Some Relatives Came To Visit

Being in WA, and a long way from anywhere, it's not often that relatives come to visit. Last month we missed out on seeing an aunty and uncle from Queensland as we had gone to Victoria for a holiday. When I heard that my aunty and uncle from Adelaide were over I couldn't wait to see them. They had a few functions to attend for the first three days but would be free on Sunday. Perfect.

I had planned to take them on the Perth Tram Company tourist tram, which a former work colleague recommended, but it had limited stops and with our timeframe it would be easier to drive by myself. Plus, I had to do the fruit and vege shopping also.

My aunty is a bit of a tidy freak, good reason not to mention any names (sorry), so I spent the evening before and the morning of cleaning the house as best I could. Yu-Jin and I picked them up at 10am as Miky had work to be done. Man she works hard on the weekend. Our first stop was Kings Park where we did the treetop walk, looked at the area where we were married, went to the DNA Tower and Yu-Jin raced up to the top, and returned to the car via the fountain area. As my rellies hadn't had breakfast we made a stop at the cafe and the refreshment we had was much enjoyed. Even though it was only 23 degrees it felt closer to 30.

Second stop was the Bell Tower. We were lucky enough to visit when the bell ringers were going their hardest. Lastly we visited Subiaco. Mainly so that I could buy fruit and veg but so that they could have a look around the market. Lunch was Subway. Mmm.

Back to our house for a bit of a tour, sit down and a drink. Chucked the DVD on about Miky's TAFE graduation fashion show, as my aunty is into that sort of thing. Later we, including Miky this time, drove to Hillarys Boat Harbour before eating out at my friends' restaurant - Fratelli, in Sorrento. I haven't seen my friends, brothers, for about four years. They are busy people, what with running the restaurant and their families, and it is such a long way to go. Enough of the bullshit excuses, it was great to see them and have a long chat. Luckily Sunday nights aren't too busy. The food was excellent and my uncle refused to let me pay. He paid for the whole lot. It made me very glad that I was able to take them around but he didn't need to do that.

Dropped the rellies off at their hotel around 9:30. It was great to see them and we had a lovely day. I quite enjoyed being able to play tourist guide. Yu-Jin had an excellent day.

Do you hear that rellies? I enjoy having you come to visit. Pop your heads over this side of the country a bit more often.

Text-Based Blogging For A Bit

The camera is in the repair shop. There's been what appears to be a scratch on the lens for donkeys ages and I've decided to bite the bullet. Gonna cost a bit and the worrying thing is that the repairman said that it is a common problem. Apparently some foreign object gets to where the camera becomes "digital film" and buggers up the image. Couple of weeks to fix as they are a bit busy at the moment.

Great. That means that plenty of work will go on and I won't be able to photograph it. Unless, of course, I go back to using real film. Ugh.

War - In The Living Room

I guess this won't appeal to too many of you but we boys like playing war. On Sunday the boy and I set up a couple of castles and had a battle between the Koreans (Yu-Jin) and the Japanese (Me). I have American and Japanese soldiers from when I was a kid and it's always fun to play. Maybe not the setting up part but the destruction is.


Koreans vs Japanese War Video

Yu-Jin's fortifications for the Koreans.

Behind enemy lines.

Japanese fortifications.

Up close and personal with the Japanese.

Korean aftermath - strong defences but not protective enough.

Japanese aftermath - couple of survivors.

If Only My Wife Had Been My Woodwork Teacher

The original pantry doors. What on earth were the previous owners thinking by putting these in with the lovely jarrah door jambs?

The missus had me busy on the weekend again. On Sunday I put the flyscreen in the new pantry doors. Bit of a tricky job and moreso than I had planned. Not having done this sort of thing before I did a better job on the second screen. Well, the missus came and had a look and did she go beserk.
"You never do a professional job. I'm going to pay somebody with your money to do the job next time." On and on she went.

I noticed that there was enough flyscreen to have another go if I could just get the framework holding it in position out without damaging it. Managed to prise it out with a chisel without doing any damage and did a much better job of it the second time around.

All I needed was a little encouragement in the form of a rabid wife. I must say that it looks close to magnificent. If only my wife had been my woodwork teacher when I was at school. Perhaps I would be a woodworking genius by now.

Newly stained pantry doors without flyscreen.

Pantry doors with flyscreen.

The finshed pantry doors.

Getting Back To My Best

Managed to spend some time with the missus yesterday. Mind you, she had to work until after midnight to afford the time for me. Had a cuppa and a muffin in Subi after buying the fruit and veg. Bit of a chinwag as well.

In the arvo I stained the new pantry doors. They've come up a treat. Whilst carrying out that work I had the boy wash my car. I saw him climb up on the boot to do the back windscreen. Later he rushed in and excitedly told me that he'd managed to climb onto the roof to clean it. That soon became apparent to him that that wasn't a good idea.

After finishing the doors I just had time to duck outside and give the car a once over to clean it up before driving it out to let an approaching thunderstorm rinse it for me. Who says I'm not waterwise?

Speaking of waterwise - what happens when you leave a six year old in charge of a running bath? You probably guessed it - the floor gets a good washing. He started yelling out, "Mum, you've put too much water in!" Not too bright as he should have noticed the high water level long before. Funny, the missus and I were just discussing how intelligent he was. I said that it's a pity he's not smart enough to go to medical school and Miky said that he was a very smart boy. Then came the yelling about the full bath. Within two minutes of telling me that he was smart she was telling him how stupid he was.

It's A Worrisome Sign

"Help Wanted" - I view this as a worrisome sign. The Western Australian economy is steamrolling along, there are high paying jobs on offer, and everything appears to be peachy. Or is that just a facade? Are there large cracks in the foundation that are about to open up and start swallowing us?

In the news recently I heard that Woolies, and perhaps Coles, were struggling to find checkout chicks. This is due to the booming economy offering people better pay and conditions than they otherwise would experience in menial jobs. Last night we went shopping and the queues at the checkout in KMart were quite long. It worries me what will shopping be like at Christmas time. Pretty ugly I imagine and far worse than last night.

Go for a walk along a restaurant strip and every second shop is looking for a waitperson. Even one of the Chinese restaurants is looking for someone who speaks either Mandarin, English or both. They are becoming less fussy with whom they choose. What blew me away last night was a local family-owned Chinese fish shop and even they were even advertising for staff. They generally keep everything in-house and don't open up to non-family members.

It is looking pretty grim out there. I don't think the picture is as rosy as the Government would like to paint. You may have more money in your pocket but chances are that you will become frustrated trying to spend it. I see plenty of scope for moving purchases online if possible - the stores just won't have the staff to serve you. It will get much worse before it gets better.

What Do You Call...

Q. What do you call three people having a massage?

A. A massage-a-trois. Of course.

I have too much time to think on my walk home from the bus stop.

Racist Attack Or Not?

Since we've been here, in our house, our letterbox has been targeted many times. Once I thought the missus had backed the car into it as it was so badly damaged. But there was no evidence of damage on the car and she said that it wasn't her. Obviously some young punk gave it a decent kick.

Just recently I've noticed another dent, a sizable one, in the letterbox. And only a few nights ago somebody put graffiti on the letterbox. Miky is adamant that it is a racist attack because there is a swastika on it. I don't buy that. There are any number of examples of graffiti in this area and she shouldn't feel that she is the one being targeted. Heck, the neighbour's letterbox has been bashed around and, being a wooden one, has even been knocked off its perch.



It's not some racist gang but much more likely to be some silly young punks with nothing better to do and no realisation of the hurt that they cause. Needless to say, the missus is pretty upset by the incident.