It's so nice out there. I'm sitting at home now with the front door open just letting the fresh air breathe into the place. It won't be long before I have to close everything up to keep the evening cold out, but I'm just gunna enjoy this now.
There weren't any hitches at the welfare office. I told them our phone number finally and got the form for rent assistance. Noticed on the way in that a lot of the footpath is being torn up by tree roots. On the south side of High Street the bulges have been painted yellow. I dunno if it's to warn people to watch where they walk or to mark out where the service guys have to do repairs.
There were very few people in the welfare office. It's as if the unemployed are all out living the full potential of having no immediate responsibilities on a day like this. I'd taken a book to read while I waited but didn't need it, got out of there and decided to have a look around Prahan while I was there.
The Cash Converters there's hiring, but the hiring sign said they wanted people with negotiation skills. Fuck that, I'm not haggling with people. I had a look at the acoustic guitars but none of them are under $150. Cash Converters can kiss my arse.
Got a bottle of wine at the Dan Murphy's. I love it in there. Just all those bottles make it feel like a cellar or something. I walked around just hanging out for a while but decided I'd better buy something before I made the employees nervous. I ended up buying some cheap Cabernet Sauvignon. My goddamn key card wouldn't work in the eftpos machine at first. The girl at the register got frustrated with it and started jamming it in over and over. Nearly gave me a fit of the giggles.
So I had a bottle of wine, figured I needed to have a look in Sybers while I was nearby. Found a Conan book I wanted, had a look through the Gene Wolfe they had but couldn't find anything that wasn't a sequel, poked around through thier literature until I found a goddamn copy of Peter Carey's Exotic Pleasures. Man I love that book. I was feeling very pleased when I took them up to buy them, but then my key card got rejected. Yeah, I'd forgotten I'd been shopping last night and now I've got no money. I asked Penny if she could hold them for me until Monday, kept laughing sheepishly and bolted. I probably should have left my name. Oh well. Got no doubt they'll still be there, though.
So I walked home through the back streets of Windsor, a bottle of wine on board but no new books. I fucking love Windsor. It seems to have largely escaped the renovation trend, all these boxy little houses with no driveways in narrow streets, mixed in with warehouses, factories and seventies tan-brick flats. I love the atmosphere, I love the location.