Fire Truck

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Apartment Living

Published May 27, 2019 by helentastic67

 

Apartment Living

It’s noisy, but quiet, it’s a very odd contradiction, so I shall need to explain. When I moved into my apartment (I rent) over a year ago, I was concerned about if it would be noisy or smelly or if I would never see my neighbours.

Once you are inside your apartment, you can’t really hear loud TV’s or dogs barking or loud thumping music from your neighbours. Once you close the heavy front door, you don’t hear anything from your neighbours. I sometimes hear people race past my front door to get to theirs or heading to the lift.

Sometimes if I’m heading to the lift and hear a door slam behind me, I’ll hold the lift door for anyone behind me. Then we proceed to have a brief awkward conversation about good timing and never seeing anyone else. So, yes I rarely see anybody from my floor.

I’m in an apartment block on a very busy corner. There is a main street where at my corner it forks off in a slightly north/eastern direction on the tram line and at the middle of the ‘bits’ (not sure how to best describe this) there is a pub. Across the street are more apartments. In my block, we are six storeys and across the street they are even higher.

The noise from the traffic, the trams, the pub. It’s ridiculous, the cars and motorcycles, the service vehicles, I can’t tell anymore, is it an ambulance, police car? I hear several of those every day.

One morning my carer arrived after I’d woken early and attempted to get back to sleep. An alarm of some kind had started and been going for about twenty minutes. My carer was with me for about ninety minutes. You tune it out after a while and the silence between seem to get a little longer and we looked at each other. Hopeful? Did it stop? No! Damn it!

I heard noises before, but never been able to workout where it was coming from or what it was to alert us to. I presume it was the apartment building across the street. I don’t know what it’s to alert or for what. If I could call someone, I wold but who would that be? If that person knew already, why weren’t they doing something about it?

My carer left and ten minutes later after a migraine had set in and taken hold, it stopped. Posing the question, WHY? And of course, can it stop?

 

Today’s Lunch – 11th April 2018

Published April 11, 2018 by helentastic67

Todays lunch 1104

Today’s Lunch

Good Mental Health Day

Another Wednesday dawns and much to share. Firstly, an apology for Monday’s post arriving a day later than normal. You might be aware I post Monday, Wednesday and Friday with an attention to promptness?

So, to explain. I’m sure you will understand my lovely Noelle my administrator who does all the magic to put my words live, mourns the passing of her mother. And she was put to rest Monday. While she lives in Sydney and I in Melbourne I finally got to meet her! Not the best of circumstances however after about six years of daily contact and a rare phone all. We actually got to meet! And yes, I made her try the prickly pear (it’s a very short season of which I bought only 12) Here is a picture of us.

Slumber party

 

Just a couple of kids

By the time I remembered to get a photo we were both in our jimmy jimmies (slumber party!) and very tired. Hence the above! No, it’s not us but I gave Noelle creative license to go crazy! Sadly, she was only here for one night! But I made sure to take her for coffee! Since MELBOURNE does have far superior coffee to Sydney!

Melbourne Coffee

But the excitement for the week was not yet over, what else could there be, I hear you ask? Monday early evening around 6.30pm, the fire alarm went off in the apartment block and we had to evacuate. Sounds a bit exciting right? Will Helens fantasy of being rescued from her second-floor balcony by a ‘hot’ fireman really happen? The block is six stories and there are lots of apartments and never an opportunity to meet anyone. Well, until there is an incident like this, after pulling on my cuff and collar, grabbing my bag and walking stick I left the building. In the lift, where it clearly states in case of fire avoid using the lift! (How else was I supposed to get out?) I later learnt there are two staircases I’m just hoping there is a handle on the right-hand side and in a serious potentially smoke-filled environment I don’t get pushed down the stairs? He sent fantasy? What! A girl can dream!

Fire Alarm

After standing around downstairs (wish I’d bought a jumper…..bbbbrrrrrr)  not one but two firetrucks came! People started heading back upstairs. I asked two firemen if it was ok to go back up? What had been the problem? He told me someone had been cooking bread rolls and they had caught on fire! And had it been me?

Fire truck

Hot fireman

 

 

 

 

 

 

How dare he! And on the lift ride back up having started a conversation with another tenant who provided me with some relief that this happens about once-yearly, she was going upstairs to find her cat who would likely be traumatised. One cat condo had appeared downstairs in the evacuation so seemingly good pet parenting there and if I had a cat I would have struggled to catch, shove in a cat condo and get it and myself outside, stairs aside! Again, fantasy prevails!

In the lift

In the lift, I noticed the only other people in the building I know. They swapped car spaces with me so I could access power for my scooter and they live two doors down from me, so have been initiated into my free food trade agreement. So, I asked him in the lift if he had been baking? Rightly he denied such action but there was a murmur of humour. I later messaged him apologising ‘bake-shaming’ him in public. He took it so well and that was just Monday, this is why I stopped writing my Monday Hot off the Press posts. They were while accurate, so busy.

Baking bread

Now, it’s Wednesday and with a grasp on calm today’s offering is another Ortolani quiche with a side salad. And my medicine.

Quiche

Latte