The Week (So Far)

This has been a funny week from a routine point of view. I worked on Tuesday and Wednesday and will work tomorrow. Tuesday and tomorrow were/are cover for people who were/are unable to come in. It isn't a problem, but it does throw my routines out. Japanese classes, for example, have to be fitted in. You can only carry so many over each month, otherwise you lose them.

So I did my regular Tuesday Japanese class and then headed in to work. Usually I leave sometime between 7 and 7:15 but on this occasion it was just after 9. I don't know where all the people were going on the ferry, but as I wandered past the queue to board looked like this:

Although, having said that - I do know where they were going. They were going to Portarlington or perhaps to Geelong. But what were they all going to do when they got there?

I left such questions by the harbour and took a tram to work where I had a pleasant day.

Wednesday was forecast to be very hot. I had arranged that Lindsey would bring me home in her air conditioned car. Yes, the trams are air conditioned and yes, the walk from the tram stop to my place is not very far but I did not want to walk it in 40d+ temperatures. It wasn't too hot when I went to work, after a supplementary Japanese class. Quite pleasant, in fact. The temperature rose as the day progressed. Various patients changed their appointments to telephone consultations so they wouldn't have to come out in the heat. Probably wise. Anyone who ventured into the clinic more or less froze. We turned the temperature on the air conditioning up but even so the doctors were heading to the kitchen or toilet to run their icy fingers under hot water and were wearing jackets or cardigans. It was cold in my office. The reception staff were shivering. And we could do very little about it. It was almost a pleasure to walk out into the 40d carpark at home time. Nice to feel hot rather than frozen!

A (brief!) cool change came through during the evening. Lindsey and I met for brunch on Thursday in a new-to-us cafe on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy called Arcadia where we had a really rather lovely Big Breakfast. Often when you order a Big Breakfast it is far too big and quite a bit gets wasted. This one was a perfect size and very tasty. The iced chocolates were rather nice too. Chocolatey but not too sweet

Then I came home and Lindsey went to Portland on the south west coast of Victoria.

This was the fire rating map for Victoria today:

Even if you aren't familiar with the fire danger ratings I'm sure you will agree that this is not a map that evokes feelings of comfort and joy. The weather forecast for today was awful: mid to high 40s, strong, gusty winds, possible dry thunderstorms. The fire danger, as you see, is extreme (orange) or catastrophic (red). There are warnings for severe weather and for extreme heat.  I haven't ventured outside today. I didn't need to go to work and, although I could gone out, I felt that it would be wiser to stay inside, unless I went out early. But I had a Japanese class 8-9 and then sorted out some rubbish and some donations to the clothes bin and the free to a good home shelf. By the time I had done all that the temperature was climbing and  I thought it much more sensible to take today as a down day. I have had the windows shut, the blinds down and the air conditioning on at 20 on a low fan. According to my weather app it's 43d outside but it is 28 in my bedroom and I think about 25 in the living room, which is where the air con is. It has got quite windy as the afternoon has progressed but I've got a draught excluder against the front door so I can't hear or feel the wind. It's not too bad inside my flat, though I think it's probably quite horrible outside.

There are large fires burning in parts of the state. I am very glad to be in the "concrete forest" that is Docklands and not in leafy Mount Helen. Not that the uncontrolled fires are near Ballarat but they very well could be. Moving out of a designated bushfire zone wasn't a major factor in my decision to move to Docklands but it was a contributing consideration. It takes quite a lot of the anxiety out of horrible fire days. 

I think that I am not the only person who decided that discretion was the better part of valour and stayed at home today. It is very quiet on Harbour Esplanade for a Friday, even during the school holidays.

As part of my "stay at home and avoid the heat and the wind" strategy I decided to clear out the fridge. I found some buttermilk, nearing its best before date. Plus I had defrosted some salmon a couple of days ago which I hadn't used and I had some grated cheese that I thought I ought to use before it became mouldy. I also had a tube of tomato and vegetable paste that was easily in date but which I had opened a few weeks ago. Plus, I had some prawns in the freezer, some flour and bicarb in the larder, and some garlic and herb powder in the flavour cupboard. So I made some soda bread dough which I used as a base for a lunchtime seafood pizza (I cooked it in the air fryer so the flat didn't get as hot as the oven would have made it.

It was satisfyingly tasty

Now I just need to remember that I do not have my usual Japanese class tomorrow morning and I DO have to go to work