They, being the nurses that they are, will be pleased to hear that, contrary to reports earlier this week, there is no Swine Flu pandemic on the Gold Coast. Fewer than 100 people have contracted it this Winter.
Well, Show Day has been fantastic. Latimers had a late start to the day - well, some of us anyway. S had already been up and fed the cats, Pearl, and Emma by the time my eyes opened.
My first job for the day was to get the internet back up and running. Seemed like it should be doable given there was a new modem to connect, all new cables to try out, and the splitters. Alas, no go but being Friday the Faults Department was taking calls and promising second level technical support within six hours. Leaving a mobile number so they could make contact we set out for our second breakfast at Crave (that would our second breakfast at Crave as opposed to our second breakfast today). We had a feeling that we wouldn't be bumping into anyone coming out of the Brazilian Butterfly - given that it's a public holiday and the only person we know who goes there is currently overseas!
We had a great breakfast although someone was being very picky and particular about their order - but it's important to do that if you know exactly what it is you feel like and, despite suggestions otherwise it really wasn't anything to do with developing peculiar eating habits - well no more than usual.
We postponed our visit to the Show, movies and other outings until the weekend deciding instead to have a quiet day at home with the kids. And very pleasant it was too. Sooz had an afternoon nap while I watched "Meet Dave" ... as _____* (and it's hard to find the right word there) as the reviews had said - although it did have a couple of good points. (*Maybe it was "bad" or "formulaic")
The warm weather has returned and it is truly wonderful to sit outside and lap up the sunshine - especially when you know the mowing has already been done - and you can live with not doing the bit where Hermes had been standing until tomorrow or the next day.
It may fast be approaching "shredding day" - which comes when I begin to feel my desk is so crowded with paper that I have to get rid of it somewhere ... and that's usually not in the filing system. It's amazing what you find though especially if you decide to clean out a handbag as well - a betting ticket for the 17th July for UB, two pillow chocolates from Jupiters, a few Roulette cards, Strata meeting agenda, a worksheet for R's last homework assignment on populations (the results this time on the three parts: Great, Great, Good - we're getting better - or are more suited to Geography than Mathematics). Oddly, there's something quite soothing about having a good paper purge.
The internet issue remains unresolved. Following no follow-up by level 2 tech support, we rang them and after line checking, system checking, and other types of checking, they were able to tell us that the internet stopped working for us at 6am yesterday. So ... their tech asked ... had we done anything then to "break it" - these were not his exact words - but might as well have been. After pleading ignorance and innocence, he said they couldn't tell what was wrong remotely but it seemed as though we had done everything "right" as far as troubleshooting was concerned - and they would need to send a tech out to check. This might happen over the weekend; it might not. (Isn't it great that "tech" has entered the English language!) So we are still without effective Skype communications with the world - although we are able to use the 3G-enabled devices to spread the word that we are still here and all is well at Latimers.
The search for a Government continues - although what that search may look like varies. Some politicians, including Bob Brown from the Greens have suggested that Mr Abbott is seeking to force a second election. He emphatically rejects the notion - which, coming from a politician, leaves me totally unsure if he means yes he does want a second one, or no he doesn't. How well the Liberals "play" with the three rural Independents in coming days will give more of an indication. It would be interesting to know if this situation has previously happened in Australia and if there are any constitutional precedents in such a situation.
Can't help wondering how much longer the resolution will take - after all, it will have been a week since the election tomorrow.
