The Waiting Man

Wednesday - my Saturday

A busy day... up at 6.10am to feed fur & feathers & it actually took until I was putting the food bowls in front of the cats for me to realise I didn't have to go to work today. I was about to sigh in relief & go back to bed, when I remembered we had a carpenter arriving at 8am to install a cat door... also that we were out of sugar & soy milk... & that I had meant to go to the stupormarket last night to get those things. So, time for ablutions

At 8am, a call from the carpenter citing car trouble for his non-appearance & promising to let me know when he could get here... So, having put on the first load of washing, shall we go out for breakfast? Absolutely! Off to a nearly-local café, then the stupormarket to pick up the essentials & back home to hang out the washing. Then load 2, vacuuming, then mopping the floors, then hang out load 2 while fielding calls & texts from work... Hope the carpenter arrives soon, it will be a pleasure watching someone else work for a while

He eventually turned up, needing his phone charged & his car battery charged as well. Having plugged in all those things, he set to work & actually had the door complete pretty quickly. Then it was time to introduce the cats to it

Then it was time to wash, dry & dress the deep scratches on my arm... Gigi certainly isn't a fan of being put through a cat door. Maybe I'll try with Bella a bit later...

A handful of CDs transferred to the iPod - which now has 33.3 days worth of music on it, yet still insists on repeating certain songs. And some work on the photos from our Zoo visit a few days ago...



Yes, there was glass between us & yes, that's his tongue flickering... I smell delicious, apparently

Wednesday is Trivia, Guinness & Pizza night... I should go & read the news - we won last week & have a title to defend

Nice to see that 2018 is keeping up the pace set by 2017 before the baton change...

When I've had the chance to read through my 'friends pages', I've seen various quiz posts & 'blog prompts that I think "Yeah... I'll do an entry for that..." but somehow it doesn't happen at the time & now that I have time, it feels like that time has passed. so, if there's anything you want to ask... that's what the comments section is for...

Since last time then:- I've been to see Roger Waters Us And Them show... A lot better than I expected it to be, not having been a fan of his solo output & disappointed & occasionally angry with his comments about, & treatment of, the other members of Pink Floyd... as well as his aura of smug superiority. but it seems he's found a good therapist, as he's certainly trying to become more human(e) & walk back his previous judgments. It probably helps that he has a pretty good new solo album & has assembled a great band to tour with. And the lights, props & soundscapes were superb, if occasionally, deliberately, disturbing



Couldn't help but miss both the guitar playing & singing of David Gilmour... though one of the 3 guitarists did a more-than-passable job of playing, sounding & even looking like Dave circa 1973. Roger's voice - always a matter of taste, has lost a lot of range, but he has adapted his delivery to suit his limitations, so there were no embarrassing attempts at high notes now beyond him - that's what the backing singers are for, after all. My highlight of the show - 'Dogs' & 'Pigs' from my favourite Floyd album 'Animals'... the one everybody forgets about



We also took our first visit to the zoo in a while, having requested, & received, annual passes for Christmas from the family. So - animal photos anyone?





In other news, we attended a Catholic Baptism, where L-SP was made Godmother to a friend's new...ish daughter. We look forward to ringing the new parents early every Sunday morning, reminding them to go to Church. My workplace finally had its Christmas Party at a flash, fancy restaurant in the new...ish Barangaroo area of town. Food was okay, but overpriced, the wines were definitely overpriced, but that didn't stop at least one of the party consuming it quite enthusiastically & proceeding to make an idiot of themselves most of the night. No, it wasn't me - my job is quite secure... for now

About a week's supply there, I'd say...

After three years of threatening, then about a month of real planning, my Long-Suffering Partner wrangled my slightly-early birthday party last night, at the wonderful (and wonderfully named) 'Friend In Hand' hotel. Speeches, embarrassing slide shows complete with naked baby photos, strictly amateur hour Karaoke & the realisation that, not only do I have a lot of wonderful friends, but that they come from such a wide variety of backgrounds, situations & histories. And somehow... they all mingled!! Having been to so many parties where the only people I knew were the host, or the person I arrived with, then spending a lot of time either on my own, or looking for a dog or cat to talk to, it was wonderful to see so many diverse conglomerates form & morph throughout the room & the night

Thanks to all of them for helping me grow old disgracefully!!

A friend gave us access to her apartment in Potts Point, Sydney for NYE while she was in New Zealand - celebrating a few hours earlier than us. I think our view was better though... Thanks Roslyn !!

According to the top of my LJ page, it's not my fault I've been gone for two days. So...

Wednesday ~ let's just gloss over work, it's been pretty quiet & uneventful & skip straight to the couple of hours spent with the other guitarist in the band that is springing slowly from the World's Longest Album Project... which has also been rejected as a name for the band. Been a while since I played with just another guitar, without other instruments or vocals. Fun

Thursday ~ yeah, work... then off to a Mexican restaurant in Gladesville for a belated birthday dinner with friends. Tasty food, but giant serving sizes. I gave up on my meal about 2/3s of the way in, knowing I was already stuffed to the gills. An uncomfortable night's sleep ensued... not to mention Montezuma's Revenge

Today, I left work early to join the Loved One picking up our new car & signing seemingly endless forms in duplicate, triplicate... all designed to make us feel better about the amount of money spent, or more accurately, owing

Then taking the new car to Wafflers this evening for my first time as Dinner Secretary, with fluctuating numbers of guests, a mixed bag of speakers & a nice main course & dessert. Interesting beginnings

Work tomorrow...

Well... a rather full weekend

We had a wedding yesterday ~ one of The Loved One's cousins married her long-time partner at a Catholic church out in Liverpool & my Sister-in-law was a bridesmaid, so attendance was kindasorta mandatory. When they set out chairs at the altar for the Bride & Groom, you know it probably won't be just a quick reading of the vows, a kiss & off to the pub. Fortunately it wasn't the full Catholic service, which I've encountered before & lost two hours of my life to, but there was still plenty of liturgical call & response during the readings & the set prayers & standing, sitting, standing again... I was coerced into abandoning my principle of not photographing people for the day & was one of quite a few cameras documenting the happy event. I received the ultimate compliment from one of the paid photographers when he came up behind me & stuck his much longer & much more expensive lens over my shoulder to capture the same angle for one of the shots I was taking. It turned out the priest was an ex-wedding photographer too... before obviously deciding it was more fun being a part of the action

A break of a couple of hours & off to the Reception at one of those professional party venues you find all over the Western Suburbs. This was a Chinese/Vietnamese place ~ presumably to keep the Bride's side of the family happy after the Groom's Spanish Catholic family chose the church. Lots of taffeta, chintz & ribbons on the tables, a House Band setting up while their singer wandered around in a military-style jacket & leather pants, chatting up all the young women in short tight skirts & more hairspray & makeup than a Drag Convention. From then on, the night was fun & predictable:~ the food was great, the alcohol endless, the so-called speeches appalling & the descent into debauchery & violence inevitable... with the Best Man picking a fight with another guest & the dance floor a sea of god-knows-what. I spent most of the night with my newly Residential Brother-in-law, but was convinced/dragooned into a couple of dances... Well, conga lines don't require much in the way of co-ordination ~ in fact, the less, the better. Home eventually, somewhat the worse for wear about 3am. Ish

Recovery today at our local café, then it was down to Brookvale Oval to see our Rugby League team beat Cronulla ~ the first time I've been to a League game since 1980something & the first time ever for The Loved One, who enjoyed it so much, we've booked seats for another game next month

Back to work tomorrow to see how the renovations have progressed over the weekend. And for a rest...

Breakfast at the new local... some pottering & meandering at home, then a family late-lunch which spilled over into dinner this afternoon/evening

You know how sometimes you get home from a social gathering at a reasonably early hour, but then can't muster much energy to do anything else, not even enough to commit to watching a whole movie, so you watch little bits of this, then an hour of that, just so you don't have to admit that you'd rather have gone to bed at the ridiculous time of 8.30pm... which you haven't done since you were 8 years old??

Just me then?

Soddit... now I'm definitely off to bed

Oops... missed yesterday. I'm sure you're all waiting with bated breath

Dinner with a recently retrenched friend last night, whose solution to unemployment is simple ~ he's going to Canada for five weeks to see his girlfriend. A bit like our six-week trip to the USA last year in the wake of my redundancy & its subsequent payout. Our friend is already talking of extending his stay over there, so we'll see him sooner or later

Having been presented with the keys to the Kingdom (okay, just the showroom I work at) yesterday, I spent today working solo due to staff illness. I don't mind being thrown in the deep end ~ it's the best way to learn & also shows the Paymasters I'm capable & reliable. The only time I didn't like being thrown in the deep end was when I was 7 years old & learning to swim. Thirty eight years later, I'm still not the most confident of water babies...

Trivia tonight with the old host at the new venue. Nice chicken Caesar salad & we won. I call that a pleasant evening

Off we went to Camperdown tonight in search of a new Trivia evening & found one of our old hosts at a new gig... except he was always doing this gig on a Tuesday, whereas we'd seen him somewhere else on a Wednesday &... you know what? It doesn't really matter... We came, we played, we won

Starting to get things together at work... & projects are lining up, so I'll soon be busier than I have been for the last week. Lots of data entry today, requiring the wearing of glasses... I've been developing a nice little headache since about 3pm that's just about matured

Aarrgghh... bed

A rainy Sunday to round out the weekend

Although the weather wasn't so bad when we were at the Courthouse Hotel in Newtown for farewell drinks with our ex-pat friends, leaving tonight & returning to England... via 5 days in Abu Dhabi to "have a holiday from the holiday". I'd no idea we could be so taxing...

But now ~ rain, a bit cold & a slight headache, so bed & booktime

But I'm only just home, so it counts as the day before...

An odd day ~ starting out rainy'n'windy & more conducive to staying at home, so we did. Then, as the weather improved, we headed out to our various engagements... the Loved One to a wedding & reception & I to a catch-up over drinks & eventual dinner with an erstwhile workmate I've been promising to meet since mid-December last year

The three of us wound up in the North Annandale Hotel shortly before their turf-out time. Now home, perchance to get some sleep before the first day at the new job...

A low-key day, a late breakfast at our new local Café, then a quiet afternoon at home before dinner this evening with some friends visiting from the UK, where they moved to a couple of years ago

They're staying with a relative in Annandale ~ your typical late 19th, early 20th century single-storey terrace off the main street, with postage-stamp sized back yard just big enough for a beagle to run around in. Barbecued lamb & a selection of tasty salads were the bill of fare... A good night. Our friends were always good for interesting conversations & it got late too early... Hopefully we'll see them again before they return home

More interviews tomorrow...

Dinner with friends at an Indian restaurant this evening... Should be interesting, given the reaction my plumbing system has had to subcontinental delights the last couple of times...

Which is extremely annoying, as Indian has been my favourite cuisine for as long as I can remember, so to have it play havoc downstairs is a worry. I don't want to give it up the way I've had to give up orange juice, pineapple juice, dairy milk (mostly) & sundry other things I used to enjoy

And so to bed, to wait...

And so ~ seven days into my Exile from the mean streets of the Marketplace

Let's first backtrack to last Friday, when I spent the afternoon both chasing & pushing pieces of paper around, had a much-longer-than-expected talk with a prospective employer whom I'd visited only on spec, then played a second gig in my low-key return to musical pursuit & performance. Having stood in line at the local MissingCentreLink office for 30 minutes, it eventually transpired that all I needed could be done on the phone. Thence to the most convoluted opening of a new bank account I could imagine... Why do they need so much ID from someone who wants to give them money?

The conversation-which-became-an-interview was with the owner of a business that, 'til last Thursday, was in competition with me but now represents a possible lifeline. Sure, it was Friday afternoon & it wasn't too busy, but two hours talk & a beer was a lot more than I'd expected. Having refused the beer because I was playing a gig that night, my former competitor said he'd picked me as a musician not long after I'd walked in. Now, I've seen myself in the mirror often enough to know I don't have any instruments tattooed on me, nor do I wear a neon sign labelling me... so how do so many people I've met all seem to know that I'm a 'Musician'? And what is it about that pastime/preoccupation that makes it so remarkable to them?

The same was true of the gig that evening ~ a corporate 'Awards Night' for the advertising arm of a major media group, held at the Function Centre at Taronga Zoo. Plenty of wildlife was on display, but it was all in various degrees of fancy dress. Our singer/songwriter works for the conglomerate & had snared not only the gig, but places at a table, drinks & a three-course meal for her guitarists. And again, her colleagues were impressed that the two guys not in costume were 'musicians'... even though any one of them earns more than I do

Our five songs were performed against a cacophony of cutlery & conversation, with polite applause. My only complaints were that we had no monitors to hear ourselves & that we were called up to play just as I was about to sink my teeth into the pork belly entrée which, of course, had been removed by the time we returned to the table

The annual Coffee Festival at the Rocks on Sunday was overcrowded & underwhelming. Queuing for fifteen minutes for a dribble of espresso, then being barged into by the Great Unwashed & their double prams from all directions does not make for a grand day out. The Loved One & I agree it was probably our last attendance

Otherwise, the Jobseeker carousel spins ever around with its jaunty music & painted smiles. How many people want to run away from the Circus, I wonder?

Alors... une soirée avec La Soirée... ce soir.

If you want to know what it's like to be molested by a 130kilogram baritone Drag King/Queen in front of a few hundred people, then I heartily recommend going to see the show before it ends in early February... & get yourself front-row seats right next to the artistes pathway. You WILL be noticed & you WILL find yourself part of several acts, so you may as well go along for the ride willingly & with gusto... I did.

Though how I'm going to explain the glitter in my hair & beard to the guys at work tomorrow will be interesting. One of them is gay, the other's a racist homophobe...