Sunday, October 9, 2011

Busy Weekend

What a weekend it has been so far!  Mine started at the wee hours of the Saturday morning when the first grumblings woke me at 6am of a storm approaching Brisbane.  I raced into the home-office and unplugged the computer and phone line to the modem and went back to bed; relaxing, hoping it was only going to be a few grumbly showers and that was it.

Boy was I wrong!

The thunder kept coming and the rain poured from the sky and it got darker as it became later in the day.  I had gone to get some milk and by the time I arrived back and used it on my breakfast, it was beginning to bucket down.  I opened the side door and the carport was beginning to fill up - as it normally does - and so I walked out there and checked the storm water drain and it was blocked and there was a car parked on it.  Damn!  So, I did my best to unblock it with a shovel without success.  
By the time I turned around, there was more water in the carport than there was before!  I raced back to my place and called Dad and unfortunately he got the bad end my anger because I was not dealing with what was happening right now.  By the time I hung up from him and opened the door, the water was lapping at the edge of the tiles!  Oh my God!  I raced out there barefoot with the key to the back gate and unlocked it, wedge an old fence paling against it (to keep it open) and began sweeping the water through; but none of the water moved!  I took the opportunity and photographed the scene a few times and filmed it too; then put the camera back on the kitchen table and kept sweeping out the water.  It took 20 minutes for it to move anywhere!  I was absolutely freaking out that I'd need to make an insurance claim on a weekend because my house got flooded for the first time in 9 years!  



By the time the water receded and I ate my breakfast, I was exhausted, cold and the clothes I had worn were wet right through!  And to make things worse, they were the only clothes I had for the day to wear... until the next time I had done some laundry (which was today).  I pulled a pair of tracki-dacks on and an old painting t-shirt out of the laundry basket and wore those (as there wasn't anything else to wear that was warm enough) for the day and then I spent the day on the net; thankful I didn't have to go out that day for anything.

At around 2pm, I had a nice hot shower and got dressed up for our night out at the German Club on Vulture Street.  This place is brilliant.  I have been here once before for a celebration of Vivienne's and totally enjoyed myself.  It has great food, amazing German beers and the atmosphere is fantastic!  I love it.  So, I had invited Mum, Dad, my brother, Gabe and his new fiance, Katrina and Aunty Helen (Mum invited her and her family along; but only Aunty Helen could come).
Outside the German Club at the Wooloongabba

Our drinks... all big glasses of everything! :D

My dinner of Atlantic Salmon - well worth the wait!

My brother's meal...

The German Beer Hall at the other end of the Club in full swing!

A Greek Dance during Oktoberfest!  How weird!
Well, we arrived and Gabe and Kat were at the table perusing the menu and they were amazed at how nice the place was.  While we lined up to order our meals, Gabe said he didn't know the German Club was like this; it was this nice, and I said to wait 'til he tasted the food.  It was large servings and very European and it'd remind Mum and Dad of being there.  And when our meals came out half an hour or so later, they were in agreement in how deliciously hot and beautiful they were!  And Mum said it was good decent, solid food, just like they served them in Germany.  I'm happy they loved the place.  
The best thing about last night was that we were there for Oktoberfest!  Now, this year, I've been trying to get myself out there in Brisbane's festivals and fun things.  And this was one of them to have a go at.  I have always remembered the German Faust-house at World Expo '88 fondly and how hugely popular it was - along with the famous Chicken Dance it brought with it - and so when I walked into the hall at the other end of the place, there were lines and lines of tables of people drinking German beer singing and dancing to German songs and loving every drunken minute of it!  How much fun is that?  So, I took in the camera and photographed it a few times and took a film of a hilariously funny clip of a Greek song being played in the German Club... now how weird's that?  Even so, everyone had a brilliant time dancing to it!
Before we left, we heard a well-known German rock song that was big in the 1980's and I wanted to dance to it.  So, I asked Mum to dance with me but she hesitated and I begged her to come and dance.  She wouldn't; and it wasn't until the end of the song that she finally did.  Mum used to be so spontaneous when it came to things like this; and I thought it would be fun to dance in Faust-House during Oktoberfest just once... oh well, next time.
Today, I was up nice and early, went and put on the laundry then went and got the paper.  It's been a relatively quiet morning.  I got 4 loads of laundry done and it's all weighing down the line out there in the sun drying in the lovely breeze while I'm here on the computer.  I'm tired but know it's been a good, busy weekend.  I'm just looking forward to the week I've got organised; where there's barely a day to myself... bummer.  Oh well, at least it's a busy week this week.

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