Raised by Rats

I guess I'm doing all right.  I'm continuing my preparations to move, which atm means deciding what to cull and what to keep.  I've boxed some of the latter, which I needed to start in order to work out how many boxes I was going to need.  Newsflash:  It's more than I thought.  The apartment's renovations are advancing, but we still don't know if it'll be ready by 25 April.  Which, as I belatedly remembered, is the Anzac Day holiday, right after Easter, so essentially I need to be sorted by around 18 April.

I went to see a performance of Shakespeare's Henry IV at the University of WA last night, since two friends were in it.  That's the main incentive, since that's not a period of history I know much about, and I spent quite a lot of time figuring out who people were.  But it was very good and I hardly noticed the passage of time, though I think it ran for at least two and a half hours, maybe three.  The New Fortune Theatre is open to the sky, so it got cool, and last night is therefore my first night of the year wearing the jacket I hadn't thought I would need.  Then after e-biking back to the Subi train station and reaching the city, I found that the second train was only going within two stops of home, because reasons.  So it was a bit more riding than I had planned in a coolish night.

I've reached a stage of waiting for other people to do things.  Therefore my mind has a chance to drift, which it frequently takes!   I'm hoping this results in me being able to write properly again.  I hoped this would happen after I got made redundant, and it did for a while.  Then the end of lease/having to move came along.  I looked up the national rentals vacancy rate.  It's 1%.  So this is the first time ever in my life that I can say I'm in the 1%, having secured another rental within two weeks, thanks to rat-related connections.

Anyway, my mind wandered, and I retrieved it.  Thinking of how a certain elected leader is now behaving more like a dictator;  in short, a king.

For some reason my mind drifted to a foreword of a book I recently read, which can't have been that wonderful because I can't remember the title.  But the foreword was from the Old Testament, 1.8 of the Book of Samuel.  This concerns the Israelites begging Samuel, their leader, to give them a king, because he was old and his sons were politically corrupt. 

They wanted a king instead, because all the other nations had one, and they wanted to share in the glory and have a king to fight their battles.  Samuel, no idiot, warned them that a king would take them for everything they had;  sons, daughters, worldly goods, and their own freedom.  They said, "Never mind all that, we want a king."  So Samuel reported back to the Lord, "They're still asking!"  And the Lord sighed in resignation.  "Give them a king."  So Samuel said to the people,"Fine, you will have a king, but the Lord says don't come crying afterwards, because you'll get nowhere!  Now go home."

Yeah, this has happened a few times before.  

 

In case anyone was wondering!  Perth is now so hot that all I'm doing is watching the temperature rise.  Aircon holding it to 25^C inside;  don't need any more than that.  I ventured out only to water all the potted plants that live outside, and will be doing so again after dark.

I made it to the library before this struck, but have only one of those books left, so it'll be back to Kindle or rereads soon.

There was Generation Ship by Michael Mammay.  Hadn't heard of him but like the subject.  It resembled a public service department in space, with all the plotting and conversations and rules.  Like the one where people got euthanised at 75 to make room for the next generation.  Then they reach the planet, and the planet doesn't want them... The book was okay, but don't feel inspired to read any more of his.

I also read The Third Nero by Lindsay Davis, grabbed more for the oddity of its title, and I like reading about imperial Rome, so.  It's part of a long series but worked on its own, fortunately.  Amateur detective series.  It grated a bit, because the author included a lot of things not accurate for the period.  A newspaper in Imperial Rome?  A woman being employed by the Imperial Palace to snoop, even if her father had been an investigator also.  Girls being educated?  I just couldn't see it.  Too much 21st century thinking in it.

The last one I've got is by Steven Erikson, with the rather unusual title of Rejoice - A Knife to the Heart.  The blurb goes:  An alien AI has been sent to our solar system as representative of three advanced species.  Its mission is to save the Earth's ecosystem - and the biggest threat to that is humanity.  But we are also part of the system, so the AI must make a choice.  Looks good.  We'll see.

I was thinking only a couple of weeks back that it seemed coolish for almost summer.  Today the temp almost reached 42^C, so I don't think I'll say that any more.

This past week I've been building up strength, pretty well back to what I like to call normal.  I get the second shot tomorrow, when thankfully it's "only* meant to reach about 35^C.  Today I hauled self out of bed early, for a day off, to go stock up on supplies.  A lady stopped next to my transport and opined that it was much too hot for a bike!  Yes, well, it's that or I don't eat.  Or pay somebody an extra $10 or whatever it is to drop it off, and then I don't get to choose my fruit and veg.

I spent last weekend doing an extra thorough house clean because of my rental inspection on Tuesday, so lucky my energy was improved.  No problems there, fortunately.  The agent didn't spot the gnawed marks on the bottoms of the doors, done before I realised I'd have to keep the rats out of that area altogether.  I got some whiteout that was the same colour as the doors to conceal it.  Little sods.  One of them has even chewed off the soft plastic part on top of my computer mouse, so it's more fiddly to operate it.  Why?  Just why?  They've left it alone all these months and suddenly it's delicious.

I have survived another check at work, and seem to be back to normal standards, despite the handicap which their damn AI system creates.  That means the intensive observation eases up, so the stress does also.  

Yesterday the trouble was getting to work, since "an incident" caused the trains to be halted between Bayswater and the city.  So I rode the train two stations and then had to hang around for a bus.  I don't know how many trainloads of commuters were decanted at Bayswater before they got the buses going, but it was a lot.  The trains have been suffering technical problems for days, so this was just the cherry on top.

If I'd realised how bad it would be, I might have gone home for the bike, despite the heat and me not quite being up to par yet.  So, major inconvenience for possibly hundreds of folks, because someone decided peak hour yesterday was the time to jump in front of a train, and traumatise one more driver.  

I moved away from where the mobs went and located a bus that was not a rail replacement bus but headed to the city, so the train person said.  What she did not add was that it would trundle around every twisty little suburban street between embarkation point and the city, so it would almost have been faster to use the bike.  A push bike.  Just glad it wasn't today, I guess.

Not long now before I go on leave.

I'm having a really crap time at work atm.  Trying not to rant too much.  I basically have problems with the new voice to text system they introduced, because I've worked as a transcriber for 30 years and can't adjust to being a proofreader for an idiot [the I in AI is much overrated]. 

Seriously considering resigning, whether temporarily or not, and picking some other transcribing work up in a few months time.  I've got enough super to last three years.

Sound like a plan?  I ask people not to be really sensible and ask me if I've considered this or that option, done the maths and so on, because I've done little else for quite a long time.

Right now I want not to be miserable and to be able to maybe do some proper writing again.

"In the middle of our discourse word was brought me from my brother’s that there is a fellow come from my father out of the country, on purpose to speak to me, so I went to him and he made a story how he had lost his letter, but he was sure it was for me to go into the country, which I believed, and thought it might be to give me notice of Gravely Court, but I afterwards found that it was a rogue that did use to play such tricks to get money of people, but he got none of me."

This day in Sam Pepys diary, 1661

The scammer would have hoped to be paid by Sam for delivering the message [supposedly in the lost letter] from his father.  Such was the 'postal service' of the time.

Does anyone in Perth know why there might have been a horde of teenaged yobs on the Fremantle train today?  Some were yelling so loudly that I thought my head would explode.  I was sleep deprived on GF because I couldn't sleep Thursday night.  Might have been something to do with my flu shot or just me.  And then one of my neighbours decided to use power tools for hours in the morning.  It was just within legal - I checked - but geez it was annoying as I needed to sleep so badly but couldn't.  Better today, fortunately, because I needed the strength.

I guess the only thing good about that Friday was not having to go to work.  I'm not taking extra time around Easter because I want it for next month.  The local sf convention, Swancon, is running on the 20th and 21st of April and even though it won't be the former intensive experience [not at a hotel so no residential] I know from experience that not having a break between the con and work is not good!  So I'm taking two days after that weekend.  The con is definitely not what it was pre-Pandemic, but it'll be my social outing for April.

I did the parental wrangling and issued the reminder/threat that I'll be around on Wednesday to make sure M keeps her appointment for the hearing aid.  Which will be a joy and delight, I know.(1)  The Midland train is off again and will still be off next Wednesday so that's even more fun.  I did my charitable deed for the year by guiding a confused bloke from the Bassendean end to the right RRB, then through to the Freo train today;  he said he hadn't caught a bus before.  Wasn't sure if he meant any bus or just the dreaded Rail Replacements but anyway, got him there.

M was waffling again about my [lack of] social life after I said no, I didn't have plans for tomorrow.  For f....k's sake, after days like this, I don't have the strength!  And Sunday has never been a happening day, so I have no idea why she's stuck on that particular loop.

Things I hear when I'm not even trying:

"So I'm taking him to court for decimation."

[Seems harsh]

Also, some of the aforementioned train yobs, before we got on, discussing various of their friends who had diagnoses of this or that neurodivergent trait, like ADHD.

"And how about Chris?"
"Nah, Chris is just retarded."


1.  Yes, that's sarcasm.

Quarter to 7pm and temp has only just gone below 40^C.  I ventured briefly out to put some items in the bin and the heat felt savage.  I'm now about to go around the corner to the shops;  need some vital items for the next couple of days.  These will also be very hot.  This journey will not be easy.

But they have icecream and I don't.

I may be some time.

I got home from Genghiscon at 1 minute past 7pm.  Not bad since I didn't leave till after 6.  Thanks much for the ride, Ros, that got me to the Glendalough train with [no] minutes to spare.  It was at the platform when I got there, after running up the escalator.  I didn't know I could still do that.

I'm now very peopled out, though it was good to catch up with folks and wasn't a large con in any event.  I'll write more when I am recovered.  I'm sorry about the blank stare when anyone asked me what I had been doing.

Best quotes from the con:

"I've got a proposal for you."   Said to a table of gamers about playtesting a game.  After various responses.  "No!  I don't want to marry anyone at this table!"

and

Child.  "Hold this."  Adult.  "Why are you giving me all your money?"   Child.  "Because I'm busy."  Adult.  "I'm not your mother!"  Child, indignant, "Yes, you are."   Adult.  "You have no proof!"

Best creature met at the con:  The emotional support bantam chicken-in-training.

I had a look over some of the things I watched last year. It’s not everything; there would be several I didn’t like enough to remember, and there are certainly some I had hopes for which turned out disappointing. As I write, I still have two episodes of Bodies to go, and that one is a mindtwister. Can’t say much without risk of spoiling and this one must not be spoilered!

Just finished For All Mankind’s fourth season and that definitely did not disappoint. It’s projected to have seven seasons and I hope it survives. I wish it had happened, instead of our version of the space race.

 

( Other shows )

 

I've now read as far as number 7 of Murderbot.  The Murderbot stories are full of good quotes. Latest favourite is, “I wanted to talk to a human right now about as much as I wanted to lose a couple of limbs and have a conversation about my feelings.” I would like to have that on a sign above my desk at work, changing “wanted” to “want.”

The last few days in the journal:

8^th. Holed up because of heat. Trying to write. I am not sure anyone would be interested in the results of me writing now, except for a very few friends. Would anyone like to see a zombie apocalypse set in Perth?

Had a prolonged email discussion with Bunnings about a missing part in the new juicer I bought, in the interests of not using any more plastic bottles. Many pictures and explanations later that yes, I did look inside the large cone and the small cone was not in there, and finally, the replacement bit is on its way. I’m told.

9^th. Went to Cottesloe beach, too choppy/strong current to swim but tried anyway. Have been swimming at this beach periodically for over 50 years, so not afraid of its currents but this was definitely one to respect.

10^th. Rode to Guildford Secondhand Bookshop and got Encore in Death and Payback in Death. People who read their new books and then pass them on are a blessing upon those of us who grab them and then hoard them forever!

 

( Parental wrangling this week )

 

12^th Very hot, up early to water and do food run. Reading/writing/messing around online.

13^th Thunder and lightning show last night and a bit of rain.  Today I'm holed up with aircon because of heat, up to 41^C predicted. At 2pm we have 40^C.  I'd hoped for gaming next week - the gamesmaster had said good chance - but another gamer has now caught the plague, so becoming unlikely.  Sigh.  We go on.

I’m currently having a book nostalgia trip; somebody was getting rid of some books on the verge a few days ago. There was a three-in-one pony book that’s obviously been passed on a few times. I remember the contents from the Dark Ages of my past. The Midnight Horse by Monica Edwards is the one jewel in the collection, published in 1949. When I read it as a kid it was just one more pony book, but now I can see the writing is very good, superior to everything the Pullein-Thompson Sisters – and their mother, see below – ever put out.

 

( The Midnight Horse by Monica Edwards )

 

 

( Ponies for Hire by Margaret MacPherson )

 

 

( They Bought Her a Pony by Joanna Cannan )