Ms.Sherlock

I loved it. Every single bit of it.

I've just checked the ABC website and we get the simulcast with BBC at 4.50 am Sunday (tomorrow) morning Aussie time. Looks like I'm in for an early morning and it's cold and raining at the moment so I will be in my p.j's, in bed drinking my morning cuppa tea and eating toast. I never eat in bed but I figure F* it, it's a special occasion. So quick question. Where and when will you all be watching tomorrow?

Thanks for the reply @WyKnott, that’s very interesting. Here if you live in an apartment complex there is a metre for water, gas, electricity for each individual apartment and each owner pays what they use to the utility provider. Owners also pay a generally small yearly fee to the Body Corporate fund which has to run in credit for capital works or repairs to the building. There doesn’t seem to be any incentive for anyone to do the right thing and preserve water in your situation. When our city was getting slightly low on water the local government made lawn watering restricted to one day a week, then as the water shortage got worse there was a complete ban on watering lawns and washing cars, grey water recycling was suddenly allowed and people were given monetary assistance for installing rain water collection tanks. Fines were strictly enforced and when things got really dire the local government sent each household a little three minute sand timer to put in the bathroom and requested that we all try and keep showering down to under three minutes. Hope those of you in California get some rain soon.

I’ve watched the first 3 leaked episodes and I’m liking it a great deal, which is a pleasant surprise as I found the writing in the Matt Smith era a little convoluted with the River and Clara stories. This is all about getting to know the new Doctor, and I think that he is going to be fantastic. There appears to be a series arc and a couple of little odd things that are mysteries yet to unfold, so I’m hooked. I agree with you @debi49 there is still a cringe factor but it is more restrained. IMHO there is a little more subtle comedy.

I could eat dahl for breakfast, lunch and dinner and never get sick of it, same goes for a simple pasta with a good garlicky sauce. If I was forced to eat a Thai beef or a Som Tum salad for the rest of my life I would die a happy person, throw in a ceviche now and again for variety :) Savoury foods are my favourite, when it comes to sweets I can’t go past a scoop of rum and raisin ice cream, or a tim tam and a cup of tea. I never get sick of either.

I saw some stuff online today about the drought in California. We had a 10 year drought where I live and there were some very extreme measures put in place by the local authority when it came to water usage when our dams were down to 14% capacity. Just wondering if any of you who live in California could comment about how are you managing in drought conditions, are there water restrictions, and how tough are they?

I’ve really been enjoying this show it’s a nice balance of U.S. and international information. As far as Tony Abbott goes, don’t like him, didn’t vote for him and am kinda embarrassed that he has now been presented to a U.S. audience. What with the drop bears, sharks and the world’s most venomous creatures the last thing we need is our head of state repelling people.

Why thank you SilverStormm, that’s very kind of you. Pop it next to the kettle and the bickie bin arizonamyrie. That way everyone can help themselves to tea, toast and biscuits. Thanks so much for the offer Kaffyr I would love to have a copy of it. Despite it being winter here I was still breaking a sweat when I was hanging the washing on the line today. I had a lovely day steadfastly denying that I need to find a job preferring instead to spend the day cooking and puttering around the house doing random acts of cleaning. I’ve been working full time since I was 14 y.o. and it’s just so refreshing to have a break from the daily grind and have the time to make my living environment clean and comfy. I love not working but economic reality is about to set in; I’ve got to start applying for jobs, that’s gonna be a world of hurt and rejection.

When DW is showing my Sunday morning routine is wake up and get straight onto the computer and watch the show with a cup of tea and then head into the forums to see what I missed and that other more alert viewers picked up. This morning sitting on the computer reading the forums at TwoP was a grim and rather upsetting way to start the day. Then I remembered that nothing dies without creating something new, even if it is just nice memories. My previous moniker was megspenchant, I got in early here and finally got Sherlock in my username, which is not any reflection on my love for the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books or the TV or movies adaptations. It's a R/L family name that I finally got to reclaim in a small way.

The US has a much different system from what we have. Most things here can be done on-line and the banks aggressively steer customers and businesses to use their electronic banking services because it increases bank profits. I had to go to a bank branch last week because I had emptied out my TARDIS money boxes and the old champagne bucket that I dump all my coins into. It felt strange because even though I have been working in banking and finance for the past 10 years I’ve rarely had to venture into a bank branch for my personal banking. Here generally companies will pay you for work performed. My last employer paid monthly so I had to work without pay for two months when I started before I was paid for my first months’ work. Although it was eight tough weeks it was great to have enough money to pay off my bills all at once and then have some left over when I finally got paid. I’m not good at budgeting and monthly pay was difficult at first but ended up so much easier than a weekly or fortnightly pay cycle where I always found myself broke before pay day, which is why I had the TARDIS money boxes in the first place, I needed emergency money for transport and food. Companies paying staff monthly pay is becoming the norm here. Is it the same for you guys?

It seems they are Kalliste. Here cheque accounts were phased out for individual’s years ago, not because it was unreliable but because it cost banks so much money to process. I only carry cash when I go to the farmers market to buy produce everything else is paid electronically, credit card, paywave or direct debit on-line. If I had to paid via cheque the bank fees for processing them would be more than the debts that needed to pay. Sorry, cross posted with you there Lisin Nothing worse than wanting to pay your bills on time and a corporation or company making it hard for you to do it. I'd annoy their marketing department with constant emails for easier payment services, but I'm guessing if they don't offer electronic payment they probably do not have a marketing department.

Thanks for the answer Lisin, that’s interesting because here you couldn’t cash in a cheque unless you have an account with the bank and then it would take 10 working days to clear. It must cause a bit of a security concern for people who get paid by cheque/check to either carry cash or risk losing their cheque.

This is going to sound like a really dumb question but how do you get paid? One of my American friends mentioned getting a pay raise and receiving a bigger check on pay day. Which confused me because I thought that her work was being checked more thoroughly before being paid, then I remembered USA check=cheque in UK/Aussie speak. My wages are credited to my bank account at 12.00 midnight on my pay day. Does anyone get paid by checks/cheques or is it just verbal shorthand for a deposit of wages into your bank account?

Excellent question Eozostrodon. Pudding is a cooking technique that can be applied to either sweet or savioury fair. Here in Straylia we love out sticky date pudding (uncious and sweet) but you will see little love for black pudding (blood sausage). Both are puddings because of the way that they are cooked, which involves water, various temperatures, and a whole lot of mucking about. After an hour of reseach and phoning friends, I am so sorry that I don't have a definitive answer about Puddings, turns out it is a mine field out there but I can report that there is no class associated to the word. I use the terms sweets, puddings, desserts or afters when requesting a sweet treat at the end of a meal and all are acceptable. I will be judged on my accompaning wine choice however.

I was so happy that there are new eps. of Parts Unknown. It occasionally airs here on cable, but when I saw it appear on my alternative viewing site I was very excited. The other reason that I was excited was because AB would be dealing with one of my favourite cuisines; Indian vegetarian. I’m guessing that the reason that he bitches about vegetarian is the same reason that many chefs do, it’s a limited diet which can be tricky. A Chef or restaurant owner knows that it is far easier to design a menu for people without preferences or allergies. All I know is that after viewing this I ordered 6 vego dishes from my favourite Indian restaurant and enjoyed every bite.