Recently whatever passes for a council here moved the bus stop to outside our neighbour’s house which works out great for us since we get all the benefit of a bus stop being so close to our house without the drawbacks of it being directly in front of us. The bus goes straight into the city so Ben literally just has to walk outside our front door in the morning about a minute before the bus is due. Pretty sweet all up :)

I wasn’t feeling so great this morning, all PMSy and stuffed up because the temperature dropped rapidly some time in the night; so in general feeling pretty "blah". I’m sitting here having my breakfast at my computer, reading news and blog posts and glancing out the front window once in a while, when I see a woman about my age, clearly heading in to work, trudging towards the bus stop. A few seconds later I hear the bus pull up and then it drives past my window laden with all those poor souls heading into the city for another day at work.

Suddenly I feel better.

"It’s the end of the world!!!" At least, that’s what our cat, Kali, is currently thinking. It’s the Queen’s Birthday long weekend here in Canberra and for some reason that I fail to understand this is the weekend for buying and setting off fireworks. It’s the only time you’re legally able to buy them which every store takes full advantage of (especially the porn shops for some reason). It doesn’t matter what the store normally sells, for this weekend they’ll be trying to get you to buy fireworks.

Technically there are only certain hours you’re able to use them too. Something like 5pm - 10pm on Saturday and Sunday night I think. Of course that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to hear some really loud, really annoying fireworks going off outside your bedroom window at 2am. I’ve also heard many a tale of fire crackers being stuffed into people’s letterboxes. Ahh Canberra… is there a more civilised place in the world?

Fireworks have been going off non-stop in our neighbourhood since the official starting time of 5pm. In fact a few went off last night and, for some weird reason, during the day today. Because setting off fireworks in broad daylight is always a splendid idea. In any case, poor Kali is quite convinced that it’s the end of the world and us humans are too stupid to realise it. She has only just calmed down enough to slink out from under the bed, although since she’s currently cowering at Ben’s feet under his desk, I don’t really think this is much of an improvement. Anyway, fingers crossed our letterbox survives the weekend and we all manage to get some sleep!

That photo is one of Ben’s taken in Brisbane approximately a lifetime ago. When we lived in a city where people didn’t blow up letterboxes as a form of recreation ;)

I did bookmark this recipe, but considering my bookmarks list is generally some sort of blackhole from which nothing ever returns, I thought perhaps I’ll post the link and cross my fingers that my memory will be triggered at some point. Hopefully before grocery day next week!

In WoW there’s a fairly early recipe for Spiced Wolf Meat that gives a stamina & spirit buff. A column on WoW Insider has a real life recipe for it that sounds pretty nice and should provide plenty of leftovers for lunches and the like. Sadly wolf meat generally isn’t available so I’ll have to content myself with the substitute of beef. Spiced Cow Meat it is then!

Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve read all of Kelley Armstrong’s fantasy books and finally picked this one up when it came down in price on ereader. I knew before I read it that it wasn’t remotely supernatural so, unlike many other people, I didn’t waste the book wondering where the werewolves or vampires were.

I really enjoyed Exit Strategy more than I expected to since I don’t generally read a lot of crime. I got a feel for the main character, Nadia, very quickly and her relationship with Jack was pretty interesting; mentor/student with a hint of sexual tension. One thing I definitely enjoyed was that, while Nadia does get into the odd fight, she did not get so badly beaten up that it’s a miracle her body didn’t simply shut down like the heroines in some other modern novels.

The only thing I was disappointed about was that the book ended at all. I very much wanted to keeping turning the page and get more. I did read somewhere that Kelley Armstrong was a little discouraged by fans not enjoying it as much as her supernatural series (mostly because they were silly enough to think that it was the same genre), and I sincerely hope that she continues this series. Great characters, just enough character history to make me want more, enjoyable plot. Can’t wait for the next one.

View all my reviews.