Posted on

The Blurred Lady

​​I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I rubbed my eyes to make sure, but even as I removed my hands, there it was – the woman, wrapped in a cloak of golden light, standing in the ankle-deep water.

‘My Lady,’ I gasped, falling to my knees at her angelic beauty, unable to gaze up at her any longer.

‘You may rise,’ she whispered, her voice clear in my ear even from so far away. ‘Rise, child.’

I struggled back to my feet, wincing as my heavy armour clanged with every movement.

‘Good sir,’ she began, tilting her head slightly. ‘Why do you hold your gaze so?’

‘I–I,’ I stammered, unable to lift my eyes any further. ‘I apologise, my Lady. Your beauty is too much for my feeble, mortal vision.’

‘Have you enquired as to a doctor?’

‘A doctor?’ I frowned slightly. ‘My Lady?’

‘Yes,’ she laughed, a most glorious sound. ‘An eye doctor, near the Bayside area.’

‘I’m afraid I don’t understand,’ I said, almost beginning to cry at the shame.

‘Ah,’ she sighed. ‘Perhaps I am too early for such things. I often find time to be… hazy. Difficult to peer through. Is this also the case with you, gentle sir?’

I frowned again, filled with awful chagrin that such an expression should present itself in her presence.

She laughed again.

‘Never mind, sir, never mind. I see that I have vexed you.’

‘I cannot apologise enough,’ I gasped, dropping my knees back into the dirty sand.

‘Nor should you at all,’ she said. ‘Do make me one promise, noble knight?’

‘Anything,’ I gasped, the oath already building on my tongue.

‘If you should be so lucky as to be blessed with a child… do take them to a children’s optometrist near me.’

‘My Lady?’ I faltered again.

‘Nobody ever looks at me,’ she sighed, putting her hands on her hips. ‘I have to assume it’s a genetic eye thing, you know? So if you could just make sure your kid gets some sort of eye care, I’d love that, please. I miss eye contact.’

I blinked up at her, utterly lost.

Posted on

Fix My Car

I have owned my car for about fifteen years now and I think it’s beginning to break. It is a really great car and it has lasted for such a long time, especially since I got it second-hand and I’m not really sure how long the previous owner had it for.

This car is white in colour and doesn’t have any scratches or stains since it is still very shiny. I don’t know what the interior material is, but it’s very soft and comfortable and is a black colour. I have decorated the inside of my car with small decorations, including a car freshener that makes it smell nice and is good for when I have passengers in my car.

Since I have had the car for such a long time, I have also taken it to a number of different car repair shops, for a number of different problems. There have been broken air conditioners, flat tyres, and one time I accidentally hit a tree while parking. A few years ago Adelaide had some crazy hail and it dented my car. Most of my friends also got dents in their cars since none of us park in garages.

Another thing I have to do soon is find a mechanic that offers a car air conditioning regas and electrical service. Adelaide has a number of these mechanics, but I am specifically looking for one that works with older cars, as there are several parts that are specific to these makes and models that many of the newer mechanics do not understand. Since I am not planning to resell this car, I’m not too concerned about the manufacturer’s warranty, however I would like the car to be fixed to a high standard. If the car is fixed, it might last longer than I had originally thought. I am looking at booking with the same mechanic who fixed the dents that came from the hail, so I know he does a good job.

Posted on

Boat Watching

‘Land, ho!’ came the cry echoing across the harbour. It was foggy still, so none of us could see the boats as they drifted silently across the water and into the dock.

‘Who is it, Mama?’ I asked quietly, squinting from the shore of the bay. ‘Is it Papa?

‘Hush, child,’ she said sharply, eyes straining against the haze. ‘We don’t know yet.’

‘Could it be Papa, Mummy?’ my little brother piped up, still playing with a pile of rocks he’d found.

‘Perhaps,’ she said – although she sounded hesitant even to my little ears.

Our neighbours, the baker and his wife, scrambled over the hill to appear next to us. She puffed as she stood next to my mother, concern etched in her eyes.

‘Is it true?’ she whispered. ‘Could it be them?’

‘It’s been months since we’ve seen their professionally applied fishing boat graphics,’ said the baker, in the sad tones of a would-be poet. ‘It isn’t likely.’

‘Oh, hush,’ his wife frowned at him, her expression softening as she looked back to my mother.

‘No, he’s correct,’ she said. ‘It is foolish to hope.’

‘Why is it foolish, Mama?’ my brother piped up. ‘Don’t you want to see Papa again?’

‘Oh, child,’ the baker’s wife quickly interjected, bending down to scoop him up. ‘Of course, your mother wants your Papa home, safe and sound.’

‘Of course,’ my mother repeated, eyes vacantly staring out into the fog. ‘I miss him… terribly.’

The baker grunted his approval, chewing on a pipe.

A wind came howling over the hill, mountain-cold and storm-fast. My mother quickly wrapped herself around me so I didn’t feel the worst of the chill. She stayed close to me as we watched it push the fog back slightly, thinning it out, until—

‘Now, where do you purchase a boat wrap like that?’ the baker whistled, as the large trawler in the bay came into view. ‘That’s one hell of a boat.’

‘Yes,’ my mother agreed, her voice trembling. ‘But no fishing vessel, that is for sure.’

‘I’m sorry, Mary-Anne,’ the baker’s wife put her free hand on my mother’s shoulder.

‘As I said,’ my mother hardened her posture. ‘It is foolish to hope.’

Posted on

Calling The Conveyancer

Settling into work on a Monday morning after a fun weekend is always a tough task. I swear I don’t actually start doing work until Tuesday. Monday is all about looking busy and trying to sort out all the life admin I neglected over the weekend. And trust me, there’s a lot of it. I spend my entire weekend out, having fun and socialising. There’s rarely any down time in between social catch ups and it’s the best feeling ever. I’m somehow an introverted extrovert and it means that although I naturally fall into the introvert category, I am extroverted with my friends and the people that I love. I get energy from being with them and I enjoy every moment of the weekend that I get to spend with them.

Okay, this has been a really long-winded introduction to my Monday morning slump. I’m hoping my boss doesn’t pay attention to me in the next twenty minutes when I give my conveyancing lawyers a call. I need to discuss my next property transaction with my conveyancer. I’ve been fortunate enough to get into the property market earlier than most of my friends which has meant that I can now afford to buy another house.

However, I would never make a transaction that large without talking to a conveyancer specialising in Brighton real estate, which is the suburb I want to buy in. I spend all my time either at work or out socialising with friends so I don’t have the time to do the research into suburbs like conveyancers do. That’s why I need to call my conveyancer as soon as possible.

I’ve successfully wasted two hours of company time sorting out my life admin left over from the weekend. I’m about to give the conveyancer a call and I’ll let you know how the conversation goes. I am still geared up on energy after the weekend!

Posted on

Renovations For Grandma

My grandma is getting really old. In the last few years since my grandpa died, I’ve watched her deteriorate both mentally and physically. She’s even told me that she’s ready for death whenever it is ready for her. That hurt to hear, but it’s also not unreasonable. She’s eighty-three years old and she has now lived without the love of her life for two years so it couldn’t be easy. I certainly wouldn’t want to live like that. 

We’ve tried making her final years a little bit easier by getting a renovations company to come in and perform some bathroom modifications for elderly people. They added a few handrails and did some other things that are considered to be elderly-friendly. My grandma has said that she finds them helpful. She says she likes that it’s a lot easier for her to get down to the toilet and up from it once she’s ready. She often says how unsteady she feels on a day to day basis, so it was nice to know that she feels steadier now. My poor grandma. Getting old would suck, but I think we can all agree that it’s better than the alternative. Although, I’m not sure that my grandma agrees.

If for no other reason than to make my grandma’s last few years more comfortable, I’m glad we got that bathroom renovations company operating in Melbourne to come and renovate her bathroom. It would be really difficult being old and not having your body move the way it used to. My grandma was never particularly sporty or athletic, but she was agile enough to be able to look after her kids and then look after her grandkids and keep up with them for many years. Poor grandma can’t keep up with us anymore, but now we’ve slowed down in order to match her pace. She used to do that for us so now it’s our turn to do it for her.

Posted on

Professional Tyre Service

On Friday the 13th, I’m going on a road trip with my boyfriend for our four year anniversary. As it’s such a spooky day, probably the spookiest day other than October 31st, we decided that we’d make our anniversary spooky themed. That means dressing up in scary costumes, and visiting the scariest-named suburb in Australia. Naturally, we’ve chosen Deception Bay as our destination, as the plot of almost every horror movie starts or ends with some kind of deception. 

To prepare for our road trip, my boyfriend took our car to get a professional tyre service. We wouldn’t want anything going wrong with our tyres during our road trip. We’ve got quite a bit of ground to cover before we even arrive at Deception Bay, and delaying that with any tyre issues would be less than ideal. We want to get to our destination as soon as possible so that we can celebrate our anniversary – it’s four years today since he first asked me to be his girlfriend! How sweet.

I’m hoping that during our trip, we don’t need any sort of emergency car service. Deception Bay, as I’ve said, isn’t overly close to where we live. We’ll have to travel about five hours to get there which could take its toll on the car. My car is definitely on the older side which is why my boyfriend really wanted to get a tyre service before we left. He’s just so thoughtful. I am proud and lucky to have him as my boyfriend. 

Anyway, we’re almost about to leave. I have completely checked out mentally from work and I don’t plan on thinking about anything other than our love for the next seventy-two hours. How exciting!

I’m seriously so consumed by our road trip that I can’t even be bothered to finish off this blog post. I’m just rambling now. How cute. My boyfriend still makes me tongue tied after all these years.

Posted on

Wintery Hardware Store Trip

It is a cold, cold morning in Cheltenham. People everywhere are calling in sick or telling their employers that they have no choice but to work from home.

One woman, in particular, is on the phone with her husband begging him not to drive in the weather. Julie is expecting and is at the stage of her pregnancy where she can no longer work. All she can do now is look after her body and do everything in her power to ensure the baby has a healthy last few weeks in the womb. She also has a significant amount of time on her hands to worry about her husband, who is well known for making dangerous decisions with no regard for his very fragile life. 

While on the phone to her husband, she begged him to turn around. To come home. Not to visit the hardware store in the Cheltenham area, the one just off that busy main road. She told him it wasn’t worth it and that if she had to raise their baby without a father because he was too stubborn to admit this was dangerous driving weather, then she would be mad at him forever. Unsurprisingly, based on his actions throughout their entire relationship, her husband refused to turn around. He insisted that they were in absolutely desperate need of a new batch of timber supplies. Cheltenham shops were so close to their house that he wouldn’t be long at all, he tried to reassure her. It was clear by her tone of voice that she was not reassured, but he was a grown man and she couldn’t force him to drive home to her. She just had to sit and wait for him to hopefully arrive home safely and even though she was not a religious woman, she would pray for his safety too. Julie knew that you could never be too careful when there’s a baby on the way.

Posted on

Wall Mounting The TV

My friend just bought an apartment! She’s twenty-four years old and I am so proud of her! What a massive achievement. Buying an apartment these days is pretty much impossible because the cost of living is so high. Property prices are designed to keep young people out of the market and it sucks. Against all odds though, she’s done it. I couldn’t be prouder.

Once her settlement finishes in August, she’s going to be moving straight in. She’ll be living alone which is crazy to me, but she’s an incredibly fierce and independent young woman and she’ll thrive being by herself. Even though she’s incredibly independent, I do want to help her where I can. I might pay for her TV wall mount installation as a housewarming present. That’s something that she’ll benefit from every day so it would be a really good present. Practical and something you don’t really want to have to pay for yourself – that’s the perfect gift, in my humble opinion. 

I can’t wait to celebrate this momentous occasion with my friend. She’s an absolute superstar and has achieved something so young. Something that some people literally never achieve. She’s the best! I wonder if she’ll need help sorting out her Foxtel change of address. Melbourne Foxtel owners have to let Foxtel know when they’ve changed their address to make sure that there is the appropriate Foxtel facilities at their disposal. It would be bad for my friend if she moved into her new apartment and there was nowhere for her to put her Foxtel box. I’ll make a mental note to ask my friend if she’s thought of all of this when I see her next.

My friend and I are going out for drinks tonight to celebrate her achievement. We’re going to celebrate hard because it’s not often that something like this happens. This is a once in a lifetime achievement!

Posted on

Tattoos and Tunnels

I crouched in the dust, waiting for the helicopters to pass by overhead. After a minute, they were gone.

‘That was too close,’ Brandon hissed behind me. I pressed a finger to my lips.

‘We don’t know who’s still out here,’ I mouthed back. He nodded.

‘You’re clear, fellas,’ a voice crackled over the radios secured in our ears. ‘Just a standard sweep, they weren’t looking for you.’

‘Thank god,’ Brandon sighed, collapsing against the side of the tunnel. ‘I’ve never been so stressed.’

‘Come on, we’ve got to keep moving,’ I told him, gesturing for him to join me at the mouth of the tunnel.

‘I need a minute, Jack,’ he shook his head. ‘This has been a hell of a day.’

I was about to protest, but I saw from the look on his face that it wouldn’t get me very far. I sighed and slung my pack off my shoulder, joining him on the ground.

‘Where did you get your tattoo?’ I asked abruptly, pointing at the sliver of his neck that was showing under the armour.

‘My…’ he looked confused for a moment. ‘Uh, that one was just a local tattoo shop in Brisbane. The others I got all over the place.’ He smiled wistfully, lost for a moment. ‘Usually whenever I travelled with my brothers, we’d all get a tattoo somewhere, to remember it.’

‘That’s fun,’ I nodded approvingly. ‘Your brothers, did they…’

He shook his head. The silence echoed through the tunnel.

‘What about you?’ he asked, after a minute or so.

‘Me?’

‘I’ve seen your ink back at base,’ he smiled slightly. ‘Where did you get it from?’

‘I knew a guy who knew a guy,’ I grinned cryptically. ‘Put me in touch with a traditional tattooist near me who I liked.’

‘Good work?’

‘Best in the business,’ I nodded. The silence returned.

‘How are you going?’ I eventually asked, and Brandon nodded.

‘I’m good, captain. Let’s keep moving.’

‘Good man.’

We picked up our gear and ventured back into the Outside.

Posted on

Car Birthday Present

I just had my birthday! It’s been an incredible day spent with my family and I’m about to leave my parents to go to my birthday party. Even though it’s my twenty-first birthday and my parents really wanted to be with me to celebrate, I had to tell them no. It would be too embarrassing to have them around when everyone is just trying to party and have fun. I’m also a bit shocked because the new car they alluded to hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve got my car service booked in for tomorrow afternoon so I’m not really sure what’s going to happen.

I’m starting to get a bad feeling that I’m going to have to call up the mechanic servicing the Cambridge area and cancel the appointment. I can’t really show up to an appointment without a car to service. That would be so embarrassing. Even my boyfriend is a little on edge about the fact that no car has arrived yet. Maybe my parents will have it taken to my twenty-first birthday party later this evening? How will they get it there if I haven’t invited them? I may have made a grave mistake. I’ll probably end up crying at my birthday party if my parents don’t surprise me with a car. That would be so embarrassing and it would ruin my birthday which I’ve been so excited for all week.

I just want a car with an advanced driver assistance system. Is that too much to ask?! My parents have been promising something similar for years now and it would be so unfair of them to just not deliver on the promise that they’ve made. I know they’re really disappointed that I’m not letting them come to my birthday party, but I’m a grown up now and that’s life! They need to accept that they can’t always be around me and that as I get older, they won’t be a part of my life as much.