A Change, a Chance & an Untimely End for Mrs. T-Banger

"What have you done..." I said glancing slowly down at my hands, and placing the knife on the counter. The shocked expression on my face mirrored the shocked feeling in my mind.
"What have you done.."
It took me a moment, shuddering a little as if an icy wind had just blown me awake, before I placed the empty container of Vegemite down. I stared hard at it for a good few minutes remembering the times we had together, then glanced back to the pantry.

Only 2 jars left now.

Yes I finished my first of 3 pots of Vegemite yesterday. It was a wake up call if nothing else, to bring a larger bag next time I came over here... but I suppose that's what traveling relatives are for.
Indeed, (and if you aren't Australian you may not understand this) nothing warms the heart (and coincidentally creates heart-burn) like a loaf of fresh sourdough and vegemite. How many times have I stumbled home in the wee hours of the morning to find a glass of milo and vegemite toast before somehow dragging myself to bed? Too many to count - but honestly, I wasn't too concerned. Despite the loss of this pot (which I affectionately referred to as Mrs. T-Banger) at least it wasn't cruelly taken from me before it's time like Mr. Tibbs, my other jar, when my old room-mate Kenny dropped it unceremoniously on the kitchen floor...

I suppose I should make sure the other two are safely out of knocking-distance before my new roomie moves in on the 3rd actually. Yep, I took the plunge and fired a rental listing off the other night. It nestled soundly into the deep, treacherous binary void that is Craigslist, and within the first day I had over 20 responses. Of course I shelved the ones that claimed they were Nigerian princes, and unfortunately also had to decline a lovely sounding Mexican girl and her 4 brothers that wanted to take up the offer, but I did find a couple of nice, normal applicants. The choice eventually came down to a guy and a girl, who had to battle wits - and voices - in front of Simon Cowell and the American Idol judges panel.
Ok I picked the girl, Lindsay. She seemed the logical choice and we get on really well.

So it's time for a change.
Time to open a new jar of Vegemite, time to pump up the bike tires as spring arrives, and time to share a living-space with someone from outside the bubble. I'm excited, and I feel like this is the first page in a new chapter, about to be jovially splattered into my life and my blog. No tut tut tuts - this is year 24. As something old finishes, something new begins, a couple of my friends here have found that recently. It's a chance to start something else, something fresh and exciting. I hope you do too, and I hope it's a fruitful excursion for all of us.

Jimzip :D

Come Visit The New...

Spring, Snow and Hunting Fedex

"Whoa! Hold the phone - what's that... Yellow? The colour yellow on the weather forecast?!"
This was my brain's inner monologue this afternoon as a co-worker excitedly sent me a link, which lead me to the weather prediction for this weekend. Sunny and a top of... 16? Well, either my climate-control/doomsday machine is finally kicking into gear, or we've got ourselves a weekend of sun, finally.
To show you how excited I am, I've posted two images, one of the weather widget and it's magical forecast, and the other of a small duck, because... well who doesn't like unjustified garp.
Trust me, when winter goes for 4 months and - rains - every - single - day... you get a little beyond excitement. Any glimpse of sunlight is a good thing, the whole city will be talking about it right now. (Should I find this all strange?)

Anyway, in other news, last weekend I had the pleasure of playing host to my big bro and his girlfriend. The visit was more than overdue, and we all had a fantastic week together, ending on the last day with a trip to Grouse Mountain. We arrived at midday and were overcome with a snowstorm, which is not unusual for Grouse, but it is unusual for this time of year (being mid-April). It was a beautiful sight though, and was also the first time Lauren had seen proper snow. We hung out on the mountain-top for the rest of the day and amused ourselves with the mini ice-rink and snowball fights, then headed back down for dinner. The following morning we were all up bright and early at 5:45 so they could head off to the airport & back to Aus.


After they left I returned to my hunt. I'm hunting the elusive Fedex delivery man who seems to show up only when I'm not at home, then leave notes telling me just that in less than 4 words (his method - as I've discovered on my travels, tracking him step by step - is tick-boxes.. ingenious)..
I don't really understand their system to be honest. Does it not occur to them that most of the population is working at 1:00pm on a Monday? Supposedly not. At any rate, he's got some stuff I ordered through eBay, and I'll be collecting it shortly or I'll be training the eye of my infini-ray 3000 on his truck, and nobody wants another K-T Extinction Event let me tell you (I've asked around).

Finally, and most briefly, jimzip.com will be back very shortly, please stay tuned, and thanks for your patience!

Cheers all,

Jimzip :D