defining moment

I just had a defining moment... one that has been creeping up on me for awhile, as I prepare for my annual visit home.

See, I've been getting a bit of anxiety when people ask about my travel plans. The answer is something like "We'll be in Sydney, then head up to the reef then back to SF on 7th July". It's the bit where I say 'back to SF' I get stuck with... I almost write "back HOME on 7th July" just about every time.

Just then I needed to fill out some passenger information for the airline - one question asks what is your current address, and what is your destination address. On my last visit home, I put both as my parents' address in Sydney.

This year... my current address is SF.

I guess this is home for me right now.

politically incorrect observations

Lately my journey home has taken a dangerous turn - the N-Judah has a pervert on board, and I've seen him 'in action' so to speak. So yesterday I was extra careful, keeping my extremities to myself and trying to stay discreet - which proves to be pretty difficult since the train was so crowded.

But last night I faced another kind of frusteration... see, I was squished up next to a guy who suffers from uncontrollable twitching. Not just a small twitch, but his head jolts, shoulders, legs. Everything at once.

There is no politically correct way to address this so here it goes - I am very sorry that you have this condition, but it was really freaking me out.

After looking this up... it seems there are a lot of misdiagnosis for the condition so I do really wish him well.

can it really happen?

Forgive me Diary for you have been neglected. It's been 6 months since I last blogged, in which time much has happened.

For starters, I now live with JS and have tolerated his almost-obsessive love for nuts and electrical wires. In exchange I torment him with positioning of the dishwasher hose. Smelly Cat is becoming more adorable everyday so that's a blessing - she is incredibly trainable, and has even learnt to be a living alarm clock (she taps me on the arm, with her paw, 3 times. No really, she taps you like nudging you with a finger).

With the new apartment, there is a change is commuter route - which is, of course, one of my favourite topics of discussion. I now take the N-Judah (or the bus, on the morning I want to breath) and when packed like sardines, some seemingly innocent behaviours become really, REALLY annoying.

Like this morning, a couple (not so young, maybe late 20s/ early 30s) was necking for the entire journey to Downtown. There were at least 4 people standing within millimeters of them. I kid you not... it was all out, tongue and everything.

I had the vantage spot right behind the girl (who was 5'2 so I could see EVERYTHING over her head). I am fairly sure it made my fellow work commuters equally uncomfortable, and I weren't prepared to say out loud that they should have gotten 'relieved' before they left the house...

Moral of this story: PDAs are only appropriate when there is 1 ft or more between you/ your PDA buddy and the next person.

nuts about bananas

Yes, purely objective comment… but bananas would absolutely be one of the most versatile foods in the world.

I had to live through a banana famine to figure this out. That’s right – a banana famine. In March 2006, several major cyclones swept through northern Australia – where 95% of Australia’s bananas were grown. In just a few weeks bananas were the equivalent of USD 12 p/lb.

A simple loaf of banana bread – a favorite of mine – became too costly of an exercise… especially when my preferred recipe calls for 2 & 1/3 cups of mash bananas.

I read this great news article during the banana famine… it is the food that takes you cradle to grave. You can feed this potassium rich fruit to infants, and when you lose your teeth from all that processed sugars we eat… you can still down a banana easily. Bananas come in its own handy packaging, and to be perfectly frank the taste coming ‘up’ is about the same as going down (learnt that one when I used to get severely sea sick).

So yes, I’m a fan. I bake it, fry it and eat it as is. It goes as well with savory dishes (Hawaiian BBQ) as well as sweet (caramel fried bananas at Chinese restaurants).

Absolutely not a fruit to be under estimated.

So what prompted this out pouring of banana love? I baked one of my famous banana breads for work today. It was demolished within an hour.

Initiative overview: Project Pengu

Project Pengu

Vision: Save money and rescue penguins via greater resource conservation

Objective: To purchase a reasonably priced refrigerator to replace vintage model in current home within 2 weeks

Background: Current month's electricity bill sky rocketed to a very large sum. Whilst it is partially an administration error by PG&E, HH has agreed to utilise this opportunity to implement ways to reduce energy consumption and upgrade appliances to more energy efficient model where possible.

Actions: Research and select desired fridge models through recognised, informative websites. Cross reference with Craigslist and retail pricing. Wash and repeat.

Selection criteria (in order of importance):
- Price
- Same size as allocated kitchen space
- Improved energy efficient from current fridge
- Ascetically pleasing
- Proximity to home - convenient to transport back to apartment


Budget and expectations:
$400-500 is a solid amount for second hand fridge. It will unlikely be new. Delivery approx $60 additional

hmmm HOW to tell a relative no...

A relative sent me a necklace for my birthday. Very nice, choker style, silver with cubic zirconia charm of a cross.

So I know people wear crosses a fashion accessory... but I've never been a fan and would really want to keep that symbol as a sign of church, religion etc. With the way the world is, I would rather not have to wear it and deal with people thinking 'gee I didn't know she's religious'. For heaven's sake half the things I do would point to NOT being so church choir girl!

As I didn't want to have that necklace on my shelf - I wrote back to my relative and said the above. Some people say it might have been less trouble to just keep it and not wear it. But why bother carting around stuff I don't want? At the end it'll end up in the Goodwill bin, or as a recycled gift to someone. Either way, that's not fair to the person who got it for me in the first place.

I have a suspicion my relative liked the necklace herself... that formed my decision to send it back. It's not being ungracious about gifts, but just being honest in that it did not fit into my own philosophy.

On the other hand I ought to have learnt to pick my battles better... eek.

I might have, er, bought cereal made by peace lovin hippies

So I went to the shops for groceries yesterday. Just to the local supermarket since I was still coughing up a lung, and weren't really energetic. To be fair, the Cole Valley grocer is quite well stocked. It has a fresh meats section, a mainly organic veggie stand and quite a big selection of breakfast items.

I wanted to stock up cereal for breakfast, and didn't want something sugary so went for the Granola. They only had one kind of granola..

It wasn't till this morning that I realise I bought something called Peace Granola. It is made by the Golden Temple of Eugene, Oregon... a non-profit peace organisation founded by Yogi Bahjan.

Whilst I have no problem with promoting peace etc, I do have a problem with the label 'peace'. It is an all encompassing word that isn't anywhere close to being a SMART objective. Peace requires step by step action, with chanting and meditation needing to work hand in hand with things that cause an effect.

Anyhooo... it's just my way of saying I am just not so sure the notion of peace on my cereal made me feel good. In fact, it made me question whether my financial contribution (through purchase of this cereal) was the right step towards peace.

PS - it's pretty tasty granola