Thistle Do! December Week 4, 2023
So Long 2023... and can you take the heat with you? Summer Reading! And some more Happy Snaps!
A Tad Tropical
But…
Folks, right now the temperature is on the wrong side of 35 degrees, the humidity is hovering around the 80% mark and a light breeze is blowing in from the North West:
Basically, this adds up to one thing - I am NOT mowing the lawn today.
I mowed it this time last week and knew I was in serious trouble halfway through, so I did what most Aussie males (aka: idiots) do… drank some warm water (after running the outside tap for a few minutes to avoid burning my mouth) then kept mowing.
When Donella arrived home around 7pm, the sweat-stained, ‘Shell of Greg’ was propped up in the front yard silently staring, open mouthed and glassy eyed, at the Summer Solstice sunset.
It was nice.
It was relaxing.
It was all I could do, because I was struggling to stand up without falling over.
I was lead, gently by the hand, back indoors, sculled a hydrolyte, showered, then passed out on the bed.
On the first eve of my summer vacation, I was unconscious before 9pm.
I tell ya, Friday nights round this place are Wild!
Still, could be worse.
I’m super grateful that:
I am no longer employed to work outdoors swinging a hammer, whippersnipper, jackhammer or shovel anymore. Or crawling through cramped ceiling spaces or navigating a maze of super hot steam pipes and associated machinery.
Summer lasts only a few months of the year.
The beach is basically over the hill. Top Tip: don’t try to cross the carpark in bare feet (again).
We have air-conditioning (just try not to think about the next power bill while swanning about in cool, blissful, comfort).
And finally,
We’re not enduring the sort of weather that’s been pasting North and South-east Queensland recently, which can be summed up by tampering with a Steelers’ Wheel song:
“Cyclones to the north of us,
Tornadoes to the south,
Here we are stuck in the middle again.”
This may be to do with the semi-mythical Gladstone Dome (the layer of pollution hovering over our fair neck of the woods):
Or, just the lay of the land.
But it, looked promising from the front yard:
Either way, I don’t care. Dull is good… compared to the alternative.
Readin’ n ‘Ritin…
The following are a selection of books I started to read during the summer break, but haven’t finished, for various reasons... most of them embarrassing.
But for the sake of clicks, let’s give it a whirl.
Women Rowing North deals with the challenges women face as they age. Mostly women from privileged backgrounds… there were some interesting points, but a complete disconnect from my life.
Don’t Worry: Frankly if I was a monk living a single, simplistic life, where all my accommodation, food and clothing needs were catered for in exchange for a few hours of toil each day, followed by lots of time out for meditation, I wouldn’t be too stressed either.
If there’s a book written by a Working Joe, who’s survived corporate cutbacks, increased workload and lower wages, while trying to maintain rising house, rent, food, power and fuel costs, while raising a family AND navigating around suicidal idiots in crowded bottle-shop carparks, who can still remain in a non-murderous Zen state of flow then let me know.
Oh, here’s one:
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: I’ve got a few of Scott’s books. They’ve usually got a lot more cartoons in them than this one, so that was disappointing. About 1/4 of the way in, it dawned on me that I had more in common with his main cartoon character Dilbert than I did with Scott.
Scott’s one lucky son-of-a-bitch.
His timing and luck hit the spot in ways that are almost unbelievable. Basically, he got rich for having one idea at the right time and place; that’s it. He’s an engaging writer, funny and self-effacing, but after flicking through to the halfway mark I ended up scanning the rest of the book to enjoy all the meagre number of cartoons then ditched it.
Happy Snaps
This week, we’ve had a bit of time off to relax, swim and explore… tidy the office, eat too much, and ‘blah’ out in front of the tele.
Facing Island, one day after a camping fireworks stuff up:
Hey, thanks again for dropping by. Catch you next week!