Sunday Stealing on a Sunday

 Here's a novelty. Doing the Sunday Stealing questions on a Sunday. I was supposed to be donating blood this afternoon, but a slight sore throat has put pay to that (you never turn up to the blood bank feeling even remotely dodgy. This is a good chance to catch up on some daily tasks instead of doing the round trip into town. 

Questions, as always, have been provided by Sunday Stealing. 

1. What book are you currently reading?

That should read what books am I currently reading. 

On paper, I'm about a third the way through Katerina Gibson's The Temperature. The writing is great but I'm not convinced about the plot. 

I'm also a third the way through Paul Murray's The Bee Sting. It's a thick book and I had to put it to one side for a bit so I could read my book group books. 

On audiobook, I'm two thirds the way through Emilia Hart's Weyward. I'm loving that. It's light and fun and about witches. The perfect foil for the other two books. 

2. Have you ever smoked? 

Yes. I used to be a social smoker but gave up around 15 years ago. Filthy habit. 

3. Do you own a gun?

Hell, no. 

For the Americans out there, just for a comparison, Australia has guns, but very strict gun control laws. We had one fellow shoot up a tourist location in the late 90s. 35 people lost their lives. The week after all automatic and semi-automatic weapons were banned and other measure were put in place to secure gun ownership. There was a major amnesty. All guns had to be handed in or licensed under strict conditions.  

Even if you live on a farm, you need licenses and gun safes (I grew up in the country - we had a rifle). And a whiff of a criminal record or psychiatric illness and you're banned from having them. Owning a gun in the metropolitan area means keeping your guns in a lock up at a gun club. Police and members of the military may have a gun safe at home, but most are kept at the stations. Yes, sure, some nutters get through the cracks, but I'm really glad we have these laws. 

We can also walk the streets not fearing being shot and our children don't go through active shooter drills from kindergarten. 

Another small different between the State and Australia - from a doctor friend of mine - the doctors in our emergency rooms will be very unlucky to see a gunshot wound from year to year. There's a bit more of a chance of seeing them in big city hospitals, but most will be unlucky if they see one more than once a month. 

4. What is your favorite candy?

Choose one of these:

• Fru Chocs (Adelaide delicacy)
• Chocolate covered Turkish Delight - you either love it or hate it. 
• Musk Sticks (Australian thing)
• Topic Bars (they're a British thing)
• Lindt chocolate with nuts. The white chocolate and almond bar is amazing. 

5. Hot dogs: yay or nay?

Hot dogs, yay,. but with some caveats. 

Australia, once again, does things different from America. 

We have a barbequed sausage thing going here. Sausage, grilled onions, some tomato sauce (ketchup) in fresh white bread (I think you call it wonderbread). Magic. Best purchased outside your local Bunnings (Think Home Depot / B&Q) on any given weekend to support whatever charity is doing the cooking that weekend. 

Hot dogs come in two forms. The ones you get at IKEA.

Or the ones you find in roadhouses, where they get the bun, toast the inside on a heated spike, put in some butter, the sauces then the sausage - and they are magic. There is my childhood. 

Just another one of those things we do differently.

6. Favorite movie?

One of the following: 

• Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Atonement
• Three Colours: Blue
• Casablanca
• Sliding Doors
• Branagh's Henry V and Hamlet
• Poor Things
• To Catch a Thief

Lots of movies could go on this list. I love film.

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?

Coffee. My standard day opener is a decaf latte with almond milk. Yes I drink decaf. It's got a lot better. I like the taste, but I can't do the caffeine. 

8. What do you drink throughout the day?

Water and decaf coffee or tea. Sometimes I'll have a can of sugar free soft drink - I like things like kombucha. 

9. Do you do pushups?

Don't mention the war. Short answer, yes. I can pump out as many push-ups from my knees as you want. Chuck has other ideas and has me lowering down to the floor from my feet, then pushing up from the floor from my knees. Did I mention that Chuck was a sadist? I am getting stronger. But still.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?

I've got three Pandora bracelets that I love. I've also got a leather bracelet with a couple of Pandora charms on it which I wear a couple of days a week. 

11. Current worry?

I just look at the news coming out of America and my heart sinks. I'm also very grateful that I live in Australia. 

Oh, here is my current dilemma. Before all of this awful stuff in America became so in your face that it's scary, I bought a ticket to London. It's a long trip. I'm supposed to go to Sydney, then fly to Los Angeles, not leave the airport, then fly to London a few hours later. The reason I booked this flight - 55000 frequent flyer points and $250. Most other routes were 130,000 frequent flyer points. Which I have, but like that the spend was less. yes, I'm cheap. 

My dilemma is do I cancel the ticket and find another route to London. I'm not leaving the airport. I have to get an ETSA visa (thankfully I don't have any record or any reason for them to look at me funny, but you never know). There's no way I would visit America until the current regime is well gone. But as a transit stop? I'm also a well-spoken, polite, Caucasian, middle-aged woman - basically invisible - with an immediate onward ticket. But still. You hear stories. I'd love to hear some opinions on this. Oh, this is happening in September. 

12. Current annoyance?

We're about to go into a Federal election. I can't watch terrestrial television as the political ads, particularly from Clive Palmer and his cronies (the Trumpet of the Patriots - give me bloody strength) as well as the claptrap from the Liberal National Party (Americans, think GOP). 

I don't need to watch that. I know who I'm voting for. I've thought about it. I don't need my blood pressure going up like that. There's not enough chicken wire to protect my television. And my arm is getting tired from flicking these people the bird. 

This is why I need chicken wire. 

13. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?

No. 

Give me high thread count pure cotton instead please. 

14. No question provided. It's not you. It's not me. 

15.  Can you whistle?

Yes. My grandfather taught me when I was four-years-old, much to my mother's chagrin. 

Today's Song: