Seen a couple of movies lately that have been set in WW2—The Boy in Stripped Pajamas and Defiance. There is always this portrayal of extremes, good and bad, innocent and guilty, love and hate, tolerance and intolerance. You come away thinking "how can people do that to other people", and also marvel at the level of sacrifice that good people attain amid monumental opposition. You wonder which side of the fence I would have chosen if I had lived in Germany in those years. Did every day Germans have a choice? Were they brainwashed or just apathetic sheep following a very charismatic leader?

Think. Stand up for what is right in my world.

Some would be tempted to call it a New Years resolution. But to me, it's just happens that I started cycling to work in earnest this week. Got a bit of a plan. Take the bus Monday morning with the majority of the work clothes that are necessary for that week. Then for the rest of the week cycle both ways with just lunch and a few minor items of clothing in the backpack. The trick is to keep an eye on what is being depleted from the clean clothes bag at work and make some sort of note to bring it in the next day.

So today, here I was happily showering under that high pressure nozzle in the light. I only mention the light in passing as it was only yesterday that I was faced with the dilemma of having no light. Suffice it to say that for technical reasons-swipe cards and the like-there was no lights downstairs where the shower is located. Hmmm... what to do, what to do? Wait until someone with a downstairs swipe card arrived and turned on the lights? That could take 30 minutes. Perhaps leave the door ajar with a shoe at least to dispel complete darkness. After all, I'd know when someone had arrived as the lights would come on. Sounds like a plan... worked beautifully. And in my opinion, less light is better than more anyway. So, back to today. Dried off, lookin' for undies... oh darn... none of said item in bag! Oh man... more complex shower decisions. It seemed that there were three choices this time... the undies I had just taken off (yuck-sweaty, and wet from the rain), no undies (tempting) or yesterdays 'used' but dry undies. Decision made... option three. But they are upstairs in plastic bag. Ok then. I'd have to say that it was rather tempting to just wrap towel around waist and navigate one end of the building to the other to retrieve 'em. Ah... better not. Instead, pulled trousers on. Was about to head out and what did I spot peeking out of side pocket... a lime green emergency pair of undies! Forgot about those. Was kinda disappointed in a way as my sensible nature took over. Me in a towel running around the office sounds like much more fun!

I'm not sure that I an "a lot"... maybe just a lot of ordinary... one of the masses. Maybe there are at least a handful of people on this planet who would describe me as a bit more than ordinary.

The holiday is over... well, in one sense anyway. The Thu-Sat were work/chore free and yesterday it was time to start "on the list". B is one for lists and she usually wants to make the most of these "extra" days, especially as we're not going anywhere in particular this week. It can get a bit titchy at times as B wants me to do such and such and I am not that keen. Anyway, the word for the week is patience. I do keep telling everyone that I'm a very patient person but I guess not so much when it come to a spouse. So whenever I feel like "arcing up"... patience Kifa, patience...

So we got in to the hall cupboard... traditionally the "just put it in the hall cupboard" sort of place which had become a bit of a "outta sight, outta mind" location. Found all the boxes of photos and lotsa other things that could be chucked out.  The boxes of books in the very back... they stayed there as we have no book shelves for them anyway. Should I mention the evidence of vermin? Suffice it to say that they hadn't chewed very much but they had left plenty of "evidence".

The main PC in the house had also developed problems with it rebooting whenever it felt like, sometime saying that there was a hardware error... unspecified of course. Kirilisa suggested it may be overheating (it is summer here after all) and it had been some time since I'd had the covers off and de-dusted. This I did, as well as a defrag, email cleanup, hard drive tidy up, registry checker/fix. So far, so good.

On the non-chores front, Kirilisa & hubby took off for Taiwan on their band trip. Faced with a week of non communication, we tried to establish if her mobile phone would work there. Indications on the provider website said that it would, except when the list of countries was checked... ah, Taiwan not one of them. You never know your luck so sent her a text about an hour after she arrived and presto, a few hours later a I got a reply. So, at least we'll manage the odd text message. So, in case you're interested, Kirilisa and Zaubi and band were enroute (by bus) from Taipei to Chiayo (about a 3hr trip)... that was yesterday (Sunday) evening. Taiwan is 2hrs behind AEST.

Today, seems to have been a pretty slow start. In my defence, I have not been inactive and done some boring domestic duties and been generally helpful.

May the peace and goodwill to all men (especially at home) continue.

The day started early enough with the "beep beep" text message arriving on  my mobile from my brother in NZ at 6:21... I think he may have forgotten that we are 3hrs behind them. Lay in bed for a bit... all I could manage so got up and sent off some text messages of my own and got some nice replies.

So, I was somewhat apprehensive as to how the day was gonna go,as the big feed was not going to be until late afternoon at the South African friends on the north side. This all came about because C was working until 3pm. The good thing was that we had most of the day to cook the turkey and veges, salads etc. The downside was that we seemed to take must of that time to do the said cooking, and cleaning of kitchen etc. So, wasn't too exciting. I was pleased with Kirilisa's cranberry sauce... but alas, this was the one thing that got left behind in the last minute rush... bah humbug!

Anyway, despite apprehension, it was a really good afternoon/evening. As it turned out, all the people that participated where friends of our hosts whom they met at their Melbourne church when they lived year some time ago. First there was the visiting family who we had dinner with. Following, two more families arrived (we knew them from church here). It was all good fun, too much good food and we did get to know the church people a lot more.

It wasn't too bad as far as Christmas days go. Still missed getting together with our extended families in NZ but this was probably just about as good.

I'd have thought that Christmas Eve at work would have been a whole bunch o' fun. Alas, this hope was dashed. Whilst it wasn't a 'flat out' sorta day, none-the-less, it was pretty busy work wise. There was like hardly anyone there, and I didn't even have friend Kirilisa around to spice it up a bit. So, I got outta there at ten minutes before five.

Home a more happening place. Soraya had friends coming and going, Cushla was cooking a nice dinner, B was getting frustrated with the PC and I set about finding some more music to learn on guitar. Selected some Paul Simon numbers... Kodachrome, The Boxer and Fifty Ways to Leave Your Love. Now don't go reading too much in to the choice... the criteria being... did I know the song, could I play it at least a bit and did I like it?

So now the girls (inc friends) have gone off looking at Christmas lights (on houses), Hamish is watching some crap American show on TV and I am now... here, blogging.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, it'll be different.

You know what the dilemma is with these blogg thingos? How much to write. Kirilisa just "let's it all hang out" pretty much... (almost) anything goes. I'd like to be more like that, and maybe it will be a case of "working up to it".

Anyway, today... got in plenty early as I was allowed to take my car... something that doesn't happen too often. In fairness, it is only practical that B takes the Subi and I find "other means" to get to and from work. But this week she is not working so I get to take the Subi.  As far as getting stuff done, pretty good, even though more stuff got added near the end of the day which will have to spill over to tomorrow. Bit annoying that my Christmas Eve will be busy when I was trying to line things up for an easier day. How does that saying go... "Inefficiency on your part does not constitute an energency on mine."? Huh! Good theory.

There was a wee incident which may be noteworthy. The big guy at work publically pointed out that I had not attended a special film viewing that had occurred at lunch time yesterday. Alas, I had a prior engagement... lunch with Kirilisa.  Hmmm... were his comments a bit of a dig that I had been noted as absent or that both of us had been noted as absent? I dunno... lunch with friend is lunch with a friend.

Speaking of lunch... with Stan today. He works in the complex next door so I found myself taking the 5min walk to meet him. It was the same route that I normally walk with Kirilisa... and it was really odd to be walking it alone. Twas the moments during the day that I noticed that she wasn't there... like the walk, like the 9am visit to her fishbowl office to say "Hi, how are you?", like... well, you get the idea. Anyway, lunch with Stan was good, but too short as we just seemed to have heaps of  "catch-up" to do.

And after all that, I still didn't get home until after 7. Gotta be one of the longer days, but it's ok, compensates for the odd short day. Just kinda hit me today how much I was looking forward to the Christmas break. Not that we are going anywhere in particular or doing anything noteworthy (not planned anyway). It will just be nice to have a break from the regular work routine.

Got home... stuffed up. B had been cleaning house all day. I did comment that the lounge was nice tidier and then added that the office (my domain) was worse (some items had been relocated to the office). Didn't go down well... to say the least. Anyway, it did get us talking about B and me issues which was good. We do seem to have become quite entrenched after 27yrs of marriage and neither side not too giving these days. Need more of the "unsaid" to become "said" and we're working on that... well, I am at least, which is leading B to talk more also (about real stuff). Looks like I had been overly optimistic.

Ok. Gotta go. Ciao for now.

For some reason, at my very core, I just assume that other people think and act like I do. Crazy I know. But still, I make these assumptions without even giving any thought to the possibility that others think differently, and usually they do.  Whilst I do think and analyse to an extent, I assume an aweful lot... sometimes to my detriment.

So today, as Kirilisa was not having the best of days, I wanted to help... somehow, if I could. But alas, my attempts seemed to be failing miserably.  Why would help offered by a friend seem to come to nought? It's hard to "get". What would I do in a similar situation? Would I accept all help at all times? Usually, I think, but not always. Maybe this was one of those times for Kirilisa. And here I was, banging on that I was there for her and that she needed a friendly human. Man I am so typically male... trying to fix things. I guess that's the way that we were made.

Anyway, why weren't the "repairs" working? What then is missing from the whole equation? This friendship has only been on the go for a relatively short time. Perhaps the crux of it all is that Kirilisa doesn't know whether she can trust me or not.  Understandable, as she has a history of damaging relationships and not all that many reliable long term friends.  I'm sure that she is asking herself... Is he for real? Will he just dump me if things get too "sticky"? Is he fickle and careless with what I tell him?  I hope that my reassuring words help... but they're just words, the relatively easy part. Patience, tenacity, loyalty and consistency are what matters and what will convince. As they say... "time will tell".

So there I was... in the pool alone, in the dark (I made sure that it was, as much as possible anyway... most house lights off). Not too bad so far.

But...

I just wanted to listen to the natural noises of the night. The cicadas were doing a good job in the neighbours big tree (I dunno what it's name is), and I was generating the lapping water sounds.  The same neighbours palms were blowing in the breeze but I couldn't hear them... closed my eyes and tried harder to hear the rustle of those palms... unsuccessfully. I could hear another neighbours air conditioner running. I could hear  the bass beat coming from my sons computer. And I could hear the constant sounds of traffic on the freeway.

Man I just crave silence and natuaral sounds some times... more often these days. It's so good when everyone has gone to bed, no TV, the house is quiet and the freeway has died down. Just the sound of tapping on a quiet keyboard.

So here I am... my friend who inspires got me here (thanks E).

Aren't I supposed to saying something about what this is all about... why I've "signed up" with LJ? Probably a bunch of reasons, some of which I know now and some that will come to me some time down the track.

I just like to write from time to time. Not as prolific as my friend E, but she's been at it for quite a while now. My sum total of "journals" would amount to about three I think. Wonder if more words will be forthcoming via this media.

It's good to get "it" out, whatever "it" is at the time. Cathartic is the word the E used. Now apart from the fact that the word sounds good, it was prudent that I made sure that I knew what it meant (I do have the habit of using a good word in the right place but not actually knowing what it means precisely). The dictionary said strongly laxative. Although that has been a minor topic of conversation not so long ago, I suspected that there must be another meaning... emotionally purging. So get it out is about right then.

It's another way to communicate with friends as to what is a happening in this life of mine. For me, it's easier to write than talk, although I have been challenged on that one too. In this world the norm seems to be to write it, and say much more than you should. There is something unhealthy and unbalanced about that. Millions lock themselves away and never take the risk of facing another human being... the potential is obviously so much greater for fully satisfying relationships if we can just shut down the PC and leave the house.

And just maybe this stuff will help someone walk a path that I've already been down. I hoping so.

Catch ya soon.