Black and Blue Man

Part 1
Part 2

Shortly after my second failed attempt to dine at Happy’s Chinese Restaurant, I went past the equally-packed King O’Malley’s and soon arrived at the local Pancake Parlour.

Fortunately, the Pancake Parlour wasn’t packed, and I had a nice comfort-food dinner.

Despite all those new books that I now had on my person, while dining I took out the Kindle and re-read some of Bill Pronzini’s classic and hilarious survey of bad mystery fiction, Gun In Cheek (a book that I had first enjoyed back in the early 2000s, and had recently found as an ebook at Amazon for only $3.99).

After dinner I returned to my hotel room, and for the next several hours I indulged in a luxury for the first time during my work-visit in Canberra – staying up until my regular bedtime of 2am.

I went to bed tired and happy, especially as I wouldn’t have to wake up to an alarm, and soon fell asleep.

*

Some time later I woke up needing to urinate badly, saw that it was still dark outside, went to the toilet and returned to bed.

The next time I woke up, it was light outside, but I turned away from my window over Northbourne Avenue and soon fell asleep again.

I woke up two or three more times, and went back to sleep two or three more times.

Finally, I awoke again to another alarm from my bladder, and after I returned from the bathroom I turned on my iPhone to see what time it was, thinking that perhaps it was late morning or even around noon…

It was 1:45pm.

I said a Keanu-like “Whoah!” and decided to stay up.

*

With most of Saturday’s business hours now gone and Happy’s opening in just three hours’ time, I was disappointed that there would be no lazy afternoon at King O’Malley’s…

…but very soon while doing my first surfing for the day, I realised that it was St. Patrick’s Day.

So there would have been no lazy afternoon at King O’Malley’s, to be sure.

*

At around 3:30pm, I finally dragged myself outdoors to go shopping for a second suitcase to carry last night’s booty.

For the next hour I looked around the rest of Canberra Centre, but eventually I returned to Strandbags and got myself a brand new bag there for a good price.

Next, with still about 20 minutes to kill before Happy’s opened, I went a few doors down to AllBooks4Less and returned to a couple of titles I had spotted last night but had decided to give more thought to before possibly buying them today…

…and then I spotted a few other titles I had somehow missed…

…and later that night when I took the spectacular photographs featured in Part 2 and below, I had a third pile to add to my growing collection of Canberra-bought books:

This was the cheapest pile at $25, although if I had bought them at regular Australian retail prices of $20-$60 per book…

*

Not long after 5pm, I went back down that narrow flight of stairs to Happy’s.

And with a suitcase, after all.

Tonight, though, I was the first customer.

And about two hours or so later, I walked back up those stairs to Garema Place feeling very full and happy indeed.

It had been a short yet very rewarding Saturday in Civic.

*

During the rest of my stay in Canberra, I would buy one more book – and although I could have bought it as an ebook for $14, QBD Books at Woden had Starman: The Definitive Biography Of David Bowie reduced to only $7.99, so why not.

At the same time while in the national capital, I was still feeding my Kindle – which included buying another biography called Starman, although that one is about Yuri Gargarin and was only $4.62 (and I first read it book form about a decade ago, but it was a good read so why not again).

And I would also take a punt with using my Kindle in a new way.

But all of that is getting ahead of both myself and yet another series I plan to start next week that takes an overall look at my recent stay in Canberra and the significance it had for my past, present and future.

And in late April there will be a post celebrating another important anniversary from last year, which is connected to Valentine’s Day 2011 but in a very good way.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

Part 1

Friday, 16 March, 2012.

My second week of working in Canberra had come to an end. Like the first week, it had been demanding and at times grueling, but rewarding.

I had been asked to stay a third week, which didn’t bother me, and so instead of going home for the weekend I had decided to stay in Canberra again.

To make that stay even more exciting, I would be spending tonight and tomorrow night at the Novotel Canberra right in Civic.

And not only was Friday night late-night-shopping night in Canberra, it meant that Clouston & Hall Booksellers would be within easy walking reach.

The treat I had been planning for myself since last weekend was looking better and better.

*

Shortly after 5pm, I finished work at my client’s office down in Woden.

I grabbed my luggage and hefted it to the Woden Bus Interchange.

Less than 20 minutes later, I was in Civic.

I checked in at the Novotel Canberra, went to my room, unpacked and assembled my gear for the raid on Clouston & Hall.

I considered taking my empty wheeled suitcase because of the expected big load of heavy books, but in the end I considered it too clumsy, especially for where I was planning to have dinner beforehand.

In the end, I decided to rely on my two Woolworths Cool Bags – blue canvas insulated shopping bags with zipped covers that are primarily designed for refrigerated groceries, but which I have found very useful for shopping in general.

I flattened and folded the Cool Bags, tucked them into my backpack and left the hotel.

*

My original plan was to first have dinner at the landmark Happy’s Chinese Restaurant and then take a short walk across Garema Place to Clouston & Hall.

It was just after 6pm, though, and I feared that Happy’s would be packed – not only because it was Friday night in Civic, but because of what I’d previously witnessed there. Before, I’d always gotten to Happy’s just after 5pm when it opened and I was often the first customer that night – but even by 6pm it was amazing to see how quickly it filled up.

And sure enough, when I got myself down that narrow flight of stairs to the lower-ground floor where Happy’s resides, I saw and was informed by staff that all tables were full.

I was disappointed – but I could return later when the crowd of diners had died down, so with hope in my heart I went back up that narrow flight of stairs to Garema Place (those stairs were why I had decided not to bring my suitcase with me).

*

Outside the ground-level entrance to Happy’s, I looked across at Clouston & Hall…

…but I decided that I should hold off going there for now, as I wanted to give myself some time before returning to Happy’s, and perhaps lugging around two Cool Bags stuffed with heavy books for the next hour wasn’t very inviting.

So instead, to kill some time, I decided to check out the nearby Canberra Centre…

*

…where a few minutes later I laughed to myself as I made an unexpected discovery.

Canberra Centre used to have a large Borders.

Now it’s a large AllBooks4Less.

And almost all of its books, regardless of shape and size, are only $5 each.

*

About an hour or so later, I re-emerged from AllBooks4Less.

One of my Cool Bags was filled with nine books that had set me back $45, although if I had bought them at regular Australian retail prices of $20-$30 per book…

Here are seven of them (the other two are extra copies of one title I have bought as gifts for two friends):

There were a few other titles I had considered, but I decided to give them some more thought and perhaps return to get them the next day.

As well, I now had something else to think about perhaps buying, especially as I still hadn’t gotten to Clouston & Hall yet.

I had checked in to the Novotel Canberra with a suitcase and both Cool Bags packed to the brim with both my gear from home and a good amount of fud and drink left over from Woden.

For my return to Woden on Sunday afternoon, and even with some of that fud and drink gone by then, there would definitely be no room for my book purchases – and of course I would have to eventually return home to Sydney.

So, another suitcase would be necessary.

Fortunately, a few doors away from AllBooks4Less was a Strandbags, and a few minutes later I found that as always they had some amazing specials that I mentally filed away.

Next, I checked out a nearby Big W to see if they had anything similar or even cheaper, but they didn’t.

I could have ventured further to the nearby Myer and David Jones as well, but I decided that that could wait until tomorrow.

Instead, I left Canberra Centre and crossed Bunda Street to finally walk into Clouston & Hall.

*

A few minutes later, I took out my notepad and flipped it open to the list I’d made the weekend before.

Next, I unfolded my second Cool Bag.

And then I went to work.

I followed my list around Clouston & Hall to where I’d remembered, or thought I’d remembered, the locations of the books I’d listed that weren’t available as ebooks from Amazon.

Some of those books had been moved, one I didn’t re-find, and there were a few that I reconsidered and decided not to get after all…

…but in the end I made my way to the counter with my second Cool Bag filled with the following titles:

This pile set me back $177.50, although if I had bought them at regular Australian retail prices of $30-$60 per book…

I paid my cash, the shopkeeper wished me a happy weekend of reading and I walked out of Clouston & Hall with my two Cool Bags filled heavily with books.

*

It was now around 8pm.

Night had now fallen, and Garema Place was still lively.

I headed back over to the ground-level entrance to Happy’s and went back down that narrow flight of stairs…

…to find that Happy’s was still full, and to be told that it was “take-away only”.

Ah, well. As an (in)famous Anglo-Australian once sang, you can’t always get what you want.

I headed back up that narrow flight of stairs to Garema Place, began thinking about other dinner options, and headed off.

But I wasn’t sad, because I knew that I would definitely be returning tomorrow for another suitcase and so I could be at Happy’s just after 5pm when it first opened.

As well, even long before dinner at Happy’s tomorrow, I could get myself to nearby King O’Malley’s for lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon there unwinding with a jug of diet cola, and perhaps also writing my next post for Black and Blue Man, until Happy’s opened.

I smiled as I already looked forward to tomorrow, forgetting what 17 March meant at an Irish-themed pub…

…and until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

My previous walk

Saturday, 10 March, 2012.

After a week of very erratic weather, ranging from summer-like heat to winter-like cold and including heavy storms, it was a great day here in Canberra.

I’d been here a week for an urgent work assignment. It had been demanding – mentally, and having to fit my insomniac and night-owl self into a 9-5 routine – but rewarding.

I had been very much looking forward to today as a sabbath, and originally I had planned to do nothing more than stay in my hotel room and relax in four-star luxury…

…but it was such a great day outside, and as the morning went by it seemed a waste not to do something more.

Finally, not long after noon, I decided to seize the rest of the day.

After all, the weather could turn crappy again tomorrow.

And Monday was also a public holiday, so there were two more opportunities to take it very easy.

*

Less than 15 minutes later, I did something I hadn’t done for hundreds of years since my University of Canberra days back in the late ’80s and early ’90s – got on an ACTION bus.

And less than 15 minutes after that, after a scenic express ride past some of the Australian Government’s corridors of power, I stepped off at the City Bus Station in Civic.

It was still a great day, and I smiled as I looked at nearby King O’Malley’s. I wasn’t hungry, but one of my favourite visiting places in Canberra was still bustling with a late lunch crowd and it looked very pleasant and welcoming.

There would certainly be time for King O’Malley’s later, though.

I walked into the part of Garema Place where three years earlier I’d had a very cathartic moment, and a few minutes later I stepped inside another establishment I always like to visit whenever I’m in Canberra – Clouston & Hall Booksellers.

*

About an hour and a half later, I re-emerged from Clouston & Hall.

I crossed back over Garema to King O’Malley’s, which was still quite lively, and went inside.

I grabbed a jug of diet cola, found a table in a cozy and secluded corner, poured myself the first of several glasses, and went to work.

First, I took out my notepad and opened it to the two-and-a-half pages of book titles I’d written while in Clouston & Hall.

Second, I took out my iPhone and went to Amazon.

Finally, I went down my notepad’s list, checked to see how many of those titles were available as ebooks, and added them to my Amazon Wish List.

And unlike the last time I’d done this exercise in King O’Malley’s, I was excited to find that most of the titles that I’d recorded were also available in ebook format.

It had been a very successful scouting mission indeed.

But that wasn’t all.

There were still 14 titles I’d written down that weren’t available in ebook format.

And my next payday is only a few days away.

I have another week left in Canberra, and the coach terminal from where I’ll be returning to Sydney is a short walk from Clouston & Hall.

And about halfway along that route is King O’Malley’s.

So, I have another day here in Canberra to very much look forward to, and even if the weather sucks that day it will still be great.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂