I saw that she has special interest in LGBQT+ issues which usually isn’t listed. She came out to the waiting area and she was extremely tall, probably over six feet, which seemed unusual although not unheard of.
On the script she wrote for me, it lists her name differently to the one she uses in the practice. I looked her up online and discovered she’s pretty much the go-to doctor for LGBQT+ issues, but especially trans issues as she’s a trans woman. I had a bit of suspicion that might be the case before but this just confirmed it. It’s kind of sad to think the options are so limited with regard to doctors that are recommended here.
Anyway, it was kind of neat to discover this.
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Trackbacks gone
I noticed that comments looked like comments in every place aside from the actual page. Then I wondered if the theme might be the issue. I changed it and the problem is eliminated. Thinking back, I think the problem did start after I switched to the Koi theme. I didn’t intend to keep it long term but little did I know it was going to create a problem.
