the eyes have it

A get together brunch in Willoughby, soon to be our new hangout, started Sunday. Sally and I borrowed Mara's car and we headed for Chiquita's where we met, in arrival order, Josia and Jason, JCJ, Derek and Jo (with small people Abigail and Wiliam) and last but not least Vince, AKA "The Chad". A general catchup ensued with the kids kinda taking centre stage as they inevitabley do. Vince, as usual, wanted to eat as much as possible with sides of smoked salmon and mushroom, Jason seems to have a death wish - sorry, new motor bike, Josie is still working her butt off, JCJ has not changed much since yesterday, and Derek and Jo continue to work towards the creation of their ocean side dream home down south.

Too much pancake and coffee later we made tracks; Vince to meet one of his few remaining single bloke mates, Justin, who was getting back from the US, DJ and Jo to a friends place that they invited us to, and the rest of us to look at the house. I really liked the look of the house today and that may be because on Friday Sal and I gave the current owner a lot of deposit for it. Whatever, I could see myself living there. From there Josie and Jason, and JCJ headed their seperate ways and Sal and I went to visit DJ and Jo's friends. A bit weird, but Willoughby is, it appears, very friendly like that and we'll love it. It was a high-and-goodbye; great for us as Wil managed to shit himself (he is only two and a half months) and Abigail was using her last remaining energy to scream the place down, presumably about how tired she was. We bade our new friends and old farewell and headed to Chatswood and some shopping.

I make no secret of my dislike of most types of shopping and grocery shopping in particular. Sal and I often end up having storm-in-teacup fights that assume the level of "most important thing in the universe" and so it was yesterday. It blew over, and with it my assertion that henceforth I shall do as much of the household grocery shopping as possible online. Huzzah! While at the register I spied an optomotrish with signs shouting "70% OFF". We trotted over and I tried on more average frames. Average that was until one pair, that look OK, went from $250 to $180 at 70% off so that will be $54 to you guv. Bargain, done. An indicative price for lenses was given as $80 so finacially, at least, I did not feel bad about getting my specs.

Fast forward to Monday morning and I went to OPSM, an optomtrist around the corner from my work and was charged $32 for a quick eye test (I wanted one before I ordered my lenses) and was then told that the lenses, complete with magic anti-glare coating for use in front of screens would cost $204. I didn't complain or walk away, but expectations shatered I thanked them and will pick my glasses up by the end of this week.

And rewind to Sunday where from Chatswood we headed to Collaroy on the Northern Beaches to take a look at a 2002 Subaru Outback H6 that took our fancy. Sydney almost requires you to own a car, not so much because of the distances you have to travel and the public transport limitations but more because you tend to do more. Diving gear, surf and body boards, bikes and all the other toys are not easy to take on a bus, and few buses and no trains get you right to the beach. So we may not need but we really, really want a car. And We like Sunarus. A quick spin around the block in a pretty solid feeling car and we had something to think about and chat about on our drive home. Conclusion so far, lets look at another because this one has a few scrathches. So I called another guy who is advertising his as immaculate whereas the afternoons one was merely excellent.

The day ended for the girls with margaritas and for me, surprise surpise, with a run around the park. Daylight saving is top notch in my southern hemisphere spring and I had daylight to help me spot tree roots, cracked pavers and the many and various obstacles I have luckily managed to avoid in the dark.

Before I forget..Aussie football - increasingly football and not soccer, at last - is absorbing ever more late career European players. Quality too; Zola might be on his way over here!