Whimsical Wednesday #79

Welcome back to Whimsical Wednesday!

The day for your googled giggle that gets you over the hump that is Wednesday and sliding down into the weekend.

if that doesn't make you laugh, then you're a cold, cold soul.

ummm, green sperm?

I'd been microwaving some broccoli and when I'd drained and served it,
some tiny shreds remained in the microwave dish.

see? 
Sperm.
Green.

there they are again.
Tadpoles.
Green.

What Irritates You Monday

"What Irritates You Monday" is a meme thought up by Delores from TheFeathered Nest.

Here, on a Monday, we get a chance to vent our little, or not so little, things that irritate us.

It doesn't have to be something on that particular Monday, it can be anything that irritates you any day of any week.  

Today, my irritation is....

Parking Spaces.

 more specifically, the lack of them....

I'm not irritated for myself, since I don't drive a car, my concern is for others. 

You may have read in your newspapers that our Adelaide Oval is getting a makeover. 

A refurbishment. 

Rebuilt. 

Bigger, Better,  etc.

All well and good you might say, it will bring people into the city and the people will spend money. Councils and Governments like that sort of thing, as do retail businesses. 

The newer, bigger, oval is big enough to cater for tens of thousands of patrons at any one time. 

The parking spaces are for considerably less than that number.

Yes, LESS.  

By about two thirds I believe.

WTF??

Possibly some will travel in by bus or train or carpool, but still, to be allowing so few spaces is bordering on lunacy in my opinion. 

As far as I know, they've planned a single expanse of ground level parking. I could be wrong. 

But why not take the opportunity to build an underground parking section as well?** 

To cater for all those who decide to shop in the city before or after the football, cricket, whatever. They may even zip across the new multi-million dollar waste-of-money, oops, footbridge to the casino. 

The same problem exists in  shopping centres everywhere. 

Build a huge mall, surround it with single level parking spaces and sit back to watch people circling like vultures looking for an empty spot. 

Because people DON'T, park, shop, drive home. 

Really, they don't.

They park, bump into friends or meet up with them on purpose, have a coffee or lunch at a cafe, browse the shops, sit and chat, and maybe, eventually, they'll get around to doing their shopping. 

Depending on what suburb you're shopping in, you may just find a parking ticket under your windshield wiper when you get back to your car, because you forgot to go and move it after two hours. 

There are a few shopping centres that have multi-level carpark areas, Foodland at Norwood has two or three levels in a big block behind their store, across the road.

Arkaba shopping centre has two levels, one underground and the other level with the shops, plus another section off to one side. 

Burnside shopping centre, which seems to get bigger every year, has a huge underground carparking area as well as the spaces at ground level. 

Marion shopping centre, ditto and I'm sure there are others.

In some of the outer suburbs, carparks stretch out seemingly for miles, taking up valuable real estate, because no one thought of multi-level carparks.

Or perhaps no one was willing to pay for that amount of construction. I imagine building multi-level or underground isn't cheap.

And how many times have I seen work colleagues rush out of the store during working hours to go and move their cars?

This is another sore point. 

Dedicated parking spaces are not allocated for those who work at the shops, the planners just did not think that far ahead. 

What is really needed is a nice big mall, full of shops, and right next to it, a nice big multi-storey carpark with allocated spaces for the employees, perhaps a whole floor dedicated just for them, with the rest for shoppers, browsers, ladies who lunch and those getting their hair and nails done. 

It might be ugly, but so very useful. Or they could build in the same style as the shopping mall.....

And it would certainly draw the shopping public. 

Because parking within the city is a nightmare.

Or so I've heard. 

**they can't build above ground because it would spoil the look of the parklands.

Sunday Selections # 125

Welcome back to Sunday Selections!

This once-a- week-meme was originally begun by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, as a way to showcase some of the many photos we all take, but don't get around to showing on our blogs.

The rules are very simple:-

1. post photos of your choice, old or new, under the Sunday Selections title

2. link back to me, River, somewhere in your post

3. leave me a comment so that I know you've joined in and can come over and see what you've posted.

4. hop on over to The Elephant’s Child to see more of her wonderful photos.

Kath and Andrew often join in as well.

I usually go with a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week I'm showing you:

Adelaide's Winter Skies.

taken through my window as it was way too cold to be opening the door.

the blue patch got bigger, but the overhead clouds were much darker.

for a while it did look like the weather might dry up, but that didn't last.

totally grey now...

...and raining. Time to get back inside.

Y...is for

Following on again with Toni's A-Z, "a...is for", meme, this week's letter is Y.

Y...is for 

YODA!

"A trial of being old is this: remembering which thing one has said into which young ears" - Yoda

Very little is known about Yoda's early life. He was from a remote planet, but which one remains a mystery.
According to one legend, Yoda originally did not know that he was Force-sensitive at all. His path towards the Jedi began when he left his home planet with a Human friend, (who was also Force-sensitive, but did not know it), on an old barely space-worthy ship en-route to the Core Worlds to seek employment.

The Grand Master of the Jedi council, Yoda was one of the most renowned and powerful Jedi Masters in galactic history and has trained Jedi for over 800 years.  He is wise and powerful in the ways of the force, though his small size causes many to underestimate him.
Yoda prefers meditation and reflection, spending much time pondering the mysteries of the Force.

In his long lifetime, he has witnessed the decay of the Galactic Republic, and saw the Jedi Order transform from peacekeepers to battlefield commanders in the Clone Wars.
Standing at about 66cm tall, with brown eyes and green skin, Yoda was a male member of a mysterious species, details of which he did not reveal. 
He had exceptional skills in lightsaber combat, most commonly employing whirling and acrobatic techniques with great speed and agility and was considered a Swordmaster.

Though arguably the Order's greatest Master of the Force and most skilled warrior, Yoda believed most firmly in the importance of instructing younger generations and never missed an opportunity to ensure his students learn from their experiences. 
At heart the diminutive Jedi Master was a teacher; indeed he instructed nearly all the Jedi in the Order, to some extent, during his reign as Grand Master. 

A stern instructor, Yoda nonetheless had a mischievous sense of humor.

With the rise of the Galactic Empire, Yoda fled into exile and awaited the arrival of a new Jedi student to rekindle a new hope in the galaxy.

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force and a powerful ally it is." -Yoda, to Luke Skywalker.

thank you google, wookiepedia and starwars.com

Wednesday's Words on a Friday

On Wednesdays, Delores, from A Feathered Nest has a meme which she calls Words for Wednesday.

She puts up a selection of six words which we then use in a short story, if we are able.

Sometimes I look at her words and nothing at all comes to mind.

This week's words are:

1. virtuous

2. flannel

3. donuts

4. cartoons

5. inching

6. frayed

Here is my short story:

Aaron was feeling quite virtuous. He'd been out all day with his Uncles, Luke and Rob.

Uncle Luke had promised donuts after dinner if Aaron behaved well today. 

They'd gone to the Zoo and seen all the animals, and had eaten lunch at the kiosk by the duck pond, where a few of the cheeky ducks inched closer to the diners, hoping to be thrown a crust of bread or a bit of bun.

By 4pm, Aaron was feeling a bit tired and asked Uncle Luke and Uncle Rob if they could please go home now?

Both Uncles were pleased with Aaron's behaviour, seemed the boy was growing up a bit now he was seven. In years past a tired Aaron would have thrown several tantrums by now. Perhaps the "MEN ONLY" outing Luke's wife had suggested made Aaron feel more grown up? 

They'd walked to the bus that would take them home, on the way stopping at the bakery where Uncle Luke had bought a box of donuts for the promised treat.  Aaron had even been allowed to choose which ones!

Now the sun was down, dinner was long over and they were all sitting by the fire in their frayed old flannellette pyjamas, watching cartoons and munching jelly donuts.

Whimsical Wednesday #78

Welcome back to Whimsical Wednesday!

The day for your googled giggle that gets you over the hump that is Wednesday and sliding down into the weekend.

Enjoy your day.
I'm going to be doing nothing after doing too much yesterday.