Not all about princesses in towers and not all about hair; just a little bit of both.
The lift is still not working and we are still having to go in and out the back way. Because of the step down from the back door to the lift it is not practical to bring shopping trolleys through that way. We are discouraged from using plastic bags for our shopping and some things are too heavy to carry all the way around to the back lift so I have devised a sort of short cut and I noticed a couple of days ago that I am not the only one using this route.
It involves taking the back lift to level four, walking through the secure parking area, through the security door to the unsecured parking area and walking the short distance to the Staff parking area which has a lift directly down to the main floor of the shopping centre. It probably isn't much shorter but it feels shorter and lands me almost outside Coles Supermarket which is where the trolleys come from. But I feel very isolated up here and especially since neither D2 or D3 contacted me over Easter. I realise that I could have contacted them and today I tried to phone D3 with no response.
And the "Rapunzel, let down your hair" bit? Not possible, I had it trimmed just two days ago but I now have a grey streak from my left temple (there may be more but only my hairdresser could know about that) so I decided to do what I have been itching to do for years - put some colour in.
With that object I mind I bought one of those temporary hair dyes and this morning I shampooed it in, waited the required 30 minutes and rinsed it out. It looks exactly the same as it did before - no purple streaks anywhere in sight. I have waited almost 80 years until my hair was, even in streaks, light enough to colour up without bleaching first - and nothing! I'll just have to go grey gracefully instead of going wild with rainbow colours.
I have knitted about half of the second sleeve of the purple possum sweater and have spent the last couple of days knitting wrist warmers for the homeless. I used a pattern for mittens and have been modifying it to leave the fingers and thumb uncovered and making notes so that I will be able to compile a definitive pattern for future use for me and anyone else who wants to knit them. Currently most of my knitting group are knitting knockers (don't ask).
The Limerick:-
A herder who hailed from Terre Haute
Fell in love with a young nanny goat;
The daughter he sired
Was greatly admired
For her beautiful angora coat.
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
It is said that bad things always come in threes
On Monday of last week the main lift to the B Block apartments broke down. Regretfully there was a man trapped in it for 90 minutes without any feedback as to progress with repairs. That was bad.
On Monday of this week the lift broke down again. Fortunately there was no-one trapped this time. I duly reported it as I was the first person to discover it, to my knowledge, although there are probably many people here who do not know how to report a breakdown. Anyway, it took three phone calls to get to the right person and yesterday we all got an email to say that the lift was not working again, which we all knew and that a new part was needed and it had to come from the eastern states and with all the holidays over the next couple of weeks it would be April 29th before anything meaningful could be done.
So we have to use the backdoor lift which opens out into the back yard of the next door pub and has a 20cm step which is difficult for prams and pushers and impossible for people using wheelie frames or wheelchairs. So I suggested that a temporary or permanent ramp should be put in place for the duration. I was thanked for this suggestion; management had not realised that there was a step. But still no ramp.
Nothing ventured - today I trekked down to the end of the corridor, went and did what shopping I needed to do and came back via my mailbox (by the front door) to collect my mail only to find that someone had removed the barrel of the mailbox lock . At that stage I nearly sat down and wept. It is the second lock of mine which has been broken since I moved in. The first was the lock to my storage area and not only was it in a secure area but the padlock was wrenched off the slide bolt and was found in two parts in the shopping centre. After that I had a deadlock put onto my storage area door and the barrel of my front door lock changed so that I could still use the same key for both locks.
So - the lift and the lock. What next? The lights? I need to get an electrician in anyway as three downlights are out and one is flickering or maybe there will be another false fire alarm in the middle of the night and we will all end up in the backyard of the pub in our nighties again.
The Limerick:-
A tone-deaf old person from Tring
When somebody asked him to sing,
Replied, "It is odd
But I cannot tell "God
Save the Weasel" from "Pop goes the King"
On Monday of this week the lift broke down again. Fortunately there was no-one trapped this time. I duly reported it as I was the first person to discover it, to my knowledge, although there are probably many people here who do not know how to report a breakdown. Anyway, it took three phone calls to get to the right person and yesterday we all got an email to say that the lift was not working again, which we all knew and that a new part was needed and it had to come from the eastern states and with all the holidays over the next couple of weeks it would be April 29th before anything meaningful could be done.
So we have to use the backdoor lift which opens out into the back yard of the next door pub and has a 20cm step which is difficult for prams and pushers and impossible for people using wheelie frames or wheelchairs. So I suggested that a temporary or permanent ramp should be put in place for the duration. I was thanked for this suggestion; management had not realised that there was a step. But still no ramp.
Nothing ventured - today I trekked down to the end of the corridor, went and did what shopping I needed to do and came back via my mailbox (by the front door) to collect my mail only to find that someone had removed the barrel of the mailbox lock . At that stage I nearly sat down and wept. It is the second lock of mine which has been broken since I moved in. The first was the lock to my storage area and not only was it in a secure area but the padlock was wrenched off the slide bolt and was found in two parts in the shopping centre. After that I had a deadlock put onto my storage area door and the barrel of my front door lock changed so that I could still use the same key for both locks.
So - the lift and the lock. What next? The lights? I need to get an electrician in anyway as three downlights are out and one is flickering or maybe there will be another false fire alarm in the middle of the night and we will all end up in the backyard of the pub in our nighties again.
The Limerick:-
A tone-deaf old person from Tring
When somebody asked him to sing,
Replied, "It is odd
But I cannot tell "God
Save the Weasel" from "Pop goes the King"
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
What???
I am not sure if I had mentioned in an earlier post that I have ordered an acid-free archival photograph album and some sticky things to fix all my photographs, including those of my ancestors. However, this morning I received a phone call from the representative from the organisation which sells acid-free photo albums asking me exactly where my apartment is because the courier given the task of delivering the album had gone to the address and found it full of shops. He was new on the job and wanted to know which shop he was to deliver the album to.
I explained that there were two blocks of apartments over the two-storey Shopping Centre and told her how to find my front door. A pause and then she said that the courier was reluctant to enter the shopping centre carrying a parcel. It is a shopping centre, for goodness sake and people buy stuff and carry parcels all the time. Anyway, I suggested that if the guy was that uncomfortable with walking across the arcade he could drop it off at the Post Office.
It is not at the Post Office and it is not at the courier drop-off two doors down from the Post Office so I have emailed the sender who will receive the email tomorrow morning. Goodness knows where it is or if I will eventually get it; I can visualise the courier panicking and throwing in the towel but hopefully he will return all undelivered parcels to base before he does so. If a shopping centre panics him what would he be like with a big dog.
I have resolved the Callan/Minder dilemma. A mention on the ABC about a singing group called The Seekers brought another option to mind. The connection is obscure but I have now started watching a satirical Australian comedy series called "The Games" about the run-up and organisation of the Sydney Olympic Games. It stars Bryan Dawe, Gina Riley and John Clarke (sadly now deceased). When it was on TV I missed the first part and discovered it when they were at the stage of trying to work out how to put a good spin on the 100 metre running track which was not actually 100 metres long. So I am watching it from the beginning and will take in all 26 episodes in order.
I had lunch with D3 today and she is going to order a yoga chair for me when she orders herself one. My balance is not that good, especially in the high lunges, so a specially designed chair will be good as it will give me confidence even if I never actually need it.
The limerick:-
There was a young lady of Wantage
Of whom the Town clerk took advantage.
Said the County Surveyor,
"Of course you must pay her:
You've altered the line of her frontage."
I explained that there were two blocks of apartments over the two-storey Shopping Centre and told her how to find my front door. A pause and then she said that the courier was reluctant to enter the shopping centre carrying a parcel. It is a shopping centre, for goodness sake and people buy stuff and carry parcels all the time. Anyway, I suggested that if the guy was that uncomfortable with walking across the arcade he could drop it off at the Post Office.
It is not at the Post Office and it is not at the courier drop-off two doors down from the Post Office so I have emailed the sender who will receive the email tomorrow morning. Goodness knows where it is or if I will eventually get it; I can visualise the courier panicking and throwing in the towel but hopefully he will return all undelivered parcels to base before he does so. If a shopping centre panics him what would he be like with a big dog.
I have resolved the Callan/Minder dilemma. A mention on the ABC about a singing group called The Seekers brought another option to mind. The connection is obscure but I have now started watching a satirical Australian comedy series called "The Games" about the run-up and organisation of the Sydney Olympic Games. It stars Bryan Dawe, Gina Riley and John Clarke (sadly now deceased). When it was on TV I missed the first part and discovered it when they were at the stage of trying to work out how to put a good spin on the 100 metre running track which was not actually 100 metres long. So I am watching it from the beginning and will take in all 26 episodes in order.
I had lunch with D3 today and she is going to order a yoga chair for me when she orders herself one. My balance is not that good, especially in the high lunges, so a specially designed chair will be good as it will give me confidence even if I never actually need it.
The limerick:-
There was a young lady of Wantage
Of whom the Town clerk took advantage.
Said the County Surveyor,
"Of course you must pay her:
You've altered the line of her frontage."
Friday, April 5, 2019
The End of Exploring New Worlds as we Know them.
My immersion in Star Trek has finally come to an end and not with a bang but with a decided whimper. The last episode on the CDs was quite different from the rest with a totally new cast except for Spok.
The replacement captain was depressed and wanted to get off the ship, the doctor was an elderly man in a white coat and Spok looked as though he had dressed in the dark in whatever he could find in the shambles and to make matters worse the whole thing was grainy. It looked like a first try which didn't altogether work and I didn't bother to watch it. I like McCoy, Scotty, Bones, Uhura, Chekov and Sulu and I obviously wasn't going to get them unless Spok jumped ship and joined another crew.
My next choices are either Callan or Minder or with extreme comedy from Soap if I can work the 'skip to next band' button as Soap starts every episode with a summary of all which has gone before and that takes up quite a bit of each episode. It is a very, very complicated saga and very, very funny.
Autumn is truly here with cold (by Perth standards) mornings and warm days. I realised this last night when Parsifal inserted himself into my bed in the early hours of the morning. It is a lovely feeling; warm cat slithering down my back and purring. Poppy elected to stay on her own bed: maybe it needs to get colder before she joins us.
I have finished knitting the cowl for the Purple Possum sweater and have now begun on the first sleeve. I need to get it finished before winter sets in although I now have so many sweaters that I will be spoiled for choices and I am going to have to go back to knitting beanies and maybe wrist warmers as there has been a request for some for the people who have to sleep rough and need something to cover their hands.
My decluttering is progressing slowly. I keep getting side-tracked and last night came across accounts and receipts from 2010 onwards. Among the mass was a valuation of household contents, including jewellery and was a stark reminder of how much I managed to divest myself of before I moved. A lot of the furniture belonged to D3 but she was married with children by that time so it must have been a copy of a much earlier valuation. Anyway - the whole lot will be shredded and binned. The recycling people do not want paper and I certainly do not want it all to be dumped unshredded.
Hopefully the photo album and sticky stuff which I ordered will arrive next week and I can get back to the decluttering which interests me the most - family photos.
The Limerick:-
A widow whose singular vice
Was to keep her late husband on ice,
Said, "It's been hard since I lost him -
I'll never defrost him!
Cold comfort, but cheap at the price."
The replacement captain was depressed and wanted to get off the ship, the doctor was an elderly man in a white coat and Spok looked as though he had dressed in the dark in whatever he could find in the shambles and to make matters worse the whole thing was grainy. It looked like a first try which didn't altogether work and I didn't bother to watch it. I like McCoy, Scotty, Bones, Uhura, Chekov and Sulu and I obviously wasn't going to get them unless Spok jumped ship and joined another crew.
My next choices are either Callan or Minder or with extreme comedy from Soap if I can work the 'skip to next band' button as Soap starts every episode with a summary of all which has gone before and that takes up quite a bit of each episode. It is a very, very complicated saga and very, very funny.
Autumn is truly here with cold (by Perth standards) mornings and warm days. I realised this last night when Parsifal inserted himself into my bed in the early hours of the morning. It is a lovely feeling; warm cat slithering down my back and purring. Poppy elected to stay on her own bed: maybe it needs to get colder before she joins us.
I have finished knitting the cowl for the Purple Possum sweater and have now begun on the first sleeve. I need to get it finished before winter sets in although I now have so many sweaters that I will be spoiled for choices and I am going to have to go back to knitting beanies and maybe wrist warmers as there has been a request for some for the people who have to sleep rough and need something to cover their hands.
My decluttering is progressing slowly. I keep getting side-tracked and last night came across accounts and receipts from 2010 onwards. Among the mass was a valuation of household contents, including jewellery and was a stark reminder of how much I managed to divest myself of before I moved. A lot of the furniture belonged to D3 but she was married with children by that time so it must have been a copy of a much earlier valuation. Anyway - the whole lot will be shredded and binned. The recycling people do not want paper and I certainly do not want it all to be dumped unshredded.
Hopefully the photo album and sticky stuff which I ordered will arrive next week and I can get back to the decluttering which interests me the most - family photos.
The Limerick:-
A widow whose singular vice
Was to keep her late husband on ice,
Said, "It's been hard since I lost him -
I'll never defrost him!
Cold comfort, but cheap at the price."
Monday, April 1, 2019
Decluttering - a Lifetime Committment
I started decluttering a few weeks ago because I had run out of storage space and since I employed professional packers and unpackers when I moved house I really have no idea what came to Claremont with me. I had sorted and disposed of all the big things which I knew I would not have a place for but the little things lurking at the back of drawers followed me here and have been lurking at the back of draws for over seven years.
Which brings me to my photographs. I have been taking photos ever since the kids were small and when I started researching my family I started accumulating old family photos, going right back to my great-grandmother and (?) great-grandfather. I suspect that my grandfather was a cuckoo baby so I am not sure about the great-grandfather.
All my photo albums, folders, slip-in books etc. are falling apart and I have decided to put everything together in acid-free archival albums. There used to be an archival outlet fairly close but I can no longer find any record of it so I went on-line to an Australian site which gave me a wide choice of products.
The problem was that, having made my selection, it wouldn't allow me to pay. I spent this morning clearing my cookies and trying again but clearing my cookies did not clear my shopping basket with the result that, as I tried again and again to get to PayPal, I accumulated more of the same. Eventually I gave up and went to the site's contact information and emailed to ask if the company was actually still trading.
Yeah! They still had my order and details so I received a phone call and was able to complete the transaction over the phone. I do not like not being able to use PayPal but needs must and my photo stuff will be arriving, hopefully by the end of the week. Hopefully the PayPal glitch will be fixed by the time I work out just how many albums, photo corners and photo glue I need and will be able to make trouble-free transactions in the future.
The Limerick:-
The Reverend Mr. Uprightly
Was cuckolded daily and nightly.
He murmured, "Dear, dear!
I would fain interfere,
If I knew how to do it politely."
Which brings me to my photographs. I have been taking photos ever since the kids were small and when I started researching my family I started accumulating old family photos, going right back to my great-grandmother and (?) great-grandfather. I suspect that my grandfather was a cuckoo baby so I am not sure about the great-grandfather.
All my photo albums, folders, slip-in books etc. are falling apart and I have decided to put everything together in acid-free archival albums. There used to be an archival outlet fairly close but I can no longer find any record of it so I went on-line to an Australian site which gave me a wide choice of products.
The problem was that, having made my selection, it wouldn't allow me to pay. I spent this morning clearing my cookies and trying again but clearing my cookies did not clear my shopping basket with the result that, as I tried again and again to get to PayPal, I accumulated more of the same. Eventually I gave up and went to the site's contact information and emailed to ask if the company was actually still trading.
Yeah! They still had my order and details so I received a phone call and was able to complete the transaction over the phone. I do not like not being able to use PayPal but needs must and my photo stuff will be arriving, hopefully by the end of the week. Hopefully the PayPal glitch will be fixed by the time I work out just how many albums, photo corners and photo glue I need and will be able to make trouble-free transactions in the future.
The Limerick:-
The Reverend Mr. Uprightly
Was cuckolded daily and nightly.
He murmured, "Dear, dear!
I would fain interfere,
If I knew how to do it politely."
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