Well, I finally managed to start writing! It would have been a wonderful opportunity to start really early this afternoon, with Julian in Adelaide for the day, Flipper sound asleep in her Cat Cave instead of wailing piteously that Evil Mummy was depriving her of Vitally Important Daddy Pats by hiding him away somewhere, and Why Wouldn’t I Bring Him Back for her! (actually, she started that little accusatory tantrum about five minutes ago, parading around the house, demanding that I bring Daddy back, Immediately, if not sooner! She’s only just quietened down a bit!) No, the reason I’m starting as late as I am tonight is because we had such an early morning (5.00am) that not long after lunch I was starting to get to the stage where I was in grave danger of getting my new character (yes, I did end up re-rolling one of my newest Horde girls! I kept her name though – Akåsha) killed off, because my eyes kept closing in a few (!) micro-mini naps… so I thought “[censored] it! I might as well go and read, then if I drift off, it won’t matter!” – so I did! Yes, I re-rolled the least attractive of my two Horde girls, and so Akåsha the Troll is now Akåsha the Blood Elf, and I managed to get her up to level 6 before having to succumb to fatigue. I read a bit, and snoozed a bit, and yawned my way out of bed again around four thirty, or thereabouts. All in all though, it’s been a fairly quiet – alright, very quiet – day. I got Calypsõ up to level 21 though, and took her off to The Ruins of Mathystra to hunt for her Ghost Saber-tooth Pet, which she found hiding in the seventh Cat Figurine that she examined – then I whisked her back to Darnassus, dusted her down, and left her and her new Pet to rest for a bit. You know, it’s not only appearance that moves me to re-roll characters so much – though sometimes (read: “often”) it does – it’s also the Starting Off areas that you, well, start off from. Some of the areas I’m totally bored with because I’ve done them all so often – I know every quest, I know all the tricks in the book – the easiest and quickest way to complete quests, where the supposedly “random” monsters patrol, and how to avoid them, or to dispatch them – you could almost say that I could run the starting areas with one hand tied behind my back, my eyes closed, and still be able to whistle “Dixie”, whilst playing “Advance Australia Fair” simultaneously on a harmonica! So I tend to avoid rolling Night Elves, Blood Elves, Draenei, and Humans, where possible, because those are the starting off areas that I know better than the back of my own hand! On the other hand (isn’t it just so lucky that we have two of them! 😉 ) I don’t really care for the appearance of the characters who start off in some of the much more interesting areas… like the Goblins, Trolls, Forsaken, Orcs, Gnomes, Dwarves, and (shudder) the Worgen – nothing, just nothing on earth looks more ridiculous or absurdely grotesque, than seeing an heroic looking “human”, in absolutely the very best armor, gear and… a cape… that gold can buy, suddenly transform into a hairy wolf and gallop off down the street, still wearing the armor, cape and gear! And the female Worgen are even worse, because they have those vapid, cutesy, Disney-esque type faces! You know, the big innocent-looking eyes with the ultra long lashes – a bit like Bambi! And there they are – galloping down the street on all fours, cape flapping in the wind, robes (if they’re wearing robes!) dragging on the ground, boots looking just – wrong – on dog-type hind legs! On occasion, I have created a Worgen, but I’ve never actually played one – I just can’t bear the thought of running off down the road looking so utterly stupid! You know, looking down the list of playable Races, there are very few really nice looking ones – most of them don’t look (to me!) very… attractive! That’s why I liked Rift so much, I think – all their playable Races are… attractive 🙂

And the second reason I was so late starting this afternoon was because… I was reading an article in The (good old) Age (again! Just a glutton for punishment, that’s me!) However this article was perhaps a trifle better written than most of them, and it was about Fiona Patten, the leader of The Sex Party. This time, as you can see, I have put in a link, as it’s quite a good article – especially if you’ve always shunned the Sex Party because you’d always thought that it was just another one of those “Huge, Unfunny, Joke Parties” – well, actually it’s not like that at all! It might have started out as a “bit of a lark’, but unlike most of the other H.U.J.P’s, The Sex Party has evolved and grown into something that in truth could be called “The Common Sense Party”, or “The Truly Sensible Party” these days. I strongly encourage all of you to read that article – and then to go and peruse their website – I think that maybe some of you might be in for a surprise. Frankly, I think this “Two Main Parties, fighting and squabbling like seagulls over the last potato chip, to see who gets enough preferences to Govern the country” is a stupid, idiotic, and totally unworkable way to run a nation! But, at the moment it’s all we have – so like it or lump it, we have to make the best of a bad “hand”. This is why we need parties like The Sex Party – not to “keep the bastards honest” (which was the catch-cry of the Australian Democrats – and where are the Australian Democrats today, hmm?) – because no-one can keep a politician “honest” – but to at least try to introduce a word of caution… of sanity… and of fairness to all Australians, not just a few in whichever Faction happens to hold the balance of power this week! I like to think of myself as reasonably well educated and well read, and I don’t consider myself totally stupid (as my late Uncle Joe used to say – “I may be silly a lot of the time, but I’m not stupid!”) Julian’s the same. We both did our homework and research before the last Federal election and chose – wisely, I think – to vote “below the line” (that is, to number every box, and not just vote the way a particular Party wants you to vote, with preferences going where they want them to go, not where you’d prefer them to go!) My favourite eldest daughter is as well educated as I am, she’s certainly well read, and she’s most definitely not stupid – she actually joined The Sex Party, and in fact stood for them twice in Glen Waverley – once for the Lower House, and once for the Upper House – at the last two State elections. With a Federal Election looming on the horizon, unless you want more of the same, never-ending circus – I implore you all – start looking for a better way – not necessarily The Sex Party, but just anything that isn’t Liberal, Labor, or The Greens! (and which doesn’t give their preferences to any of them!)

By the way – that wasn’t a “rant”, that was a “call to arms”, so to speak 🙂

Food stuffz – just quickly, as Julian’s on his way home from the airport and I’d like to get this finished before he gets home – lunch today was a wrap, which Julian made for me before he left this morning because we’d run out of bread for a sandwich. Because it was going to be sitting in the fridge for a long time and he didn’t want it to get soggy, he put a small smear of butter over the flat bread, underneath some of the basil-pesto hummus, then some (Coles brand) sandwich chicken tikka chunks, and some red capsicum batons – it was truly delicious, but I’ll bet my weight goes up tomorrow! Tonight we’re having more of the King Island Beef sausages, because he wants something “quick” to prepare and cook, and I’ll have to have one of his low-fat yoghurts tonight, too, as I had my last made-up diet jelly last night… so… I don’t think I want to get on the scales tomorrow, especially as…

Weigh-in this morning. I don’t think my anti-fluid pills are working properly – I’m still not shedding any fluid, and my feet are still swollen and puffy! (not my ankles or my legs, just my stupid feet!) Anyway, this morning I was hoping that I might have gone down a little – but instead I’d gone up another two points, taking me from 63.5kg to 63.7kg! I’ve been doing all my walking, I haven’t been eating anything I shouldn’t (but I have been nibbling – just a little bit – on salt from the salt shaker while waiting for my dinner – would that make a difference?) So I think you can see why I’m not terribly enthusiastic about getting on the scales tomorrow, after a delicious wrap for lunch, sausages and chips for dinner, and low-fat yoghurt for dessert! Oh well… it’ll be what it’ll be – but I should start coming back down again soon…. I hope!

And… tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day, so “Happy Saint Valentine’s Day” to all of you reading this! 🙂 I hope you all have a wonderful day with the people you most care about – and for those who can’t be with those they care about tomorrow, have yourselves a very happy “Saint Valentine’s Day” when you do see them next, instead! 🙂 We’ll be wallowing around up to our necks in quests and Garrison provisioning in sunny, downtown Draenor, where we’ll try not to die – too many times, anyway! 🙂 And once again – that’s about it from moi this evening! Do call in again tomorrow night to find out just how much my weight went up, and how many times we died in Draenor (and what killed us each time! 😉 )  Flipper’s doing well – sulking at the moment, because Evil Mummy hasn’t brought Daddy back – and she’s hungry, for food, and “Daddy Pats” – and not necessarily in that order! 😉 So until tomorrow night, please try to bee good, don’t forget that worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy… and remember to drive carefully, to keep cool – or warm – depending on the outside temperature in the shade, and to look after yourselves… but above all, remember to stay safe! 🙂 ciao, all! 🙂