(the above, of course, to be sung in your best Bret Michaels drawl while playing Singstar Shame Of The Eighties And Bands That Sound Like Nickleback Rock Ballads…)
EDIT - The swines at work have blocked wordpress.com again. I went to lunch with a half-written post, then came back, finished the entry, tried to post and got tossed out. This means that the second half of my original post was lost, damn their oily hides. I will try and recreate my former literary glory below.
EDIT 2 – The swines have also blocked livejournal, blogger/blogpost and, worst of all, icanhascheezburger/ihasahotdog !!! Boss is inconsolable at the loss of her cute pet therapy. I may have to resort to doing work to keep busy. This distresses me no end.
We have a shiny new oven. Unfortunately, the owners decided on a ceramic hot plate, which is going to take an inordinate amount of care, cleaning, polishing and tiptoeing around. I’m considering boycotting stove-top cooking until we move – I’ll get over it, I know. Madam is wonderful for scrubbing the frypan for me, because the hot plate can’t cope with dirty utensils. Or moisture, or spills, or food with high sugar levels. What is the good of cooking technology that can’t cope with the presence of food? I ask you *grumble*. Still, I’m sure the oven is very good – Madam will christen it on Friday night when she makes dinner.
Dinner on Friday is a bittersweet affair. Ms Rhyannon will be packing up and heading back to Melbourne. While she’s had a pretty miserable time working here, we will miss her.
Bleagh. Can’t be bothered trying to recreate what I wrote. It’s been a long week, and we have two dinners to make tonight. We’ll see if I get inspired later.
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I’m feeling a little more positive about the world.
Thanks for all the feedback. Honestly, most of the real-world stuff we need to worry about has been sorted. We will be in Melbourne in April for Jess and Don’s wedding, and hopefully we will sort out some of the practicalities while we’re down there. If I do happen to find a job sooner rather than later, we may make our move sooner, but that’s in the lap of the Gods.
We do have a few things to look forward to. In a couple of weeks we’re travelling to Adelong to see my family – we haven’t been home since before Christmas, so that will be nice. The National Folk Festival is coming soon too (ooh, updated program!), which should be a rollicking way to spend Easter.
I am really doing better today, and you Lovely People helped reassure me very much. Now, on with the day… *yawn*
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Warning – contains whining. Proceed at own risk.
I have not had a good few days. Took a Mental Health Day Friday – I wish I could say that it helped, and that I started the week with a clear head. There were many good things about the weekend, but I ended up feeling miserable and not terribly sure of myself.
The move scares me, rather a lot. While a lot of the logistical details have been sorted out (I can’t talk about them quite yet) a lot seems to hang on my ability to convince someone in Melbourne to give me a job. Coupled with my general insecurity, the prospect of job hunting in another city – one that isn’t full of jobs tailor made to someone with my lack of qualifications – is kinda terrifying.
Oh, and I’m anxious about moving to a whole new social circle, being part of a new family, being abandoned by my friends both here and there… so not much to get worked up about, really. And talking/writing about your problems is meant to help, right? Well, so far I’ve managed to work myself up into a low-level panic attack. I’ll save you the dramatic descriptive language, but I’m Not Doing Well.
I’d love a few days off to hide from the world and re-group. We’ll see how things work out.
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1.5 kg Desiree potatoes, sliced thinly, skin on
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1 large brown onion, also sliced thinly
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1tbsp macadamia oil
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1 tbsp butter
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1 cup reduced salt chicken stock
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1 cup sour cream
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1/2 tsp nutmeg
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parmesan cheese, good handful
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salt, pepper, more nutmeg, more cheese
Preheat oven to 200C.
Put pan on medium heat, add oil and butter. Cook onions gently until just brown, remove from heat and set aside.
In a jug, combine stock, sour cream and nutmeg. Whisk with a fork, add salt and pepper to taste. Add the onion drippings if you’re feeling especially decadent.
Lightly oil a large casserole dish. Assemble the bake as follows -
Repeat as required to fill dish, finishing up with a layer of potato. Season the top of the dish well and cover with a goodly sprinkling of cheese.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes, or until potatoes are just tender.
Remove foil and return the dish to the oven for another 20 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.
Notes -
I tried to recreate an old recipe of mine which has been lost in the mists of time. I adapted this from a ‘ZOMG healthy’ recipe, and put it out of its misery added a few of the things that make life enjoyable.
Scale this up or down as required. This makes a decent side dish for 6-8 people.
I think this is a reasonable alternative to heavy, stodgy dishes laden with cream, bacon and butter. I made this for a barbecue, and it went well with all manner of meats.
Comments please - would you rather I didn’t bother with recipe blogging and leave it to the experts? This is one of my old habits from LJ, and I kinda enjoy it.
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Monday, that is…
We made it through the weekend without a whole lot of excitement, but a minimum of angst. Most of the cleaning is done in preparation for Thursday’s inspection, though there are a couple of painful jobs still to be done. There were some foodie adventures and a bit of socialising, which was nice. Today started remarkably well – for the first time in ages I didn’t feel the need to crawl into a hole, and I’m still doing relatively well.
Last night, Madam and I went to a barbecue featuring a special celebrity chef. Mr Weasel Fetish cooked up a tour de force of meaty goodness to much acclaim. I made a potato bake that disappeared quickly, so it must have been an acceptable contribution. It was a nice and relaxed affair, with many hugs and much easy conversation. It was a lovely end to the weekend, though it was a pity to have to leave early.
I’ve gotten a few odd jobs done today (while working very hard, obviously). I’ve disconnected my old mobile phone – if you missed the new number, drop me an email. Since this now means I no longer carry an FM radio on my person, I went to Richard the Blacksmith’s emporium and picked up a cheap MP3 player with radio. This was actually cheaper than buying a radio, so twas a good investment, I think.
I’ve been back in touch with our dance school – now that Life is back under control, it would be nice to start again. Apparently Teacher has a cunning plan for us, so I’m waiting for her to call me back.
I’ve also applied to defer university. I figure this can wait until Melbourne – if circumstances permit, I may enrol at Monash and see if I can get a degree before I hit retirement age. No promises, of course.
Stop Press – Madam has an interview this afternoon! Here’s hoping things work out…
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This week – a check-up at the dentist, which mercifully went well. Bonus points to Dentist for still being charming, asking how the wedding went et cetera. Super double demerit points for New Receptionist, who managed to piss off both Madam and myself. I seriously think either of us could have shoved her to one side, learned how to use her software and done her job better… anyway, I’m done until September, and Madam will get an appointment as soon as possible.
Next Thursday – a house inspection. I knew all that attention was too good to be true. Still, the cleaning I did last month has paid dividends, and we don’t have too much to do. This weekend will be a little awkward (balancing cleaning the oven with necessary cooking will be a pain, actually), but everything will be fine.
Oh, and I have another training session to run tomorrow. I’m taking it solo (as Boss has another engagement) but I’m sure everything will be fine.
My brain and I aren’t doing too badly. Work today was a bit trying, but I supposebeing in a foul temper is an improvement over wanting to climb under the desk and hide. I’m still a bit low on energy, but things are improving. If we can get through the next week or so without the sky falling, then all shall be well.
Bed very soon, I think, with necessary wife-snuggling.
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can be found here.
Cos it’s never too early in the morning to listen to Duelling Banjos, or to have a laugh.
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..there might be a damn good reason.
I’m not going to wail on too much about this, but it needs to be said.
I am not a particularly happy person at the moment. It took Madam pointing it out to me to admit it. I am kinda depressed, lacking in energy and motivation. I’ve been unable to sleep or eat much. It’s only now that I’ve started coming out from the shadow that I realise how deep in it I was. I suspect that most of my health problems since MIL died have been due to the associated stress (which is a very complicated story, and not one I’m ready to tell yet).
Life is not all gloom. Work is actually going pretty well, and I’m doing my best to help Madam find work too. I’m just light on energy to do the fun stuff, and I don’t like the idea of being a grumble bum full time. As I said, things are improving, but right now I’m ready to fall into bed and hide again.
Oh, and for the record, this leaves me with little or no motivation to write. I’m trying, I promise.
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Well. I have been a grumble bum of late, haven’t I? I think it’s time to list a few more Good Things…
The house has had some much-needed attention. On Saturday, a team of gardeners descended on the yard and did their best to undo a year’s worth of neglect. They did a pretty decent job (though they admitted there was another day’s worth of work yet to do) and were a nice enough bunch. Here’ s hoping the agents keep up the good work – the gardens are now mostly weeded and the lawns no longer devour the local children. Bugger.
A tradesman came to look at the oven last week. He’s going to recommend that the owners replace the oven, given the ludricous cost of replacing the single dodgy burner – here’s hoping that one works out as well.
We still have a couple of minor plumbing and electrical issues around the house, but it’s nice to be paid attention to at last (I’m trying to ignore the fact that this was all reported two months ago, and that the gardner went AWOL at least six months ago).
Serious plans are now afoot for the move to Melbourne. Father In Law is very excited at the prospect of having us closer, and is prepared to do whatever he can to assist. Madam and FIL have been talking a lot on the subject, which I think has done them both good.
Although I find the whole thing kinda terrifying to contemplate, the move is definitely still a Good Thing. People, on the whole, have been extremely positive and enthusiastic. Now that I’ve seen a bit more of the city, and some of the areas we may end up living in, I’m very positive too. Don’t let my occasional fearful looks fool you. Good thing. Definitely.
Back to work. *snore*
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Bleagh. The last couple of days have been a bit special, and culminated in me taking some time off. Let me tell you a story -
Tuesday - made it back to work. Nothing blew up while I was away, which was a relief. However, I had volunteered to redraft a training package for our software, which we inherited shortly before Christmas. Things which brought me much joy included…
- the package was a dog’s breakfast, and needed a near-complete redesign;
- the first training package was scheduled for Thursday morning;
- sorry, did I say Thursday? It’s now Wednesday afternoon.
So, I took the Powerpoint home and worked on it overnight Tuesday. Note that this is an unheard-of level of diligence on my part – I generally have much better things to do than take work home with me. Madam looked at it to check it was a logical presentation (well, it is for people with no experience in dealing with our software) and offered some helpful advice.
Wednesday - spent most of the morning tidying up the presentation, creating test data to use in the demonstration. Boss was very impressed with the work done. Thank the Gods. We headed off to our demonstration, which went well except that -
- nobody was aware that we were coming;
- the staff in question had already taught themselves everything they needed to know.
So, apart from being completely pointless, all the effort was well spent, hey? *collapses* To be fair, it wasn’t the fault of anyone in the office at the time (the manager in my question happens to be my former boss, who caused me so much angst in the past) and Boss and I did get some useful networking done. Still, after a lot of build up, the whole thing was a bit of a washout.
Yesterday, I went to work and began to feel very unwell. Eventually, I gave in and called Madam, who came and collected me. I immediately went to bed for an hour and a half, and took the rest of the day fairly gently.
Last night – oh Lordy. Broken sleep, restless, thrashing, freaky nightmares. I rolled out of bed and thought, “Nope. Not going to work.” Left a message with Boss and will talk to her later. I think she understands the last couple of weeks have been a bit special at our place. I dunno, maybe all the stress is catching up with me? I vary wildly between feeling normal and running out of energy, my moods are all over the place… I feel kinda guilty because I should be concentrating on taking care of Madam, but she’s very understanding.
Madam news – for those of you who haven’t heard, Madam resigned from A Certain Financial Institution this week to concentrate her energies on dealing with her Mum’s passing, and finding a job that isn’t going to drive her mad (well, both of us really). This is all good, and we’ve got measures in place to keep us from being destitute. Madam, being the financial wizard of the family, has figured out a saving plan for the Melbourne move once she gets her job situation sorted out. It’s happening, folks. For reals.
The Melbourne move? At times, it’s a bit overwhelming to contemplate, but on the whole I’m looking forward to it. There are many Lovely People who are very excited at the prospect of having Madam and me nearby, which is wonderful. We’re working on it, I promise.
Oh, and a shout out to Perth folks. Beware, for American homo-bigot zealots are seeking out Heath Ledger’s funeral so they can protest at the burial of a ‘fag-enabler. Personally, I hope they make it there so you can all show them how sacred their First Amendment rights are on the other side of the planet. You have my permission to chase them into the ocean and watch them swim home.
That’s enough brain work for today, I think. Back to bed and wife-snuggling.
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