Dear Sir.....to whom it may concern....

This is an open letter to the God of Rain.....

Please - PLEASE - Bugger off!

I've had more than enough rain to last me a lifetime, and seriously could do with a month or so break from the torrential downpours you have been sending my way of late.

And yes - I DID see the flood down the back today!

Please make it go away before it washes me, my dog, my cats and all my possessions away.

With kind regards,

One very annoyed (and decidedly WET) resident of Queensland.

Happy Easter and all that...

Yep, it's Easter again.

Somewhere about I have a story I wrote (with an Aussie twist) just for Easter a year or so ago. One of these days I might just find it again, and publish it....or not.

Now....Ceramix has asked me to do the "Are you Right Brained or Left Brained?" quiz thing from his blog, so I have, and here are the results (no surprise, really):

You Are 20% Left Brained, 80% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

If you want the link for the site it comes from, go to Ceramix's blog because he's got it on there!

I Made This!

Dam-per, (n):
Australian - a round, flat cake made of flour and water, and cooked over a campfire.

Obviously I didn't have a handy campfire around on which to cook this (which is done in the ashes, rather than on the fire itself), but it still came out a treat. Also, I am ashamed to say, I had no "cocky's joy" handy with which to spread it, either, but butter works just fine, so long as you don't forget the billy tea!

Either way, it is decidedly tasty, and made a very yummy lunch (only had a small wedge, meaning I have more left for dinner - yum!). I have a feeling, though, thst this is yet another Aussie thing that is likely to be unpalatable to the rest of the world, given I found one definition of it that described it as an "inedible lump of floury dough". Obviously not made by an Aussie, then! :)

NB: "Cocky's Joy" is what Golden Syrup is called in the Bush - NOT Maple Syrup - GOLDEN Syrup.

Things...

This is Petrie Train Station. I ended up here today, through no fault of my own. I went to Caboolture to do my shopping, as Morayfield shops (where I normally go) was flooded in from yesterday's downpour and I couldn't get through. Anyway...having done my shopping, and taken a chance to go to the library quickly, I went back to the train station to come home - not very far by train. The machine at the top of the stairwell told me that the train on Platform two, which was due to leave in less than one minute, was a Brisbane City All Stations train, meaning IT IS SUPPOSED TO STOP AT ALL STATIONS. Grrr. Bloody thing didn't, of course. So I had to wait until it DID stop, which turned out to be Petrie. Nowhere near where I live - in a totally different Shire even (though we don't call them Shires anymore).

When I got there, I ended up on the platform you can see in the photos. What you can't see is that the nice pretty stairwell with the elevator shaft and the sign that says Petrie (look at the top pic) is damn near invisible if you get off on the wrong side of it (the elevator, that is) and the stairwell is still being built.

Last year, a goods train plowed into Petrie Station, taking out one of the overhead walkways, half a platform, and most of the lines going in both directions. They've been rebuilding ever since. I was lucky enough to find a very nice young bloke who worked for Queensland Rail. After I explained my situation, and asked him where I needed to be and how to get there, he was more than willing to walk me to where the elevator was, and even told me when the next train going my way was due to arrive. Good Old QR! :-)

This station, before its little "accident" with the Goods Train, was very similar to Buranda Station before the fire of last Sunday. Although, I think the building at Petrie is probably older. You can see the little seating area fenced off in the last picture. All up and down the Sunshine Coast, the train stations look like that. Old and quaint. The side I had to change to is all new though now. None of the old buildings remain on the northbound side. Shame.

Either way, it made an interesting detour in an otherwise seriously stressy day....

:(

The Demise of Buranda Railway Station

Due to a stupid act of thoughtless selfish arson, Brisbane has lost one of its older-style railway stations. Buranda Railway Station, on the southern side of Brisbane, was burnt down on Sunday night by a teenage boy of 17 who lives at Loganlea. When he was up in court today, the judge (and rightly so) did not give him any leniency, and remanded him without bail.

I've been through Buranda Station. It was a lovely sweet older-style station. The railway line first went through Buranda station and others like it, weaving its way down to Cleveland in 1888. While I doubt that the timber and iron construction Stationmaster's Office, loos and sheltered seating area date back to that time, they are still old enough have been built back in the 1950s or earlier.

To have them destroyed in a raging fire is not only criminal, but also such a waste of what little bits of heritage Brisbane still has. Not to mention the total disruption it has caused commuters on an already heaving and overworked train network.

A new station will be a long time in the coming, although according to Queensland Rail, there will be a temporary structure on the platform by the weekend, and port-a-loos are already in place, as are railway staff to help commuters who have no other option but to use the station. It goes without saying that Queensland Rail have done a fantastic job in this situation (where others would no doubt have failed), and should be commended for such quick action in getting the station up and running again, even if only in the most rudimentary manner.

I hope the little shit who did this gets more than a fine and a slap on the wrist. Perhaps making him pay the cost that will inevitably fall to the taxpayers for the construction of a new station and replacement of everything lost would be a good start?

Grrrr...

The Cuteness That Is My Dalmatian

I had plans of posting an update on my current doings, but then as I was doing a bit of a clean up of old files, I came across some of my silly dalmatian when he was just a tiny puppy. Seriously, they are too cute NOT to share. But if this type of thing bores you, please feel free to skip this entry :-)

These pics were taken, for the most part, at the breeders, the day I went out to pick which puppy I wanted. In the end, he picked me, but that's another story! The only picture not taken at the breeders is the one of him asleep in his bed. Please note - he was so small when he first arrived, that the bed he is sleeping in belongs to my cats! He was smaller than they are, and they were quite happy to let him know that with the odd beating going on when I wasnt there to protect him. Only one of my cats (Female Velcro Twin) chose to befriend him and look after him, and they remain firm friends to this day. The rest of the cats just put up with his company, or, when they think I'm not looking, try and attack him (Mr Vampire Teeth), tease him with promises of sharing toys (Male Velcro Twin), or just plain do a battle of wits against him (She Who Must Be Obeyed).

Either way, enjoy the pics (or not!)

Is It St Patrick's Day (and March) Already???

Right about now, I'm struggling to even remember what day of the week it is, let alone the date...

But apparently it is St Patrick's Day - has been all day, in fact! So to those of Irish descent (and I am one of them), blah blah blah etc etc etc....

Sorry - just too tired to think straight at the moment.

I'm into my third week of university, my second week of having a skin allergy caused by something in my yard, and my first week of serious storms (in a while). The university studies are keeping me busy - doing a language, especially a foreign one, involves conjugating verbs among other things....

My itchy extremities aren't quite so itchy as they were last week, and are now mostly to be found on my hands....

And the dog (big sook that he is) came in last night due to the ripper storm we had. But he's in a sulk with me because he thinks I've been keeping him outside because I had another dog inside. What that translates as is - he saw his reflection in the mirror inside the display cabinet, and took it to be another dalmatian. Silly pup. He also saw himself on my webcam last night and thought it was yet another dog...

Dad tells me this is quite normal - he has a horse that spends inordinate amounts of time looking at his reflection in the window.

Animals are odd creatures :-)