my IT guru bought his 4th bike on ebay the other day.

a Flying Pigeon. named: Percy the Sledgehammer. the IT guru would like that translated into Chinese. if you can help out please leave a comment.

for more information on FP’s please go here: flying pigeon nyc or wikipedia: flying pigeon

we drove to mosman park (pronounced mozzman)  to pick it up, and it took the IT guru an 1 1/2 hr to get home. he got a good workout from it.

we are now finding it hard to fit all the bikes into the house and shed. the shed already contains: my pink bike, a wipper-snipper, a flymo lawn mower, a cane lounge, a spare bike we picked up of the side of the road, an outdoor broom and some sand. there really isn’t any room left. and our laundry/back area contains five bikes and associated stuff. so no space there either. one bike has now been temporarily relegated outside.

i have nearly finished a cape started at christmas time last year. its made from white angora/wool blend which wants to make everything look like a cat has sat on it. but aside from the annoying shedding its a very cute and i am hoping to get much use out of it when the weather cools down. which won’t be any time soon, as today reached a balmy 41.9 (degrees celcius) at 2pm. thankfully it had cooled down slightly by the time i left work.

i am in the stages of motivating myself to do some more sewing – and the long weekend seems the perfect oppurtunity. so i might start on a few bits and pieces i have lying around and i’ll share photos soon.

the knitting group is on saturday and i’ll have to find something to take along which you can knit and talk at the same time. very exciting news: i have signed up to go on a knitting retreat! it’s in may its over 2 days/3 nights and it should be great! details will follow when i know more.

and i have decided i would like to live in mebourne just to be part of this:

brown owls

i might sign up to be a faraway brownie and when i visit melbourne (hopefully in july) i might be able to attend. very exciting!

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

i cried to day over microsoft mail merge. i don’t think i am the first to have done so.

the day started off bad when i forgot my keys and couldn’t get in the back gate. it got worse. and busy. and somehow i didn’t actually get done what i had wanted.

so this is how the day went:

the duress alarm went off . pressed by one of our clients kids. in a dull room understandably a BIG RED BUTTON is very appealing and must be touched. the alarm freaked me out a bit. i have to stay at my desk in case we need to call police/ambulance/some one. this is fine. but my instinct is to find out that everyone is ok. and so having to stand there waiting for someone to tell me to do something is rather frustrating.

we had taxi problems. this is an ongoing, irritating issue. a client had waited 40min for a taxi that didn’t show up. the client was running late and eventually just left and caught the bus.

i had to make up name badges as there is a training session on monday. cue mail merge crisis. so the labels will be done on monday.

somewhere in the middle of my day confusion i remembered i wanted to get paid next week and should fill out my timesheet.

and the phone rang a lot. as it always does when i am busy. i think the phone has a mind of its own sometimes: i answer a call, pass it through and hang up. i walk about 2 – 3m away from my desk to complete a task of some sort. and just as i am working out what i was doing the phone rings. repeat process several times an hour. cue – very little work done.

*sigh* its friday. and thank goodness.

so the IT guru and i are going out to find dinner. he wants pizza. i want pad thai. i think we are going to get take away and find somewhere to chill out and eat. we are both happy with this arrangement. hoorah.

before i go, i’d better share something positive:

found via another blog is this:

 Copenhagen Cycle Chic – Bike Advocay in High Heels

i have found myself a new challenge – to look ultra-stylish while cycling at all times. i don’t think that will be possible in 30+ heat. or when its really windy. or if i am climbing a hill. but it is still a challenge i will aspire to. and when i have a well paying job i will be able to buy lots of boots to cycle in. and upgrade my bike so that i can cycle more easily, and therefore look more stylish.

this weekend was all about relaxing – taking my time to do frivolous things. like pedal to a local op-shop.

great little place – got a pair of shoes, some funky floral/dot fabric and an embroidered doily-thingy.

the news shoes are top right. the other 2 pairs are also much loved second hand finds. the fabric is brown/white spots with bright orange/yellow flowers.

i also made time  to visit the library and picked up a knitting/crochet inspiration book (unfortunately it did not have patterns). I doubt i will make anything like what was the in the book – a bit too “extreme” for my taste, but there was an interesting bag constructed from postcards and yarn.

saturday afternoon saw me joining the city knits group in our fortnightly attempt to take over Gloria Jeans in Borders (murray st mall). i had taken along a lace scarf i was knitting which ultimately was a bad idea – i knit about 7 rows before i realised i had made a mistake and had to rip it back to where i had started from. so really an unproductive knitting arvo. but one of the ladies did inspire me to take out my instrument of torture (see below). i have had it sitting around for too long unused put off by other peoples accounts of using them. i think i should have gotten it out long ago.

the green scarf as mentioned:

its knit in a very fine wool in a grassy-foresty green. once finished and blocked (wet and stretched) the pattern will stand out a bit more. one of the ladies at the knitting group has set herself the task of doing a bit of knitting each day. i don’t think this will be possible for me, but it has inspired me to fit more knitting back into my life. i think the cooler weather has also helped. my dad laughed when i said it was cool here in perth. by cool i meant under 30 degrees celcius. for at least the past month our kitchen has had an average temperature of about 30 degrees. day and night. my IT guru keeps reminding me that i wanted a hot summer. and he is right. i just didn’t realise how debilitating consistent temperatures of plus 30 can be. especially as at night you don’t really get any relief. i have gone outside at 10pm and its still been about 28 – 30, which of course means that the house is at least this hot, if not more. say good bye to a comfortable sleep.

anyway i am going to relish the “cooler” weather and try and cycle as much as possible.

this is my instrument of torture.

ok its a knitting machine, but it has bits flying everywhere and lots of needles and its just strange.

But excellent! i was really quite surprised at how easy it was to put together and work. i actually created knitting and it was definitely faster than hand knitting. it doesn’t replace hand knitting – knitting by machine and knitting by hand to me are 2 separate things. because you can knit up large pieces relatively fast i think the knitting machine would be great for felting. that is i can knit up pieces fast which i can then felt and it is less time costly than handknitting and then felting.

i also have some plans to try knitting big panels and then cutting out pieces and sewing them together to make a garment. i have seen something like that before and it looks like it could prove interesting.

the other great thing that came with my knitting machine, which by the way only cost me $10 (an absolute bargain), was a ball winder. just about THE greatest thing created in the knitting world. i didn’t actually realise how great it was until on saturday when one of the ladies at the knitting group pulled out hers to wind a skein of sock yarn.

this is mine on the kitchen table. last night i spent a bit of time cleaning up my knitting corner in our living room, and re-wound several balls and made everything a lot more neater.

the knitting machine doesn’t really like anything thicker than 4ply which means i can’t really use up my stash (which i was hoping to do). but of course it now means that i can buy more yarn! a trip to Freo is now on the cards…

after my last post, i think i should share some more positive things from my life:

1) That1Guy performing at Beck’s Music Box, Perth

i bought my IT guru a ticket to That1Guy for his birthday. and i bought myself a ticket so i could go along.

it was absolutely, fantastically EXCELLENT!

That1Guy is a trained classical musician (double bass) but has chosen to play: a magic pipe, a magic boot and a magic saw.

the pipe has a whole lot of buttons which are linked up to something which produces sound. and the pipe has 2 strings. that you can play with your fingers, a bow or a credit card. take your pick.

he has this amazing energy when he performs that flows into his music. and the lyrics to his songs are just plain nonsensical. especially when he starts singing that the “moon is disgusting, it is made of cheese” (or something like that).

if you get the change check him out. he has already played over east (sydney etc). but he will be back. and when he is you need to go and see it.

apparently i am unreliable.

i was offered a job by the place i am working at now. i was told when i started temping for them about a month ago that i could have a fulltime job in reception if i wanted. but at that stage nothing had been officially offered. and then it was last week. and i told them i would think about it and i wasn’t told when i would have to get back to them. i guess i should have said something within a couple of days. which i didn’t. my bad.

so today i was pulled aside to be told that they had decided to give the job to someone else. from what i was told this other person was already known when they offered the job to me. and so i guess they wanted to give me the chance as i was already there. but as i didn’t get back to them in time, they just gave it to her. because they need someone reliable.

as far as i understand the reason i am unreliable is as follows:

i have taken off 2 days for prior commitments which i had told them i would need to take, and i gave them about a week’s notice each time i needed a day off. i also took 1/2 day off as i was sick. please note: i came in when i was sick, eventhough i wanted to stay home as i knew there would be nobody to cover reception if i didn’t show up. and i only went home as there were people to cover the phone. and it was friday which is generally not busy.

but i am unreliable.

ok. that wasn’t exactly said. the words were something like this: “we need someone reliable in the position”.

and they do. i understand that. one admin lady only works 3 days a week and the other’s son is very sick and she can’t always come to work. so they need someone there 5 days a week. but to insinuate that i am unreliable was so f****** rude.

in my opinion.

i think i am doing a bloody good job in that position. you could ask any of the staff or clients and they would tell you that i am doing a good job. they have even told me. one client told me something along the lines of this:

“nobody really wants to come here (the clients have gone through horrrible life experiences and where i work is a counselling agency), but you make everyone feel very welcome and comfortable when they arrive”. that young woman really made my day when she told me that – i think i floated for the rest of the day!

i do know that the position wasn’t for me. i could do reception for a while, and there is a lot more work to get done than when i was there last year in Aug/Sept. but i know that after a while i will get sick of being interrupted by the phone. and the work is not always a challenging as i think i need it to be. and it is 5 days a week. and i would really love to work 4. just to have that extra day.

so i am not unhappy to be out of (temp) work again. just really hurt that someone who doesn’t really know how much thought, effort and care i put into that position – both towards the work and the clients – calls me unreliable.

i’m slowly getting over a cold. i probably thought too much over the past week and stressed myself out. easier to do.

we had breakfast this morning at Source, a lovely little cafe that focuses on free range, organic, fair trade food and drink. i had very yummy toast and “well being” tea with ginger and lemon for my cold. Having had decent tea, i have come to realise that i can no longer consume the cheap black tea bags with have at work. i will have to create my own tea stash.

when i was younger (teens) i used to think my parents were a bit mad with their tea obssession – prefering leaf over bag, and different types of tea. but i have found myself falling in-line with their obssession. i now have a greater appreciation for pot tea. and i really don’t like irish breakfast.

i felt the need to share some photos from my repository, and as i don’t have anything new and exciting, i’ll find something old and exciting.

oh, and i am really on the look out for mini heart shaped tins so i can make heart shaped lamingtons as seen here.

i am making a heart for Mikes for their ‘We Heart Mirabel’ thingy. i really should get going on it as it has to be in melbourne by thursday week (valentines day). i think i can do that.

i am quite proud of myself. today i managed to buy a diary. it was only $4 and i plan to start decorating it tonight. i only seem to use diaries if they are pretty. my attempts to find a reasonably priced hello kitty diary weren’t very successful. i’ll try harder next year.