The road to fishdom

Picking a route today was a snap. I had a few chores to run, including dropping the car off at an auto electrician to see why the lights aren't working. That meant driving there with the bike on the back, dumping the car and then riding to the Fish Markets.

I haven't been to the Fish Markets for at least 6 months. I used to go all the time, but then the stupid buggers that run the place started charging for parking. I can understand them wanting to stop people from parking there all day and walking to the city, but they should have made at least the first half hour free - enough time to get in, buy a kilo of prawns and shoot through. I hate the idea of buying half a kilo of prawns for $15 and then getting slugged with a two or three dollar parking charge on top. It makes a small purchase of seafood - like enough for dinner - just that much more expensive.

It's not a problem on the bike, since I simply ducked in via the footpath and missed all the parking gates and ticket machines.

I did my shopping at Costi's - for the simple reason that their shop does not stink of fish. Our local supermarket has a seafood section and I always avoid it because it pongs. I've been in there near closing time and watched the staff wrapping the seafood and putting it away, and then been there in the morning when its come out again. I guess that process could be repeated day after day with some fish. Ugh.

What I didn't consider though was the wisdom of buying 2 kilos of seafood, stuffing it in my backpack and then riding home in the morning heat. I trust my body heat hasn't in fact par boiled the scallops. I guess we will find out when I fire up the BBQ for dinner.

I am also wondering whether I will get a working vehicle back today. I looked up auto electricians in the yellow pages and there are only two listed in our area. The phone for one of them is disconnected, so it's not like I had a lot of choice in where to take the car.

The best way to think about the shop that I went to is Steptoe and Son, without the son. Driving into that place was like driving into a mechanics shop from the 1970's - girlie calendar on the wall, grease and oil everywhere, filthy tools and a filthy mechanic sitting at a filthy desk with no PC and - get this - using a diary from 2006!

It's going to be an interesting day.....