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In Hot Water
22/12/2009 10:00 pmThe Gods laugh when serpents make plans. Izzie's in the middle of a pity party. Had the whole week organized. Both Monday and Tuesday after scrubbing the serpent scales after work, would be slinking off to Cottesloe beach for the annual summer solstice summer sunset picnic
Wednesday would be slinking around City Farm which has a special afternoon market for Christmas as well as dropping by the Cybershop to peek at the Macs and pounce if any specials turn up
But things turned out most differently indeed. Monday seemed OK. Did leave an hour later than planned - at 3.30pm rather than 2.30pm. These recent 1.30pm finishes at work rather than the 1pm we have had for years are a right royal pain. Just one of the many little things done to piss off the house elves
Had a nice time on the train to Cottesloe reading "No Plot, No Problem" and getting very nostalgic for November's adventures. It was kind of like playing with a new toy and then only later reading the instruction manual.
Was a little bit peeved to potter down Napoleon Street - the cafe strip for beach yuppies only to find that not just the usual Dome cafe but every other caffeinated establishment was closing at 5pm. So much for Christmas late night trading. The old reliable Vans that begin life as a tiny 9-5 cafe/ deli with butcher paper and crayons on every table and is now a very trendy all hours cafe/ boutique bar was the only one left open.
In spite of ordering only a coffee, the waiters kept coming by with lots of top ups of icy cold water. Seriously civilized
Had a nice relaxing time reading the papers and more plotless drama. That book is just so funny and dripping with joy and enthusiasm. But sitting outside meant being the object of attention of several very annoying and pesky flies. Managed to get a nasty scratch on the nose shooshing them off and the blood made the beasties even more pesky. That was the beginning of the misery
After leaving at 6pm to pop into the Boatshed deli on the way to the beach, the critters kept following. The place was not particularly packed but the staff trundling about trolleys and trays seemed to be everywhere. The constant attempts to avoid them got the Izzie all claustrophobic, panic attacks and the works. It's funny - if you go around with a mean face and pointy studs on your elbows, folks get out of the way, but if you spend your time trying to avoid getting in everyone else's way, then things work exactly in reverse and it's a vicious vicious circle
Turned out that the very tasty supplies of real Swiss cheese are no longer there so the whole mission was in vain. Should have never darkened the infernal doors of the place
Being all agitated and tormented by flies, when finally arriving at the beach about 30 mins before sunset, was a total nervous wreck and absolutely incapable of calming down, relaxing and enjoying the waves, water and sunset
Got the bus back at 8pm and arrived back at the Lair just after 9pm. Was so absolutely exhausted. Just slinked into the serpent sack at 10pm and did not even peek in Cyberia
A good night's sleep seemed to work wonders. Had to be up just before 6am to be at work for 7am without any crazy mad last minute rush
Was sitting outside in the morning writing down the magic numbers from the solar panels inverter - having not been back at the Lair for the usual sunset reading the night before
While sitting there, heard the gushing kind of sound made by the gas heater when it's on full bore - like when some one is having a shower or washing the dishes
But Izzie knew for a fact that no one but the serpent was out and about at that very moment. That and the strange new habit of the laundry cold tap to spout hot water and the recently appearing little puddles outside the toilet wall were leading to a not so nice conclusion. Only one way to confirm the serpent suspicions was to go peek at the water meter and to see what it was doing. It should have been nothing at all. But it was spinning like a politician.
It was 6.30am at this stage - too late to turn off the mains and go inside and write a note for the frogs explaining how to turn it on and off - or even where to find it
Only thing to do was read the meter and then turn it off after the serpent shower after work. Yet another reason to be annoyed about that 30 minute unpaid break that none of the house elves wanted. 30 more minutes of wasted water
Got back to the Lair, had a shower, turned off the water and then rang the plumber. Worst possible time of year of course. They cannot come until Thursday morning. They say 9am but Izzie can see her whole day being trashed by these snails who will probably once again turn up 4 hours later and then say they haven't got some part or other and so we will have to wait until Tuesday or pay exorbitant Saturday rates
And this time it's not just replacing a bathroom tap but digging and poking around to find the source of the leaking hot water pipe which will probably be buried in concrete. It must be reasonably unaccessible or the puddles would have been much hotter and much bigger
So that will basically be the end of the stash all saved up to buy the new computer. And probably lots more besides
You don't miss the water till the well runs dry. It was so strange turning on the tap and nothing coming out. Especially as Izzie is so so used to drinking lots of water from the tap
So now it's a case of having to turn the water on and off at the mains
The 7 hours away at work had clocked up 2,000 litres but even scarier is all that gas heating the leaking water.
So the Izzie just crawled upstairs and curled up in the serpent sack all peeved and pissed off. No solstice sunset for the serpent today. Couldn't even spend the evening giving the weeds a good soaking. Every time the mains is on the gas is running full bore.
At least the juice in the rainwater tank meant that all the tomatoes could get a drink out of the watering can but not a proper soak
But the icing on the cake is a bunch of things that happened at work today. Things worth a whole post to themselves - mostly a continuation of the sad saga from recent posts. The witless stupidity must now be described more as malicious evil willful arse covering rather than simple stupidity or incompetence. Callous cunning of George W Bush proportions would be a reasonable description
This mix of murderous rage and despair combined with the other trivial bits is a nasty cocktail indeed and the Izzie finds herself stuck back in December 2001. That was the last big battle with a blond blue eyed aryan boss bitch
Was supposed to be posting about the hot air of Copenhagen and not the hot water of The Lair and all this craziness has made the Izzie forget that it's not just the end of a year but a decade. The best of times and the worst of times.
Wednesday would be slinking around City Farm which has a special afternoon market for Christmas as well as dropping by the Cybershop to peek at the Macs and pounce if any specials turn up
But things turned out most differently indeed. Monday seemed OK. Did leave an hour later than planned - at 3.30pm rather than 2.30pm. These recent 1.30pm finishes at work rather than the 1pm we have had for years are a right royal pain. Just one of the many little things done to piss off the house elves
Had a nice time on the train to Cottesloe reading "No Plot, No Problem" and getting very nostalgic for November's adventures. It was kind of like playing with a new toy and then only later reading the instruction manual.
Was a little bit peeved to potter down Napoleon Street - the cafe strip for beach yuppies only to find that not just the usual Dome cafe but every other caffeinated establishment was closing at 5pm. So much for Christmas late night trading. The old reliable Vans that begin life as a tiny 9-5 cafe/ deli with butcher paper and crayons on every table and is now a very trendy all hours cafe/ boutique bar was the only one left open.
In spite of ordering only a coffee, the waiters kept coming by with lots of top ups of icy cold water. Seriously civilized
Had a nice relaxing time reading the papers and more plotless drama. That book is just so funny and dripping with joy and enthusiasm. But sitting outside meant being the object of attention of several very annoying and pesky flies. Managed to get a nasty scratch on the nose shooshing them off and the blood made the beasties even more pesky. That was the beginning of the misery
After leaving at 6pm to pop into the Boatshed deli on the way to the beach, the critters kept following. The place was not particularly packed but the staff trundling about trolleys and trays seemed to be everywhere. The constant attempts to avoid them got the Izzie all claustrophobic, panic attacks and the works. It's funny - if you go around with a mean face and pointy studs on your elbows, folks get out of the way, but if you spend your time trying to avoid getting in everyone else's way, then things work exactly in reverse and it's a vicious vicious circle
Turned out that the very tasty supplies of real Swiss cheese are no longer there so the whole mission was in vain. Should have never darkened the infernal doors of the place
Being all agitated and tormented by flies, when finally arriving at the beach about 30 mins before sunset, was a total nervous wreck and absolutely incapable of calming down, relaxing and enjoying the waves, water and sunset
Got the bus back at 8pm and arrived back at the Lair just after 9pm. Was so absolutely exhausted. Just slinked into the serpent sack at 10pm and did not even peek in Cyberia
A good night's sleep seemed to work wonders. Had to be up just before 6am to be at work for 7am without any crazy mad last minute rush
Was sitting outside in the morning writing down the magic numbers from the solar panels inverter - having not been back at the Lair for the usual sunset reading the night before
While sitting there, heard the gushing kind of sound made by the gas heater when it's on full bore - like when some one is having a shower or washing the dishes
But Izzie knew for a fact that no one but the serpent was out and about at that very moment. That and the strange new habit of the laundry cold tap to spout hot water and the recently appearing little puddles outside the toilet wall were leading to a not so nice conclusion. Only one way to confirm the serpent suspicions was to go peek at the water meter and to see what it was doing. It should have been nothing at all. But it was spinning like a politician.
It was 6.30am at this stage - too late to turn off the mains and go inside and write a note for the frogs explaining how to turn it on and off - or even where to find it
Only thing to do was read the meter and then turn it off after the serpent shower after work. Yet another reason to be annoyed about that 30 minute unpaid break that none of the house elves wanted. 30 more minutes of wasted water
Got back to the Lair, had a shower, turned off the water and then rang the plumber. Worst possible time of year of course. They cannot come until Thursday morning. They say 9am but Izzie can see her whole day being trashed by these snails who will probably once again turn up 4 hours later and then say they haven't got some part or other and so we will have to wait until Tuesday or pay exorbitant Saturday rates
And this time it's not just replacing a bathroom tap but digging and poking around to find the source of the leaking hot water pipe which will probably be buried in concrete. It must be reasonably unaccessible or the puddles would have been much hotter and much bigger
So that will basically be the end of the stash all saved up to buy the new computer. And probably lots more besides
You don't miss the water till the well runs dry. It was so strange turning on the tap and nothing coming out. Especially as Izzie is so so used to drinking lots of water from the tap
So now it's a case of having to turn the water on and off at the mains
The 7 hours away at work had clocked up 2,000 litres but even scarier is all that gas heating the leaking water.
So the Izzie just crawled upstairs and curled up in the serpent sack all peeved and pissed off. No solstice sunset for the serpent today. Couldn't even spend the evening giving the weeds a good soaking. Every time the mains is on the gas is running full bore.
At least the juice in the rainwater tank meant that all the tomatoes could get a drink out of the watering can but not a proper soak
But the icing on the cake is a bunch of things that happened at work today. Things worth a whole post to themselves - mostly a continuation of the sad saga from recent posts. The witless stupidity must now be described more as malicious evil willful arse covering rather than simple stupidity or incompetence. Callous cunning of George W Bush proportions would be a reasonable description
This mix of murderous rage and despair combined with the other trivial bits is a nasty cocktail indeed and the Izzie finds herself stuck back in December 2001. That was the last big battle with a blond blue eyed aryan boss bitch
Was supposed to be posting about the hot air of Copenhagen and not the hot water of The Lair and all this craziness has made the Izzie forget that it's not just the end of a year but a decade. The best of times and the worst of times.
