Cup Day dining

 I saw Noel Coward's play "Blithe Spirit" again recently.  I had forgotten that the name of the [spoilers] dead wife who comes back to life is Elvira.  Some of her dialogue would fit well with "our Elvira" too.  I wonder if the Coward estate would be interested in licensing a production where Elvira plays Elvira ??
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So the nurse comes in and says to the patient "Your insurance doesn't cover the cost of a general anaesthetic.  These are your two options:  I can hit you over the head with this wooden paddle or you can sniff this old medicine bottle. Which would you prefer?"
The patient frowns and says "Can I have both?"
"No, it's an Ether/Oar choice," she replies. :)
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Oct 26th
This morning one of those tiresome survey-takers phoned and wanted to ask me questions about charities.  While she worked through her list of questions, delivered with almost inhuman cheerfulness, I started to wonder how easy it would be to program a computer with every possible answer I might give.  Were those pauses after every question her noting down my response or was it the system switching to a new pathway?  Finally I asked her if she was a human being or an AI.  She laughed and said "You think I'm a machine?  No, I'm not."
But of course that's just what they would say, isn't it?
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Warm and sunny at the Croquet Club this afternoon.  I had wondered last night if it would rain on us,  but the sun beat down on us all day.  It took us three hours to play two games but our team triumphed, winning 7-5 and 7-3.  I muffed a couple of shots at the start but got my eye in later.  As Rod Serling would have said "There is a Twilight Zone that lies between the knowledge of what to do and the ability to do it..."
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Tuesday night quiz we finished in 6th place I think, one point ahead of Minerva’s disciples on 68. Jambag won again with 80 points.
The following evening we were in fifth place with 78 points, while Barnstoneworth course) won with an eye-watering 99/110
But it was worth going if only for the slow-cooked lamb from the Beltana which was truly memorable.  (And the cute girl sitting on the other side of the restaurant, a feast for my new eyes  -  but I fear I might have received a negative answer if I had asked "Do you think fifty years is too great an age difference when dating?")

Oct 29th
The River Derwent at Macquarie Plains is currently at 1.75 metres and rising. The River Derwent at Macquarie Plains is expected to exceed the minor flood level (4.00 m) early Saturday morning. The river level is likely to peak near the moderate flood level (5.00 metres) late Saturday morning.
Minor flooding is likely along the River Derwent around New Norfolk.
The River Derwent at New Norfolk is currently at 0.88 metres and steady. The River Derwent at New Norfolk may exceed the minor flood level (2.00 m) late Saturday morning. The river level is likely to peak near 2.10 metres early Saturday afternoon with the high tide.

Nov 2nd
First Tuesday in November:  Melbourne Cup day "the race that stops a nation".  We joined a room full of folks at the Black Buffalo Hotel for lunch and some entertainment before the big race at 3 o'clock.  My horse was unfortunately scratched early  -  he didn't make it to the starting gate, much less the finish line.
One amusing incident took place at the lunch table.  My friend Mick is a meat and potatoes man -- literally!  He told the waiter he wanted no other vegetables with his meal.  His food arrived while he was getting some drinks and I noticed big serves of cauliflower and broccoli on his plate.  I hastily transferred the broccoli to my plate and the cauli to our mutual friend Adrian's plate.  Mick returned a moment later while we were calmly tucking into our vegetables and he was none the wiser!

Nov 3rd
The Tuesday Night quiz was a non-event because we didn't have enough people to field a team.  Wednesday we had a team, but after a good start (got 9 points on the puzzle question and a perfect score on the food & drink round) we crashed and burned in the second half, finishing 9th in a 10-horse race.  Oh well, surely we cannot do any worse next week ...  can we?