Two oh-my Too To!

 So yes, obligatory "Happy New Year" from me.  Or quarterly greetings if you don't believe in new years - or indeed happy.

We are certainly living in interesting times.  While watching the news tonight, I realised that there are a lot of people panicking - which is a pretty fair assessment.

It seems the policy of "she's all right", "put your mind to it" and "it won't affect me" may not be the right fit for the current climate.

What a pity we didn't have two years of lived experience and data from the rest of the world to work with and actually prepare for when we dived into the pool.

D'oh.

I got boostered today, and Paris her first shot.  It was an interesting exercise.

People watching is an oft-forgotten hobby, but when one is with a 12 year old with pester power to be on the phone (I am a bad mother), one gets to embrace the old ways.

• There was a conversation at the front between a gentleman and another regarding cricket - which was a discussion very closely connected to one that I had seen on the local news.  
• That is the beauty (or creepiness - you choose) of living in a relatively small community.
• There was a conversation between two others in the post-vax waiting room which covered malicious gossip about the impending move of one a mutual friend, Christmas decorating (and we are talking the $10,000 worth of lighting, not tryhard stuff), the delicate balance of being a neighbour of such a decorator (and the resultant police visit and analysis of security footage), being able to navigate having children and going out and who was to blame and whether one's wife was a friend or foe to another mutual acquaintance.  
• Within less than 10 minutes I knew all I needed to know about this pair, and that was I wouldn't want to be a friend OR enemy of theirs.  
• Luckily, the relatively small community is big enough that this is not necessarily a decision that I will have to make.
• We went to the bakery across the road afterwards for several reasons: we needed bread; I had parked in their carpark so therefore it was only common courtesy; and Paris has ascertained that some children are able to extract favours from their parents as payment for them getting a needle and she wanted to milk that whereas I was both feeling indulgent and wanting to ensure that we got off with the least financial and nutritional damage.  
• The lady in front of us then (inadvertently) stole her iced doughnut.  
• We did get another one, but I am pretty certain it might blow (or confirm) that last concept.
  
• Her lovely teacher sent a message informing us of a ticket going spare for turtle watching and would we allow Paris to attend - with her favourite teacher and family?  That question was most easily answered.
• I had a 2.5 hour nap.  I know.  Bliss.  I think that the 4am wake up (working) and the not being at work during business hours (TOIL) and the not having to be in charge of a 12 year old all combined.  
• I had the most bizarre dream.  There was truck driving and high-rise cities and family and about forty other factors all swirling about bizarrely.

Waking up after a nap is always a bit dicey.  Especially to a child-free house - that is MOST unusual in the current climate.

I did a freezer audit and liberated curries and biryani for tonight's feast.  While thawing and reheating the feast the local news was on.

I am rather surprised we didn't get part 3 in the story relating to a foreign couple (I think they were from NSW or Victoria) and their underwater proposal.  

On Monday was the great concept that this proposal was, while Tuesday covered whether they were considering using local facilities for their nuptials.  However there have been some tragedies during that time that have finally muscled their way to the headlines.

In the general region where I come from, we do not generally have Cyclone issues.  Ex-tropical cyclones, however, have history in this region.

(from the archives - 9 years ago - last time we found ex-TC (or it found us))

This time it was to the South of us.  This time it was ex-tropical cyclone Seth.  The area that Seth did the most damage didn't have tornadoes but they had a rain depression that was expected to peter out sit on top of them and dump the ocean on  top of them.  They lost lives - local and interstate - and lives were changed.

Then an ad came on.  We had been discussing how media interaction is driving our advertising and, as if to illustrate out point, a gambling ad came on.

It didn't really do its job, because I can't remember the company it was for  (but then, we may not be the target audience and may not necessarily interact with their product the way that the TA would).

It was red and white and there was a horse and they had this great offer on "Three. legs, five legs or seven legs".

Pretty dumb, huh.  We KNOW horses have four legs - or at least, the horses that you should bet on.