x-tended xmas in Adventures in paradise

I’ve been up since 2-fucking-AM, lolz. I fell asleep last night around 8:30pm so I’m not too surprised. The sun is gradually rising now, and what a surprise, it’s still raining. This will be day 4 of it. Anyone would think it’s monsoon season here lately, but the rain is welcome as usually it’s so dry.

The extended-family Xmas party went as well as it could go, I suppose. I went and picked up the hire-car and drove out there, arriving just after midday, as I was instructed by dad to pop into Toowoomba’s KFC and grab a bucket of chicken on the way through (it’s a big deal to these country folk).
There weren’t as many relatives as there were last year, and it was at my grandma’s residence again (as no-one wants her to travel too far, being 91yo.) My cousin Jenna was there, so I chatted to her for a bit, and my other cousins Stephanie and Tianna were there, but we barely ever spoke as kids, so nothing much has changed there. I managed to say, “Hey cous’” to one of them (I don’t even know which one it was lol) as she was right near me, but that was the extent of that conversation. if Jenna’s younger sister were there, there’d be like another 15 people in attendance, as that family tends to breed like rabbits. “God’s will” and all that jazz, to have big families, apparently. The religion aspect is always a big thing with them.
My aunty Wendy was there, which was good to see, as she’d had a heart-attack a few months prior, so everyone was talking about that. She was otherwise healthy before she had it, but she learned that she was a Type-2 diabetic upon being in the hospital, so that was news to her. It’s naturally rattled her. She was telling me that her area in Beerwah is a huge blackspot for phone reception so it’s amazing that she was even able to call for help. Thank God.
Chatted to my ‘Ma’ (grandma) for a while, but not til later on after I arrived. She had a go at me about it like she usually does. I was just like, “You’re too popular!”
Definitely fit as a fiddle. Can hear, see and react well. She just has her wheely-walker thing to get around and sit on when she needs to. Some of us went back to her place across the green and chatted there for a while.

My mum and dad live up the road from her, so I just walked back there afterward. Dad was home by then and mum had gone back up to the venue to clean properly. Dad was surprised to learn that I work every weekend (only been doing that for like a decade, father) and I got the disapproving, “So you haven’t been to church in a while then…” realization statement lol.
Well obvi, if I’m working. As if I’d go to church anyway after the way I was treated all those years ago.
Mum got back and we watched some “Family Feud” (I didn’t even know it was still on) and chatted some and I headed back after dark. I drove around and looked at some of the Christmas lights around Pittsworth. Country towns go all out.
I took the new bypass on the way home, which was nice. It makes the trip about 25 minutes quicker or so. I got caught in torrential rain upon hitting Ipswich and I could barely make out the lines on the road in front of me. Man, that’s always so scary. Not the first time I’ve driven in conditions like that.
Parked in my building and drove the car back to the hire place and dropped the keys in the box, as they weren’t open yet. It was still raining. I’d changed into work-clothes, but I was that soaked by the time I got home (I walked to the ferry and ferried from there) that I had to change into a completely new set, shoes, socks and all lol. My umbrella did very little to protect me, and it was the good one too!

I got to work at 9am and realized I was the only staff member in my department, until someone else rocked up at 1:30pm. Nice to be informed of these things. And there was a fuckload to do, as two of us were away the day before. And I need this Saturday off too, for my immediate family Xmas at the Gold Coast. I’m not happy about that too because I was going to catch the train there, only to find out yesterday that Queensland Rail have decided to do trackwork the weekend before Christmas. Fucking idiots. So now I have to catch rail-replacement buses there and back, which will make the entire commute around 6 hours.

I caught up with my friend Peter (not Peeta) after work on Sunday. He’s moved back to Brisbane after losing his job in Sydney due to Covid. Or at least that’s what he told me on the phone when he rang me when I was on my holiday at the coast over my birthday weekend. Chatting to him in person over a table told a different story, and I certainly learned a lot. He spent his Queensland quarantine period in a mental hospital. His own mum called the police and ambulance to the house. I’ve known this guy for years. Had no idea he had issues. I mean, he’s always been a bit strange, but I didn’t think he needed help like that. Anyway, he certainly never mentioned any of this over the phone, just told me he’d wanted to catch up. I wasn’t even sure why he was telling me this. He said he almost needed to go to court, things got that bad.

I mentioned that my housemate Phil would be moving out in January and that I needed to decide what to do - whether to get someone else in or move out by myself. I could live by myself but it would be a bit of a struggle paying half my wage in rent in my low-paying job. Peter was like, “I’m looking for a place”, but after hearing this story from him, I’m not so sure lol. Then he was going on about how he doesn’t like Brisbane and prefers Sydney, and then that turned into wanting to move back to Sweden. The guy is all over the place. I don’t want to get someone in, only for them to be like. “Going to Sweden now, catch-ya!”
Anyway, we parted ways and I went home. It was still raining, so I caught the bus.

The next day, I’d agreed to do a shift at the Lutwhyche store to help them out. I didn’t know how long I was going to be there, but I ended up going 9-4 without a break. I was in their freezer section for the whole shift. I only wish my store had that much space haha. It’s so spacious! I was surprised to learn from my manager that this store makes just as much money as my store does, but it also has a lot of competition in that one shopping centre, from Coles and ALDI and a few specialty fruit/vege stores, so I’m not that surprised. I worked with one girl who was really nice and another guy from another store who was also helping out, who seemed ok. I was taking a pallet out and lost most of it and had to chase stock haha, so that was fun. I also nearly dropped a box of turkeys on my foot lol. Anyway, I was anxious as fuck working in another store and not knowing anyone or where anything was, and sure enough i got asked by every customer I saw where to find shit ergh. Anyway, I did my thing and faced it all up nicely. I tried to escape at 2pm but didn’t get out til 4pm. That was enough for me.