If Only

7 November - First Tuesday of November could only mean one thing - it was going to be a slow day. Left phone downstairs last night which meant no alarm and struggle to get to my regular pickup before anyone noticed,as it was nothing urgent enough to make me have to work too hard, at least until I got a phonecall from the housemate who forgot her keys that meant a quick pitstop out at Redfern and a mad dash back in for a XXX. Mosty dried up by half 12 giving me a rare lunchbreak where I actually had a chance to buy something (and a big-ass sammich no less) and be able to sit down and eat it without being interrupted by anyone. The afternoon was almost tranquil because of the office crowd having started the expected migration to the pub (or the racetrack or restaurants for the lucky ones and the boardroom for the ones who work for companies to cheap to take them anywhere nice) - although it was inevitable when 3 o'clock and the actual Melbourne Cup race started I was loaded up with a bunch of stuff needing dropping, some of it apparently urgent. Luckily as the time rolled around I was only a block away from the Forbes (a seedy dive but it is the courier's city haunt) and I dropped in for a quick beer and a cigarette and watched $27 (which i'd committed to but not actually paid) get flushed away by the Japanese equine. Was reliably informed that if the second horse beat the first horse then I would have a cool three grand but that's like saying if I picked the winning lotto numbers i'd have won a million. True but pointless. Afterwards things were even cruisier and finished early enough to see a reasonably early sesh of 'Little Miss Sunshine' with Angel - pretty hilarious, very poignant and showed a really creepy world that i'd really rather I didn't know about - the 'Little Miss' child beauty pageant - very disturbing.