BurbleChaz

Work stuff caused us to go to different places this morning, but we both escaped from Death by PowerPoint around noon. We used our mobiles to vector in on a joint lunch solution (sorry - buzzword poisoning) at a very acceptable food court in a retail complex. The temperature outside was sufficient that The Physics Challenged One (who refuses to believe in sunburn below 25C) raised the idea of a hat for those of us whose skin pigmentation is a bit on the non-existent side. Spiffing idea.

The food was pretty good. Mine even had detectable levels of chilli in it. Once we had finished, we went looking for a hat. I had seen a shop that had hats as we looked for our lunch venue. As I steered us in that general direction, there was a slight detour while a shop selling tourist gear had to be thorougly investigated. After a remarkably small amount of rootling, a very nice sweater was identified, going for $55. This seemed like a reasonable price, until we realised that everything was half price. $27 for a good sweater was clearly too good a deal to resist. She looks lovely in it, too. Once this transaction was complete, I was shopped out. This state never ceases to astonish the Retail Expert. She knows me well enough not to try too hard persuading me to shop beyong my limits. Apparently, I am no fun whatsoever. The shop with the half-price deal had some nice hats, too. Maybe we'll go back tomorrow.

I went to the gym after work. Pedal pedal I went, for 350 calories. That should have mopped up about half of lunch. I have developed a slightly worrying attitude to food. Now I know how much energy a given amount of food represents, I am scared to go to supermarkets. I find myself standing in the bread aisle and shouting "You fools! Do you know how much of the city would be destroyed if all this food blew right now?" Fortunately, few foods contains significant amounts of oxidizing agents, so the number of cities destroyed by retail explosion remains small.

After attaining the Sweatiest Person in Melbourne award (the gym has no ventilation at all) we did some cooking. Pollo alla Cacciatore, which translates roughly to "Pot of chicken and beans". Even with our limited tools here, this was showing sufficient promise that we stuffed the saucepan in the oven and went for a beer.

You know you are truly blessed when you are in a pub, with a pint of beer gently coming towards its end, and your wife is reviewing the beer menu, and trying to persuade you to let her buy you another one. Just for research purposes. The house pale ale is excellent. The IPA is like a very good English beer, served too cold. It all is, here.

The Hunter's Chicken turned out beautifully. You can't go far wrong boiling stuff for two hours (don't try this with omelettes). The Pinot Noir (Yarra Glen 2003) is also well worth another go.

I am pleased to note that I continue to waste taxpayer-funded resources in UK. Someone from the police just called to ask for some more details about the theft of my bicycle's wheels. I'd be astonished if they turn anything up, but she said she was going to look at the CCTV. I really, really hope they get the nasty little vermin.

The Mac Hunger is getting stronger in the Apple Faithful round here. If Australian customs don't release the G5 soon, there's going to be a major new purchase. In the next couple of days, I expect. What, precisely, is the benefit of air freight if the government then keep their hands on it for six weeks?

As the (very few) who have read this far will have noticed, this should have been titled "Nothing happens - again". There was, however one more positive thing - our health insurance documents have arrived. We can now get sick with impunity. This is probably just as well, since we are both starting to show signs of a cold. NO NO NO it is NOT because it's cold here. Although it is a bit on the coolish side. "So, why is it called a cold then?" she asks sweetly. Sod modern virology, sometimes I think the germ theory of disease is on a loser with Little Miss Commonsense here.

Best wishes to Team HobbyHorse, who are facing gales and thunderstorms today. It's better to be in here wishing you were out there etc.