Saturday, 23 November 2013

social media or ewww too much information

my grandson has a girlfriend now.  he's sixteen.  all good so far.  trouble is he is always having issues with the relationship and posts every little bit of it on fb.  his g/father has unfriended him because of it.  my daughter doesn't really like Julie (not her real name) as she thinks she uses a lot of emotional blackmail on my g/son.  ahhhh  young love.  i hope they work things out or at least part in a way that is as friendly as possible.  you know what i mean.  i suppose i'm worried because i think my g/son is going to have his heart broken and really there is nothing anyone can do about it as it's a part of growing up.  i got him his christmas present today.  he'll like it as he asked me to get it for him.  surprisingly it wasn't very expensive which was good. another friend posts on fb nearly every day and tells the world how sick she is.  fair enough i suppose as her health isn't good but surely she can post something else or just don't post anything at all.  personally i think she should just either go back to bed or go outside and get some fresh air.  just back away from the computer. don't mind me, i'm a bit grumpy today and my tolerance meter is broken.  i worked this morning and everybody had several problems each and they wanted us (staff) to fix them.  i'll have a nana nap and a nice cup of coffee and go away now.  :)  maybe outside to get some fresh air.
look, i found some old photos on my computer.  very old.  it's me and my dog Daisy (wearing my very trendy Twiggy dress), me and my first boyfriend and me and my dad.  ahhh so long ago






Thursday, 21 November 2013

an official letter

i got my reply letter today from the acting ceo of council re my retirement.  he doesn't know me but said the usual stuff, you will be missed, blah blah blah.  so it's official.  i'm having a morning tea and a dinner on my second to last day which will be nice.  my last day is a saturday and i only work 3.8 hours on saturdays.  i say 'only' but sometimes it feels like 8.  :)  i'm working this saturday in fact and our staffing issues continue.  we are very short staffed for weekends.  i'm still feeling a bit apprehensive about retiring but i must say i'm looking forward to it.  only 1 month to go. 
some vee dubs and a scooter.  it's pink. 









Saturday, 2 November 2013

i touched a snake

hi there.  i'm back from bali and have unpacked first thing and settled in nicely.  i mention unpacking because i'm really slack when it comes to unpacking and usually take a week or more.  shocking i know.  i hardly bought anything, well not much.  i bought myself a magnifying mirror on a stand.  it was half price and although it's only 5x it is great.  i have a 15x one but it's very small.  i bought another small painting. i didn't travel with my sister which was a bit weird as everyone asked about her. i missed her.  bali has changed so much since my last trip.  they are bringing in a new law soon which will control the building of new hotels etc.  hence, everyone is going nuts and building new huge, ugly, western style, luxurious hotels.  and shopping centres.  huge with only name brand expensive shops and right next door to the old style markets.  we stayed in sanur for two days which was a really nice change and went to the night markets for dinner both nights. it's on the east coast and is much quieter than kuta where we usually stay.  we were planning to go to lovina on the north coast but fell into a lazy bali mode and it just didn't happen. that's why i hardly bought much although i did manage some presents for the kids.  i ate lots of great food, drank lots of delicious juice (mango and avocado mostly).  we caught up with lots of friends and had a massage or two.  Putu has been in hospital with dengue fever and is already back at work.  the weather was really hot but we enjoyed lovely breezes and swam a lot.  one of the hotels was brand new and very nice while the other two were more basic but still quite good.  i have to tell you that i touched a snake.  it was like velvet and so soft it amazed me.  we came across a man and a woman from the bali reptile rescue group and stopped to talk.  i would have given them a donation if i'd realized where they were from at the time.  the man was from australia and he had about two or three smallish snakes around his wrist.  the lady had a huge albino python around her shoulders.  of course all of them were active because of the weather.  i touched the python on his middle but wasn't game to go near his head.  he was quite tame apparently.  :)  i traveled to via darwin and from via sydney which i have to say i dreaded but found quite easy really.  years ago we came back through sydney and it was hell.  a sea of people all pushing in and it took forever.  i had to travel on a shuttle bus to the domestic terminal to get home.  i didn't sleep until later that night and feel fine now.  i am covered with very itchy mozzie bites although i used mozzie spray.    i'm going to add some photos (of course).  the new airport is pretty specky but is still having teething problems.  we waited in the new departure lounge and my flight wasn't called.  a girl directed us to some stairs and we went down to the old airport.  the pa wasn't working and it was crowded and hot.  our plane was delayed for over an hour so i was relieved to get on board. when we were taxiing out to take off the man behind me started vomiting violently.  omg it was horrible.  everyone was strapped in and the crew couldn't help him until the seatbelt light went out.  i love going away but one of the best things about travelling is coming home.  sorry for such a long post.

our first very basic hotel.  i grew quite fond of it.  at least it was clean.


Ipul after a swim




fire dancers at skygarden

my favourite beach.  geger beach.  i didn't recognise it.  there were at least three new hotels.  huge and very crowded

the new toll road built over benoa harbour.  all materials and workers came over from java.  a huge undertaking. 

my beautiful wooden carved bed.  a brand new room room was very welcome


our dear friend Putu who has been laid low with dengue fever for a while now

hard rock hotel

the wall light in my room.  lovely



i'd like one of these

i didn't taste it.  shiny tea sounds delish doesn't it?

folding bike. very useful

cremation procession down the main street.  when they got to the roundabout they went around it really fast many times to confuse the evil spirits



treehouse restaurant.  my favourite



music shop.  i got my son's christmas present.  lots of ukuleles

i love you too.  there were several of these down our lane



Monday, 14 October 2013

i'm on holidays

i love holidays.  i'm flying to bali tomorrow and have overpacked as usual but i am leaving some of it there so it might work out.  i've just had a coffee and am going back to repack (for the fourth time).  one day i will get it right. i am thinking of a trip to vietnam in february.  apparently that's the best time of year to go weather wise.  everyone says that i should broaden my horizons.
i went to dinner last night with my son and dil which was really nice.  we haven't done that for ages. other than this exciting news nothing much else has been happening.  it's another miserable day in adelaide. in the past 11 days we have had an over 35 degree day,  hurricane (i exaggerate just a bit) winds, hailstorms and lots of rain.  just your normal adelaide weather really.  the wind yesterday was bitterly cold and so strong that when i went to empty my recycle bin it nearly blew me and the recycling away.
oh well, back to the packing.  i'm trying to lighten my load,  :)  a few random bali pics