Should I stay?

I ate my third dinner in a row at DD’s last night – I think that might be a record.

I drove there on Saturday to catch up with his sister before she makes the big move to Tassie … and so DD could mind the dawgs while I was in Newcastle for my dad’s birthday on Sunday.

The plan was to pick up the dogs and head home on Sunday night, but DD’s sister stayed another night, so we decided to have Thai together at a local joint.

I had two glasses of Chardy and decided to be safe and stay over again.

Fortunately I had my laptops with me … though not enough spare socks … so I got up early on Monday morning and worked from DD’s dining table.

At lunchtime DD ducked out to grab dim sims and bahn mi for us to share. Yum!

Then 6pm rolled around and a friend who was staying the night was making baked salmon and veggies, so I figured I might as well enjoy that before tackling the trip home to my empty apartment and fridge.

It felt good to be coddled for a few days.

The dogs loved their extended visit too. Charlie enjoyed it a bit too much and did a wee on DD’s office chair leg to mark his territory,. Fortunately the chair was sitting on one of those plastic office mat things at the time.

And now I’m back in the real world. I can hear the too-familiar sound of rain outside. I’d better get up and force the doggos to go for a soggy walk before making my own damp commute to the office.

Bloody rain. It never seems to stop. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said it anticipates a wetter than normal winter and spring across parts of eastern Australia, WA and SA.

Yay.

While it feels like it’s been raining for eons, apparently last year was Australia’s driest August to October on record.

But now BoM has moved to a La Niña “watch”, with signs it may form in the Pacific Ocean later in 2024.

La Niña is the cool phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and has contributed to significant rainfall and flooding events in Australia in the past.

However, BoM has admitted that because global sea surface temperatures have been at a record high for the past year, it’s not really sure what’s going to happen.

Predictions around climate drivers like La Niña and El Niño are usually calculated using historical records. The unprecedented ocean heat means forecasting based on past events “may not be reliable”.

I wonder how membership levels are faring at climate change denial clubs these days?

Song of the day: The Clash “Should I stay or should I go?”