vanessarama

( Merlin spoilers under the cut )

The antibiotics and puffer are working already - my coughing is much, much less than it was although it is still very bad at night. I went on a cooking spree on Friday, making salade nicoise for lunch, spring lamb soup for dinner, and a nommy citrus yogurt cake with orange syrup. SO GOOD. Making more salade nicoise today - I'm trying to keep up healthy eating.

I watched a doco on the History Channel last night called 'Firestorm' about the Black Saturday fires. It was obviously made for overseas sale, since A) they called them "forest fires" and B) they spent a lot of time explaining where Melbourne was, what eucalypts were, what the Stay or Go policy entails, etc. It was actually very interesting learning (from what they had to explain) where our fires differ from everywhere else in the world (such as that spotting doesn't happen anywhere near as much in other countries, or that radiant heat is a bigger killer here).

Anyway, while they did a good job of explaining the background, and included much of the most compelling footage from the day (including the film taken by Daryl Hull, who they also interviewed, as Marysville burned around him), there were some big flaws in the program. First is that it seemed truncated. They spent so much time leading up to it, showing footage of CFA volunteers getting their gear on and stuff like that, but they didn't mention, for example, that 90% of Marysville was destroyed. They didn't mention the number of deaths - surprising considering how much they talked about the "terrible toll" and " the state will never be the same again", etc. And worst of all they only mentioned the Murrundindi and Kilmore East fires - which, ok, they were the biggest and worst, but the Churchill, Beechworth and Bendigo complexes also killed people.

Lastly, and most insultingly, they said that "In rural Victoria, most residents went about their day oblivious to the looming danger..." Erm, NO.

Some people were oblivious, I'm sure - I have always been a bit peeved at the guy whose wife died, who was really critical of the government and emergency services and who said that "...my wife was very simple. She just listened to CDs on the way to work, she never read a newspaper, she didn't watch television news..." because if you live anywhere in a civilized country, where you depend on public emergency services, you have a duty to keep yourself informed. And if you live in a rural area where you know the fire risk is high in summer, you should bloody well inform yourself in summer of how the situation is going. You can't expect your own personal notification of danger.

However, I don't think that attitude was typical. I knew it was going to be an unprecedentedly bad day. I'm sure most people *did* know. Some people were cautious but had seen fire before and figured that if they were well-prepared they'd be OK. Some people were very conscientious and did everything they were advised to do, and some of them, no matter how well-prepared they were, still died. This was an event on a scale we have never seen before. But we'll be seeing them again, so we'd better bloody well learn from it, and vague generalisations about how oblivious "most" people were do not help.

The white hot rage of last night has ( TIM ) I mean, honestly. This is why I normally supress my anger - it's so all-encompassing that it Does Things To Me. It was seeing other people's difficulties in getting this "service" switched off, plus finding out that this company rips people off all over the western world, That Done It. (Google "airg unsolicited charges" - it's interesting)

So, in the interests of determining to be less negative, here's a list of Good Things.

1. Knitting. I began a sock on Sunday night and finished it yesterday on the train. I knitted half the foot of a second one last night under the influence of White Hot Rage. Turns out it's a good and productive channel for anger. It's just as well, because I may have gone slightly crazy with US yarn purchases when the dollar began dancing with parity. Especially with this, which is beautiful yarn and only $12.95 and free worldwide shipping. I mean, come on! I also have a couple of shawls on the go including a beautiful silk/wool one.

2. Speaking of parity, I also went to Fyrinnae, which I believe anneheart put me onto. I love love love sparkly and coloured eyeshadow but I don't wear them often (y'know, professional image and all that). The great thing about Fyrinnae is that you can buy tiny samplers of their colours, only 1/3 of a teaspoon but easily enough to last me forever. I've basically spent $30 and got a lifetime's worth of different shades. And free shipping worldwide over $20! And it's beautiful, beautiful stuff. Many of them are sparkly but some are neutral and subtle - today I'm wearing Atomic Afterglow which is a perfectly worksafe shade.

3. Sharing photos of Bradley James with Ben. Lots of fun. And speaking of cute boys, a_shot_of_colin continues to be my go-to happy place during the day when things are getting rough.

4. I continue to adore Merlin and have so many fic ideas that I can't decide which one to do first. Although I need to finish the giant KMM WIP first.

I'm going to the doctor today, to get my cough checked out. Poor Rohan is being very patient but being woken up half a dozen times a night is undoubtedly getting on his nerves. It's certainly getting on mine!

ETA: A very helpful Telstra guy who posts to Whirlpool.net offered to sort my problem. I called AirG on his suggestion and said that I did not agree to the subscription, had done nothing to be subscribed, would not pay the charges and want them reversed on my account. He assured me that would be done. The Telstra guy on Whirlpool said to let him know if the charges aren't credited and he'll sort it out.

The AirG guy (obviously US based) didn't even seem surprised and didn't try to argue. I reckon they get this a lot, and they probably just figure it's worth their while when A) there are a lot of people who don't check their bill, and B) they get to use those people's money for at least a month or so.

Back at work, but coughing significantly. Fortunately work did not implode in my absence. I am apparently not allowed to have all-in-one cold and flu tablets due to my high blood pressure, so I've been forced to buy nasal spray and cough mixture and panadeine. Hopefully they'll collectively get me through.

I am taking a fleeting overnight visit to Brisbane tonight. Although I would love to see my Brissie flisties, I will be taking a raincheck on account of being sick and coughing a lot. I think I'll need to sleep and save my voice for tomorrow's workshop.

Stupid Virgin Blue won't let me check in online for some reason, Stupid McStupid.

Watched second episode of Sherlock last night. I wish people wouldn't say Benedict Cumberbatch and Colin Morgan are lookalikes; sure, they both have lovely cheekbones, but Mr Cumberbatch lacks Mr Morgan's elegant nose and gorgeous eyes. Rohan and I have started using 'Cumberbatch' as a word when we can't think of a suitable real word. Don't cumberbatch me! Pass me that... cumberbatch.

Three weeks from today, I will be in London.