“Ton Or Tonne?”: Sunday, 30th October, 1977

I sat up in bed until nine o’clock, as I studied the form of the runners in this year’s Melbourne Cup. “Gold And Black” was quoted as being the favourite at 4/1.

After breakfast I vacuumed the house, while Tiki washed the car. I listened to the third edition of Bob Rogers’ “Great Alternative” programme of music and song on 2KY. Lunch came and went and was followed by me assisting Tiki to polish the car.

We set out to walk to “Mum” and “Dad’s” by ten past two. I remained outside and immediately began the task of mowing every lawn on the property. This took one and a half hours to complete. Fortunately, there was a leaden overcast all day and a maximum of just twenty-one degrees Celsius.

“Mum” asked me to stand on the contents in the garbage tin while Tiki offered her support by holding my hand. I carried the bin which weighed the proverbial ton (or should I say tonne? now that Australia is metric) up to the front gates.

Once inside, I watched a part of the film, “Strategic Air Command”, from 1955, which features James Stewart and June Allyson. It is about B-47 and B-52 bombers and the men who fly them. We had watched it only last year in our rented home unit.

Tiki ordered sweet and sour sliced fish, and I, braised beef and cashews from the Fountain Inn. “Mum” only has a gas primus now that her old stove is at Wyangala Dam, and her new one is yet to be connected.

Half past five came and “Mum” and Wendy left to collect the takeaway meal. I took the opportunity to turn the dial to Channel Two to view the concluding stages of the C.B.A. Westlakes Classic from Adelaide. Bob Shearer, with a total for the tournament that equated to thirteen under par, collected the first prize of ten thousand dollars. He finished six strokes clear of the second placegetter, David Goode. Rob McNaughton finished in third position.

Tiki and I shared our Chinese meals, however, when she couldn’t consume all of hers, I finished it for her. “Mum” and Wendy chose to watch the premiere of the new Australian series, “Young Ramsey”, from half past six. It is about a young country veterinary surgeon, played by John Hargreaves, and the sheepdog he finds.

In the meantime, Tiki decided to fool about with my hair. She parted it down the centre as well as in several other directions, stopping between each new style to show “Mum” the end result.

We walked home by half past seven and are watching Part 2 of ‘Deadly Ringer’, which happens to be the final programme in the current series of “The Bionic Woman”. An hour later, Channel Seven screens the film, “The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing”, which was produced in 1973 and stars Burt “Gunsmoke”/”Hawk”/”Dan August” Reynolds and the English actress, Sarah Miles.

 

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