What useful trade can I learn to survive a collapsed economy? Good question. Despite our careers being in the “computer” industry, I think the Snook and I have some survival skills. We can both cook things from scratch. (I think there are a lot of people that’d be screwed if they couldn’t get or afford take-out or pre-prepared stuff.) I can knit socks and garments and quilt blankets from scraps. He can make beer from raw materials (actual grain instead of cans of syrup). He’s got some electrical repair skills, and he knows how to fish a bit. There are a few other things that I’d like to learn: proper garment sewing, gardening, and carpentry. (That last one is random, I know. I just have this weird fascination with people who can make useful things out of wood. I love Norm Abrams.) And every time I watch Scrapheap Challenge, I find myself wishing I knew how to weld. It seems like a supremely useful skill.

Oh yeah. I made the Cinnamon Bun Bread, and it was AWESOME.

The Snook and I headed to Milson’s Point early this morning to join the crowd of 12,000 at the starting line our third consecutive Bridge Run. (Last year’s post.) Fiona and Emily the Car were amongst the throng as well, though we didn’t find them til later. Snookums and I felt pretty good. We started off and began the climb up onto the Bridge. It was a gorgeous day, with fluffy clouds that quickly gave way to the sun. We weren’t going terribly fast – just shy of a 7:00 kilometer – but I felt like I could go for a while. We slowed to a walk for the first water stop, then sped back up again into the Domain. We passed the 5K mark at just about 35:00. The sun was getting hotter though, and both of us were getting thirsty. We were relieved to make it to the second water stop, only to be disappointed when there were no cups left. (A volunteer was doing what he could with a dribbling hose, but it wasn’t nearly enough. BAD RACE ORGANISATION.) So we wasted a minute or so there NOT getting water. Then it was the hilly bit of the Domain, and both of us were fighting stitches. I made it up the annoying little hill that I had to walk last year, which was gratifying. We made a quick detour at the Art Gallery to hit a water fountain. Then it was all downhill to the finish line. I could tell we weren’t going to make it in an hour, but I thought I could maybe improve on last year. According to the time that they later SMSed to me (1:02:34), I shaved about 20 seconds off last year’s time. So not a huge PB, but I’ll take it. Afterwards we met up with Em and Fee and Emily’s partner Clare (who finished her first half-marathon in the awesome time of 2:09!). Hooray for all the finishers! We did good work on a hot day.

Later in the afternoon, all the runners and their associated partners – as well as Amy, Bex, and Fin – met up at our place for a barbecue. We had lamb sausages, steak kebabs, Snookums’s magic chicken, my jewelled couscous, and lots of lovely sweets and drinks from the guests. Greeeeaaat way to end a beautiful summery day…

An Actual Phone Call I Made at 7:30pm on a Saturday Night Because I Am Just That Annoyed:

Woman: Hi, this is Channel 9. How can I help you?
Me: I’d like to make a complaint about one of your shows.
Her: I can take your complaint. What is it?
Me: It’s about your new show Fringe. I was really looking forward to seeing the show and I was glad it came out so soon here. I watched the show and really enjoyed it, so I was just reading about it online and discovered that there were several scenes that were MISSING in the version that was broadcast here. And I just think that if you’re going to heavily advertise that a show has been “fast-tracked straight from the US” because you don’t want people to download it off the Internet, then you shouldn’t give us a chopped up version! I mean, one of the scenes that was cut was the one that actually EXPLAINED THE TITLE OF THE SHOW.
Her: Thanks for that. I’ll pass it along.

I hope I enlivened her night, anyway. So how friggin’ annoying is that? I actually did enjoy the show, but there were some confusing plot gaps that I didn’t quite understand. I figured it was just because it was all X-Files-y. I mean, they didn’t even explain the title! And where did my sister get “astral projection” from anyway? (I mean, that’s clearly what they did with the LSD tank thing, but it was never mentioned by name.) So I decide to check out the TWOP recap and see if I missed anything… when I come across FOUR PARAGRAPHS that I don’t remember. “Huh, that’s odd.” So I go back to the TiFaux and play the episode again. Nope. Cuts right from Pacey saying “When do we leave?” to the door opening at the mental ward. ARGH. And now that I’m reading further, I’m finding more stuff. We also didn’t see Olivia get shot up with the drugs before she goes into the tank.

So thanks, Channel 9. I was actually getting excited about watching Heroes without having to download it, but you’ll probably cut bits out of that too. YOU SUCK.

Addendum: Kunaal has just pointed out that Heroes is on Channel 7. Whatever. I still don’t trust any of them now.

Apologies for the site problems yesterday. My database server crashed pretty hard. The guys at Quadrahosting were quick to respond though, and they seem to have it up and running now…

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Nat and Staci on the arrival of their daughter Margaret Jane Cunningham. Ooh, I’ll have to start looking through my knitting patterns!

Training over. That was fun for a bit… but man, eight conscious hours a day without Internet access is just too, too many.

When you’re sick, it’s really, really hard to resist the temptation to bake things like Cinnamon Bun Bread…

Michelle Obama blogs about equal pay and Lilly Ledbetter. Lilly worked at Goodyear for 20 years and was a plant supervisor. Someone sent her an anonymous letter with all the salaries of her male counterparts, all of whom were making way more than she did. She took the company to court. The Supreme Court ruled that, according to the law, Lilly only had 180 days to complain about the discrimination. So because the company had hid the truth for 20 years, she missed her chance. Now legislators are trying to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

“But this April, Republicans in the Senate blocked it. Now, Democrats in the Senate are working to bring Lilly’s bill back for another vote this fall. My husband is a proud supporter of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Senator McCain does not support it. In fact, Senator McCain said that what women really need is more education and training. But Lilly Ledbetter had plenty of training. What she doesn’t have is the right to fight for the pay she deserves.”

My Grandma worked in a tire plant for years and years. I wonder how much money she lost to discrimination. But I suppose she deserved it, on account of not having enough education and training, right?