These last six weeks
How I’ve spent the last six weeks:
1. Wrangling with car salesmen. As stated in my previous entry, I placed an order for a new car. It’s coming from Sydney, they said. Should take 10 days. Fast forward one month, and the new car finally turns up. Only - it’s got a 2013 build date! First World Problem, yes, but it’s one that trips up a lot of people. Want a new new car? Check the build date. Not the compliance date, the build date. If it’s the previous year, it decreases the value from a resale point of view. And not only did my car have a 2013 build date, it was also a 2013 model, a fact that was omitted (or forgotten) during the negotiations. After some back-and-forth phone conversations, they finally arranged to give me a 2014 model (with a 2014 build date) for the initial agreed price.
Good news is, I picked the car up on Wednesday, and it’s awesome.
2. Getting into Game of Thrones. Yes, I’m jumping late aboard the bandwagon here. But goodness, that show is addictive! I love it all - the characterisation, the emotion, the sheer scope of the world-building, even the theme song which I’ve learnt to play on guitar (thanks YouTube!). And as my department’s last bake sale had a “Winter” theme, I baked some cookies, and using icing, piped mottos from the main Houses. Like “Winter is Coming” (the Starks) and “Hear Me Roar” (the Lannisters).
3. Reading “Eerie” by Tim Winton. Excellent prose, some nice descriptive passages, but the plot was wafer-thin and the ending somewhat ambiguous.
4. Watching “These Final Hours” at the movies . Pretty good end-of-the-world movie, set in my home town of Perth. Although it was very obvious the actor who played the main character was from the Eastern States. He pronounced words like “here” as “heeh”. A true Sandgroper will pronounce it “hee-yah.”
5. Staying warm. Minus five degrees this morning. Went outside and the water in the birdbath was iced over. And on Friday, the city had a few snow flurries.
6. Trying out the Bent Spoke Brewery in Braddon. Yes, I know. Bandwagon. It seems like the most popular place in Canberra right now. Been there a couple of times; once with colleagues for Friday drinks, and once with Craig for dinner and a drink. The Dick Tracy beer didn’t pack the punch I was hoping for (pun intended), but the Mort’s Gold is a great drop. Can highly recommend the buffalo wings with the blue cheese sauce too.
1. Wrangling with car salesmen. As stated in my previous entry, I placed an order for a new car. It’s coming from Sydney, they said. Should take 10 days. Fast forward one month, and the new car finally turns up. Only - it’s got a 2013 build date! First World Problem, yes, but it’s one that trips up a lot of people. Want a new new car? Check the build date. Not the compliance date, the build date. If it’s the previous year, it decreases the value from a resale point of view. And not only did my car have a 2013 build date, it was also a 2013 model, a fact that was omitted (or forgotten) during the negotiations. After some back-and-forth phone conversations, they finally arranged to give me a 2014 model (with a 2014 build date) for the initial agreed price.
Good news is, I picked the car up on Wednesday, and it’s awesome.
2. Getting into Game of Thrones. Yes, I’m jumping late aboard the bandwagon here. But goodness, that show is addictive! I love it all - the characterisation, the emotion, the sheer scope of the world-building, even the theme song which I’ve learnt to play on guitar (thanks YouTube!). And as my department’s last bake sale had a “Winter” theme, I baked some cookies, and using icing, piped mottos from the main Houses. Like “Winter is Coming” (the Starks) and “Hear Me Roar” (the Lannisters).
3. Reading “Eerie” by Tim Winton. Excellent prose, some nice descriptive passages, but the plot was wafer-thin and the ending somewhat ambiguous.
4. Watching “These Final Hours” at the movies . Pretty good end-of-the-world movie, set in my home town of Perth. Although it was very obvious the actor who played the main character was from the Eastern States. He pronounced words like “here” as “heeh”. A true Sandgroper will pronounce it “hee-yah.”
5. Staying warm. Minus five degrees this morning. Went outside and the water in the birdbath was iced over. And on Friday, the city had a few snow flurries.
6. Trying out the Bent Spoke Brewery in Braddon. Yes, I know. Bandwagon. It seems like the most popular place in Canberra right now. Been there a couple of times; once with colleagues for Friday drinks, and once with Craig for dinner and a drink. The Dick Tracy beer didn’t pack the punch I was hoping for (pun intended), but the Mort’s Gold is a great drop. Can highly recommend the buffalo wings with the blue cheese sauce too.