Sunday, March 02, 2014

I'm back

So I got back really late Friday night, more like Sat morning, got back to the house 3amish it was. Plane delayed blah blah, my last day west was driving and waiting at the airport then flying. I had a brilliant trip. Lots of driving, which I really enjoy and lots of nature, after Perth.

I met Sarah Toa. What a woman. She took me to Fremantle and we put our feet in the Indian Ocean. She showed me the only building in town that could be the one from Winton's Eyrie. Sarah also showed me some beautiful spots outside Albany. We went caving, ate oysters fresh off the rocks (she had a pocket knife, of course, like a good bush-woman), swam, talked about sharks. I hugged a perfect-sized rock and it was sun warm and broad. I was feeling a bit homesick by then. I saw Grass Trees for the first time (formerly called Black Boys) and they were like something out of a book. A Dr Seuss book called The Lorax. At one beach we met a man Sarah knew who 'doesn't really do people' but who wouldn't stop talking to us, we had to pull away to get going again (I think he had about 2 years' worth of words stored up) and also William McInnes, whose chest Sarah tried to bite.

I kept finding myself talking aloud even when I was alone. 'Fuck, how gorgeous' and 'god, so beautiful.' It is a stunning part of the world.

I'm happy to be home, because even though I thought I could sneak across and not miss much here - quiet time of year and all that - it turned out I missed a bit. P had her prefect induction; she also had Art camp. Then Ali arrived, and there was a murder that my sister and bro-in-law were loosely connected to. She texted me the first Saturday I was away, and told me about it, amongst other things (also wanting to ask for more details about a thing our dad was caught up in 30 years ago, which I blogged about here before in my Bad '80s Diaries, now in drafts. Not sure if anyone will remember/have read about that.) I was spurred on in my homesickness too because Ali arrived Thursday and while P handled it, by the time I got back he'd been here, had gotten her keys from her, spent time here getting rugs out of the garage and spread them all around the back yard to air them out. Today he put some up on the flat roof part of the back of the house. I don't mind about the rugs, they are his, but to get keys to our house?

Sigh.

To complain that we'd put a couch in front of his rugs and therefore stopped the air circulation, which was starting mould.

Sigh.

To complain that I'd 'let the bank close his account' (because he hasn't been here three years, there was zero balance.)

Sigh.

And to ask me for a secondary card on my visa account. Because he had one before. When we were married.

Sigh.

As my husband said: he's got some balls. Seriously, I think the man is all testicle.

But at least he has his gf here, and at least I wasn't here to pick them up from the airport. So, all good.

Haven't been writing, have been struggling to read. P and I are re-watching True Blood. There's no publisher news to report, and while it's not killing me as much as this time last year, it's still a bit tough, the waiting.

We shall see. We shall see.

So I'll probably lie a bit low here for a week or so I think, as I catch myself up with real life, after my amazing time away. I'll be back a bit later. What's your news?



8 comments:

sarah toa said...

Goodness! So we all had some stuff, other than caves and fresh oysters going on. It's a dark, rich life, yes?

phoenixmummy said...

I love your husband's comment about Ali...balls indeed, sheesh! He's not staying with you is he? Good to see you are back. I've been living my life vicariously through the drama of my gay best friend splitting with his husband. What a drama! We shall catch up soon. Hugs.

sarah toa said...

Oh the green twine from cave beach? I was wondering about that tag. I'm gathering it was that piece of fishing net that I pulled out of the beach sand and slung into the bush. I used to make baskets from them, but otherwise just get them off the beach, from where they can get dragged back out to sea and strangle some unfortunate dolphin or shark.

Melba said...

No Sarah, the green twine was something I picked up, and have made a bracelet from, as well as one for my daughter. See new pic above.

And yes. Life is rich and dark.

Jo, NO he hasn't stayed with us since I've been living with Clokes, that would be too much. I've barely seen him so far, which is good. Shame about your friend and marriage. You'll have to tell me all when we get together. SOON!

suze2000 said...

Exes. *spits*

I hope he has less to say and leaves without further drama. Balls doesn't begin to cover it. Worst of all is to think you would give him a credit card??!! I'm actually speechless.

Alex said...

Hey Melbz, glad to hear you had such a nice time over in the West, and sorry you had to come home and cop grief from your ex. You didn't actually give him access to your credit account, did you? Granted, I don't know the bloke, but that seems to have trouble written all over it, no matter which way you slice it.

I'm still wandering about in the wilderness. It's very dry out here in places. Hungry beasts standing about in dusty paddocks without a blade of grass in sight. Some cockies are just shooting their stock.

Internet access is still non-existent most of the time. However, I'm in a good spot at the moment. And to answer your question from an earlier post, yes, on April 8 Microsoft stops issuing security patches for Windows XP; which means any vulnerabilities discovered after that date will never be fixed. It's a bit of a bugger for a lot of home and small-business users, with modest requirements, who are very comfortable with what they have. If you'd like, I'll try to do a non-techie post on getting Linux up and running.

Squib, how's things across the pond? Springtime over there at the moment, innit? How goes the renos?

They Seriously don't call black-boys black-boys anymore, huh? Well, I'll be.

Melba said...

Hey Alex, missed you. No way did I give him access to my credit account or anything else. Wasn't big grief, was just a jittery thing that I get, from association w/ aggression in the past. All fine now.

Hmm re linux, I don't think I could go there again. What are the other options? I'm not going Apple though.

Alex said...

I know you said earlier that you were preparing yourself for the money request. Good to hear you stuck to your guns!

Too late on the Linux thing though. I've already posted a basic how-to. Soooo ... it's there if you want it. Have you used Linux in the past? How long ago? You might find it better now, it's come a long way on the desktop in the last five or so years. Still not perfect by a long shot, but I like it alright.

Did you see any of Q&A tonight? I missed 4 Corners & Media Watch because I was on the phone, and since I've seen bugger all telly and the topic looked kind of interesting, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Nup. Lasted less than ten minutes. Was it always this shit, or is it me that's changed? I used to watch it religiously.