The race that stops the nation
They played Damien Rice on Crossing Jordan last night. "Elder Chests" started just as the daughter confessed and it continued through pretty much to the end (though they did fade it in and out a bit). I was very impressed. I usually am when the more obscure bands/artists I'm into suddenly get big coverage like being on an international TV show. I wasn't impressed when they played Ben Folds Five on Dawson's Creek though.
I used to have a mate who programmed the music for an obscure documentary-style station in the US. We exchanged mix tapes for a couple of years and I'm still very proud that I got him more obsessed with Matthew Sweet than I am. Particularly since that meant his stuff was aired as background music to gardening shows and the like. Which I still can't picture. But anyway...
There's something wrong with the plumbing in our kitchen sink at home. It was running a little slow when I put my apple core through the gobbler, so I chucked some Draino into it, but it didn't seem to do anything. Then I put the dishwasher on and the sink filled with water and didn't drain away. And it smelt like Draino. The last time I've seen a sink backed up this bad was when my ex-flatmate used to put his old coffee grounds into the gobbler without running any water with it, so it would harden in the drain. My current flatmate does drink perked coffee every so often, but surely he wouldn't be that stupid? *sigh* Actually, I can't be sure of that.
Anyway, both sinks were a couple of inches full of brackish water when I left home this morning. My flatmate wasn't home when I got home last night and hadn't been home by the time I left this morning. So I texted him about 7am to let him know about the sink and that he may need to call in a plumber. He texts me back to say he's already at work (which is cool, I could have stayed to meet the plumber, but I wasn't going to call one - it's his place after all, which he's made abundantly clear) and will check it out tonight. Hope he realises that it's going to be disgusting by then...
The only reason I can think of why he'd be at work so early is that he's going to knock off early for the Melbourne Cup, "the race that stops the nation". I've no idea who coined that phrase, but it's certainly true. Melbourne gets a public holiday for it, and every place that I've worked has afternoon tea and breaks while it's run so we can all watch the race on TV. It starts at 3:10pm Melbourne time, which is 2:10pm Queensland time because Victoria has daylight saving and Queensland doesn't. So from 2pm on, everyone on my floor will be crowded into one of the conference rooms with afternoon tea, our sweepstakes picks clutched in our little hands and lungs ready to yell.
Ever since I was 10yo (well, except for last year because I was in Europe and forgot all about it), I've picked 3 horses that I liked and at least one of them has placed, and usually one of them has won. I don't bet on them, just quietly choose which ones I like and then watch to see how I do.
I usually pick on a mixture of names and colours (terribly scientific I know), but I haven't been able to see any pictures of the silks this year, so I'm going purely on name and country. So I'm going for Makybe Diva and Zazzman because I like their names, and Vinnie Roe because he's (I assume he's a he because of the name, but I could be wrong) Irish. Although this may change once I get my hot little hands on something that tells you what the colours are... ;o)
I'm also in two $2 sweepstakes, and two $1 sweepstakes but I haven't got my horses names for those yet. I'm not holding my breath though - I don't think I've ever won anything in a sweepstakes draw.
Update at 2:45pm: And guess what the result was? Makybe Diva 1st, Vinnie Roe 2nd and Zazzman 3rd! And that was even the order I'd picked them in! If I'd put down $1 on my selections in order, I would now be over $2,000 richer. Ah well, I did get Zazzman on one of my sweepstakes, so I've made back the money I put down plus one dollar. That's enough for me.
Trivia for the day, Makybe Diva is the first mare to win back to back Melbourne Cups in the history of the race. Apparently she won last year, but I didn't know that until I went into join the festivities before the big screen about 2pm. Most of the girls from my area were going for her because she's the only Aussie girl running. ;o)
Listening to: Damien Rice - O
I used to have a mate who programmed the music for an obscure documentary-style station in the US. We exchanged mix tapes for a couple of years and I'm still very proud that I got him more obsessed with Matthew Sweet than I am. Particularly since that meant his stuff was aired as background music to gardening shows and the like. Which I still can't picture. But anyway...
There's something wrong with the plumbing in our kitchen sink at home. It was running a little slow when I put my apple core through the gobbler, so I chucked some Draino into it, but it didn't seem to do anything. Then I put the dishwasher on and the sink filled with water and didn't drain away. And it smelt like Draino. The last time I've seen a sink backed up this bad was when my ex-flatmate used to put his old coffee grounds into the gobbler without running any water with it, so it would harden in the drain. My current flatmate does drink perked coffee every so often, but surely he wouldn't be that stupid? *sigh* Actually, I can't be sure of that.
Anyway, both sinks were a couple of inches full of brackish water when I left home this morning. My flatmate wasn't home when I got home last night and hadn't been home by the time I left this morning. So I texted him about 7am to let him know about the sink and that he may need to call in a plumber. He texts me back to say he's already at work (which is cool, I could have stayed to meet the plumber, but I wasn't going to call one - it's his place after all, which he's made abundantly clear) and will check it out tonight. Hope he realises that it's going to be disgusting by then...
The only reason I can think of why he'd be at work so early is that he's going to knock off early for the Melbourne Cup, "the race that stops the nation". I've no idea who coined that phrase, but it's certainly true. Melbourne gets a public holiday for it, and every place that I've worked has afternoon tea and breaks while it's run so we can all watch the race on TV. It starts at 3:10pm Melbourne time, which is 2:10pm Queensland time because Victoria has daylight saving and Queensland doesn't. So from 2pm on, everyone on my floor will be crowded into one of the conference rooms with afternoon tea, our sweepstakes picks clutched in our little hands and lungs ready to yell.
Ever since I was 10yo (well, except for last year because I was in Europe and forgot all about it), I've picked 3 horses that I liked and at least one of them has placed, and usually one of them has won. I don't bet on them, just quietly choose which ones I like and then watch to see how I do.
I usually pick on a mixture of names and colours (terribly scientific I know), but I haven't been able to see any pictures of the silks this year, so I'm going purely on name and country. So I'm going for Makybe Diva and Zazzman because I like their names, and Vinnie Roe because he's (I assume he's a he because of the name, but I could be wrong) Irish. Although this may change once I get my hot little hands on something that tells you what the colours are... ;o)
I'm also in two $2 sweepstakes, and two $1 sweepstakes but I haven't got my horses names for those yet. I'm not holding my breath though - I don't think I've ever won anything in a sweepstakes draw.
Update at 2:45pm: And guess what the result was? Makybe Diva 1st, Vinnie Roe 2nd and Zazzman 3rd! And that was even the order I'd picked them in! If I'd put down $1 on my selections in order, I would now be over $2,000 richer. Ah well, I did get Zazzman on one of my sweepstakes, so I've made back the money I put down plus one dollar. That's enough for me.
Trivia for the day, Makybe Diva is the first mare to win back to back Melbourne Cups in the history of the race. Apparently she won last year, but I didn't know that until I went into join the festivities before the big screen about 2pm. Most of the girls from my area were going for her because she's the only Aussie girl running. ;o)
Listening to: Damien Rice - O
posted by OLS |
Tuesday, November 02, 2004 | 9:19 am
4 Comments:
mmm. bet you wish you actually did bet on those horses.
sarni - I thought about that, but there was already so much water sitting in the sink...
anonymous - yeah, but then I wouldn't win!
The race stopped our office for the rest of the afternoon. Food was ordered in, champagne and white wine arranged and it was quite a festive place and after the race, coights were played and then darts (magnetic)ones till we adjourned for a drink at a bar across the road. I picked 3rd in the sweeps. Its the first year I actually didn't look at form.
Re the sink - have tried a plunger?
Yeah, I did try a plunger - it just moved the water from the non-gobbler sink to the gobbler sink and visa versa. My flatmate called a plumber who came this morning - turns out there was a chopstick stuck in the gobbler. I'm guessing it must have been from one of his dinner parties - otherwise, wouldn't you notice that one was missing?
- OLS
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