tuesday update

It already feels like a Friday, and it’s not even the middle of the week yet.

Both SO and I have been out of town.  SO went to a large country town for work, and I went to a small country town for the same reason.  He was lucky and got a flight; I drove.  The trip took me a fair bit longer than expected – I thought it was going to take two and a bit hours, and it actually took closer to three and a half.  (I wasn’t exactly restraining myself to the speed limit, either.)  Anyhow, I was there for an investigation, so I went straight to my first couple of interviews, which probably took about an hour and a half.  Afterwards, I booked into the hotel, called SO to let him know I was okay (and didn’t have mobile reception - thank God public phones do still exist, in regional areas, if nowhere else) and did the last interview.  I was completely knackered after all this, so I crashed for a good nap of about three hours or so.

I managed to wake up just before my alarm, so I threw on some clothes and decided to get a meal.  The hotel has both a front bar and a restaurant, which are connected, so I decided I’d go into the bar first, and if it looked okay I’d eat there.  If not, there was always the restaurant.  Anyhow, I walked into the bar through the side entrance, and it was like a scene from a movie.  Specifically, Deliverance.  All the guys in the bar turned and looked at me with deep suspicion.  Even the boys cheering on the sport on the wide screen stared at me like I was visiting from outer space.  I swear I could hear what they were thinking: ‘She ain’t from ’round these parts’.  It probably didn’t help that they all looked like they were from the same family, either.  (Okay, maybe I’m stereotyping here, but not by much.)

Picking up on the vibe, I decided to eat in the restaurant.  I thought I’d spoil myself, so I ordered the grilled crayfish (lobster).  After an hour (!) it came out of the kitchen, overcooked to within an inch of its (former) life.  It also had a distinct tang to it.  I was eating it and thinking, that’s all I need – a case of food poisoning in a little country town.  Yuck.  Still, it was edible, and it was relatively inexpensive.  I love crayfish, so even though it wasn’t the best I’d eaten, it tasted pretty okay.  And the good news was, I didn’t get food poisoning, so that was a bonus.

I woke up at 7:30am this morning, got ready, and checked out.  I went to visit the local shops, where I found the town bakery.  The food looked great, so I picked up some breakfast (a custard tart – yum!) and a large iced coffee, and I started on my way back to Perth. 

I remembered to get the car washed on the way back (I took a work one) and even filled up with fuel.  I went past home on the way and unloaded everything, then went into work.  By this point I had a splitting headache – I think it was the light glare shining off the roads for hours on end – so SO took me home, whereupon I crashed again.

It feels like the last couple of days have been very long ones.  Interviewing people is hard work – it demands your full concentration and really sucks your energy levels.  Plus, the driving was tiring.  However, I did enjoy the trip, I liked the autonomy, and it was very interesting.  Also, I’d never been to this particular town before, so that was good too, not that I had much of a chance to look around.  I missed SO, too - it was the first time in the five years we’ve been together that we didn’t talk to each other for more than a day.  (I had got his message bank when I rang him, so we didn’t have a conversation.)  Altogether, it’s good to be back home.