Yaaaawn! It's too early!

Yeah, in that weird state of being tired and wanting to sleep, but can't get to sleep. So, what do I do? Blog therapy!

At least I got some sleep this time round. Must've been close to six hours. Still not enough though. At least it wasn't the traffic this time round. Must say, it's a change not having 21 hour a day traffic buzzing outside one's window, or drunks, permanently bewildered people and substance abusers wandering around at random intervals either.

What I do have though, are two dogs that would keep a dog psychologist quite busy. One has just turned 16, the other, well, I don't know. They're poodles of some sort, possibly crossed with something else. They're both deaf, and the old white one is incontinent and quite possibly blind as well. The black one has an attention seeking problem. Last night, after I was in bed, it was scratching at the door trying to get into the room. If I go anywhere, it follows. If I eat/drink anything, it wants some, and sits right under my feet waiting for something. (Not working this time bud!) It regularly wants to go outside, then come back inside shortly after, so I just leave the back doors open. Easier that way. (Except, of course, when I'm sitting in the lounge to watch telly or a DVD, and want the air-con on.)

The joys of house-sitting. Apart from that, it's not too bad. On Tuesday (3rd Jan) when I got down here, my aunt showed me around the around the area (which I'm quite familiar with already, having passed through here a number of times for football matches last season), then went shopping. I look forward to having a walk around when it cools down a bit. The shops are only 20-25 minutes up the road. Suits me fine. Straight up the road, veer left, then turn left and I'm there.

I've got a nice long list of things to do (both personally, and from my aunt), which should keep me well and truly occupied for the 2.5 weeks that I'll be here. Then there'll be a few days at home, then Can Con. (At least I can afford to go this year!) My aunt's list has emergency contact numbers, tour itenery (she's doing a little sight-seeing whilst she's in Thailand for her son's wedding), instructions for the pets, watering the plants, etc. Nothing that I can't handle. I might even see if I can arrange to get the lawns mowed before she gets back.

I even have access to a lap-top (it's in better condition than my old one in Gosford at least), and have installed one or two things (like Open-Office) so that I can do a few things whilst I'm here. It can't handle Blood Bowl LG or Rome Total War (video controller problems again - sigh) and there is so much junk on this machine that I don't really have the room to install them anyway. (At least it can handle Java Carcassonne and Colossus, the computer version of the old Avalon Hill "Titan" board game which I've taught myself how to play.) The 'net connection is good, so at least I can surf the web, download stuff, etc. and there's a printer/scanner as well, which I've already used. Just have to remember to remove my stuff off the hard-drive before I leave here. (I can't very much delete other people's files, but I did remove some un-essential software that they had accumulated to get a bit of extra space, and cleaned up the hard-drive of electronic junk. Had to be careful though, the laptop belongs to the aunt's boyfriend's mother, a local church elder... )

Anyway, I'll get there. Rod is planning to come over at some point, and I have already been invited over for dinner at a cousin's place nearby, so there's a couple of things to look forward to. Just got to survive the dogs...

At least there's cricket to watch on the telly (oh man, we are hammering them in the second test - co Clarkey!), and there'll be opportunities to zip back to the coast for a Mariner's match. Yesterday, despite the 38/39 degree heat, I managed to get all my laundry done that I lugged down with me. I have even started to scan material belonging to my parents, especially my father's family history stuff. (And there's a lot of it.) I'm taking time out to read, and keeping my private journal up-to-date. I am treating this as a holiday - the first one that I have had in seven years...

Right, I feel that I am sufficiently tired enough that I'll doze back off. Both dogs are asleep as well (unless, of course, I move out of the room... )

Cheers!