For those people who are still asleep at that time of morning, or wanting to be asleep, they're in luck. Yesterday Queensland Rail introduced the "quiet carriage". Customers (gives it a very commercial feel) will be asked not to have loud conversations or use mobile phones, portable music players and other noisy devices in the last carriage of all train services. So I didn't sit there - didn't want the tapping on the iPad screen to upset people. Or the chattering of teeth - because it had turned quite cold after I left Latimers and it was freezing by the time we made it to Brisbane.
It was reportedly a quiet day at Latimers except for Jenny who rang to say she was going to be late, but was on time besides that. And there's no denying that she does do a good job (once she's here). S said she was a bit chatty today though.
S is watching lifestyle programs again tonight and I am watching a movie on the iPad - "Rogue" - which is about some day-trippers in the Northern Territory whose boat is attacked by a rogue crocodile. They are presently stuck on a tidal island in the middle of a very lovely lake at night ... and you can hear the crocodile coming closer ... (The song over the closing credits? "Never smile at a crocodile".)
It reminds me of the story I was reading today about Bozo the Clown whose memoirs included stories of him running for president, bonding with dangerous cannibal tribes in New Guinea, and escaping from being swallowed whole by a "murderous python in Thailand thanks to his size 83 AAA clown shoes".
Uncharacteristically, Maggie is sleeping on the table and all the others are in as well, and it's not even 9.30pm. Pearl is not as ravenous as we feared she may be although she has been pretty good of tooth today. S managed to feed her her steroids and antibiotics hidden in a piece of mince this evening (and our spaghetti bolognese was very nice too).
We obviously weren't having what Poh was cooking tonight - it had a Russian theme - Piroshki which she and her French pastry-chef mate dipped in Borsht. (Have I mentioned how much all of us at Latimers are missing O's cooking?)
S made sure I was watching the report on television this evening which talked about some businesses specifically looking to employ older workers - those that are over 55. At that point she also got to asking if I was one of the oldest people working at the site. This is truly something I had not thought about until that moment - especially as S started rattling off names of people who she was fairly sure are younger than I. Looks like I'm going to have to ask people - I think there might be one or two who are older ... just (and even if there aren't - heh heh - there may be).
No firm word on what's happening about a decision regarding Government yet although Ms JG has said she's preparing to sit down to talk with the Independents. These are the same Independents who have drawn up a number of points that they want to discuss with both sides before they make a decision about who they will help to form a Minority Government. Included in their list of 'to talk to's is Ministers and Shadow Ministers and they want to drill them (or is that "grill them") about their plans for government and also how they will ensure that the Government will stay to the full three-year term. They also want to compare Treasury costings for the election promises/policies which will be difficult in the first instance since Liberal's haven't been (following the pre-election leak of their first lot of costings). They chose to rely instead on certification by independent accountants. Hmmm ... interesting times ... and even more so is the number of commentators who are coming out to say what a good thing a hung parliament is for the country.
Beazley continues to amaze us with his skills. He almost scared the living daylights out of S last night when she went through to the bathroom. She must have woken him - and he must have stood on one of the remote controls because S was assailed by a sudden wave of loud music. I slept through the whole thing - which is why M, L or C will have to knock very loudly when the time comes for the foal, although hopefully Pearl's barking to let us know they are here will help.
Otherwise all is well at Latimers. We are very much looking forward to a three-day weekend with Show Day. I'm sure I read somewhere that Bernie's is sponsoring a pet show there and if there are any freebies we will be sure to pick some up ... unless it's actual pets in which case we won't since that might upset the six already ensconced at Latimers!
