Morning Accomplishments

On this gloriously sunny Saturday morning, I arose from my nights sleep filled with plans.

First on the agenda was to post @rant’s new camera bag off to him. Carrying it upon back and shoulders as designed, I started my trek towards town. (Yes, I don’t drive. Yes, We live in the bush, but not so far out bush as to be in the sticks, we can still see the concrete-jungle from the end of our street!)

About half away along I got to think about the words that were come from my mouth at the Post Office counter … “Paying for the box and postage, thanks.” … works for me.

Morning Mission

Stepped into Post-Office. Queue of people is already 20+ and winding its way back to the sliding doors. {Sigh. I have to do this.} Stepping into the queue, an elderly woman suddenly is behind me. Followed by the whining of a puppy dog chained up outside. “Oh Shamus, It’s OK! Mummy will be back soon!”, says the lovely elderly lady behind me.
Ever the gentleman (no, really!), “Go ahead of me, I’m in no hurry.”
“No, no, little Shamus has ‘separation anxiety’, he’ll be right!”
“You sure? The offer still stands if you change your mind.”
“You’re such a gentleman! Thank you so much, there are not many people like you left in the world. So kind!” (And you didn’t believe me!)

I turned back to the queue to discover a dozen more elderly people smiling at me. Suddenly I feel like a meerkat on the open plain. I diffused the situation with a quick snippet about how puppy’s and husbands have a lot in common: Whining, wailing, begging to be let out and a trail of destruction behind them. (Or did I just think that? No matter, still a great joke.)

When I’d finally reached the front of the line, said my one-liner about payment, then I had a slight shudder. My bank account won’t suffer, but that was an expensive transaction. I still made a small profit, but @rantz certainly got a good deal. He bought the camera bag for AUS$80. Paypal took about $2 for their effort and Australia Post acquired $25 for a cardboard box and an bar-code displaying the cost of postage. Nice deal for everyone concerned. @Rantz, enjoy the extra gift inside the bag!

Playing with Puppy

When I stepped outside the Post Office, I did the right thing: I scratched, patted, and generally gave that that little puppy dog a whole lotta love for his patience. He had a jaw-strap which presumably stopped him from barking, but it sure as heck didn’t stop the little guy from whining like it was his last breath. Behind the ears, under the jaw, top of the head, and long strokes down his back. What sort of dog was he? No idea, yet he was black, short-haired, long legged and full of energy.

The lovely elderly lady finally returned and then I discovered why he was whining. He was rewarded for being so patient with CHOCOLATE Dog Treats. I felt like getting down on my knees and whining for my share! (No, I did not. Yes, really!)

My journey was not complete. I knew I’d wanted to purchase something else whilst in town, but could not for the life of me remember what! So I walked around for a while, did a little window shopping (that included trying on new denim shorts, yet not buying them), but it was to no avail.

Eventually I ended up looking at photography magazines at the local newsagent. It’s here that I should have remembered what I was going to buy this morning, but I did not. Dammit. I ended up buying 5 x $2 scratch-cards and winning $13. Nice! Around the corner I dropped $1 into a collection-bucket. Not sure where the money is going, but that guy is out there every Saturday so I figured he was legitimate.

Healthy Hints

My walking led me to a health-store where I purchased $10 of herbicide-free almonds. I’ve recently discovered almonds are good for reducing cholesterol. Which is very good for me. If I can reduce some of my midriff-spread, I might be able to purchase a pair of shorts that fit me properly!

The walk home was non-eventful, other than to think through the rest of my plans for my day. It’s just turned one-o’clock in the afternoon, so let me get on with the plan!