Wow, 3 posts in one day.

As opposed to.. weeks or months without a single freakin' post. Yep. They've probably taken my blogger badge away, but I'll work to get it back.

I've done some housekeeping in the links and blogroll section... deleted a few that are sadly no more (such as sixthseal.com *sigh*) and added Much Ado About Sumthin! and Culture Strain, as well as a couple of web comics and deviantART. So feel free to browse on over and read.. Much Ado About Sumthin is full of laugh-your-arse-off funny anecdotes, and Culture Strain is great for taking the piss out of Australian culture.

I hope to return to photoblogging at some point, assuming that we get some freakin' rainstorms this summer. It's going to be bloody hot, though. Or maybe just shit I see in my travels.

Toodles, poodles.

Rant Pants #8709

Ok. I will admit, I've been catching a lot of cabs lately. It's getting hotter here, and plainly put, I can't be fucked walking home in a pile of my own sweat. If you lived in Queensland, you would understand where I'm coming from.

My rant has to do with cabbies. 4 times in the last 2 weeks I've had IDIOT cab drivers. The first idiot forgot to turn his meter on. He apologised and asked me how much I usually pay. I told him around $4.50, which is true, on a weekday it's usually no more than $5.50 or so for a local trip. I deliberately said $4.50 however, as I figured it was his loss for not turning on his meter.

The next trip, similar problem. Cabbie dropped me off and said "Oh, I'm sorry, I've forgotten to change my meter over, how much is it usually?" I looked at the meter and it read about $13 or so. Again, I said "Around $4.50", but this time I gave hime a $5 note, and told him to keep the change. Why? Because this guy was actually an AUSSIE, which is rare in cab drivers around here, they're usually islanders or Asians.

The third trip, guy completely forgot his meter again. I gave him $4.50 and left it at that.

The 4th driver was the WORST. He pulled up to the cab rank with a passenger already, and the passenger, an elderly woman took AGES to get out. I'm talking like 5 minutes standing there with the door half open. She finally got out, and said "Sorry about that, high finances, you know!" Now, I'm a bitch at the best of times, but sometimes you just can't get annoyed at the elderly. So I smiled politely and said "That's quite alright." I got into the cab and the PAKI cab driver says "Where to?" in broken English.

"Oh fucking GREAT", I thought to myself. So I told him to turn left onto the main road. We get to the lights, and the conversation goes like this:

Cabbie: Right here?
Me: No... LEFT.
Cabbie: Left, ok. *turns left*
Me: Right at KFC onto the service road.
Cabbie: Right at KFC?
Me: Yes.
(We stopped at the lights where KFC is. Cabbie points to KFC)
Cabbie: This is KFC?
Me: (rolling eyes) YES.

Much of the rest of the short trip was just as annoying. He stops at my house, and tells me how much, and I give him a note and wait for my change. SCREW HIM, tip-wise. I don't mind tipping a cabbie, so long as they are polite and have some kind of clue about where they are going. The only time I won't bother tipping is if the cabbie doesn't have a clue, or if I am short on change.

Funnily enough, the next cabbie I had, not only knew where my street was, he even knew where my HOUSE was, as he had dropped my housemate off one week with the shopping. Plus, he was funny with a sense of humour. He got a tip. :)

So I wish cabbie applications stipulated that cabbies must have a: a sense of direction and b: good English skills before even being considered for the job. It would make the general public less annoyed in the long run.

/end rant

Sometimes It's Hard To Be A Womannnn....

No, don't be stupid, I'm not going to burst into a karaoke-lite version of "Stand By Your Man", I've got a reputation to uphold! Anyway. It's that time of the month for me, you know, when women tend to feel all PMS-y and bleed like a stuck pig on an IV bag worth of blood thinning chemicals. At least I seem to, lately. Not only that, I feel like I'm being punched in the guts for what seems to be 1 week out of every month, if not longer. I'm talking dull but persistent ache transforming into agonising pain. For every hour of every single day that Aunt Flo comes to visit. Aspirin helps, but alas, aspirin also thins the blood. DOUBLE EDGE FUCKING SWORD RIGHT THERE. (See, I take the soluble stuff. Not because I have an aversion to popping pills, but because it seems to work faster. And believe me, the last thing I want when I have a fucking hangover is to wait ages for aspirin to kick in.) Yes, I realise I should most likely seek professional help, but I HATE doctors. They always ask me unrelated questions to my consult. YES I know I need to lose some weight, but MUST you harp on it every fucking time I come to see you??

Anyway, I got hit bad with it the other night, the crimson tide seemed to be unrelenting. Suffice it to say, the next day I was in the line at Coles purchasing a 2-pack of tampons (BLAST that they no longer carry the 4 packs... bastards!) and a pack of Nurofen Period Pain. Which I was stunned to find out was going to cost me $5.99 for 12 tablets. SIX FUCKING DOLLARS! Say it with me..... "GREEDY BASTARDS!"
Not in the mood to argue, I coughed up the $6 plus whatever it was for the tampons, and then dragged my miserable ass home. (Actually, I caught a cab, but that's besides the point. That reminds me, I must rant about cab drivers. Stay tuned!)

That is not where this story ends. While all seemed to be calming itself in the downstairs plumbing department, today it once again decided to rear it's vermillion head, and then I felt that punch-to-the-guts feeling again, so I thought.... Ok, time for some Nurofen. Taking 2 of these precious tablets out, I was surprised to find the monogram "NMP" on the tablets.

GREEDY FUCKING BASTARDS. Nurofen Period Pain appears to simply be Nurofem MIGRAINE Pain re-packaged with some sickeningly feminine purple ink on the box. Should have noticed while reading the ingredients. And I bet you, the migraine ones are bloody cheaper, too.

Hmph. Screw that. Next time I'll suck it up and make an appointment at the butcher/doctor's and get the shot thing.