StarTrek Revisited

One of the Christmas presents which I bought myself this year was a DVD set of the whole of the first series of Star Trek with Mr Spock and "Beam me up Scotty".  I used to watch it when it first ran many, many years ago and never bothered with the second series.  Just to make sure that they worked I watched the first episode today while I still had the box and Return Form.  I thoroughly enjoyed the absurdity of it all but was a bit handicapped by its lack of subtitles.  I had to sit closer and turn up the sound.  I might do better to watch it on my computer.

My other Christmas presents were a couple of sets of ear-bling from my favourite jeweller who has her shop just across the road from my apartment and next to the shop which sells everything 'cat' so I check out what is being displayed in the window every so often.

Also over the Christmas break I ordered a replacement for a recipe book which D1 lent to one of her friends almost 50 years ago and which I never got back.  Luckily I had added my favourite recipes to my web pages but the replacement book arrived today  -  a second-hand paperback since the book has been long out of print  -  and now I have the whole set again.

On Christmas Eve some silicon food covers arrived by mail in a very timely manner just in time to cover the potato salad and trifle.  I have ordered some more since I am trying not to use plastic food wrapping so Gladwrap is on my 'do not use' list and as of two days ago shops can be fined if they give away non-reusable plastic bags.  I still have a whole drawer full of plastic food stuff of various kinds and am not sure what I am going to do with it all.

My vertigo has almost disappeared, thank goodness, and at the moment I am sleeping better than I can ever remember so I am back to yoga after a break of almost a month but starting with some easy ones to get myself back into the routine.  I haven't yet returned to my walks around Lake Claremont  -  watch this space.

The limerick:-
This one is distinctly off-colour so read it at your peril.

There was a young harlot from Kew
Who filled her vagina with glue.
She said with a grin,
"If they pay to get in,
They'll pay to get out of it, too."

Grrrrrrr. . . !

D1 flew back to Sydney just in time before I quietly strangled her and stuffed her down the rubbish chute.  She has been mansplaining to me and a) she is not a man, b) she is my daughter and c) I know that it is possible to run the dishwasher when it is half-empty but I did not want to as I was pottering while getting things ready for Christmas and generating the odd thing as I went.

We had Christmas in the evening which was rather nice and gave me a lot more time to potter instead of the usual rush to get things done.  This was on account of D2 had volunteered to work and was not free until, officially, 6.00pm.

D3 and family arrived quite early and GB1 and GB2 spent some time in the little pool attached to my block of the apartment complex. There is a big pool over the other side and one day I might remember to tell them that they are allowed to go over and use it if they wish.

Anyway  -  I now have a great deal of washing to do and the washing machine is starting to object to too many towels at once and I need to get the bearings checked.  After I told D1 this she told me that my washing machine bearings needed fixing.  Mansplaining again: I was using washing machines when she was in nappies and the bearings and hoses are always an issue eventually.

And she tore one of my sheets which, admittedly was about 20 years old and due to be superannuated anyway  -  and the sales started today so I went downstairs and bought three half-priced bedding sets.

The reason I didn't strangle her was that she gave me a beautiful book of knitted lace patterns which I am dying to try  -  but I will finish knitting the purple possum sweater first  -  it will be an incentive for me to finish it faster.  I was aiming for next winter but might move the finish time forward and knit a lacy scarf from my new book.

The limerick:-

There was an old man in a hearse
Who murmered, "This might have been worse;
Of course the expense
Is simply immense,
But it doesn't come out of my purse."

Boomerang Drone Post Script

A few weeks ago I stated that the affair of The Drone was closed.  However  two days ago I hosted a dinner for D2’s birthday.  Attending were D3,  D3’s husband and the Grand Babies, GB1 and GB2,

GB1 has just finished school and is one of those kids who is not all that good with words but brilliant with subjects like maths and physics as well as sailing since he is clever at reading wind and waves.  He is the person I passed the drone to as I knew that, while I quite failed to get the thing flying, he would be able to get it up in the air; which he did.  And he brought it with him to the birthday party.

It is noisy, emitting a loud buzzing noise interspersed with beeps and flashing lights.  Parsifal, who I had bought it for, was not impressed and took himself off to his bed in the cats’ safe place  -  the master suite  -  and I didn’t see him again until about midday the next day.  I was very happy that I had passed it on to GB1. Parsifal normally loves to meet and greet visitors but he said that he wasn't going to emerge until that thing was removed.

However, its life is short and sweet; two if its propellers have broken and GB1 has no more replacements, having used the spares provided for necessary repairs.  I can’t say that I am sorry about that  -  I certainly do not want to see it again either although I was impressed with the acrobatics which GB1 was able to coax out of it.

So that is the very last word on the drone.

Instead of taking my knitting along to the Tuesday group last week I decided to bite the bullet and finish the repairs to the hand block-printed tablecloth which I bought in Iran back in 2006.  It had little tassels all the way round and Parsifal, during his cord-eating phase, ate all which he could reach when I foolishly left it on the table.  They were cotton and therefore digestible so I wasn’t fussed but it quite spoilt the table cloth and I had been meaning to replace them.  The string was easy but twisting it into a fringe was a different matter as there are a large number.

I went online and discovered a fringe twister sold by Ashford, the spinning wheel suppliers in New Zealand so I ordered one and after trying to work out how to do the twists I put it aside until last week when I took it along to the group in lieu of my knitting and started on the twists.  Since then I have threaded in the cotton and today I finished doing the twists.  Tomorrow I will trim the dangling ends and after putting it all through the washing machine hopefully the new twists will match the few original ones left because Parsifal was not able to reach them, still being a kitten at the time.

It is nearly Christmas but I received one piece of good news today -

"We write regarding the electricity consumption notices for your apartment at . . Residences. 

Unfortunately, the meter reading system has failed to provide us with a reading for some meters at the complex, including the one for your apartment. Therefore, you will not be invoiced for electricity consumption until the meter reading system has been repaired."

And the Limerick:-

A prolific young mother named Hall
Who seemed to have triplets each Fall,
When asked why and wherefore
Said, "That's what we're here for,
But we often get nothing at all."

Gazumped

A couple of weeks ago I started playing an online game called Minesweeper which, for anyone who is not familiar with it is a logic game with a big element of guesswork at times.  Perhaps as I become more proficient there will be less guesswork and more logic.

However, about a week ago I finished a game (I am wining more and more as I get familiar with it) and Apple flashed up a message to tell me that I had finished the basic game faster than anyone else playing the basic game.  It wanted my name for some honour site which I have yet to locate.  Last night I did it again; fastest finish in the elementary level.  Have I beaten my own score?

Poppy has now been on anti-inflammatory medication for about two weeks and she is a new cat.  the poor little girl must have been in a lot of pain.  Now she is playing with Parsifal more than fighting him and she is carrying her flag upright instead of at half mast.  It is nice to see her so happy but she has had health problems for most of her life so I am not confident that she will live happily ever after.  It is fingernail trimming next weekend and we will see then if the pain from her arthritis is diminished.

Friday is D2's birthday which will be celebrated Chez minnie on Saturday evening.  D3 is bringing the main course and because her whole family is gluten/dairy sensitive I have ordered a G/D free orange and almond cake for dessert.  D2 has told me that she wants a sultana caramel pudding and argues that as it is her birthday she has a right to have what she wants.  Of course it is neither gluten nor dairy free.  It is an argument hard to counter so I am going to have to provide one dessert for her and one for the rest of the party.  Grrrrr . . .

I have finally got serious about my beautiful block printed tablecloth which I bought in Iran and which Parsifal, when he was a kitten, ate most of the fringe.  So I have started replacing the parts of the fringe where he chewed the bottoms off.  Fortunately each little tassel is unconnected with its neighbours so the original tassels which he was not able to reach are still there as a guide to the replacements.  It is a long, slow job and I have been putting it off for seven years: it is high time I sorted it.

The limerick:-
This is one of my favourites.

There was a young girl from St. Cyr
Whose reflex reactions were queer.
Her escort said, 'Mabel
Get up of the table;
That money's to pay for the beer.'

Busy, Busy, Busy.

I have just looked at my calendar for next week and I have something on every day and it is not going to get any better as we wind up to Christmas.

On the subject of busy I have saved a quote from Rachel Maddow on the subject.  I saved it because in made me burst out laughing.  Sarcasm will get you almost anywhere, even onto my blog.  It relates to Donald Trump's non-visit to the Arlington Memorial:


"As for the president being “extremely busy” on Veterans Day, his official White House schedule included no events.

Trump also found time last Monday to publish plenty of tweets, including missives demanding Florida officials stop counting lawful ballots and blaming Democrats for recent stock market losses.

I don’t doubt he was at least somewhat busy – the president’s television isn’t going to watch itself – but the idea that Trump couldn’t have taken some time to do what presidents do on Veterans Day is very hard to take seriously."

I have had my 'seniors' check' which I hope that I passed  -  but my doctor informed me as I went out the door, that I have weak legs.  She didn't test them and I am seriously annoyed and will show her how to muscle test and throw in how to test for balance for good measure.  Last time I looked, the most common cause of fractured neck of femur was elderly people getting up in the dark in the middle of the night to spend a penny.

I can actually remember back to a time when to spend a penny was a reality.  There was a shop in Adelaide, South Australia, where a penny in the slot opened the door to the cubicle.  The store was Miller Andersons and it may still be there.  I know that the doors were kept (probably heritage listed) and one acquired the necessary penny from the attendant.  I do not suppose that there are attendants any more either.  FYO  -  I do not live in South Australia and did not set out to find antique public toilets last time I was there.

And now the limerick:-

There was a young lady of Condover
Whose husband had ceased to be fond of her.
He could not forget
He had wooed a brunette
But peroxide had now made a blonde of her.

Christmas Comes, Thankfully, but Once a Year

My tooth has been filled.  It was such a huge cavity that I didn't think that it would be possible but it is done and dusted and only took an hour so I managed the string bag knitting workshop where I knitted my eternal scarf which is what I fall back on when I do not want to knit something where I have to keep count of rows or stitches.  String bags I do not need; I have more bags than I could possibly use already.

So now I have to think about Christmas.  It is my turn to have the family on Christmas Day although D2 is working.  The menu is the same every year  -  potato salad and trifle although D3 and family cannot eat the trifle because of milk protein and gluten sensitivities.  D3 brings dessert for her family but I have been told about a delicious orange and almond cake and thought that I might buy one for the D3s and anyone else who wants a piece.

I seem to be spending more and more time at my computer reading about the goings-on in USA and The United Kingdom.  We are not doing all that well here at present either but things look as though they are about to really blow up in UK and USA

Poppy is back on anti-inflammatory medication and is much more settled and so far this evening there have been no spats.  Parsifal goes riding in the kitty carriage most days and is very vocal when he wants to go out.  I am meeting some interesting people who stop to talk.  There is the nice man who sells "The Big Issue" and who has a cat at home but has a toy cat in his trolley.  I run into him quite often and today I met a man wearing a crown.  I had a feeling that he and his friend were from the hostel over the railway line but I am only guessing.

As you can see, I have done very little and need to get back to crossing items off my bucket list of things which I have been putting off  -  such as calling in an electrician to replace all the lights which have failed, about half a dozen at last count.  I keep putting it off because I think that the light in my study is about to fail  - but the power to the area has been upgraded and flickering has stopped.  And getting the fridge door adjusted.

The limerick:-

This one was, according to my book, written by the Reverend Charles Inge.

A Lady while dining at Crewe
Found an elephant's whang in her stew.
Said the waiter, "Don't shout,
Or wave it about, 
Or the others will all want one too."

Just When . . .

After a couple of weeks of something happening most days I thought that I finally had a clear view of this next week.  Too bad that on Friday one of my fillings fell out into my muesli and the first appointment to see my dentists is tomorrow lunch time which is, sadly, going to clash with my knitting group although I will probably manage it albeit late.

There is going to be a workshop on knitting string bags which I do not need so I am not missing a lot.  Living over the top of a shopping centre containing two supermarkets I simply load my groceries back into the trolley and wheel it all upstairs.

Last week I had to have a physical check-up and a 'seniors' mental assessment very similar to the one which Donald Trump insisted on to prove that he is not dementing.  His was on paper and on-line so that he could learn the answers but although mine was similar it was random questions which hopped all over the place so that I didn't know if they were going to throw a curve ball next time around.

I got one wrong that I know of; asked the date I managed the year and the month but fell down on the date.  I have been so fixated in November 6th (Americans will relate to that) that I said the sixth instead of the eighth.  I was able to confidently repeat the phrase "No ands ifs or buts" because it was used where I used to work, I had to spell 'world' backwards and write a sentence.  I cheated there by using a line from a poem so it was in my long-term memory but I have no problem writing sentences or I would not be writing this blog.  And no serial sevens; that is one which I practise when I can't sleep  -  a bit like counting sheep.

D1 flew over for a couple of days to attend S/W's birthday and walked off with my shower cap but she will be back for Christmas.  I went out and bought a new one today.  It was needed anyway.

The limerick:-

There was a young maiden from Multerry,
Whose knowledge of life was desultory;
She explained, like a sage,
"Adolescence?  The stage
Between puberty and - er - adultery."