I hate Vacuuming

 Hi there

I hate vacuuming.  Or should I say that I used to hate vacuuming.  But I think I've found a way to make it more enjoyable.  

I listen to Kindle audio books while I am vacuuming.   

I toss my Amazon Fire (Kindle) tablet into a small backpack, put in my earbuds, tell Alexa to raise the volume, and I turn into a Cleaning Diva.

Last week, I finished the vacuuming but the crime book I was listening to was at such an exciting point - my heart was thumping and my brain racing with possibilities for how the two heroes could possibly  escape the clutches of a whole band of baddies shooting at them - that I moved on to mopping the kitchen and bathroom, another chore I detest.  Just to listen to the story.

My heroes escaped the baddies - bravo! - but oh-my-goodness, there was another crisis.

 I whipped out a damp rag and cleaned the venetian blinds.  Four blinds down, and one hero had been kidnapped.  I moved over to the bookcase, shaking out every book and dusting the pages.  Would his detective partner rescue the guy before that bomb exploded?

Phew, yes, hoo-ray.  Another crisis averted.  But wait, there was more to the story...

I stood on a stool and dusted the top of the fridge.  

And all the curtains.

Then ...?

I gave in.   I plonked myself down on the sofa and finished listening to the book.  Two hours later, I looked around me.  Wow, my house was the cleanest I'd ever seen it...

****

My Amazon Fire tablet has internet, emails, e-books, audio books. I one-finger typed this add-on message to this blog.  One-fingering an entire blog on my Amazon Fire is more than a bit nerve-inducing; I have a bigger laptop for my longer blogs.

Photos i wish I'd taken

 Hi there

There are times I wished I'd had my camera on me.  I must have missed out on dozens of  great happenings.

Like those three cruise ships that were leaving Mt Maunganui on a beautiful blue sky day, with paddle-boarders, kayakers, and swimmers in the foreground, and ship passengers hanging over the railings, shouting their goodbyes.

And what about the time I all but crashed into William Shatner in Las Vegas?  By the time I had fumbled my mobile phone camera out of my bag, switched it on, and turned on the photo app, Shatner had beamed himself away, probably to Caesar's Casino behind me.

I was walking along Cobham Drive one day, beside the sea.  There was a family a short distance in front of me.  Mum, Dad, a boy of about six, and a girl eight.  And a black and white border collie sheep dog.

The children were obviously bored, straying separately to opposite  sides of the track, lagging behind, walking backwards, attempting to skip stones into the water.  The parents weren't even watching the kids.  

But the dog was.  He snuck on his belly over to one side of the track to herd in the girl, then dashed to the opposite side for the other sheep-whoops-sorry-I-mean-child to steer him, too, back toward the parents.  The dog hovered around the two kids for the whole of Cobham Drive, manoeuvring them back when they went off-point.

That would have made a hilarious picture.  I guess urban sheep dogs never lose the thrill of the round-up.

But ...  the ultimate photo would have been the day the plumber came to fix my kitchen water pipes.  He opened the cupboard under the sink and attempted to squeeze his heavy bulk into the narrow crawl-space.  His top-half disappeared into the depths of my pots and pans storage area. 

Gulp, I got an embarrassing view of  plumbers crack!  But, no, that wasn't the photo I would've taken.

I hastened outside for a minute or two, just to allow the man some alone time but when I returned there were two rear ends poking out from that cupboard:  one belonging to the jean-clad plumber, the other was furry and with a tail - my nosey Siamese cat, StarGirl.  

There couldn't have been a finger's-width of space between the pair.  Siamese cats just have to take part in everything that's going on.

The plumber later told me that StarGirl was a bossy plumber's mate, crying out orders to him.  Well, what did he expect, she was a Siamese cat, and they're never willing to take a back seat.

But, oh my goodness, didn't I miss an hilarious photo opportunity that day? 

Above:  guess who?

vampires in Wellington, New Zealand

Hi there

I was so impressed with the New Zealand vampire mockumentary "What we Do in The Shadows' that I thought I'd google vampires, see if there were any others living in Wellington.

There's an Amazon Kindle e-book with free computer sampling called "Kiwi Vampire".  The vamp in question actually does live in Wellington.  There are a lot of places to  recognise.  You can google 'Amazon Kindle Kiwi Vampire' to read the first few chapters of  the the book free on your computer.  The actual book is, I think, a dollar.  There's a free Kindle computer app if you want to get the whole book.



I went for  a lovely walk in the sun yesterday.  Halfway up the Maupuia hill (behind Miramar) I had to take my jacket off because it was so warm.  T-shirted walkers that I passed were grinning, full of the joys of life and happily shouting "hello" to strangers.  Fine weather does this to people.

Here are a couple of pictures that I took from the hill suburb of Maupuia,  looking down on Miramar.  If you 'hit' the top picture you can see more clearly over to the far right what looks like a huge water tank and a square block building behind it - this is Peter Jackson's film studio.

An affliction for Reading

Hi there

My writer friend, A J Ponder, has a website called "An Affliction of Poetry".   If I had a website like hers, I guess I would call it "An Affliction for Reading".   I got really into reading heavily at age 9 when I was living in New Plymouth.  I was in complete ecstasy because the NP Library had Enid Blyton books whereas most other NZ library areas refused to buy Enid Blyton;  she was considered a bad influence.   Three times a week I went to the New Plymouth Library.  I was only allowed to take out three books at a time, and this rule almost killed me because I couldn't get enough.

Up until last December, I visited Miramar Library two or three times a week. Often more.  Last year, I knew all my librarians by name, their hobbies, their holiday plans, family info etc    My main reads were non-fiction. 

A year ago, I bought a Kindle.  There were dozens and dozens of Free Books.  I was in heaven,  After six months, I got into the .99c books.,  Then, $1.99.  Then 2.99.  Then .... I was hooked!   Curse you, Kindle!!!!

When I broke my Kindle (see earlier writings for January 2013), I developed cravings so terrible that it was like I had suddenly stopped eating chocolate.

This week, I visited Miramar Library for only about the second time this year to discover the library now has a host of new librarians.  I know nothing about them..   Oh my goodness, I am such a turncoat!  Kindle, I hold you totally responsible.

But, honestly, what's a woman to do, when the Wellington Library system has like one hundred vampire romances in their system, and Kindle has, like, 5000.  And then there's all those werewolf romances, zombie romances, comedy romances, time travel romances...   I put my foot down, however, on romance romances; I won't read them.

And, come to think of it, when did I turn into a romance reader?  Kindle is to blame, naturally.

 I also love anything to do with hiking the Appalacian Trail.  The Wellington Library system might have half a dozen such books.  Kindle has dozens.

Now, I'm reading all through the nights.  I finish one book in a series, and straight away buy the next and read that then and there, then I buy and read the third book.  I suddenly look at the clock, and it's 5 a.m., and I've bought and read three books since 9 p.m!  I have to re-charge my Kindle every day.

Oh dear, I'm a hopeless case.  I figure I need a Kindle Addicts sponsor.

 

Above:  Miramar Library

The cat sculpture outside the Miramar Library.  Vandals have broken the cat's ears.

p.s:     1st MAY :  HATAITAI BEACH SWIM :  27 MINUTES!!!!   

Oh, no, I've broken my Kindle!

Goodness-oh-dear-heavens-to-Betsy-ohhh-noooooo!!! I've broken my Kindle! I was on the sofa, reading a book on my Kindle.. It was truly a great book. Probably, one of the all-time greatest books ever written. Well,vampire romances are just about what every solitary person in our world are chaffing at the bit to read, right? Of course. The action was so good, my heart was pounding for the heroine caught up in the gorgeous hero vampire's clutches. But, honestly, the woman didn't seem to appreciate the pairing, she was squirming, and sighing, and screaming aloud about wanting to leave his apartment. However - a-ha! - I had access to her very thoughts, and I knew that she actually wanted to pop into the bedroom with this gorgeous guy. It's what I would want to do in her place. Tall, dark, handsome. Who cares if he's one of the undead. I decided to prolong the excitement by making myself an egg sandwich. I tossed my Kindle down ontto the sofa, made my sandwich and, then, threw myself back down onto said sofa, right on top of wait for it! - the Kindle! My elbow smashed - craaaaack! - right into the middle of the screen. There is not a new 3G Kindle to be had at a Dick Smith's anywhere in New Zealand for love nor money. I know, because I tried. Dick Smith is the only place that has the right to sell them, and they're sold out because of the Christmas rush. They're expecting a new type of Kindle in next month (I'm guessing it's the White Kindle). I can't wait until then. I mean, I've got to get at my vampire story, yeah? Does my heroine end up with my vampire hero? The book might be that one in, oh, I don't know, one hundred million squillion where the hero doesn't get the heroine. She might shout 'Lay off me, you big brute, I'm going home to Mummy", and stomp off into the sunrise (where he, being a vampire,naturally, can't chase her). Whatever, I have to get at that ending. So, I bought a Kindle on www.trademe.co.nz. (I'm trying like mad to put a pic of broken Kindle on this page, but as per usual Im having trouble. Also having trouble - grrhhh - with paragraphing).

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!!!!!!

Well, another year has gone by, and another year ahead of us.  So, happy new year to the two people who read this blog!  If I thought for one moment that more than 2 people were reading this, I would scream with embarrassment, quickly slam shut the laptop lid ,and never sign in to the site again.

Every year, more and more of my fave film stars and singers that I loved as I was growing up, are dying.  They were all, maybe, just a little bit older than me, or the same age.  How sad.

When I was a young teen, I fell in love with James Darren. I first saw him in "Gidget".   Goodness, I loved him so much (he came third, in my estimation, after Elvis Presley and Sal Mineo).  I was so happy when he got a leading role in a Star Trek series.  When I was in Las Vegas three years ago, I paid (yes, yes, I did, I did!!!) to have a Star Trek "Beam Me Up" Breakfast with him and about 50 other fans.  He moved from table to table to talk to us, a bit like speed dating, probably.  Because the others on the table knew how much I adored him, they let me monopolise him.  And, do you know what?  He is just as gorgeous now as he ever was back in the early 60's.  I also went to a show of his where he sang a whole lot of Sinatra-type songs, and he was totally divine.  (Totally divine?  Goodness I've retro'd back to the 40's).

I've been doing a lot of reading these holidays on Kindle.  For the first 6 months I only bought free books, then I wandered up into the $1.99 league and, oh dear, now I'm spending $2.99.  Where will this addiction end? 

I went swimming this morning (January 2, NZ time).  The waves were ferocious around Oriental Bay and there was nobody there, but at Hataitai Beach it was quite calm.   If J and I are swimming separately we try to write messages on the floor of the changing sheds to tell each other that we've been there.  Last week, apparently, J spent some time sculpting her initials with twigs and shells and leaving it on one of the seats in the changing rooms - a piece of artistic work I missed completely. 

We've completed our "at least 5 swims a month for 2012.  I am so happy and excited about this.   J presented me with my certificate - she has one, too - and the annual cup.  What a weight of our minds.  What will be this year's challenge, I wonder?