... the IT man in LibraryLand
This busy Xmas period has seen several examples of great courage, willpower and general mental fortitude in the face of nigh-overwhelming adversity.
The first such example was the attendance of Salsa Girl at the annual Library Xmas party. It all really began in the afternoon when, after arriving early at my place of work in order to feel more relaxed about the looming party, Salsa Girl was pounced upon by the inquisitive Days of our Libraries and Kiwichick. Unfortunately one was busy rescuing some forlorn computers so who knows of what was spoken between them whilst I was out of earshot.
After such shaky beginnings we were soon making our way to The Administrator's abode for the event proper. All in all it went well and Salsa Girl held up under the pressure of several dozen inquisitive librarians.
One did wonder if one had made a mistake when conversation with The Beaumaris Ballerina turned to the subject of the non-attendance of her beau. Her statement - "oh, I would never expose him to this" - did give me pause for thought as to what I was putting my good lady through.
In the end though we managed to get out unscathed before the karaoke - which I think is a big win on our parts.
The second celebration of survival involves my trekking north for an Xmas day feast with the maternal branch of Salsa Girl's family.
After braving locust swarms of biblical proportions - well a smallish bible anyway - we arrived in time to relax before attending to afternoon tea which soon became Xmas Eve dinner.
Xmas day itself saw the arrival of a sumptuous trifle, along with Grandma, and then the unveiling of a grand feast. I survived the lunch and believe I made quite the good impression by restricting myself to a heaped plate of seconds rather than returning for thirds and appearing greedy.
Our third tale of survival involves the mad dash from the northern regions back to the surrounds of Melbourne for attendance at Xmas dinner at one's aunties residence.
With consummate timing Salsa Girl and I arrived just as the main course was being commenced. We quite easily slipped into line several times until we'd had our fill of mains and then patiently awaited the desserts. There were introductions, and conversations, and general laid back family Xmas type goings on.
Upon departing Salsa Girl seemed to have survived her first meeting with my larger family with no lasting trauma. Oneself did suffer from some inexplicable stomach pains. Still nothing one hasn't survived on many previous Xmases.
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Awarding Times
So after my observations about the sad lack of rewards for my time of service I received one of my longed for recognitions in the past weeks.
In an impressive ceremony involving a candle and some humble presentation Salsa Girl handed me my "Short and Lazy Service" award.
So it seems that Supervisor Grand Chief K has neglected me in her belief that she is the one that controls my reins and issues my orders.
When one informed Salsa Girl of SGCK's belief, her response was the knowing:
In an impressive ceremony involving a candle and some humble presentation Salsa Girl handed me my "Short and Lazy Service" award.
So it seems that Supervisor Grand Chief K has neglected me in her belief that she is the one that controls my reins and issues my orders.
When one informed Salsa Girl of SGCK's belief, her response was the knowing:
Well, she'll learn.
Mother Days
My weekend just past was overwhelmingly about the multitude of mothers in the company of whom the vast majority of my time was spent.
The first, and most nerve-rackingly important, was Salsa Girl's mother. This meeting was long-arrange and consisted of a few gin and tonics whilst we snacked on some lovely cheese and crackers, followed by some assemble-it-yourself sandwich snacking for lunch and then it was all topped off with delicious scones with cream and jam.
One seems to have passed the test as one's invite to Xmas lunch still stands. I look forward to not having to hold myself back now that I've achieved acceptance.
The evening of that same day consisted of myself and Salsa Girl taking Freeloading Mum, Handy Dad, Legion4 out to dinner at one of their local establishments. The occasion was, of course, Freeloading Mum's birthday of the day before. Freeloading Mum took firm advantage of my offer to cover costs and treated herself to not only a main but also a dessert AND a glass of wine. Honestly I don't know where some people get the idea that it's okay to sponge off the benevolence of others - she's just lucky I haven't picked up any behavioural habits from growing up under her bad influence.
My Sunday afternoon was devoted to a trek way out west to visit new mum Rugrat Twin. Said trip ended up dropping my loyal companion Salsa Girl and I in the midst of roughly a million visiting relatives - several of them mothers of various generations. In fact it was only when Wolverine returned home somewhat later in the afternoon that the gender balance was redressed somewhat. Honestly it was like a libraryland workplace in there!
So there you have it, my days of mothers...
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The first, and most nerve-rackingly important, was Salsa Girl's mother. This meeting was long-arrange and consisted of a few gin and tonics whilst we snacked on some lovely cheese and crackers, followed by some assemble-it-yourself sandwich snacking for lunch and then it was all topped off with delicious scones with cream and jam.
One seems to have passed the test as one's invite to Xmas lunch still stands. I look forward to not having to hold myself back now that I've achieved acceptance.
The evening of that same day consisted of myself and Salsa Girl taking Freeloading Mum, Handy Dad, Legion4 out to dinner at one of their local establishments. The occasion was, of course, Freeloading Mum's birthday of the day before. Freeloading Mum took firm advantage of my offer to cover costs and treated herself to not only a main but also a dessert AND a glass of wine. Honestly I don't know where some people get the idea that it's okay to sponge off the benevolence of others - she's just lucky I haven't picked up any behavioural habits from growing up under her bad influence.
My Sunday afternoon was devoted to a trek way out west to visit new mum Rugrat Twin. Said trip ended up dropping my loyal companion Salsa Girl and I in the midst of roughly a million visiting relatives - several of them mothers of various generations. In fact it was only when Wolverine returned home somewhat later in the afternoon that the gender balance was redressed somewhat. Honestly it was like a libraryland workplace in there!
So there you have it, my days of mothers...
.
The Lost Romance of Shingles
Those who have been privileged enough to see me in person over the past few months would undoubtedly have noticed a certain rosy shine about my eyes. This mystery ailment has come and gone over the weeks with all attempted cures having little or no effect.
This weekend past it flared up into a different version of itself involving burning sensations and small blistering. A quick Internet self diagnosis led me to finding a match with shingles. One was immediately transported to visions of the worst symptoms - the tragedy of blindness and loss of my beloved reading! Salsa Girl helpfully suggested the need for a seeing eye cat in the form of The Tiger. One can easily imagine the resulting scenario "Are we at the bus yet?", "Meow!", "What, are we at your food bowl again?!"
Alas, after a visit to the doctor this morning, I find that the official diagnosis of my condition is merely Nasty Rash. I am disappointed that the Doctor couldn't even Latinise it for me - Nastius Rashius has a nice ring about it don't you think?
Apparently the thing that the Internet neglected to make clear was that Shingles is bilateral, meaning that it is only ever on one side of the body and hence having both eyes covered ruled it out of contention immediately. Here's a Caution for you: the Internet can sometimes contain incorrect or incomplete information.
In any case I now have a tube of face steroids to apply and so far it seems to be soothing the rash. I am however concerned about the steroid side effects of my face becoming over muscled and aggressive.
.
This weekend past it flared up into a different version of itself involving burning sensations and small blistering. A quick Internet self diagnosis led me to finding a match with shingles. One was immediately transported to visions of the worst symptoms - the tragedy of blindness and loss of my beloved reading! Salsa Girl helpfully suggested the need for a seeing eye cat in the form of The Tiger. One can easily imagine the resulting scenario "Are we at the bus yet?", "Meow!", "What, are we at your food bowl again?!"
Alas, after a visit to the doctor this morning, I find that the official diagnosis of my condition is merely Nasty Rash. I am disappointed that the Doctor couldn't even Latinise it for me - Nastius Rashius has a nice ring about it don't you think?
Apparently the thing that the Internet neglected to make clear was that Shingles is bilateral, meaning that it is only ever on one side of the body and hence having both eyes covered ruled it out of contention immediately. Here's a Caution for you: the Internet can sometimes contain incorrect or incomplete information.
In any case I now have a tube of face steroids to apply and so far it seems to be soothing the rash. I am however concerned about the steroid side effects of my face becoming over muscled and aggressive.
.
Bike rides and Salsa
This weekend past saw my once again partaking in an activity in which I had not participated in for many a long time.
Bicycle riding is the activity to which I refer and it came about due to a desire on the part of Salsa Girl to attend the open viewing of a property that she has had her eye on for quite some time.
So dutifully I donned the too-small helmet, mounted my trusty steed (a suitably manly mountain bike), and commenced the ten minute ride to our destination - my first bike ride in nigh-on 15 years.
Much to my surprise remembering how to undertake the endeavour was something one had not forgotten and turned out to be as easy as riding a bike.
On our return journey we paused for a breather and watched the entertainment of the most arrogant auctioneer I have ever seen insulting the crowd for their meagre offers of $800,000 for the featured property. Suffice to say not one bid was made after the first one was greeted with something along the lines of "don't insult me you idiot - now is there any real bidder out there?"
Amusing stuff, although the best line came after the property was passed in and the auctioneer welcomed everyone to feel free to come up and make private offers as they (the auctioning team) were very friendly people.
My Saturday evening consisted of being taken to Salsa by Salsa Girl. One ended up having quite a good evening out despite one's outrage at the lack of corn chips and comestibles as suggested by the misleading event title.
It turns out that my Salsa Girl is quite the dance-floor spinner, and also quite a reasonable teacher being able to instruct yours truly in the fine art of beginner level Salsa - the learning of which proved to be only slightly harder than riding a bike.
Several turns on the dance floor over the course of the evening resulted in not a single episode of resurgent MAMILS or, thankfully, the much feared knee blowout.
Perhaps one should have taken up Salsa rather than soccer those scant few years ago when choosing one's social fitness activity?
.
Bicycle riding is the activity to which I refer and it came about due to a desire on the part of Salsa Girl to attend the open viewing of a property that she has had her eye on for quite some time.
So dutifully I donned the too-small helmet, mounted my trusty steed (a suitably manly mountain bike), and commenced the ten minute ride to our destination - my first bike ride in nigh-on 15 years.
Much to my surprise remembering how to undertake the endeavour was something one had not forgotten and turned out to be as easy as riding a bike.
On our return journey we paused for a breather and watched the entertainment of the most arrogant auctioneer I have ever seen insulting the crowd for their meagre offers of $800,000 for the featured property. Suffice to say not one bid was made after the first one was greeted with something along the lines of "don't insult me you idiot - now is there any real bidder out there?"
Amusing stuff, although the best line came after the property was passed in and the auctioneer welcomed everyone to feel free to come up and make private offers as they (the auctioning team) were very friendly people.
My Saturday evening consisted of being taken to Salsa by Salsa Girl. One ended up having quite a good evening out despite one's outrage at the lack of corn chips and comestibles as suggested by the misleading event title.
It turns out that my Salsa Girl is quite the dance-floor spinner, and also quite a reasonable teacher being able to instruct yours truly in the fine art of beginner level Salsa - the learning of which proved to be only slightly harder than riding a bike.
Several turns on the dance floor over the course of the evening resulted in not a single episode of resurgent MAMILS or, thankfully, the much feared knee blowout.
Perhaps one should have taken up Salsa rather than soccer those scant few years ago when choosing one's social fitness activity?
.
An increase in Uncle-ture
One was lucky enough yesterday to hear that my Rugrat Twin had finally popped and brought her daughter into this wonderful world.
It would seem my Uncle Phill status is nigh unstoppable.
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It would seem my Uncle Phill status is nigh unstoppable.
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