Appearances can be deceptive!

We live in such an appearance oriented world! So often we discount someone on account of what they are wearing, a certain behaviour they exhibit or the way they talk. My Uncle told me a story the other day, which looks at this in a rather amusing light.
First, a little about my Uncle. David is very careful with 2 things, money and the environment. To this end, he buys most (possibly all) of his clothing from op shops (not helped by the fact that he calls them "junk shops"), he prides himself on keeping track of "CFD's" which are "car free days" (he's up to 100 this year) and he does his weekly shopping on a three wheeled electric bike. Eccentric? Yes.
David is also a piano tuner. He takes particular pride in his work and despite his "junk shop couture", always attends customers houses dressed neatly in a shirt and tie, looking ever so presentable.
Recently, he was tuning the piano of a local lady who lived not far from him in a reasonable affluent sea-side suburb. They got talking about the local area and she started talking about a character she had seen around the place.
"Oh have you seen that poor old tramp on the three wheeler bike?" she said
"Yes, yes I have as a matter of fact!"David replied
"I imagine he must have lived in the area a long time, because there is no way that someone like that could afford to live here these days. I wonder where it is he lives?"
"Well, perhaps he's not as hard up as you think!" David responded, enjoying the banter,
"Really? Why would you say that?"
"Well, actually, I know him!"
"Goodness me. You know him? Well, what is his story?"
"Well, he's a piano tuner......and he just tuned your piano!"
The woman was dreadfully embarrassed at having called this perfectly respectable chap an 'old tramp'. David was anything but offended, it isn't the first time he's been called a tramp!
Just goes to show that it's worth scratching the surface before pigeon holing someone!

Good day turned bad!

So I went to work this morning, in a good mood. Casual Friday always has me in a good mood. I got plenty done, my desk stayed clean and it was a generally nice morning. Best of all, I got to go home straight after lunch, so after a nice lunch with a friend, I jumped in my car and headed for the hills.
The reason I had taken the afternoon off was for the sole purpose of steam cleaning my carpets in readiness for our inspection on Monday (unnecessary unless you're moving out, I know, but we like to do it annually as our carpets are pretty much white). I hired "The Rug Doctor" from my local Woolworths and brought it one home. I read the instruction leaflet 3 times over, just to be sure. I stated using it and soon discovered that the "soiled water" wasn't appearing in the top tank as it should be. Where did it go? I called the hotline who tried to convince me to undo a part that really didn't look like it was going to undo. A little more trouble shooting led me to discover that the "clear dome" needed to be firmly sealed to the top tank, which it wasn't. With the dome fixed in place, I thanked 'Kay' and went back to it. 10 Minutes later, it still wasn't happening. So I called again.
This time, I was asked to undo another part, which looked a bit more like it came apart, but instead, I just grazed my finger trying to undo it.
My carpet is damp, my jaw hurts from clenching my teeth in frustration and I have said the F word more than is polite for a lady. Woolworths are giving me a refund, "Rug Doctor" are giving me a free hire voucher....but nobody can give me my afternoon back.

.....and Oscar appears to be getting sick again. Woe is me! I need a hug! :-(

No really, I am fine!

Conversation at work today;
Colleague: Are you....okay? You look......
Me: Yeah! I'm fine! I'm good!
Colleague: You're not, your face, it looks.......a bit......(this is teamed with one of those sympathetic 'concerned' looks)
Me: No really, I'm absolutely fine. It's my hair, my hair is a bit fluffy and all over the place today, it probably makes my face look a little....washed out.
Colleague: (in soft 'intuitive' voice) Anne, I see beyond the hair, somethings not right.
Me: Really! I am fine! It's Monday morning, perhaps I look a little washed out, but I am fine!

I thought this was over, until later she heard me telling someone that I was having my wisdom teeth extracted soon as they're giving me a bit of grief;

Colleague: I knew something was wrong! I asked you and you said you were fine, but I just knew something was up with you. Why? Why didn't you tell me?
Me: I don't like being fussed over! That's why. If I want attention, I'll let you know!
Colleague: I wasn't fussing over you, I was concerned.
Me: Yes, well I appreciate your concern, but really, I am absolutely fine.

Later in the day, I am sitting working at my desk. Let's just clarify that while working, I seldom have a massive grin on my face. In actual fact, my face, when relaxed, can be mistaken for boredom. So I am sitting there and, we'll call her "Mummy" walks past;
Mummy: Look at you, you poor thing. You're really struggling aren't you. You're just not quite right are you.
Me: (Puts on big fake happy smile) Look! I am FINE! HAPPY HAPPY!!! Everything is FINE!

So I am writing this from a padded cell, because I was found walking in circles in the mall repeating "Fine Fine Fine, HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!"

I actually have sinus issues right now and my wisdom teeth are pushing my jaw out of shape and causing me some pain, but I am loathe to tell people such issues, because then I become, "Poor Annie", which is not what I want to be!

Really......I'M FINE!

Motivation

Why is it that when I have a list of things as long as my arm to do, I manage to tick off each and every task. Then when I have three 5 minute jobs that aren't due til next week.....I just cannot muster the motivation to do them.

Do the clothes maketh the woman?

My Mum gave me a top recently. It's a sensible, practical, iron free, button up blouse. Perfect for the office. She gave it to me because she's lost some weight and thought I might be able to put it to some use. Thanks Mum.

I've worn it a few times and most of those times, people have said, "That's a nice shirt." or "I like your shirt!" I wore it today, because it was clean, needed no ironing and was the first thing I grabbed when I reached into the wardrobe.

As usual, my top drew the regular comments, but as I caught sight of myself in the mirror, I decided that I looked quite plain and matronly in it. The fact that I had a cardigan over the top (it gets chilly in my office) probably didn't really help much, but it wasn't just that. The cut, the colour....and possibly the bad hair day I was having, really didn't make me look like the young go getter that I fancy myself as.

I've decided that people compliment either clothes.....or people. In this case, they're saying "That's a nice shirt", but by no means are they saying "You look good in that shirt!" So the shirt is going to the back of the wardrobe and will probably eventually be given to the Salvo's, so that a woman of a more mature age can wear it and be told she (not the shirt) looks great.

To alleviate my distress at the realisation that my shirt made me look 57, I went and bought some new shoes. Now I am happy.

Fresh!

So it doesn't take a meteorologist to tell you that it has been very damp here of late. I've heard complaints, even had a little whinge myself yesterday when I go off the train having forgotten my brolly and got myself soaked to the bone!
This morning, we were up super early as Andy's Mum was heading off to the far north for a bit. As we drove back home, the sun was just starting to come up and there was dew on everything. I hate getting out of bed, specially when it's chilly, but when I do, it is so worth it! The mist, the glistening dew drops and the promise of a fresh, new day! When we got home, we decided to have a walk around the garden before we went inside. It was so beautiful! Plants that we thought we had killed are sprouting new shoots, grass, (yes, GRASS!) is popping up on the front 'lawn' (which until 2 weeks ago, was a crunchy brown patch), tiny green shoots are popping up out of the ground everywhere! A pink daisy which we though was completely dead, is now coming back to life! It is all so promising!!!

Although nothing can save the pittosporums!!!