Monday 19 September 2011

Checking in

It's been an incredible few weeks for me. Remember how I said I was training the Boss's wife? Well, that takes most of my work day, then it's a scramble when she goes home to catch up. I am way behind but hopefully that will sort itself out tomorrow when she's not in. I may even be where I should be tomorrow!

For quite a while it seemed that my life was a round of work and house work. I never seemed to catch up either way. That in itself can be quite stressful. Then Fluffy went away for a week.

But first, I must tell you about our weekend away. The weekend before last we went to Blanchetown with the caravan club. Turned out that the only families to go were committee members! So we had an impromptu committee meeting instead of meeting through the week.

Dobby bought her friend Sarah with her, which was nice for her. Because Fluffy was going away on the Sunday afternoon, and we couldn't take the dog, we decided to just go on the Saturday morning and stay in a cabin overnight.

It was soo cold, though. But the small intimate gathering made it fun all the same. Plenty of time to sit and chat, and a pool room with a TV to keep the big kids occupied. Apparently there was a pants-down game of pool the Friday night....

Anyway, we arrived kind of stars, which was good fodder for a bit of ribbing. See, the week before Dobby and I had our photos taken for a newspaper article on the joys of caravanning. We made sure to wear our SAPI shirts, much to the joy of the committee members. Lots of pats on the back for that! This is the result...





Of course, this opportunity couldn't come up when I was thinner and looked good. No, it had to arise when I looked like the caravan I was modelling and had crazy old-lady red hair! Haha.

Never mind, it was a bit of fun.

So, after the weekend we drove home, got there just after lunch. A quick pack and relax for Fluffy then off to the airport. He was off to Melbourne for a training course for work.

Dobby and I made a trip to the video store, then called out for Chinese takeaway, something we don't buy when Fluffy is home as it's not his forte.

Later that afternoon we get a call. "I'm pissed off," says Fluffy. Why? Work told him they'd book his room and he could pay for the taxi, claiming it back when he gets back.

Only, they booked him a room $80 away from the venue! Each way! First, the taxi dropped him at the wrong Quest hotel. Then, when he booked in he found he had nowhere to eat. Not a place within walking distance! He found someone nearby who would deliver, only to find that when it arrived, his fish and chips were literally swimming in a half-inch of water! He threw it out..

So on Monday he phoned the chick who booked it and told her to change it. She did. To another Quest hotel only marginally closer than he already was. So $40 for taxi's each way. And again there was nowhere to eat. He didn't. On Tuesday morning he went to the McDonalds across from the study venue for his first meal since, well, Saturday night really.

The finally booked him a room at the pub across from the venue. They didn't choose it because it was, well, a pub. But, as he said, I don't have to pay taxis, and I can get a great meal (booked to the room, I might add, as it should be!).

He was so stressed and upset that he thinks after all that he failed the course. How rotten for him!

And for us during that time, it was just as stressful. Dobby was on her worst behaviour, acting out and being a very difficult child. With the stress at work, and her at home, I was on a knife edge for the whole week. Then, when Fluffy phones, she tells him "we're doing all the housework so it's clean when you get home". He answered that see, it's up to him to keep the place clean.

I really took offense to that because the house was a mess because Dobby was just so darn hard to shift! She left a trail of mess behind her and resisted every attempt by me to get her to clean it up. I often did it for her, only to turn around and find it back. It was a terrible week.

And Fluffy wasn't due home till Saturday evening, even though the course finished Friday. Luckily for him he was able to change his flight. They even did it for free, even though they weren't supposed to. It was very good to see him, and he bought us gifts - heaps of Smiggle pencils for Dobby and a book on the Kerobokin Jail in Bali. Looks like a great read too.

Anyway, I also spent Saturday morning swapping around our bedroom. I like it's new look, and Fluffy does too.

Sunday morning we were all sitting outside in the warmth (it was an unseasonable warm weekend here) and I told Fluffy that I had been giving thought to buying an iPad. I don't like to get caught up in the techno hype, but had been thinking of a laptop. The one I wanted, though, was way too expensive.

I thought all I would use the iPad for was for books, and I already had a reader (like a Kindle) for that. Then, I realised that I could put small movies on it so it might be handy to take to away with us.

On the Sunrise program we were watching we saw an internet place that had cheap electronics. So he decided to do some research on pricing. Yes, this place was cheaper, but he wasn't sure he wanted to pay all that money at once. He found out that Dick Smith does interest free, so next thing we're all piled in the car and I now own an iPad 2. Plus he spent a small fortune on a cover for it, which is sooo pretty. It's cream leather, with pale cream suede animal print inserts. Very swish! Well, not sure if it's real leather, but it looks nice anyway.

So then it was home to play with that for a bit. I put heaps of music and photos on it, and a couple (but not many yet) apps. I also found some movies to load on it, but apparently they take all night...

Anyway, today and tomorrow at work we have some people from Sydney over so I've been dealing with them, helping Mrs Boss learn, and still run the house. Hopefully tomorrow will see me up to date, and I can afford to slow down a bit, and not do any overtime! Not much each day, but enough anyway.

Not much on this weekend, but I'll try to find something to blog about!

4 comments:

SOL's view said...

Lol. Welcome to the world of tech.

Movies do take a long time to download, but the average (for me on ADSL high speed - we don't get ADSL2 here!) is around 40 to 50 mins. Download them to iTunes first for easy transfer to the iPad.

Or maybe your carrier has unmetered content you can download them through.

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, it's nearly time to come and relax in Queensland! Love Rat.

JoeinVegas said...

Wow, famous caravaners.

I didn't think you guys were into that, taking along the girl and all, but pants down pool? It sounds . . . different.

Anonymous said...

love wally