Eggs Benedict

Rivers Restaurant, Mylestom NSW
Eggs Benedict $16.00
Juice $6.00

A slight detour off the Pacific Highway and it was time for breakfast. I’d already been to the Mylestom beach and seen a diamond back python disappearing into the brush. On my way out of town I saw a sign, ‘Big Brekkie $18.50’, that made me stop at Rivers Restaurant.

I walked up the stairs and was shown to a seat on the balcony. I was then presented with a menu, a glass and a bottle of water. As I am a creature of habit I had my heart set on the advertised Big Brekkie, but ended up ordering the Eggs Benedict. I always end up ordering the Eggs Benedict. The menu promised leg ham on focaccia with poached locally grain fed eggs, and it was too much to resist.

Shortly after ordering my eggs in the form of Benedict, the waitress informed me that they were out of hollandaise sauce. Did I wan t anything else? She asked. I said, I’d still have the EB, sans the sauce. Next, my juice arrived. Carrot, orange, apple and ginger combined in perfect proportions to make a refreshing morning beverage, sweet, but not acidic.

The waitress came back and informed that the chef was making the sauce and it would be a few more minutes.

I was content to wait. I had an uninterrupted view of the Bellengen River, the fishermen, the water-skiers, and inappropriately dressed holiday makers, considering the foul weather. Ben Johnson was serenading me from the stereo and I felt relaxed, for the first time in a while.

When my breakfast was finally placed before me I was supremely chilled out.


I cut into the egg and the saffon yellow yolk poured out, covering the ham and toast, mingling with the pale yellow hollandaise. A half grilled tomato avoided being touched, but that could wait til later.

The flavours blended together perfectly. The sauce, which can lean towards lemony, was delicate and smooth. The eggs, the ham, the sauce and toast combined together into a month watering dish. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t because I was starvin’ marvin, but purely the skill of a chef in a sleepy holiday town six kilometres of the Pacific Highway (between Nambucca Heads and Coff Harbour).

Are You Joking?

Christmas Eve arrived, I got up, dressed in all black and went to work. The reason for all black? I had to do a three hour stint on the shop floor, from 2 – 5pm.

The store that I work has a credo. Surprise and Delight the customer

I think I may of actually have achieved that today during my shift.

I surprised the complete stranger who asked me for a coffee date by saying yes. I further delighted him by giving him my phone number.

Well, it's Christmas and I felt like giving.

Button Meltdown

This is getting out of hand now. Today I went to see a choir sing a few Christmas dittys on the ground floor of the building I work in. I was standing there while they sang 'The Holly and The Ivy' thinking I really love this song and feeling quite uplifted and happy. Then they sang I didn't know or recognise. Then they started to sing 'Hark the Herald Angels'.

My mind went straight back to when I was about 7, I was in the school choir and we were performing at a summer concert at Guildford Civic Hall (UK). I was sat in the back of the car singing 'Scarborough Fair' to myself and playing with my little ice creamed shaped metal and enamel buttons on my blue and white gingham school dress when Muv leaned back and said, 'You're supposed to be wearing your winter uniform.' I ended up, standing at the back of the choir singing my little heart out, still playing with my ice cream buttons.

Muv had a button jar. When she was sewing I would tip it out on the floor and sort through the buttons. The ice-cream buttons had been in the jar and I was always asking her to put them on something for me. She never did until that summer when she made me a couple of new summer school dresses. I didn't know she had put them on until one morning when I put my uniform on.

I had to stop watching this morning and leave. I have no idea why 'Hark the Herald Angels' should set me off by triggering that memory, but it did and now my eyes won't stop leaking.

Mannequin Smut

I was getting myself a cup of tea this afternoon when I noticed some off duty mannequins getting more action than me.

Weekend

I had a very relaxing but productive weekend. Washing was done, the groceries were purchased, the ironing was done. I had dinner guests on both Saturday and Sunday. I had several telephone conversations with mates that lastest up to and beyond twenty minutes. I even did some cleaning.

It was the busiest weekend I've had in quite sometime.

Last night I went to bed straight after the 8.30 movie (The Heartbreak Kid), read about four pages of my book then passed out. I slept so heavily I managed to completely ignor my alarm until ten past seven. I was late for work and I don't care because I felt healthy for the first time in weeks, nope scratch that, months!

Taxi!

It took me two hours to get a taxi on Friday night. I left the club on Oxford Street at twenty past one in the morning. I was tierd after a great night and jusy really wanted to go home. Actually, thinking about I didn't really want to go home I wanted to stay, but I had pre-christmas appointments starting at 10.30 on Saturday. So my need for sleep compelled me to leave. I was escorted by a friend out of Hellfire. He very kindly offered to wait with me.

Picture if you will to two people in fetish wear, surrounded by pissed bogans on the Friday before Christmas. He was dressed in head to toe black latex. I was dressed as a naughty schoolgirl right down to the really short skirt and ribbons on the back of my socks. Couple that with wanting to go 20kilometres from the city centre. It wasn't looking good.

I eventually walked to a hotel and asked them to book me one. May attempts to get a taxi to come to me, standing on the street had ended in spectaular failure. I finally climbed into the back of taxi at 0320, I was cold, cranky and very tired. I crawled into bed and wrapped myself around Puss for warmth at 0355.

I am never not driving again.

Another Moment

I had to do my Give Time yesterday. Three hours of standing on a shop floor being an information point for customers who don't know where they are going. I was dressed in the obligatory all black, comfortable shoes, armed with my name badge and big 'i' and a booklet full of hints and tips about which product lives where.

The first demand.

'Where's the Sorbolene?'

The second question, this time with a polite end.

'Where are the toilets, please?'

For three hours this went on. I was asked for brand name after brand name, where Santa was, the toilets and mens sunglasses. I was even asked where the competition (as in main rival) was. The time passed quite quickly, but I had a few minutes where I had to control my emotions and suck the tears back.

A woman walked past me as I was talking to someone about an hour into my shift. She had her red striped back to me and was walking with another woman. But the smell was unmistakable. Chanel No. 5 and cigarettes. The prick of tears stung the back of my eyeballs.

Then as I stood there, I saw her again. She was standing next to the Chanel counter. The other woman was younger and they were laughing about something. I looked at what she was wearing. A red and white striped t-shirt with jeans and dockside slip on shoes. I looked at her hair, it was just above her shoulders, blond and highlighted. She was slim and not that tall. The other woman was wearing a shirt and jeans and sandals. A thought came to me.

I will never go shopping with my Muv, ever again. Ever.

The tear sprung forward and I tried to fight them back. But I couldn't prevent them from spilling over just a little. I was saved by a lady taking a tumble as she stepped off the escalator.

A little later, I saw this pair again. They were standing and talking on the desending escalator. Once again my eyes burned, water welled but I managed to breath through it. I was really thankful they seemed to know where there were going and didn't feel the need to talk to me.

2008 - A year in review

I've had one of those years that everyone has at some point in their life. My parent would say to me, 'if it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger.' when I had bad moments as a kid. You know the moments I'm talking about. Falling off your bike and flaying the right side of your face, your knee and knuckles. Falling out of a tree. Having the stick you're pretending is a cigerette jam into the back of your throut and giving you a nose bleed. Cutting your head open on the sight of an air rifle. At the time all of these things where the worst thing that could ever happen to me. And then this year happened. Every month has offered up a dossey and only a couple of months have given me something to counteract it (I highlighted those).

In early January a good friend took me along to her family's fortune teller. He was Vietnamese and didn't speak any other english apart from 'Hello' and 'Goodbye', but he managed to tell me (throught the translations of my friend) that as 2008 was 'Year of the Rat' and I was born in the year of the rat, I was either going to have a really great year, or a really bad year. He also told me I would travel, meet my soul mate, have bad health and if I had children I would have two.

I suppose I got a clue that it was it was going to be on the bad side of the coin when my Muv was finally diagnosed (after months of faffing) with lung cancer at the end of Jan. It pretty much went down hill for there.

Late Feb - evicted from my house when I asked for the leaking roof to be fixed.
Mid March - told my Muv was getting bad and moving back to the UK so she could be in a UK hospital
Late March - Moved house and depleted spare funds
Late March - Muv worse, get your arse back to the UK
Early April - First international travel, and a week in the UK, Muv sick, but seemed OK to return to Aus
Early May - Muv worse, get your arse back here ASAP
Mid May - Flat broke, trying to figure out how I was going to get back to the UK. Handed in notice for end of contract
Early June - House sold, booked flights
Mid June - Second International travel, flew to UK via a two day stop over in Seoul, Korea
Mid June - Spent 9 days with Muv, really bad, no hair and in hospice. Told her I wasn't going to the States, she told me and everyone who would listen I had to get on with my life and she wanted to see photos of New York and Washington DC.
Late June - Third international travel, went to America for two weeks
4th July - Muv Died, missed seeing photos by two days.
August - Failed to get job in UK due to economic downturn, despite 16 agent interviews
Early September - Flew back to Aus, missing Goyte in his London concert by four days
Mid September - Signed on at Centrelink
29th September - Graduated from Uni with a Masters Degree in Writing
September and October - Applied for over 150 jobs and attended more than 40 agent interviews, 6 job interviews
3rd November - Started new job that pays 30% less than previous job (only job on offer)
12th November - Fell on train and hurt hip, had to start using one crutch for support
28th November - Signed off work sick with Whooping cough (the plus side of bed rest meant that I could put the crutch away)
15th December - Laptop (Bigglesworth) died

I haven't got to the end of the year yet, but with an ophans Christmas dinner and a solo roadtrip (sleeping in the car on a futon matrtess, reading on the beaches of teh East coast:-) to the Gold Coast planned from 26th Dec - 7th Jan, It should end on a up note. After all, I really don't think it can get much worse.

I may or may not write another entry this year, depends on time and computer access (currently only have it during office hours due to Dead Biggles) so I'll say adieu until next year.

May you all Have a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and joyous New Year.

On the 18th November I purchased a train pass to cover me for the full month until my next pay day. It cost me one hundred and forty five dollars. I thought I was being most efficent, then I got sick. I took my sick notes to the railway station and filled in a form. I'd worked out that I should get about $60 back by the time they had deducted the $11 handling fee. How wrong I was. Despite having proof that I had not travelled on the trains for 14 of the 30 days on my ticket, I was eligible for nothing.

So, to today. The train police, also known as Transit Officers (TO) were checking tickets on the way into work this morning. A girl went to her bag and couldn't find her ticket. She was in a panic, the TO stood over her and watched. He huffed and puffed before saying to her, 'Give me your ID!'

She looked up at him ashen, Ireally think she had lost her ticket. Her lack of compossure and colour would be very hard to fake.

She looked down at her bag, then back at him before saying, 'If I had my ID, I'd have my train pass. My wallet isn't in my bag, I think it's been stolen.' there was a distinst glisten in her eyes. I have that feeling before, my heart went out to her. ' I don't have any money.'

The TO then took his notepad from his utility belt and flipped it open.

'Name?'

I didn't hear her response, but I could feel the heat from her blush three rows back.

'Address?'

Again, a quiet response.

'You will be recieving a $60 fine in the mail, you will have two weeks to pay it. Have a good day.' he walked away.

So in short, they are quite happy to slug you for more cash, but make it impossible to get any sort of refund. To top this off, train fares are going up. Let's hope a raise in fares mean I don't have to stand on every trip.

Internet Censorship

Did you know the Government is proposing an internet censorship scheme that goes further than any other democracy in the world?
I've just signed a petition to prevent the scheme that will make the internet up to 87% slower, more expensive, accidentally block up to one in 12 legitimate sites, will miss the vast majority of inappropriate content and is very easily sidestepped. The government of the day may add any ‘unwanted’ site to a secret blacklist under the scheme.
Our Government should be doing all in its power to take Australia into the 21st century economy, and to protect our children. This proposed internet censorship does neither. Can you join me and take action on the net today to save the net?

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet/442
Thanks!

Old Git

I’m not quite sure how I manage to do it, but I have a habit of picking hobbies that are the domain of old people.

First it was the alpacas. An industry almost entirely made up of 50+ people. That was OK, I coped and even got passed comments about being too young to have alpacas.

So, about a year ago I got a phonecall. It was a wrong number, but it turned out that the male voice on the other end was looking for a version of me of the male gender. Turned out he was for the Book Collectors Society of Australia. I joined and for the next year I received the journal.

On Sunday I went to a meeting. I swear to god the average age there was 70. A lot of raised voices where required and yet somehow I ended up on the committee. I think they just wanted to bring the average age group down to 60.

That’s Entertainment

Went to the doctor again today. He signed me off until next Thursday because he still isn’t happy with sounds coming from my chest. Quite frankly I don’t like them either and every time I cough I feel like I’m drowning in my own fluids.

After getting my breath from the 10 minute outing to the doctors and back, plus another $40 on prescriptions. I took my new medication and turned on the telly. I’ve watched just about everything I’ve recorded, called me silly, but I’m not in the mood for Alien right now. I don’t need to see anything with mucus.

So I flicked on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). Two Weeks in Another Town was showing. Filmed a couple of years after Spartacus, Kirk Douglas was in fine dimple chinned form as a washed up actor in Italy discovering the way out of his troubles. I rather enjoyed the innocence of the plot. So I carried on watching when the next movie started. Meet Me in Las Vegas.

This is when I notice a theme. Turns out TSM is having a Cyd Charisse month. So this evening’s tele-visual entertainment is being provided by Cyd Cherisse and friends. Her friends being Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.

Currently watching The Band Wagon which gave us the song That’s Entertainment, later I get to watch the classic Singin’ in the Rain.

I’d forgotten how much I love a musical!

Let's all singa song and dance! :-)

Triple Zero

I got into bed last night and I heard a pop, experienced eye watering pain and rapidly curled into a ball clutching my right knee. After a few seconds I managed to straighten out and found myself lying on the bed, starkers with my knee fixed and bent. Trying to move my knee resulted in searing pain down to my ankle and up to my hip. When I tried to move myself up the bed, any pressure on my right side caused pain in my knee.

I was well and truly stuck.

For over an hour I tried various things to straighten out. It was not to bad when I folded it up ore, but attempts to straighten resulted in pain like I haven’t experienced since first had my hip rebuilt 18 years ago. It hurt…A LOT

After an hour, I decided I only had one choice left. I’d texted a couple of mates to see if they were still awake (did I mention this started at about half past midnight) and received no response. So I called the Police Assistance line. After explaining the situation to the lady she asked to me,

‘Ma’am, if you are alone, and can’t move, it is an emergency. Hang up and call triple zero.’

I hung up.

Less than eleven minutes later an ambo officer was climbing through my kitchen window to my rescue.

A little massage later and another crunching pop sound and I was able to move my knee freely with a little residual pain.

I explained about having whooping cough and being mostly immobile for a week and before that having been on one crutch to support my right hip. The ambo guy hypostasised that this little incident may have been caused by my muscles and ligaments twisting suddenly due to the excess work of over compensating for my hip followed by mega rest.

If it happens again, I have to seek medical assistance.

They left by the front door having given me pain killers, propped my knee up and giggled at my embarrassment about having no clothes on.

ANTM 11-5

The French chick is bringing everyone down in the house, very negative.
A photoshoot of natural disasters saw a couple of the girls fall flat.

Clark went home

Isis and Hannah went home in 11-4

Ohh and I have whooping cough, been off work since Friday thanks to my friend who sits near me at the office.