Spending money

It was somewhat alarming when I hopped into Bethan's car (which she has very kindly agreed to lend me while we are here) at just after 9:00 yesterday morning, turned the ignition on - and the fuel needle moved by not so much as a flicker :-S

I knew there was a petrol station close by, because we had driven by it when Lindsey was taking me to Clifton Hill to collect the car.  I knew it took petrol - which is all to the good because there's a state wide shortage of diesel. I just wasn't absolutely certain that the car would get to the petrol station before running out of fuel, especially given the amount of traffic there was about. Hurry red traffic lights. Hurry slow moving big truck in front of me. Hurry cars. Finally I reached the petrol station and filled the very thirsty car.  All was well!

Then The Builder and I took Lily (so called because her letters are DKL - Dennis Keith Lillee, according to Simon) back to her old stomping ground in Mount Martha (until recently Lily was Stella's car. Stella sold her car to Bethan; Tony sold his car to Emily; they then bought a new car, a Jazz which I must say is very lovely to drive).

We arrived to find Tony absent at the Post Office (must go to the Post Office myself) and the electricity not absent, although it had been until about five minutes before we arrived.  Also absent were a working microwave, a working bedroom clock radio and working cordless phones.  There had been a power surge at a sub-station in Mornington and many, many people suddenly found themselves with appliances, previously happy and diligent, which now were moribund and on strike.  Harvey Norman in Mornington was doing a roaring trade when  we all dropped by later in the afternoon for a replacement microwave!!

We did get to the Post Office.  They are very helpful at the Mount Martha Post Office and wouldn't let me buy the padded envelopes I had intended to put my postings in because then they would have to go a parcels at $17.50 per item.  So I went to the newsagent and bought envelopes and my postings went at $6.20 each.  A considerable saving - which I put into buying a memory card reader while Tony and Stella were organising the new microwave at Harvey Norman.  Must remember to give back Ian's card reader which I had borrowed (I seem to have misplaced the cord which attaches my camera to my laptop)

Warm and sunny in Mount Martha.  Fortunately the air conditioner wasn't amongst the appliances which took against the power surge.  Might not have been quite so easy to replace!