On Saturday we went Grape Grazing in the Yarra Valley. I'm not so sure about the term 'grazing' myself, since it was more like 'guzzling'. Forget any ideas you might have about clasy wine tasting, this was just an opportunity to buy bottles of (surprisingly inexpensive) good wine, and enjoy it with friends. Most people end up in Rochford (the 'party winery') at the end, as we did, where there is a band playing and by this point in the day most people are in a pretty damn good mood. It was a lot of fun, and for a good cause too... a lot of the wineries in the area were badly affected by the bush fires in February, so the proceeds were really helping out towards the recovery. Excepting the part of the day where we (re)discovered my inability to walk, talk and carry (thankfully, white) wine at the same time without spilling it, one of the most amusing moments for me has to be the that when I looked on the website I discovered a disclaimer at the bottom which says, "no BYO food or alcohol". I know, I'll head to a winery and take some wine of my own...
I've had a few amusing days since then... Tuesday I had a job interview which I almost didn't make it to, and at one point I rued the moment I had turned down some temp work for a day of getting lost. I was late leaving the house, and only just managed to catch my bus, which was early and driven by the craziest kamikazee driver. Eventually, I made it to Port Melbourne where I had to change to another bus, only the stop wasn't where the transport website had told me it was. Chances of making it to the interview on time were rapidly diminishing (the bus only goes every half hour), there were no taxis in sight, and an old guy at the bus stop kept talking about the buses I couldn't get and wouldn't let me leave to go search for the stop. I finally broke free and scurried off down the road, when the guy - who must've been about 80 - started yelling and running after me, telling me hed give me a lift ("Gotta help the old Poms, you do"). Bless him. 10 (mildly scary - he rarely looked at the road) minutes later I was deposited on the the doorstep of the interview with the admonishment; "didn't your mother ever tell you never to get into a car with strangers?!" Haha.
I've also been spending a lot of time in the city library, slowly turning into an icicle (oh how I love aircon) and getting mildly frustrated at the intermittent internet connection (though it is rather better than my pay as you go Dodo (who calls a company that?!) internet). Still, it's free, so I definitely cannot complain, and it's quite nice to sit and work while some dude plays piano on the mezzanine. I can't help but be slightly amused and disconcerted at how many people come to the library to sleep these days. They don't even make any pretense that they have come for anything other than that... Romany assures me that this is perfectly normal, and that libraries have become the 'third space' between home and work...
Other than that, I have been to see a friend's (awesome) band play, and caught up with some comedy in the form of Charlie Pickering, who is hilarious. The festival ends on Saturday and I don't think I'll catch any more. I'm catching up with friends for after (their) work drinks this evening. Things are hectic, but good. I could just really do with a job. Oh, and some more hours in the day...
