My eye infection is really irritating. If I am on the computer it makes for hard work as I can’t always focus. Most other tasks are fine. It is a combination of me needing a new script coupled with this ongoing minor problem. I am using eye drops to keep it hydrated and they have been working rather well but for some reason the past week has been worse.

The weekend is always too short even although this was my long weekend. I’ve been looking for a sofa bed to put into the spare room but everything half decent is around $1000 which is way more than I am prepared to spend. Second hand is just not an option.

Sunday was consumed with yard work, which consisted of cutting the grass and moving the debris of the tree to two nice neat piles. Some of the branches were very thick and took some effort to move them and others I had to cut in half to get the job done. I also climbed the tree again to trim some of the fractured looking branches just to make the tree look a bit better and hopefully through time it will begin to regrow. I guess I’ll have to wait until spring.

Monday came around way too quick and I could have quite easily stayed home all day but I had to go to my last dental appointment. I’ve had four fillings and two composite fillings on the gum line. $1500 lighter in the hip pocket.

I headed into Brisbane to look for a few things on me list and then I went to Ikea before going to Simon my Optician. Getting that eye infection looked at again. Before going there, I lunched in the Ikea restaurant, chicken schnitzel and chips….oh so healthy.

My mouth was still a bit numb from being at the dentist and so eating was not as straight forward as it usually is. My mouth just would not work properly and my food nearly fell out of my mouth a few times. So as I sat their dribbling holding a tissue to my mouth, I’m thinking I have all this to look forward to someday. I tried to drink my coffee and nearly choked on it as I nearly inhaled it instead of drinking it. Coffee everywhere and meanwhile I am coughing up a lung and trying to look oh so inconspicuous. I had to physically hold my mouth closed with my hand, so that I could confidently have a drink without wearing it.

My mouth was more numb than I thought.

Simon and I have concluded that these ailments are all down to lifestyle change and that I should return immediately to my old way of life, which I would be happy to do in a heartbeat. 199 day still the end of my contract J

At 1am this morning I was awoken by an all mighty peel of thunder. The room was being illuminated every few seconds by lightning and the rain was belting down. I lay there for a bit listening to it and then suddenly realised that two windows were open. I jumped out of bed and closed them, it was wild out there.

The storm continued for some time and seemed to be static before finally moving off and allowing the darkness to envelope the room once more and send me off to the land of nod.

I planted my Poinciana tree a few months before the floods back in 2011. It was under water for more than two days and stood around one metre high. As soon the water receded, I hosed off all the debris from it and cleaned it up so that it could breathe. It survived and just kept getting bigger and stronger and it began growing at an alarming rate.

I planted in an area where I thought it would cause no problem to me or the neighbours, but I’ve had to trim it several times when it got to close to next doors fence line.

I went away for nearly five years and in that time the tree grew, stretched, and reached a height of around 10 meters. The canopy cover was impressive and it looked amazing, but unfortunately, it was getting too big for the back yard.

With great regret, I decide to trim it back over the weekend and it was quite the challenge. A few weeks ago I went to the local council garden centre and asked them for some advice on cutting back the tree and they told me that they are very resilient and don’t be too afraid in chopping it right back. I have done this but I am still racked with guilt, I hope it will thicken out and not grow quite so quickly as before.

I cut it all by hand using a sharp saw on the end of a metal pole. This ways a couple of kilo which is good in some regards because it makes it easier to get the weight on a branch when sawing but as the day progresses and energy levels drop that pole begins to feel like a dead weight in my hands and my arms begin to burn.

I was surprised at the weight of some of the branches. They may only be a metre or so long but they must be in excess of thirty kilo. I had a few near misses along the way, but I calculated each cut before I did one but now and again, the branch would split in a different way to what I had anticipated.

Some branches were just way to high and I really wanted to bring every one of them down to the same level but I was getting too tired. The two main branches that are left still have foliage on them and hopefully this will help the tree to recover and then when the lower branched begin to sprout new leaf then I will go back and trim the higher ones.

As I was in a slash and burn mentality I moved onto the other trees around the yard and brought them all back down to a lower level. It looks as if a bomb has gone off as there is debris everywhere.

All I have to do now is remove all the green waste, which will take quite a few trips to the dump. But I will let the cuttings lie for a few weeks until I have some time off and also to let it dry out a bit as it will be easier to shift and cut.

This morning my body is tired but has survived the ordeal almost intact apart from a large ugly looking scratch on my left leg, which looks worse than it actually is. My muscles are sore and tired but will recover after a few days I feel.

I slept like a log last night and by the look of the quilt this morn I didn’t move to much during the night. Today I would love just to stay home and relax but one has to go to work 😞

Last weekend so many people cut their lawns, that it polluted the atmosphere with all that wonderful stuff that irritates my nose. The waterfall exiting from my left nostril in particular was steady and irritating to say the least. It was not long before I had a nose that would have put Rudolph to shame.

I have suffered allergies for years, dust, cats, stupid people and nature when it begins to get smelly. I like the smell of freshly cut grass but it is absolutely deadly to my sinuses. This time my sinuses across the bridge of my nose felt that they were about to explode which in turn seemed to affect my vision ever so slightly. My eyes have been really dry lately and I have been using Systane eye drops for a few months now which do help, but this weekend I have had all sorts of bother. I went home from work early yesterday and then went for a snooze for most of the afternoon, then had an early night. This morning I feel a lot better and my eyes do feel better but not 100%. Tomorrow I will go to see my Optician just to get things looked at in case I have picked up an eye infection.

I sit in air conditioning all day and it really dries me out. The weather is turning cooler now but the air conditioning is still working as if it is a 40c day outside. I do not think it is very good for mind or body and I think that it is contributing to the dry eyes issue.

Since I returned last year from China, I have had more ailments than I had in the previous four years. In China, I caught the cold maybe three times. Once was because I got a chill sitting on a bus where the air con was set to Baltic. The outside temperature was close to 40c and because I had been hiking, I was soaked in sweat and then nearly froze to death on the bus.

Not really sure why my health has been pestered with these minor ailments, maybe they are down to the environment, maybe they are stress related, food related or maybe it is just old age, although I still think that stupid people are partly to blame too. Either way I hope that I can get through this current event as quickly as possible.

I really think that I am allergic to work……….

I got out on the bike this weekend. I went to the city, parked the car at Toowong Bus Station and then cycled down to the river. I got there around 7.30am, I usually go earlier but from past experience there have been too many lycra fuckwits and pelotons to contend with.

I had only cycled a few hundred meters when I met my first two wankers. I gave way to them as I entered the path that leads to a road crossing. The first guy all of a sudden stopped because there was a car in the distance coming towards us, the second ran into him. I could have just continued and got out of their way, instead I’m stuck behind them.

A few hundred meters further on someone else is cycling on the wrong side of the path. When I finally get onto Sylvan Road to head to the river I am then overtaken by another two lycra cunts that shout “Bike Right” I thought I was.

I hate these people and they are becoming more and more common. When I finally get onto the riverside path, I then have to contend with more of them, they just go way too fast for a shared bike path. There are people, scooters, and folk of all ages using this path and yet these lycra bastards don’t give a damn and continue to go full pelt. I only hope that I am there to witness once of them ending up in the river after bouncing off the large rocks on the riverbank.

This was my first ride in weeks and I kept it short. I only went to New Farm and back, which is around 25km and there are only a few hills to navigate. I seem to be getting slower each time I go out, this time I only averaged 12 kph, but that does not bother me because I go out for the enjoyment and exercise and I am in no rush to break any records. Years ago, I would try to go faster and harder. I would try to use a higher gear on hills and just generally push myself but now I go out for a Sunday drive as it were.

Even although there are many lycra clad wankers I still enjoy riding my bike and only wish I could get out more often. Autumn has begun and the fierce heat of the day has subsided making the ride a lot more enjoyable and easier. A few weeks ago, when I went out around Ipswich I nearly passed out due to overheating but now the temperature is around 25c, which is very pleasant.

Back at work today, Tuesday, and I really wish I had won the lotto over the weekend. I’m not enjoying this work things at all……………….

I was looking forward to the Easter break; I just wanted to get away from the routine of work and to work on the renovations that I started months ago. The weather forecast was for rain for most of the holiday apart from Friday when I took my walk. I felt a bit of a twinge in the old bones when I woke up the next morn.

I do not enjoy painting at all but it had to be done. I worked for half the day and put one coat on some of the walls. After lunch I called it quits and lounged around eating and watching TV, well it was still raining outside and the painting was getting on me tits.

Sunday:

Got up early and got stuck into the painting. I did all the easy bits first and did the wall next to the stairs last which turned out to be more difficult than I thought. I was well and truly over the whole process by the time I finished around 4pm.

Monday:

I started with the wall next to the stairs to get that bit out of the way while I was still energised from breakfast. By midday I had completed everything apart from the one wall which I am leaving until I get the electrician in. It all looks good and so glad that I can move onto something else.

I bought venetian blinds months ago in the sales and I finally hung them over the windows. They are only white plastic blinds but they are functional and look OK. I grabbed the bins, filled them to capacity with the detritus of the room, and then went for a well-deserved cup of coffee. Meanwhile the rain is still battering down.

It’s around 10pm when I go to bed and the rain still hasn’t eased off. I closed the bedroom window just in case the wind gets up, which usually forces the rain through the window. I’m lying in bed listening to the radio “Funk and Soul Show Radio 6” and the rain of course but I can hear another sound, the sound of water dripping.

I went to the window but all was ok, no rain coming in. I hear the drip once more and thought it might be coming from the shower because sometimes it spits out a little bit of water. Nope not coming from there either. The old vent for the whirly bird in the hallway is the culprit. The floor is a wee bit wet. I get a towel and a bucket. When the whirlybird vent was removed years ago, it was replaced with a piece of corro to cover the hole. This was then sealed with mastic and screwed down but I guess after 6 years of the Australian weather it is beginning to suffer.

The drips are few and far between and I soon nod off. In the morning I’m glad to see that, well there was nothing to see really. The bucket was only slightly wet, the towel was dry and there was no visible signs of water damage. The rain is still coming down. The forecast is for sun in two days’ time and because there is only a little bit of water coming in I’m not prepared to go up on a wet corro roof and so I started on the architraves and skirting boards which was way safer and more enjoyable than clambering around on a wet tin roof.

Back to work on the Wednesday and sure enough, the sun is shining. The forecast says that it will shine for 10 days, happy days. Any moisture in the roof should dry out after a few days of sunshine and it will also be a lot safer for me to go climbing on the roof when it’s dry. I am going to leave it until the weekend before getting up there.

So I’m back at work, I really wish I was part time. Working full time is just not enjoyable. I have many things I would rather be getting on with. The Easter long weekend was great, five days away from the routine of work and back into the lifestyle that I had grown accustomed too. I have to keep reminding myself that this contract is only for one year and not for life. Mind you my probation period is 6 months which I have still to complete so maybe I’ll get the bullet in May………who knows? 🤔

Good Friday, day one of my wee break. I woke up to Gideon Coe on Radio 6 and the music this morning was just brill, so I lay in bed a wee bit longer than usual to savour it. Only 20 mins, but it was nice to be able to do that without having to rush,

Today was all about going for a walk and going passed a line of cars that I’ve seen when I’m on my way to work. Mostly old British marks, including an MGB, Rolls Royce, Mark 10 Jag, XJ6, and an XJS, only the Rolls is in good nick though and I think that the number plates on each of the cars would be more valuable to the owners.

I wandered down by the river and then into Ipswich town centre and headed up to the highest point which is called Denmark Hill. According to my tracker it is 76 metres higher than where my house is but as Ipswich is such a hilly place my calf muscles really got a workout today.

I enjoy walking around looking at the many old houses they have here. Some are very small miner cottages and in a few streets you can see the old houses that are huge in comparison. A lot of the city has houses over a hundred years old which for an Australian town is a bit special. Ipswich is the oldest town in Queensland and has been here since 1843 and there are a few houses which date from that time, these houses would have belonged to the wealthy landowners of the day but as time passed the land was sold and subdivided and smaller homes were built and there are some parts of the city where you can see streets and streets of small miner cottages which are really quite cute.

I walked through two parks on me travels and did few reps of chin ups and by the time I got home I was ready for a strong cup of coffee which tasted absolutely marvellous,

I made lunch from a Jalfrezi mix, using chicken and sweet potato and cooked some rice.

That was it more or less for the day, did a few things online and then watched TV until it was time to snooze. Mind you I was feeling a wee bit weary after my walk today. My legs were beginning to get a bit stiff and no doubt when I wake up in the morning I’ll feel it a bit more.

Tomorrow I want to do some painting and get that finished and I also want to do a bit of work in the garden over the next few days and if the weather is good I’ll even go for a run on the bike.

This virus, this plague,

The vaccination roll out. Vague,

Public disorder and so much rage,

Doom and gloom,

Lockdowns loom,

Tolerance waning,

People complaining,

Politician’s mansplaining,

No end in sight,

Conspirators talk shite,

Gates and Obama,

Clinton and Xi,

Microchips in vaccines,

Eugenics at work,

World domination,

Alien nation,

What have we become?

Social media pawns,

A world on the brink,

We need to swim not sink,

The weeks are rolling on and I look forward to each day off. Work is ok but it takes up so much of my
time and really just gets in the way. This is my long weekend and it has gone in a blink of an eye
although I have managed to be the social butterfly on both Sunday and Monday.

We have a short working week because it’s Easter next week. I will have five days off in a row which I
am really looking forward to. Got plenty to do around the house and yard and so therefore I have no
plans to go anywhere which is just as well because the state government have issued a three day
lockdown which will no doubt impact the Easter holiday.
For me it makes no difference really, but I would’ve liked to go and get some mulch for the garden
and a few non essential supplies. I have plenty of rice, toilet paper and the fridge is stocked. Mind
you I could run out of chocolate which is scary.

So many people have had plans turned upside down due to this new lockdown. I think this vaccine
roll out needs to be quicker so that if a new case is found the rest of society does not have to be
impacted. No one will want to make any plans to travel interstate because you might end up being
stranded far from home,

So back to work tomorrow, apparently I am in an essential service industry. I wonder what new rules
will be in place. No doubt we will have to wear masks once more, which are really quite
uncomfortable, but on a positive note it might keep people away.

Although I don’t really want to work it is an opportunity to pick up materials for projects in the
future. The company I work for owns many different businesses and so I am able to pick up bits and
pieces at reasonable prices. So I’ll stay a bit longer until I’ve had enough.

The ides of March came and went and unlike Julius Caesar I survived, and it was also my one year anniversary of returning to Australia. I had flown back from Shanghai and arrived in the wee hours of the morning escaping the onslaught of Covid.

The journey from my home in Suzhou to Armidale was long and quite the adventure. I was sad to leave China after being there for four years and I really did not want to return to my old way of life. I had hoped to be travelling to Jordan, Egypt and a few other exotic places rather than Australia.

Catherine and Stuart put me up for three months before I could get back up to Queensland due to the state borders being closed. I had only planned to be there for about two weeks while I did my quarantine but the borders closed while I was there.

The three months passed and I returned to Queensland where I was met by my friend Peter who had offered me the ground floor of his two-storey house, I was able to live here for about two months until my house became available.

I remember the feeling well when I finally entered my empty house; it was one of failure and sadness. Failure because this is was not where I wanted to be, but then things were out of my control and I really had no choice but I still felt I had failed in some way.

Sad; because of the way my house and garden looked……….I also felt a bit guilty that I betrayed my home in some weird way by letting parasites live there and slowly work their magic to mark walls, carpets and to destroy the garden. Even after being there for months I still come across minor damage and marks, which I get very angry about, but what can I do.

The jobs around the house have been keeping me busy and for the first four months, I eased myself back into my previous lifestyle. Apart from the house and garden, I enjoyed getting out for bush walks and rides on the bike once more, two benefits of being back.

I had no plans to get a job but I had signed on the brew and the government told me I had to apply for 8 jobs a month and that was easier said than done. I could not believe it when I got a job offer. Even on the eve of my start date, I was still contemplating whether I would turn up.

I did and I have been here for nearly four months and it’s not bad although I would rather be home. Oh and it is nice to have a few more dollars in me pocket.

I’m on a short-term contract which finishes in November and the plan is to once again pack my bags and head of into the wild blue yonder but the world is in a hell of a state at the moment so it might be next year or even later before that comes to fruition.

So, after one year I have slowly adjusted to life as I knew it and for the most part its fine. I am able to rekindle old relationships and avoid some as well. Go back to my public speaking, drive my car, which I really missed while away and working around the house and yard is not a chore anymore.

Mind you sometimes, I feel my age. After digging in the garden the other day my body was sore from top to bottom and I just wanted to eat pizza and lie on the couch, although I did not.

Change, adapt and enjoy, it is a way of life.

Sunday morning was a lazy start, lazy breakfast and eased into the day. Got the washing on because they say it will rain tomorrow. About 9.30 I got on me bike and headed to the petrol station first of all to pump up the tyres, I still wasn’t sure where I would head.

The tyres only had 20 psi, very low and so I got them up to 55 psi before heading off. I was staying around Ipswich today and really I was only guided by the quiet roads and I wanted to hit a few hills and there are plenty in Ipswich.

I’ll go via Yamanto and then down to the Sunday markets and have a look. Haven’t been there for a while. One road I had to go on has two steep hills, but on both you are able to take a run at them. I got up to around 40 kph on the downhill and as I hit the hill I dropped the gears to keep my cadence up, first hill conquered.

A bit out of breath and I could feel my Xiaomi wrist band vibrating and it’s telling me that my heart rate is up there. Down the hill pedalling like billy-o and nearly reached ¾ of the way up before dropping gears and then I was at the top.

I pulled over and grabbed some water, it was hot and I could feel the sun starting to cook me. I looked around for some shade and saw and old real estate office that had some carports so I headed there to get out of the sun. I really struggled to get off the bike and then I thought I was about to bring my breakfast up. I stood by a small wall with my head in my hands controlling my breathing to keep my toast and banana at bay.

This went on for a long time. I grabbed more water and sat down by the small wall. The breeze was coming from my right and felt great. Not sure how long I sat there but finally I felt better and planned the easiest route home. Mind you there were hills no matter which way I went.

I got up, felt ok and straddled the bike……another drink of water before setting off. I then felt like shit once more, I couldn’t see clearly and I had these huge black rosettes in front of me….I blinked and blinked and it just got worse. Big drops of rain falling into black puddles in front of my face. This was all being exacerbated by the smells of fatty oil coming from red Rooster across the road, that smell was enough to make anyone feel ill.

I got off the bike and sat down once more in the same spot. Head in my hands and knees up to my chest once more. The breeze began from my right and it felt great. I poured some water on my head and that felt even better. Slowly my body returned to normal, my temperature was returning to a level where I could function once more. I had over heated. I hadn’t done that in a long time and to be honest I didn’t think it was that hot today but I guess it was, and later in the day I noticed some sun burn from where I had missed a bit of sun cream on my knee.

I think I was also a bit dehydrated which added to my moment.

I climbed back on the bike and I felt brand new, full of beans and ready to take on the world. Not sure how long I sat there but I knew I was 10 kms from home and that I was going to be taking it easy on the way back.

I felt strong all the way back, with no hesitation going up hills and when I stopped outside my front door I was glad to be home but could have easily gone on a bit more.

I think I underestimated the temperature today and the strength of the sun, the UV was high and my brain was getting fried through the bike helmet. I was completely covered, sweating like a pig but I guess hiding from the sun and trying to keep cool is a fine balance sometimes. I never felt light headed or felt anything until I stopped and got off the bike and this wave of nausea took hold as my breakfast ebbed and flowed but luckily it stayed where it was. I’m just glad I took two bottles of water on such a short journey.

I had toast and ginger marmalade and a pot of tea for lunch followed by some fruit and then it was out to the garden to spread some mulch. By 4.30pm I had had enough and it was time to have left over curry but first a strong black coffee to rejuvenate the mind.