T + 636. MEH This isn't as funny as I thought it would be.

25/11/2014 - sleeplessnessnessness...

Recovery - CMV appears stable, prophylactic Valganciclovir dose is holding it. Mouth ulcers tolerable and eyes liveable but still rissoles and I wear sunglasses in anything other than artificial light. No obvious ballooning from predisone yet, but it's early days Mr Pumpkin head is no doubt on his way, maybe just in time for Crimbo.

As previously mentioned we're not crazy about running the air conditioning in the apartment so tend to have the sliding doors to the balcony open save for on the absolute hottest of days. The park opposite is chocka with wildlife and the dawn chorus is a pretty raucous affair, kicking off at about 5am for about an hour and a half. My meds make me a very light sleeper so during the course of our stay I've come to know the various birdsongs pretty well and am now able to identify most of the birds that we get to hear regularly;

That's right it's Vince Cable

• Kookaburra (iconic and very distinctive - looks a bit like Vince Cable)
• White Cockatoo (vey, vey shouty in an Essex Bird way)

and then there are the lesser known varieties

• R2D2 Warbler (distinctive beepy tweetings)
• NSW Squeaky Trolley Finch (skreeek-skreeek-skreeek)
• NSW Dropped $50 Bill Seeker (similar to the Trolley Finch above , but where-where-where)
• The Snooze Button Bustard (falls silent if you throw a shoe at it)
• Postgate's Clangerbird (a bit Jethro Tull )
• Postgate's Lesser Respected Clangerbird (wanky jazz flute noodling starts early - puts me back to sleep)
• The Delbert Wilkin's OowaahOowaahKatanga Wagtail (distinctive)
• The Walnut Washboard Grater (dry rasping rhythmic call)
• The Nutsack Cheese Grater (high, piercing and frankly chilling)
• Farginelle's Hopping Natterjack (big feet - lives on hot tin rooves, farginelle!! - farginelle!!)

and I'm on the lookout for;

• The Quiet Silent Hush Thrush (hopefully a fuckload of them will move in and take over) 

These guys really go at it for a good hour to ninety  minutes after which time things fall suddenly quiet
- as I assume they are either all knackered or have been rewarded with many, many shoes.

Once again I have to apologise for a Facebook repost (pic below) but there is a postscript which I think justifies a little self plagiarism (can you do that?). Saw the product in the pic. 'Nads' in our local supermarket, apparently it's called 'Veet' elsewhere in the world. Being of an obviously juvenile demeanour I couldn't wait to get home and share the pic.

'Nads' for those times that you want your scrotum
to look like a frigate bird's neck pouch

Jeannette got a bit of a giggle out of it and was explaining to a colleague at work what the gag was. Her workmate cracked up and said - it gets better than that - there is a 'Nads Waxing Salon'  - big sign and everything at the Castle Hill Mall (huge - and I mean REALLY huge Mega Mall about 3 klicks away). Apparently it was originally going to be called Scrote and Ringpiece Waxers, but it turned out that the name was already taken by Australia's premier PPI claims Solicitors...

Another misunderstanding occurred this week, when Jeannette was advised not to worry about smart business attire for an upcoming work occasion and that it was OK to 'Just turn up in your Muff'. Further (and urgent) investigation revealed that this is the Aussie slang for dress down - from mufti, bloody obvious once you know, but for any non-UK readers, 'Muff' in the UK means erm...Lady Garden.

Oh and a thank-you to those of you that persist in perusing this drivel - page viewings/site visits have just passed the 12,000 mark. I know it's not earth shattering in the big scale of the the internet, but I'm fairly chuffed with it considering the biggest previous audiences I've ever had have been at Magistrate's Courts.