I find myself having a lot to say about today, despite not having actually done very much.
I was up reasonably early this morning, as I had a dental appointment at 0900. The practice I go to is Riverview Dental, who always make you feel welcome which is good. My teeth are in pretty good order, aside that I need a filling which I've booked in for December (it's not urgent). While I was in Shepparton I went to the greengrocer near the dentist and bought some asparagus, bananas and a couple of pineapples. I love fresh fruit and I want to go back to being a proper health-nut. I've fallen off the wagon: with the constant weather- and flood-watches I've been reluctant to take the time to go running even when the weather's been clement, and I've been snacking and eating salted and sweetened foods in a truly grotesque manner. Ugh: I don't want to end up like my father.
I went on to Tatura after the dentist. There'd been a job advertisement in yesterday's paper for a counter hand at Tatura Post Office. Part time and limited term work, but I called yesterday and they asked me to drop in a CV. What do I have to lose? I received a knockback yesterday for a job as a part time cleaner with Spotless, which is about as demoralising as it gets: I can't even get a job cleaning other people's s*** out of a toilet.
In relation to the postal job, I was interested to read about the existence of Postal Police in both the United States and Nazi Germany. It was the second of those that genuinely surprised me: the Postschutz was an arm of the SS and ultimately functioned as a combat formation. One can detest the Third Reich but still be fascinated by how totally a society can be militarised.
While I was in Tatura I also picked up a copy of the local paper. The Guardian included a photo from the weekend of some members of the SES at the Show-&-Shine. I always think it's good when members (especially the younger ones) get to be in the paper in uniform - it's a great way for them to see that the community thinks what they do is really good.
It's been a book-tinctured day as well. While I was in Tatura I stopped in at the opportunity shop which always sells books for 50c or a dollar and picked up a crossword dictionary (I've always been jealous of people who can solve the cryptic crosswords). On the 'what I'm reading front', I've crossed two books off my Goodreads list. I flipped through Terry Breverton's Immortal Last Words and found it a bit disappointing: it wasn't so much a collection of last words as quotable quotes by or about people who are dead (for instance, the entry for Mahatma Gandhi is a statement on his death by Jawahurlal Nehru - Gandhi's last words after being shot were "He Ram" ("Oh God!). I also read Faces of the Visitors by Kevin Randle and Russ Estes, which is about UFO encounters. It was better than I expected - a fairly objective attempt to separate what Close Encounter reports are plausible and which are not. Refreshingly it concedes that nearly all of the photographs of aliens which are in circulation (for example, Alien Autopsy) are probably fakes, or so inconclusive as to be valueless.
I've also taken books of English and French poetry off the list of things I'm reading and put them back on the shelves. I can't seem to get through them at present: it's like trying to chew through a road surface. I'm not sure whether I'll keep on with Velikovsky's Ages in Chaos. Velikovsky caused quite a stir in his day, but his theories are pretty well viewed as nonsense now.
It rained on and off all afternoon and I mostly spent time reading. I checked the job ads on LinkedIn but there was nothing I was even loosely qualified to do. Not much more to add. Hopefully tomorrow throws me a bone.
How are things with you?
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