Awkward

 It must have been about ten years ago now that a fairly brusque woman bowled up to me after church, wanting to know the whereabouts of the ten tea towels she had bought for the church kitchen.

I knew I had taken two or three home to wash and as I tend to do, had forgotten to bring them back. I admitted to this failure and didn't think any more about it but a bystander waited for the woman to leave and said "wow, that was awkward"

It was the first time I remember anyone using "awkward" for a situation that was mildly uncomfortable but now it seems to be the word of choice for any incident or conversation that falters, is overly intense or one party is socially inept in any way.

Thinking about all of this raises some questions:

Have we become less tolerant of a bumpy conversation?

If so, is it all of us or just younger people? (maybe under 35?)

Or were we always having awkward conversations but using other words to name them?

Or did I spend most of my life being the awkward one so people said it behind my back?

Once upon a time I probably would only have used the word awkward for something personal and possibly embarassing: spinach in teeth, something sexual, body odour, those kinds of things.

How do you use the word awkward and has it changed over time?

Ups and downs

 It's a bit cold and grey today, which I prefer to hot and sticky. Milly dog has peed on the rug so the smell of pee and enzyme cleaner are wafting around. It's not pleasant but what can you do? maybe she got locked in some time or maybe there was a storm and she was frightened of going out. After she dies I'll get the rug cleaned professionally but right now the rug needs to be here. I couldn't set her up for a slip on the hard floor. She pretty much lives on the two rugs and she deserves to have a decent surface under her feet.

I'm being made redundant at the end of the month. There's a possibility of being redeployed within the organisation and I can apply to be the new "team lead" in the revamped structure but I'm not sure if I want that. I'm not super worried about it but it's never comfortable and the team are justifiably upset so I'm surrounded by unhappy people. I just want life to be easy, which I know is not conducive to growth but I'm a bit tired of growing.

I saw a weekend choir experience advertised for early November so I booked to go on the Saturday. I haven't sung in a choir since I was a kid but I think I'll enjoy it. A catered lunch is provided and bottomless cups of tea so if I can't sing at least I can eat.

For a burst of colur here are some photos from my visit to Floriade:

 

Spoons

 I was scrolling Instagram today and came across a video showing off some wooden spoons. The voice over was a woman talking about how she is going to get rid of her plastic kitchen utensils because they leave bits of plastic in her food.
She's saving up for some heat resistant, corrosion proof utensils. 

They are lovely to look at....

you guessed it...

wooden spoons!

It went on to talk about how the wooden spoons will last a lifetime if they are cared for.

They cost $115 for a set. And the sad part is, people will buy them and think it's a good deal.

I thought we should start marketing clothes lines as free of lint fires and energy efficient. If we make them sound fancy we can charge 10 times what they are worth.

What solid, practical, old school technology can you put a new spin on?