Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Weather Mayhem

Now, last night was a horrible night.  Not a single breeze came through my window and I had to leave my poor little budgie downstairs in a closed-up house on her own... but I did spray her with a little bit of water before I came upstairs and tried to nod off - which didn't happen until well after midnight.
And even this morning, I had kicked off the covers and the breeze that did come through the lace of my window was hot and very little... so we were in for a real stinker of a day.  So, I did my best to keep my little bird from overheating and left the fan on 2 and left the front window open with towel along the sill in case it poured rain (like last time) and came in.  
While I was out, I walked a long way in the boiling hot heat.  It wasn't so much the sun that was hot, it was the humidity that really got us all; actually reminded me of the time I went to Vanuatu when I was 19 and how dreadfully hot it was.  But at least there was a lovely cool breeze when you sat in the shade.  Today, there wasn't a breeze; or if there was, it was hot.
I scored well at Life Line; two items.  There's a lovely piece of artwork of petrified flowers dipped in gold from Hawaii and a dress I bought; a Suzanne Gray one made in Australia, a size 10!  And it fitted me very well!  So, I bought those.  The Hawaiian art piece was very 1960's and has a domed piece of glass over it; so I had to be very careful about how I carried it and I showed a few people who thought it was absolutely gorgeous!  
I made my way to Woolworths only to be advised that all their cash registers had crashed; this included their ef-pos machines too.  Despite it being lovely and cool inside the store, I really wanted to get my shopping done... so I thanked the greeter at the door for the offer to come in out of the heat and kept walking to K-Mart Central Plaza.  I ended up shopping for all my vegetables and groceries at Coles there and picking up my prescriptions too.  Just as well I arrived at Coles the time I did as the people at the cash registers there were finding it hard to keep up.  I said that Woolworths' cash registers had crashed and the lady who was serving me told me that they had to close the store; this was very new news to me.  Amazing how we have become so dependent on computers as the years have passed by; and once they screw up, we are lost.  Fortunately, I'm not so attached to them that I panic when the power goes or when the I have dies.  I can pack my stuff and find my way to another; whether it be at a library or my parents' house, at least I know where I can find a good computer and internet access when I need one.
Well, once I got out of Coles, I donated to the Food Bin - as a lot of the food there was going to the flood victims around Queensland now.  I only gave a tin of diced tomatoes; but you can do a lot with that.  Next time, I might give a little more if I can; if not, I might stick to one thing.  And I went to the newsagency, bought my 'Good Reading' Magazine (yay! It came in!) and asked about how to go about putting in a Gold Lotto ticket for tonight's draw and getting a Gold Lotto card.  One of the ladies was very helpful as I haven't bought so much as a scratch-it for about 10 years.  She understood that when it comes to inflation, it's a matter of making sure you feed yourself first and buying those absolute luxuries later.  I said that I haven't filled out anything to do with Gold Lotto in such a long time I had forgotten.  She just smiled and said it's good I'm trying it out; even if I only do it once a month, it'll be good if I do win something.
I braved the heat again only to  be told that the ticket machine at the taxi rank had begun eating $2.00 coins.  So, I joined the queue and waited instead.  The next thing we knew, eight taxis showed up and picked us all up, taking us home with our shopping.  The cab driver I had said it was because it's so hot and Yellow Cabs didn't want to leave any of us out there in the heat of the shopping centres too long.  How good was that!  At least we know they're thinking of us out there.  And the cab driver was so fast and efficient about packing and unpacking my groceries that nothing was broken... he even let me off paying the .20c I owed him.  
But it's such a hot day still and it's getting onto 3pm.  Little Miss Stevie was tossed into her bath this afternoon by me as she didn't have one when I got home.  I made my drink and guzzled it down quickly, and the air conditioner isn't really making much of a difference to the computer temperature but it's fluctuating between 35 - 36 degrees Celsius.  At least it's not overheating.
Well, wherever you are today, keep safe from the cyclone in the Far North Queensland.  If you're not there, say a heart-felt prayer for those who had to evacuated from the path of the Cat 5 Cyclone Yatzi and keep cool... I'm trying to at the moment; and failing.  Take care wherever you are; and I'll still be here.

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