Friday, October 5, 2007

Frankie says Huh?

Waiting to cross the road yesterday, I noticed that the young woman next to me was wearing a "Frankie says Relax" t-shirt. The shirt was black and of a style and quality which clearly identified it as not being an original.
Now, I can imagine a market for a new run of such shirts among die-hards like me who fondly remember dancing to Frankie Goes To Hollywood in the Rock Eisteddford in year 10, whose music taste is mostly floundering somewhere in the 80's and who still have Relax and Two Tribes on their mp3 players. But young women who would be young enough to be the daughters of Frankie fans?
I wonder whether young people will wear t-shirts with anything written on them nowadays, or whether Frankie's having a comeback?

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

A little bit of catch-up

Oh, and since it's been a month since I last posted, here are a few little messages of catch-up.

1. Uncle George is doing well and is back home from hospital. Grandma and Grandad are having a little bit of trouble moving him between the bed and the wheelchair but they are all managing reasonably well and are lots happier for him being at home.

2. I'm off the 6-MP, with both my Doctors concluding that while it works to fix the Crohn's symptoms, the side effect of my ending up with a drastically hobbled immune system is not worth it. I'm now experiencing the unmitigated joy that is once-weekly blood tests, and have to see the Haematologist again on the 30th.

3. Nicky is pregnant again, and valiantly keeping up the effort to prove herself again worthy of the "Queen of Spew" award given to her by workmates during her first pregnancy.

4. Went to Bryce's book launch on Monday. Had fun, was amazed to find that he remembered me, and read about half the book as soon as I got home. I'm now almost finished the book and it's a good read. I might write a review if I get around to it.....(I'd say "stay posted" at this junction, but considering the fact that I've only managed one blog post a month for the last few months, it's probably more like "don't hold your breath"!)

Why, yes, I'd love to pay you more money.

I got a nice, polite letter from my mortgage provider yesterday, advising that due to "significant increases in capital market costs", they have put my interest rate up by 0.25%. Of course I realise they have costs, but what's next? "Due to a significant increase in the cost of those blue business shirts with white collars that all of our financial staff like to wear..."? "Due to a significant increase in the cost of sending you nice letters to inform you that there's been a significant increase in costs..."?

Coincidentally, today's the first Wednesday of the month - so in a little under an hour, the lovely people at the Reserve Bank will announce their decision on the cash rate for the month of October. Analysts have predicted that it will stay steady and I hope they're right. The wobbly house of cards that is my personal budget doesn't really need another rate increase at the moment. There is expected to be another rate rise before the end of the year though.

And, yes, I know that the economy is going gangbusters. How could it not be, with all the money being pumped in by my mortgage repayments!