Weekend stuff
Oct. 29th, 2007 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lederhosenMy father was going to Melbourne this weekend, so we took his car to the airport and left it in long-term (this will be relevant later). He gave me car keys and the parking ticket, because I was getting back before him and he'd be driving back with my stepmother anyway.
So, flew to Adelaide on Friday afternoon, to catch up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sandypawozbun, usagi_ozbun, shadow_5tails, asagwe, and the kidlets, who I haven't seen since... well, ever, because it's been way too long since we made it to Adelaide. And of course my wife and da_norvegicus.
Even by the usual standards of weekends away, it felt much shorter than it should've been. One hour of that was due to daylight savings, some of it was due to me still being in the habit of getting up early (good for work, bad for socialising with goths), some of it was... just tired, not entirely sure why. Still, we found time to visit wineries and chocolateries, and then play a long guessing game while we waited for a jump-start on the car. And we ate very well, thanks to our hosts having their own farm and Rey's usual cake-providing tendencies. Also, I got a long-overdue dose of Cat Snuggles from a certain black Norwegian.
Sunday morning, Sandypaw helped Rey start the day with a specially-organised serenade of specially chosen music. I am saddened to say that Rey was less appreciative than she might have been. We introduced our hosts to Calamari Wrestler (do send it back this way once you're done with it) and then we headed off to visit an ag show.
I'll admit that the only thing I had to compare it with was the Royal Easter Show, but still, I was expecting to see a few more animals (and also, to see people a bit more clueful about the animals they brought, but I won't go into that). And a bit less 'colloidal silver' - I hadn't realised that particular brand of quackery had reached Australia yet. Still, there were some impressively big tractors and vintage cars.
And then it was time to head back. We said our goodbyes to the Ozbuns, andshadow_5tails and asagwe dropped us at the airport. We flew back on our separate flights, I paid for my parking and walked back to the car, and then... maybe I should just give you a transcript of the ensuing phone conversation.
MY FATHER, who is occasionally a trifle absent-minded: Hello?
ME: Hi, it's me... er, you've given me the wrong car keys.
MY FATHER: What do you mean?
ME: These keys, they don't open the car.
MY FATHER: Are you sure? What other keys could I have given you?
ME: Maybe you gave me $STEPMOTHER's keys instead? These aren't even for a Toyota. They've got a big Holden logo on them.
MY FATHER: $STEPMOTHER's car isn't a Holden. It's a Ford.
ME: ...wait, I own a Holden.
[fishes around in bag, discovers the Toyota keys]
ME: ...er, never mind. See you tomorrow!
All I can say in my defence is that while I do indeed own a Holden, I've never actually had occasion to use those keys (I moved to Canberra before they delivered it, so Rey's the one who drives it).
Work looks like getting rather busy in the next month or so, due in no small part to somebody's decision that when we're already short-staffed and two months behind schedule would be a good time to change to a new untested methodology. Lots of 'argh' from everybody around me, but I'm doing my best to treat it as a Learning Experience and maybe an opportunity for some overtime.
Meeting new housemates on Wednesday, picking up a desk on Thursday, checking out a possible bed tomorrow. And that's about as exciting as I get on weekdays!
So, flew to Adelaide on Friday afternoon, to catch up with
sandypawozbun, usagi_ozbun, shadow_5tails, asagwe, and the kidlets, who I haven't seen since... well, ever, because it's been way too long since we made it to Adelaide. And of course my wife and da_norvegicus.Even by the usual standards of weekends away, it felt much shorter than it should've been. One hour of that was due to daylight savings, some of it was due to me still being in the habit of getting up early (good for work, bad for socialising with goths), some of it was... just tired, not entirely sure why. Still, we found time to visit wineries and chocolateries, and then play a long guessing game while we waited for a jump-start on the car. And we ate very well, thanks to our hosts having their own farm and Rey's usual cake-providing tendencies. Also, I got a long-overdue dose of Cat Snuggles from a certain black Norwegian.
Sunday morning, Sandypaw helped Rey start the day with a specially-organised serenade of specially chosen music. I am saddened to say that Rey was less appreciative than she might have been. We introduced our hosts to Calamari Wrestler (do send it back this way once you're done with it) and then we headed off to visit an ag show.
I'll admit that the only thing I had to compare it with was the Royal Easter Show, but still, I was expecting to see a few more animals (and also, to see people a bit more clueful about the animals they brought, but I won't go into that). And a bit less 'colloidal silver' - I hadn't realised that particular brand of quackery had reached Australia yet. Still, there were some impressively big tractors and vintage cars.
And then it was time to head back. We said our goodbyes to the Ozbuns, and
shadow_5tails and asagwe dropped us at the airport. We flew back on our separate flights, I paid for my parking and walked back to the car, and then... maybe I should just give you a transcript of the ensuing phone conversation.MY FATHER, who is occasionally a trifle absent-minded: Hello?
ME: Hi, it's me... er, you've given me the wrong car keys.
MY FATHER: What do you mean?
ME: These keys, they don't open the car.
MY FATHER: Are you sure? What other keys could I have given you?
ME: Maybe you gave me $STEPMOTHER's keys instead? These aren't even for a Toyota. They've got a big Holden logo on them.
MY FATHER: $STEPMOTHER's car isn't a Holden. It's a Ford.
ME: ...wait, I own a Holden.
[fishes around in bag, discovers the Toyota keys]
ME: ...er, never mind. See you tomorrow!
All I can say in my defence is that while I do indeed own a Holden, I've never actually had occasion to use those keys (I moved to Canberra before they delivered it, so Rey's the one who drives it).
Work looks like getting rather busy in the next month or so, due in no small part to somebody's decision that when we're already short-staffed and two months behind schedule would be a good time to change to a new untested methodology. Lots of 'argh' from everybody around me, but I'm doing my best to treat it as a Learning Experience and maybe an opportunity for some overtime.
Meeting new housemates on Wednesday, picking up a desk on Thursday, checking out a possible bed tomorrow. And that's about as exciting as I get on weekdays!
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-29 11:32 am (UTC)Speaking of colloidal silver, I heard one of the most amusing science 'facts' ever listening to a show hawking colloidal silver.
Did you know that only 18% of the air is oxygen today? 100 years ago oxygen made up 25% of the air. And thousands of years ago it was nearly 50% of the air. Sea-silver lets you absorb oxygen much more efficiently so that your body can function the way it was meant to....
I'd hate to think of what California would be going through right now if the air was 50% O2. Well, it probably wouldn't be going through much as everything would have burned down quite a while ago.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 06:37 am (UTC)50% O2 would make life very interesting, and brief... even without the fire risks, I'm not sure that would be very healthy. I know divers start running into problems with oxygen toxicity at about 1atm PO2, and they're only breathing it for relatively short periods; half that concentration might still be a bad thing in the long term.