This whole 'cleaning the bank in the evenings' sucks. Last night I was so focussed on wondering when the back hoe next door would finish work (7:30) that I forgot I was supposed to be cleaning the bank. So come ten o'clock (an hour after my usual bedtime) when I decided to wend my way to bed at last, I had this sudden ghastly realisation that it was Monday and I had forgotten something. So I hied me to the bank and cleaned it (conscious all the while that there are people with small children renting the residence that is attached and the bedroom end is closest to the bank), and staggered home at 11, only to find I was a) hungry again) and b) did not feel in the least bit sleepy, so did not get to sleep until well after midnight.

Since I was heading into town this morning and had to be up at 6 to make my first scheduled stop, you can imagine how i am feeling right now. Let's just say no-one is getting a long walk tonight.

I had originally planned to leave at 8:30 but then realised that, as I was going to Kingston, I had to allow at least another half an hour. Then there were roadworks on the highway. And I concluded the Ute was not up  to the loooooong slow climb that is the Southern Outlet so went down the old road via Taroona, then I got lost and finally turned up at my friend's place at the latter end of the one hour window she had assigned for my arrival. This is one of my old class mates that I have resumed contact with of late, so we had a lot of catching up to do, including meeting her husband (who is 20 years her senior and not long for this world). He is a charming chap who used to design for Tiffany's of London and has an interesting outlook on life. I can see why she married him - they make a lovely couple. We took their 16 year old dog for a walk along some of the beach paths that are at Kingston, and I finally dragged myself away after a couple of hours, and decided on lunch at Sandy Bay Beach.

Found a place I have been to before and had a lovely Salade Nicoise (or Salad Nishwahs) as the girl pronounced it), then bumped into another class mate coming out of the toilet. She had been having lunch with yet another class mate who was on her way to the airport, so we had a hurried hello/goodbye before setting off into the distance.

From there I went to where I know there was once a solar hot water place but it is no longer there (I am checking out a replacement thingy that turns the pump on and off at appropriate times, which will be more useful than the manual approach I am presently adopting), then on to the Telstra Shop in the hopes they would sort out the problem with the phone. Naturally enough, the warranty on the phone expired three days after my previous trip and so they were no help at all, other than to suggest there might be something wrong with the battery (I am rather glad of this as their 'help' would have involved taking the phone off me for an unspecified length of time while they sorted out the problem), and directed me to Battery World just along the road a ways.

He opened the back of the phone and, on recovering the battery, expressed great surprise it was still working at all as apparently they usually die after six months. Sold me a replacement that has a 12 month warranty and told me to plug it in for 15 hours before using it. So I will not be placing any phone calls just yet. He also told me that I was quite correct in assuming that it might be a loose connection as this is apparently a common problem with my kind of phone (the things you get to hear from people who are not trying to sell you a phone), and that if the replacement battery does not do the trick they have a wireless charging platform that you just sit the phone on without having to worry about using the plug at all. So that may be the next trip to town - we will see.

Then to the vets to collect more prescription cat food (I thought I might as well since I was down there anyway) and home to take the dogs for a brisk walk around the oval and give them a feed. I will be having an early night tonight methinks, as I am absolutely shattered with exhaustion.