Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Soduko

So my new name for a new game is based on Sudoku. Small and subtle spelling difference better explained by Sod U Ko!

For some time I have been peeved at the stupid game 'taking over the world'. I'm sure it is because I have not given it a go really but the weird thing is - I like numbers but this game just seems ridiculous and not worth understanding.

The other thing I dislike is those who are passionate about it, what does it bring them, mind stimulation? Ok but so does reading, what does this add?

So, on a recent flight from the Sunshine Coast I turn to my in-flight magazine and for once the crossword and games page was not already filled in by the previous passengers.

I did the 20 question quiz, quite enjoyed that but then Sudoku appears. What to do.

Well I've got it. Fill it in. Don't play the game but pretend to look studiously at the grid and fill in the numbers, randomly. Don't repeat the numbers from 1-9, even this fun "look I'm good at Sudoku and a bit of a wanker" game has rules... and the joy is you can fill in at speed, rattle through the various grids in front of you, make it look easy and then really annoy the person who next sits in your plane seat.

Imagine the look of disdain as the next Sudoku fan turns to find your scribblings, tut tut they say... what was this person thinking.

Well they were thinking that maybe this was a bit of fun in a world full of toss pots and they rather wish they'd seen your face when you worked out they were messing with your page. Or maybe they'd just say: Sod U Ko!

Whatever, give it a go, particularly if you can't face the crossword!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Upside Down Tumble dryers

There are a number of things about the prevalence of tumble dryers in Australian households that used to disturb me that only after 3 years am I getting to understand.

1. Australia is a hot country, by and large, unlike the UK. So why does every new unit (read flat) have a tumble dryer provided by the landlord as a matter of course?
2. Why is said tumble dryer most often on the wall upside down?

Answers:
1. Australia is hot, even its winters are warmer than the UK but most places don't have central heating; something lots of homes in the UK do. One obvious use of that central heating is to prevent you freezing your bits off in winter however a by-product, condensation and all, is that central heating dries your clothes indoors. So no central heating = no clothes' drying mechanism, hence the need for a tumble dryer. Part B answer is that lots of unit blocks don't allow you to put your washing on the balcony outside, so how else do you dry your stuff with no indoor heating system?

2. They put them on the wall above the laundry sink or space for the washing machine, as a space saver. But as most people do't have easy access to the dials 6feet up in the air they turn the machine upside down. This then means that the instructions and dials are upside down. In my 3 short years here though I've seen some smart manufacturers turning the dials around so they look correct when the machine is turned on tis head. Clever!

My only worry now is, does the machine work upside down as well as it would the correct way up, I mean you wouldn't put the washing machine in upside down now would you?

Monday, December 14, 2009

I just love Now ...

I've calculated that it has taken 26 years to get to Now that's what I call music ...74. That's almost an average of three editions of the fabulous pop compilation each year since December 1983.

I actually went on a Geography field trip to Scandinavia in the summer of 1984, happily clutching the cassettes of volumes 1 and 2. Volume one actually contains Men at Work, probably my first taste of the place called Australia!

Every so often I find myself craving the next dose of Now. What has made it, although there are some songs that should never make it, to the illustrious Now stage I ask myself? From Australia I tend to look at Amazon.uk and order a batch load of the Nows. The pleasure I get in listening to the tracks that are gracing Radio 1 or Capital Radio makes me nostalgic.

As I type this I'm listening to Now 72. I hope Now never stops, it is the only thing I do with any regularity that is a link to the UK. I don't get nostalgic for M&S but the music and dancing scene is something that I still remember with fondness, even pop!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

No vote

Being interested in politics can create anxiety, usually about the decision or indecision of those elected. However, this is not my anxiousness. No, mine is the frustration of not being able to vote in a country where it is compulsory to do so.

Residents (like me) can't vote, only citizens. Now I'm not saying that that is bad but for someone like me who spent a few years in UK politics and thinks that it is the most interesting part of current affairs, No Vote is a chore.

In my research I've also found that I can't actually join the political party that I want to (or ones that I don't want to either) because I'm not a citizen. This is doubly annoying as they really need my help, well any help and I'd like to give them some of my time. Do you think there is space for a ring in?

In 2007 I watched the federal (general) election and got all excited about it but had a sobering moment when I remembered, after a few glasses of bubbles, that I had played no part in the outcome.

For now I watch the daily news and the peaks and troughs of the political scene and look forward to the day when I can have some small influence on the outcome, until then I'll just smile sweetly and say "well it's not my fault, I didn't vote for them!"

Monday, November 23, 2009

Undertaking the artform

OK, now this is going to be a rant. On Aussie roads the art of undertaking is so finely developed that having been here almost three years I'm starting to think it is me that is at fault. Happily changing between lanes, thinking about the road ahead, checking over my shoulder etc. Wow if I didn't I'd have been in hospital numerous times by now.

Up ahead I see my turn, moving with caution across to the middle lane, checking as I go, but wait I'm not breaking the speed limit, the car behind me can't get past cos the guy in the outside lane isn't either. What to do, oh I know says the stupid idiot behind me, "I'll undertake". At speeds that test my ageing reflexes the supercharged Commodore zips into the inside lane, despite my blinker flashing my intent, over my left shoulder I check, "hey, what was that, that lurid orange thing, looked like metal, could it be a car?"

Well yes it was, no surprises there, and an accident narrowly avoided, thank the lord I learned to drive in the UK. Seriously what happened to defensive driving, if you want to get past me think ahead, look at the roads conditions and the drivers around you and plan your course.

A friend of mine who works at the RTA has a theory about Aussie drivers. She thinks that because most cars are automatic, they can do little else but point and press the gas. Anything more challenging on the intellect they treat like an arcade game. I have to say I think that's a reasonable deduction but other suggestions are welcome!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

a foot in both camps

The simple issue is that I am terribly proud of being British (will have to work out why and explain this to you I know) but am delighted that I am a resident of Australia. An ex once said to me "now you'll always have a foot in both camps"... I'm wondering still whether to believe her? In its harsh reality does this mean I'll never been home again? Or does this mean that'll have the best of both worlds?

She spent 12 years in London and we came to Australia for her to return home and for us to start a new life. We all live predicatable lives or lives of routine far too quickly. Did anyone ever see the film "About Last Night" with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, I'm telling you you'll need to brush up on your Gen X references for this to be remotely relevant. Anyway, in it this couple get together and after a while have a routine, which is articulated in beautiful naffness when they explain to a friend that Tuesday night is "sandwich night", the night when neither of them cook! See routine.

Anyway, I realise that now I'm on my own and living in Sydney that I've not delved into its recesses the way I did in London. Sydney is now my home, so this blog will be sharing some of my exploits as I try and make sense of it all. Tonight another single friend and I are going to a gallery opening in Waterloo, shall I drive and not drink or drink and not drive. It'll be about how lazy I am come 6pm! And you know what's different about that decision in Sydney over London? I'd be getting p1ssed in London cos no one drives to work!