Saturday Skinfest

You guys need your skinfest, I know.  I'm getting better at getting back on the blogging train so bear with me as we hit these speed bumps known as life.

Michael Witt is totally Photoshopped.  Do I care?  Not really, no.

Somehow Billy Slater makes falling off a surfboard look graceful.  I barely noticed the pansy-ass wave he was surfing.

Travis Burns wants to know if the sharp delineation between his torso and hip looks weird.  Yeah, kinda looks like a Ken doll but so long as he doesn't share Ken's other anatomical abnormalities it's all good.

Photo Friday

A few weeks ago I went with a group of friends on a Ghost Tour of the Brisbane CBD. It wasn't particularly scary but there were two great things about it. One was the tour itself - our guide stayed in character, giving the walking tour an appropriate creepy air, and he was very knowledgeable about the history of the buildings we saw. The second was Drunken Zombie Guy:

Drunken Zombie Guy was not part of the tour as a type of cheap prop.  It was the day of the Zombie Walk in Brisbane and we came across several zombies still wandering the city when we took our tour.  DZG came into our group as we stopped outside Pancake Manor and took a liking to me.  He was harmless enough and went off to find some brains to consume after he kindly posed for this photo.  Thanks DZG, I hope the brains helped your hangover the next day.

Click and Collect

In preparation for the new job going to 5 days a week from February, I decided I needed to find ways to make more time in my schedule.  Since I haven't been able to convince The Hermit of the need to contract out the cooking and cleaning, I started looking for other ways.  I started with online shopping.

Now we've all done online shopping at one time or another.  OK maybe your great-aunt Mabel hasn't but that's only because she still has an AOL email address that she uses to send you chain letters about how Bill Gates will make you rich by forwarding emails to everyone you know and can't work out why great-uncle Abner visits all those website that start with 'xxx' but you have.  Shopped online that is, as well as keeping your uncle's secret (hello - have you seen Auntie Mabel?).  We've shopped for shoes, or books, or jewellery, or a last minute gift for someone or for ourselves.  I bought our new robotic pool cleaner online, saving several hundred dollars.  Online shopping is old hat.

But I took it a step further.  I decided to do my grocery shopping online.  I used to care for a patient who, at one point, was coming in daily for treatment and during her 3-4 hour stays would use some of that time to grocery shop.  It peaked my curiosity, and she raved about it.  I read that many people saved not only time but money by not impulse buying.  But would it really be as good as it promised?  Would they give me the dodgy bananas or the milk that's only a few days away from its use by date?  Would they check the eggs?  And I really didn't like the idea of a 2-3 hour delivery window; I hate waiting for that sort of thing.  However how could I write it off if I didn't try it.

I logged on to Coles Online and I discovered I could pick up my groceries at one of the stores that, while not my local Coles, is on my way home from work.  Squee!  Seriously, I got excited about that.  One, I didn't have to wait for the delivery truck and two, there was no charge for collection (unlike delivery which ranged from $5 to $13).  I decided to give it a go.

I had been warned ordering the first time could be a bit arduous.  Everything - from the milk to the bread to the ice cream - needed to be found either by searching the virtual aisles (all text, no photos) or typing your item.  The warning was not exaggerated - it took me over an hour to find my modest order of ~ 35 items.  I could either pay online with my credit card or via EFTPOS (debit card) when I collected it.  Another win since I don't like using my credit card unless I have to.  I could allow for substitutions of my items; for example if they were out of my brand of apple juice they would use another brand but charge me the lower price.  Score!  And collecting my order was easy as.  Pull up to the collection door, ring the buzzer and gave my name and a couple of minutes later they were loading my groceries into my car.

My second go was much easier.  I simply pulled up my "master list" and with a few clicks had ordered the majority what I needed inside of 15 minutes.  Oh yeah - I'm hooked.  I am spending less money by not only avoiding impulse buys but by being able to get up and look in the pantry to see if I really need another bottle of tomato sauce.  I'm still able to use my rewards card and I still get the fuel discount vouchers.

I have only one real complaint, having done this a few times now.  The sheer number of plastic bags used is beyond ridiculous.  Last week I bought dental floss - just one roll of floss - and it was the only item in its bag.  It was not the first time it occurred but so far it does win the award for Stupid Bag Packaging.  I would be willing to pay a deposit for 'x' number of totes that I could swap each week in order to save on plastic bag use.  However this is my only real complaint and I recycle the bags anyway so it's certainly not enough to put me off the experience.

Reclaim your time and save your money!  I strongly recommend giving online grocery shopping a go.

Nom Nom Nom

Summer is back with a vengence.  Just a week or so ago it was cool enough at night to need a light jumper or scarf across the shoulders.  And now I'm sweating just breathing.  Luckily I found something to make the nights a little more tolerable:

This could be the start of a beautiful relationship.

I Have Issues

On the weekend I went to a lovely wedding of my good friend Megs (pronounced 'Mee-gs' - long 'e' there).  The bride was absolutely gorgeous, I went with a group of co-workers from the chemo unit who are also good friends and lots of fun and I drank way more than I should have.  It was a fantastic night, as evidenced by this photo:

Now what do you see when you look at this picture? You see Yours Truly there on the left, followed by Nessie, Megs and Megs' sister who was the bridesmaid and did not know the insane chemo nurses who were drunk off their asses and was no doubt wondering who were these people her sister invited to the wedding but I'm just going to smile.  To be honest with you I can't really remember what I found so hysterically funny... Did I mention the wedding was at a winery?  But no doubt you see a group of ladies having a good time.

And so do I... for about 5 seconds.  Then I get incredibly self-critical.  I start to pick out all my flaws and it starts to ruin what really is a great picture of my mates.  It takes a lot of effort - seriously - to give myself a mental upper cut and say "Look you dope - no one else is looking at those flaws.  Shut up and sit down."  And it's an ongoing battle, with my eyes straying to those zones and wanting to delete the thing because I don't like my body very much.

I'm not fishing for compliments here, really.  But as someone whose tragically low self-esteem (thanks middle school bullies) led to some bad personal choices in my teens and 20s it's not something easily put aside, despite the confident face I normally wear these days.  It's a struggle to not just accept my body but to love it, even if it's just a little bit.

So I'm going to look at that picture and see it for what it is - fun.  If only I could remember what was so damn funny.

Dear Spammers

Stop flooding my blog with your shit. If that's how you think to earn a living you are deluded. Now piss off.

Love,
Mooselet

I'm now going to divert myself - and by extension you - for a few moments with the only type of spam that should be allowed: