Just like the artists who seemed to skip only my garage door in their artistic expression, I feel like I’ve left you all a little in the dark.
I’m busy, but not a whole lot is happening. Which is the worst kind of busy. I’m currently playing in the band for Blood Brothers which opens far too soon. I’ve got loads of work to do as I’m responsible for the programmes and posters for the theatre group. Now as I’ve started to perform ‘higher duties’ at work, I have to stay back an hour later and that’s a valuable hour of my day gone. At least I get paid extra for it, but how much more I’m not sure.
Since I got this place, the landlord suggested I rent out the garage since I don’t have a car. The location is great for those who want parking to go to their CBD workplaces, and it would help pay the rent. I had not really looked into it until one night someone slipped a bit of paper under my door saying he was keen in renting a garage in this building. I gave him a call, and it turns out he lives in this building but is moving out soon to a garageless apartment and still wants to keep some of his stuff here. After a bit of back and forth we arranged a price and the terrific news is that because he wants it to store stuff, I can still use the spot in front of it as my visitor parking. A perfect arrangement!
I’ve also been doing a lot of cooking as it’s something I enjoy and helps me save money. Lots of curries and a few indian dishes. Over the next few days I’ll be trying out a bombay curry recipe that a workmate gave to me. I will also be making a batch of honey jumbles and more brownies. The cooking has been going well, except for the occasion I gave myself food poisoning by not fully cooking chicken. The story was I was simply cooking these pre-made burritos that I had bought at the supermarket. Firstly, it’s not my style at all, usually I’d make it fresh, but I had picked these up when I first moved in and had frozen them. Well, due to a little oversight in the cooking time, the chicken came out of the oven still not quite cooked (however looked great from the outside), but it took me a little while to realise this fact. About half a burrito in fact. At least I got a day off work for it.
Other cooking adventures have been better. Scones, muffins, a delightful coconut and chocolate cake and of course brownies are all familiar to my workmates (who help me eat everything I make). I think it will be a while before I make the sultana scones again since Woolworths is intent on ripping me off on my dried grape purchases. You see, the 1kg packet I spoke of in the last blog was taken off the market (however you could purchase the Sunbeam packet for three times the price), and now it’s place has been taken by another brand that costs about twice the price of the original homebrand packet. The latest insult came this morning when I had to have someone “approve” my purchase of pink food colouring at the self-serve check out! Look at my basket… do you really think someone who is buying flour, golden syrup, half a dozen different spices and lemon juice is intending to get drunk on 25ml of pink food colouring? Food colouring doesn’t even have alcohol in it!
I still feel like I’m living next to someone who should be on the national heritage conservation list. This morning, as I lied in bed, I could hear big band music coming through the wall, and I later heard her telling another neighbour, “Isn’t this music gorgeous! I dance to it!” It’s probably a scene out of a Marilyn and Royce video over there. Even worse, it might be a little ‘Grey Gardens’. Late one night I found a note slipped under my door and it said “You left your bike outside. I locked it under the building, it will be safer. Irene.” The trouble is – I don’t have a bike. She also looks after packages that come to my door and makes sure I know of changes (like telling me there was a hidden key to the garbage bin room, something which will now help my fridge not smell like I’ve been keeping a bowl of wet scrapings from a homeless man in it.
Or maybe that’s just a curry.
Oh you gotta be careful of chicken – salmonella is their revenge on us for stealing their unfertilized babies. The safest thing is to cook fresh all the time or nuke it to death.
You have to love the little old ladies who have nothing but time and your welfare on their hands. The one across the road from me stares at me whenever I go out the front – luckily, I’m more the shut in type.
Awsome site Tyson. Glad to see you have taken a liking to living on your own.
p.s. I wanna chat about your Amazon.com wish list (email me)