Thursday 13 September 2012

Week five: looking forward to sawdust-less life

The completion of the works is tantalisingly within sight, but, like a mirage, recedes on close scrutiny. Further necessary works present themselves. The prospect of these makes my heart thump alarmingly, even though the daily litany of what happens next ought, by now,  to have prepared me. Partly I suffer from an ignorance of building techniques. Suddenly I discover that when you get doors painted you need oil based paints. The rest can be water based paints. It is tempting to do what was done in the past, thus causing me so much angst and so much money, and just to opt for the cheapest option. But I say to myself, sternly, that fixing things properly does give me freedom of choice. And I need freedom of choice. Who knows what will happen next, what blows of fate may yet rise up to strike me?

Sanding and sealing are booked in for Monday, as we enter week six. I hope we will not need week seven. The second set of steps might be completed tomorrow. At the end of each day, the amount of sawdust is staggering. I feel the house will never be clean.

However, yesterday I cooked some Anzac biscuits and took them along to choir, it being the first sopranos' turn to do tea duty. They all got eaten. Not even a crumb remained. And tonight I cooked myself some dinner, having first wiped all the sawdust off the hotplates.

Despite my attempts to maintain cheerfulness and tranquillity, I am tempted to throw my weight about. The local school children sit in the lane, eating, drinking and smoking before they arrive at school. I am very tempted to go and take photos of them, and of all the mess, butts, drink and food containers that they leave in the lane. Then, I may perhaps send them to the school. Who do they think cleans up all this mess, and who collects all their rubbish? Do their (unfortunate) mothers follow them around so to do? I fear not.

Actually I would rather like to talk to them and to discover whether they eat breakfast before they set off for school, and how much money they spend each day on the way to and from school. Certainly the local shops do a brisk trade in Slushies, and other takeaway food etc after school. I am quite curious as to how much is spent by families each day and week on takeaway food and drinks. So many of the children are eating on their way to school. Why is this so?

Tomorrow my car gets serviced. There was some shuddering of the brakes on the trips to and from Canberra, and the service is overdue anyway.

The local climate fluctuated dramatically today. Just like real life.


3 comments:

VioletSky said...

Several years ago, I worked at a small cafeteria and I remember one time being appalled at the amount of money three young girls would (regularly) spend on the junk food that we sold. They didn't buy it all at once, but as soon as they finished one package of food, they got up to by a chocolate bar, then a bag of chips (crisps) then some cookies, then more chips, then more pop and on and on it went until over $35 had been spent (yes, I was keeping a tally, out of curiosity!)

Jan said...

Possibly thirty years ago I was talking to a friend who ran the small kiosk at the local railway station here. I pointed out two primary aged children who I knew bought lunch every day from school canteen. I often helped out there. Friend told me that each of them spent at least $10 at her kiosk every morning on the way to school. Mostly on big blocks of chocolate. She had asked them about this and was told that the parents gave them $20 each day for food because it was "easy."

Both children were tired and pasty looking so I'm guessing junk food every day may have been joined to poor bedtime habits too.

Elephant's Child said...

And the dinosaur in me notes that this is a big change. As a child I was given very limited amounts of money and was almost always given a packed lunch to take to school. Which led to its own horrors - there is absolutely nothing that can be swapped for a liverwurst sandwich. Nothing.
Consider me offering a toast this evening to a sawdust free life for you. Soon.