Gosford – 1994ever

Entitled to an opinion?
Constantly talking shite
Does Everyman exist?
And what of his plight?
Doing the dishes again
Through lace curtain windows
Post-work pub crawl
Where good gossip flows
Ideas getting bashed out
From a giant ball of clay
Slowly returns to mud
With every word they say
Everyone a stereotype
Every opinion counted
Even in opposition
A culture war is mounted

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good but I can tell that I’m a little exhausted at the end of the week again. This day is weird. Teach first thing and then wait four hours to teach again. I can fill the time easily enough it’s just the up and down of the tension in my body.

Today I’m grateful for:

Mum’s soup again. I got home a bit late and I could see a storm coming. I wasn’t sure what I was going to eat and thought I could quickly dash to the market to find something. Just as I put my keys in my pocket after getting changed some rain came, not too much but it didn’t look like it was going to stop anytime soon. A quick double-check of the freezer and there waiting was Mum’s soup. Great. Adding salt, pepper, dried garlic, chilli in vinegar, crunchy dried gluten with dried chilli and kaffir lime leaves, defrosted and piping hot, it sure hit the spot.

The best thing about today was:

Being happy and contented at school so much that even after I finished my own class I joined another where I knew some students and helped them a little before bumping into other students all stopping for a chat or calling me over. There were some students from another school and I realised one was a girl (Gift) I met here a couple of years ago. I never taught her but she always wanted to talk with me when she saw me and slowly I got to know her and her friends. I didn’t know she’d moved schools and was now at the Technical College doing something related to cooking. Her English is still poor so I couldn’t get much more than that. She has a positive attitude though and should be able to do well for herself. It was good to catch up.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

The rhythm of the day has seen me run out of energy again and although I feel happy I also seem a little grumpy (to myself). Like not quite right. The buzz of the classes at the ends of the working day have made it feel like a very stop-start affair, almost two days in one but with no sleep between them.
Matt messaged me about a new restaurant near him and wondered if I might come over to check it out. My feeling is not to do anything this weekend, then I considered that I could go on Sunday but then pushed myself to go tomorrow instead. Sometimes I have to kick my own ass to get myself moving.
Amy also called from the Star Casino bar where she was having a great time drinking and dancing by herself, though enjoying the acquaintance of others there. For me though I was feeling a little annoyed at being called many times but I also realise that she misses me being there with her (even though I wouldn’t have likely been at that bar with her). I appreciate her happiness and enjoyment of her life and know that my mild annoyance is irrational. I need a sleep and I’m already thinking about tomorrow morning’s coffee!

Something I learned today?

I was listening to an interesting podcast with Peter Hessler whose books about China I have read or to read here (as well as his wife’s book Factory Girls). They left China in 2007 but a few years later after having twins decided to live in Cairo, Egypt just at the time of the violent colour revolution there. Besides that, what was interesting there was his discovery of the Chinese diaspora there, how they ended up there, how they became leading plastic recyclers or women’s lingerie sellers and the differences and appreciation of each other’s cultures.

When do I feel most alive?

At age 55 it definitely isn’t on Friday nights anymore! I suppose it would be at school being with my students, not necessarily teaching them but just chatting and understanding.
Back in Sydney, I remember talking with friends about my possible futures at the time and that I was thinking of becoming a barista (which I soon did) and perhaps an English teacher (which I eventually did). My friends said they thought that I would make a great teacher though I didn’t really know why they thought that. Maybe they could see something that I couldn’t. They didn’t imagine me as a barista though admittedly at the time barista was judged similarly to hipster.
When I think back even further I remember the time in Gosford in 1995 when Bronwyn and I got stoned and ended up at her friend’s youth club that night much to my dismay and initial reluctance and then after getting over my paranoia (it’s not easy to get lost in thought surrounded by 100 teenagers in a room) having a memorable night of enjoyment that has stuck with me ever since.

I took this picture because this is the result of the plant/tree sap dripping on me the other day. It’s cleared up a bit now, after blistering a little in places but I expect it to stay red in places for maybe three or months and will get itchy in the next week or two. I should try and find out more information about what the plant actually is.

17th July 2023 – With my new iPhone I was able to use the Look Up function for the picture of the plant. It is Euphorbia tirucalli (known as Indian tree spurge, naked lady, pencil tree) and the latex sap is poisonous and can indeed cause temporary blindness!

Today is so hot, skin is melting. The wind burns as it blows, it’s nearing fifty in the sun. It’s too hot to do anything!

Broni, unfortunately, is away in this heat travelling on the trains up to Gosford for a job interview, I don’t envy her as I swim for a couple of hours at the pool, bare feet burning on the tarmac on the walk home.

With most everything packed up already I sit and play cards or tidy up a little more. Broni gets back later and we go to pick up the rental truck which is like the hugest thing I’ve ever driven and it seems ok, I turn out the first corner and head up to the lights and can’t find the brake, the taxi cab in front gettting closer, looking shinier and newer the closer we get, inching forward in a slow free fall, like slow motion replay, brief flashes of the thousand dollar excess hit my brain as I reach for the handbrake, not in the customary, by the seat position but at the dashboard, I’m reaching, Broni’s screaming, we’ve only been in the truck two minutes arggghh, pull the handbrakes, our hearts are pounding, God knows how far the bullbars were away from the shiny boot of the red and white taxi but we made it and sat in the road as the lights changed and we watched it pull away. phew!

Into the hectic traffic we go, confidence not good, we’re headed up to C_ and P_’s in Hornsby to pick up a free washing machine but time is against us, stuck in this pre-Christmas rush hour jam we decide to head east where we’re due for Scott’s 30th birthday at his parents house which has just got the coolest view down to the river and the ocean way in the distance and bushland dark and red in the sunset.

It’s still 30 degrees as we sit on the verandah with a ton of Scott and Lynette’s friends drinking up beer and champagne (mineral water for me) and it’s nine at night, insects buzzing round. There’s talk of a southerly heading up the coast which would bring relief, someone had a call from the south saying they got it at 7 or so, so it should be hitting Sydney very soon. But the air is still and hot.

Out of nowhere the breeze comes, the temperature drops five degrees in as many minutes, it’s such an amazing change it has to be experienced, within a second all the plastic cups are being whipped around the table and after a little tidy up everyone’s out on the verandah letting the wind blow over them.

We have to leave soon after this to go up to Hornsby to pick up the washing machine before everyone’s asleep, we get there about ten thirty and set the dogs off next door, eventually getting this huge machine in the back of the truck and securing it, I didn’t think it was gonna move anywhere it was so heavy but was advised to tie it down.

Anyways, we have a cuppa and leave about midnight and get to the end of the street and stop to look at the map and then the police come over and want to know if we had anything to do with the dogs barking and cop number one is ok and cop number two is a sarcastic asshole and I think twice before giving him some shit cos it’s late and I’ve got better things to be doing than fucking about with some idiot meathead cop, man this guy really lived up to his stereotype.

Anyway, tongue bitten we head off home and straight into that bed for the last time.

Tag: Gosford

Everyone’s A Stereotype – 9th June 2023

Your turn to drive, I’ll bring the beer, it’s an easy shift, no one to fear- 21st December 1994