Still in Lock down, but I’m enjoying it. The store is quiet, no public allowed only trade. Mind you some of them can be pricks too. And because of this I was able to have a whole weekend off for a change; normally I work on a Saturday morning.
This Saturday morning I went in to see Simon, he’s my optician. I need new specs and I went into get my eyes tested but it seems that my right eye is a little bit inflamed still due to the eye specialist digging around in it last Monday. My left eye has improved and I think that I am finally nearing the end of this drama; however I will have to maintain this eye lid cleaning regime that I have been on for the past few months.
In lock down we are supposed to travel no more than five kilometres and only do so if it is essential. I had to travel thirty km’s or more and half expected to get pulled by the polis, I didn’t. I was surprised however by the number of cars on the road. I was surprised to see so many cars at Bunnings (Hardware). All those poor people were obviously there because they had encountered some sort of emergency, you know a faulty tap, faulty toilet or something that just had to be fixed that day or their world would have collapsed. Aye Right!
The “Good Guys”, sellers of electrical goods……….and the same again so many people going to and fro from their store, my heart goes out to all these unfortunate people that had to replace an essential item. It’s hard to believe that so many fridges could have died during lock down; I mean what other essential products do they sell?
And all the way into Brisbane was the same story and for the life of me I was struggling to come up with a list of essential items that one could buy at many stores. I think the one that really confused me was “Officeworks” a super store filled with posted notes and pens and the like.
When I was in Suzhou and we went into lock down the city became silent and empty. Eleven million people disappeared overnight. Very few cars were on the roads and people were few and far between, but not in Brisbane a city of just over 2 million it just felt like a Sunday morning.
Most of Australia has escaped the heartache of death and covid, mainly due to luck and its location on the globe; it’s definitely not down to a well managed response by the Australian Government. NSW has been under pressure the last couple of weeks, the cases are rising everyday and the virus is spreading across the state. There are few vaccines available and many are too scared to get one. Finally some young folk have caught the virus and have died from it. Sad though it may be it is the impetus that many need to realise that everyone is at risk and this is not a disease that attacks only the old and frail.
For many businesses the lock downs are deadly too. They have no income and they too might die and yet the selfishness of a few is putting the whole country at risk. It only takes one selfish bastard to spread this new Delta strain to other communities and before you know it Australia will end up overwhelmed and the only folk making money will be the funeral homes.
Another week and another lockdown, this one however is rather close to home. We are classed as essential workers and so I will still be going to work.
Not much has happened since Bruce ran down my Mum’s tree, well apart from Covid sneaking around the neighbourhood. Oh I nearly forgot………someone got shot and killed a week ago in a street about a kilometre away. At least he won’t get Covid.
Vaccination rates are still in plateau mode even although the government has finally got a plan. Only 18 months into this crisis and the government has finally got a plan, well thank fuck for that!
My long haired friend at work, part time conspiracy theorist, and believer in aliens including the Lizard people, virtual porn advocate, masochist and the list could go on for weeks. However he has been trying to buy a house for some time but blames this on two failed marriages and circumstances.
His current living conditions are far from perfect he told me. He is having a feud with his neighbours. This takes the form of things being thrown at his windows. They bang the walls, the walk on his roof, the throw rubbish onto the garden and again the list is long. He has been there for a year now and this apparently has been going on since the first week of his lease…………he has just signed a second lease the other day. Go figure……
He tells me in great detail about this goings on and I tell him to just leave and find a quieter place. He then tells me that he will leave at the end of the new lease which will finish in 51 weeks time and then he will hopefully by a house. The good thing is that the neighbours lease finishes two weeks before his and so if they leave before him then he will have won. Won what?
He has been retaliating in many ways too by leaving music and computer sounds playing whilst he is at work just to annoy them. He throws things at the walls every so often to annoy them. By this time I realise that there is no more talking to him about leaving and I go and make a cup of tea. Such a lot of energy wasted……….
Many people look at the end game, the destination but completely forget to think about the journey and the path you need to take to get there. The current destination for him is to buy a house and if that doesn’t work he will buy a mobile home……….Fuck me!
He is prepared to suffer for the next year just to spite his neighbours and at the same time wallow in this reality that he has created for himself. If I was renting I would leave if it was this bad.
Mind you he reminds me of a couple I once knew in Sydney many moons a go. They too stayed in poor accommodation, in housing commission in fact in a really bad area but were prepared to stay there for thirty years till they retired to make sure they got the cheap rent when they finally got the old age pension.
How can you let your life go by like this when you have choices?
I struggle to stay silent with folk like this. When the realisation hits me that they actually seem to like purgatory, I need to get away from them as quick as possible before I do or say something I may regret later.
You know at the same time in a sick sort of twisted way I have an opportunity to study first hand such a fascinating creature up close and personal, maybe he is the alien……….the Lizard King…………..I’ll keep you posted.
I’m peddling like billy-o, racing towards the first corner. I manage to get round without losing too much momentum and scream along passed the house dodging the rainbow looking python slithering along the ground. It seems totally unfazed.
I’m not sure who I’m racing but I know I’m going to beat them to the finish line. Before I can find out I wake up and realise that I need to go to the loo.
It’s just after four in the morning. It’s cold so it’s great to climb back into a warm bed.
In the distance the sound of burning rubber. Tyres screaming for mercy as someone punishes them The sound is getting louder.
About 5 minutes later there is an all mighty bang and the bedroom is illuminated as the sensor lights switch on. Outside there is a car half way up on the grass strip outside the gate. My Mum’s Frangipani tree is lying on the driveway.
The purple XR6 Ford is at right angles to the fence; the nose is dented and is sitting where the tree once stood. The guy, Bruce, clambers out of the car and keeps telling me how sorry he is. The smell of booze is heavy in the air and Bruce is telling me that he is really a nice guy and he’s so sorry.
I ask him to pull the tree off the driveway and he does, all the while giving me commentary. He tells me he was looking for his wife and then once more falls back into the apologetic drunk.
He digs out his licence and tells me that he just lives around the corner………I thought the car looked familiar.
Initially I’m wondering why he just doesn’t reverse it off the grass and piss off. I walk to the passenger side of the car and see the reason why. It looks like he clipped the other tree first, this explains why the wheel is buckled and the suspension is hanging off, this car ain’t going anywhere.
“I’ll call the police” he says…..”Good idea” me says.
“I’ll call the tow truck and get it removed”……..”That’s great” I say.
I hear a couple of doors unlocking in the street but no one else ventures out but at least they are keeping eye on the situation.
He hands me his licence and I take a picture of it and then he casually walks away into the night.
I’m shivering as the adrenalin begins to wear off. I go back upstairs and look for the local number for the police.
I can’t believe he has knocked my Mum’s tree over. I planted it in 2004 after I returned from Scotland, a symbol of my love for my Mother. To make me feel connected to her spiritually instead of physically. 17 years it has stood outside my front gate, surviving the great flood of 2011 and the many council diggers that wanted to just run over it when they were clearing the rubbish from the streets. There was also many years of drought but the Frangipani got bigger and stronger through it all only to be cut down by a drunken Bruce in a purple XR6.
The tree saved further damage from occurring. It stopped that Ford in its tracks. If it had not been there I think it would have ended up in my front yard or next doors for that matter. Maybe me Ma is still looking after me.
The police assistance line is 131444, took me a while to find this. As I searched on my phone Google kept on telling me to dial 999, my VPN was still connected.
Looks like the next door neighbour had already reported the incident and around 15 mins later the police arrive and ask me twenty questions. They then head over to catch up with Bruce.
I go back to bed but can’t sleep. It’s the back of 5 and I have to go to work this morn, only 3 ½ hours but I would rather stay in bed. I’m up at 7am and must have dozed off a little. I no sooner switch on the kettle when I hear the door being thumped.
The police have returned and tell me that Bruce denies all knowledge of crashing his car and insists that his car was stolen, plus he was very aggressive and not the friendly chap that I encountered hours before. They take my details and show me a picture of someone and ask me if that’s him, I say “I think so”
“Would I be happy for them to talk to me in the weeks to come and look at a few more pictures?” “Sure “I say.
They then tell me that he has a list of convictions as long as his arm and if I get any hassle from him or anyone else, call 000.
That’s just charming me thinks.
Breakfast, shower and then off to work. I’m telling the guys at work of this morning’s events.
I then decide that when the police return and ask me for a statement or to look at pictures, I will not. At the end of the day he has lost his car, caused himself a lot of grief and I really don’t see that me helping the police will do any good. It will go to court and he’ll get a fine. The amount of time and energy wasted to give Bruce a slap on the wrist is just not worth it. No one else was hurt from this event.
Yes he knocked down Mum’s tree, but I have replanted it in the back yard where I am hoping it will take root. And you never know, maybe the root system of the tree at the front of the house might sprout and live on. Either way I’ve decided not to take it any further, nothing will be gained from it.
Even if Bruce gets a driving ban or a fine from what the police are telling me I don’t feel that it’s going to be a deterrent for him anyway, so what’s the point. People like Bruce are not going to change.
And so and eventful weekend five years to the day that I headed off business class to the UK on a one way ticket. Looking forward to doing that again soon.
Back into lock down once more, masks on or face the consequences. It seems that a miner from the NT has returned to Ipswich and has the plague, just marvellous.
There is a shortage of the vaccine and there is so much bad press surrounding the Astra Zeneca that the stocks in Australia will expire before the use by date because much of the population is too scared to get it, mainly due to the mixed messages coming from the government. As usual, the Australian government is trying desperately to catch up because of poor planning. There needs to be a dedicated quarantine facility to stop community transmission instead of having returned travellers stuck in hotels.
I think that we need to encourage more people to get the vaccine. An incentive needs be given. In Shanghai, they are offering $40, a bag of rice and a meal if you get the injection. I think for the Australian market vouchers for McDonald;s KFC, Burger King or any major junk food outlet would suffice to entice a large section of the community.
For the more astute and fussy bastards, vegetarians and the like we could offer the Zen Garden cheese course.
Thursday 8th
Well by the time I got to finish this the lockdown has been lifted for our area, although it is still current elsewhere. We really cannot keep locking the place down, there needs to be a balance and it looks as if Singapore is trialling this idea. Instead of zero cases, they are managing through many measures to keep it low and to a point where it will not overwhelm hospitals. Of course, vaccination is the key here.
We still have to wear a mask in shops but as usual, it is too hard for many to do this, they are too fucking stupid to realise that the nose needs to be covered……….no it’s not that…………they just don’t give fuck.
I am working in a retail situation and many folk come in here and have to be told to wear the mask. As from tomorrow the 9th July when entering a business of any sort you must use the Covid App or sign in. I am working in a plumbers supply store and I really cannot see the plumbers and trades that come in here using the app, because most do not give a fuck. Or it is the usual, it’s my privacy, big brother, 1984……….
There are few people in society today that are not being tracked in some form or another. Your Woolworths rewards card, fuel card, credit card, mobile phone, Facebook and in some cases CCTV. However, the tracing app is one-step too far because how dare the government follow me around, but they are happy to give all their information to the private sector without a second thought and of course, any potential crims that are looking for an empty house to raid just need to check Facebook.
If Covid gets a foothold in Australia then this place will be well and truly fucked. The outbreaks that have occurred have been down to incompetence and lack of common sense. For example, in the early days they let a shipload of people disembark in Sydney even although they knew many were infected. The public health staff have not been vaccinated. Many nurses have to float between different hospitals to get work. They have spread the virus. Most of the deaths have occurred in aged care because workers have brought it into their world. I am not blaming the workers but the government and employers that have not had the sense to have these key workers vaccinated. We get our pets vaccinated against a host of potential threats, but to immunise us humans is just too hard.
Mind you in saying all that I am glad that I am in my home at this time. If I were in China I would have found it financially challenging, in fact if I had been anywhere else than here this would have been the biggest hurdle. Being back in my own home makes it easier on that front and I am enjoying being back in my sanctuary. There are many things to keep me occupied and the bonus of life being relatively normal makes a difference. I just wish that I was financially independent and able to stay home rather than having to work.
But it is still worrying living in a country that reacts to situations rather than planning for them and often the reaction times are slow causing more issues for the community.
I bought a tin of Fray Bentos steak pie the other day from Aldi. I used to love eating this when I was a kid. Mum would get it from time to time. I really loved steak and kidney pie minus the kidney.
When I was sixteen, I used to be into cycling and did a few trips staying at youth hostels along the way. On one occasion, Colin and I headed for Oban. On the first day, we got as far as Loch Lomond youth hostel. It is a lovely spot. We slept in a dorm maybe with 20 bunk beds. I took a bottom bunk.
It was only around 30 miles, but we didn’t have the best of bikes and this seemed far enough. I think we were really quite unfit. It was time to sleep. The dorm was half-full and there were some right dodgy looking characters in this evening. A few bears had wandered in from the cold.
I went and brushed my teeth and on the way back I was trying to be as silent as possible getting back to my bunk. I was nearly there when I stood on something. It was a tube of Colgate and it split open. Toothpaste went everywhere. It looked as if someone had taken a knife to it and slit it along its length. I quickly looked around the dorm and no one seemed to notice what had happened. Luckily, I didn’t get any toothpaste on my shoes and I casually continued to my bunk and left this dead tube of toothpaste with entrails lying all over the floor in the exact same position and continued on my merry way.
I crawled into my bunk and said nothing to Colin, who had already climbed onto the top bunk. I thought the less said the better; I can fill him in come morning.
It had been a long day and I fell asleep easily. A short time later, being rudely awakened by someone going off his nut. The owner of the toothpaste returned and was not happy to see his prized Colgate lying dead on the floor and he was even more incensed because he thought someone had taken a knife to it. I tried not to move and pretended to be asleep even although it would have been impossible. The whole dorm was awake as the tirade continued. He went round every bunk looking at the occupant, sizing them up asking, “Did you see who did this? Was it you? Have you got a knife?” “I’m going to kill the wee bastard when I find them”
I was shitting myself, as I lay motionless in my bunk. The toothpaste of course had to belong to the biggest bear in the room. He was one unhappy bear and at one point, I really thought that if he could not find the culprit he would just go around a beat everyone up anyway.
The storm finally passed. The dorm fell silent until the snoring started but at least the bear had gone back to his lair and all was relatively well, but I could not sleep. I just wanted it to be morning so that I could get on me bike and get as far away as possible from here.
In the morning, the bear had left early and as a few of us sat having breakfast. The bear was the talk of the steamie. We were all sitting there trying to figure out what had happened. Who was the eegit that cut the toothpaste open? Why did they cut the toothpaste with a knife? Didn’t they like the bear? So many questions and no one had any answers but we eventually came to a few conclusions that the bear has obviously pissed someone off and this was fair justice being dished out.
I on the other hand new what had happened. I knew the person responsible for last night’s bear baiting session and I was keeping my mouth well and truly shut.
After breakfast we packed the bikes and headed north, through Tarbet, Arrochar and onto the Rest and Be-Thankfull. A long slow climb which slowly takes its toll on legs and heart but the reward at the top is well worth the effort.
If memory serves me well we were heading to Inveraray, where we would spend the night before heading to Oban the next day. Both rides today and the next wold be around the 50-mile mark but the scenery along the way is beautiful and so it made for an easy journey.
Inveraray is a lovely wee place on the banks of Loch Fyne. On the way, you pass the old torpedo range but now has been decommissioned.
It’s about 60 miles from Oban from Inveraray. I drove it recently and wondered to myself, how the hell did I manage to ride my bike all the way there loaded up with gear, and I was only 16 years old.
On the way, you pass the Cruachan Power Station, a hydro-electric Power station that uses the waters of Loch Awe which in turn is pumped up to the loch high in the hills at off peak. If you get the chance to explore this area, then you must have a look at the power station.
We finally made it to Oban, known as the gateway to the islands. From here, you can go to any one of the numerous islands on the west coast of Scotland. There are distilleries to explore and so many picture perfect places along the way. I like Oban and managed to get there in 2016 so that I could go out to Staffa and Iona.
In 2016 I stayed in an Airbnb, in 1976 I stayed in the youth hostel which was on the sea front. There was a young French girl staying there and we went to the shore with her when the tide was out because she was going to show us how to pick mussels. I’ve never been a lover of mussels. She cooked them up and I was surprised that they tasted better than they looked, but it is the texture that I find hard to find palatable.
Cooking has never been a strong point and on our travels we mainly ate from Greggs the bakers or bought sandwiches or fish’n’chips or black pudding and the like. However, the French girl inspired us to cook for ourselves and so we picked up a Fray Bentos steak pie in a can, how hard could it be to prepare this? You just stick it in the oven for a while and then eat it, too easy.
The French lassie was in the kitchen when we arrived to prepare dinner. We heated the oven and chatted for a while. The oven had reached 200c, time for the pie to begin its journey. Opened the oven and popped in the tin of Fray Bentos.
After about 5 minutes, the young French lassie asked us what were we cooking and we proudly told her Fray Bentos steak pie in a tin. She had never heard of this British delicacy before and was very curious. “Steak pie in a tin?” yes that is right. She went to the oven to inspect this strange beast and then let out a hideous cackle……….she grabbed a dish cloth, reached in and whipped out our dinner from the oven and chucked it into the sink, “What the Fuck!!”
We’re looking on in disbelief, she’s in tears laughing…………….
We asked her “What’s so fucking funny?” She pointed at the very hot tin of Fray Bentos lying swollen in the sink.
“What?”
When she recovered her composure and could finally speak, she said, “You need to remove the lid before you put it into the oven”
“Oh Really?”
Another few minutes in the oven, our Fray Bentos could have turned into and IED and blown the kitchen apart. No one told us to take off the lid before sticking into the oven.
The lid was removed. Dinner was once more placed into the oven. Cooked for however long and then demolished at the table shortly afterwards.
Here endeth the cooking lesson.
And so before I cook my new Fray Bentos I shall read the cooking instructions, I shall remove the lid and hopefully still enjoy this childhood wonder………..
Winter has arrived, in name only I guess. Yes, it is getting cooler but I can still wear shorts during the day, although work is still very cold and sometimes when I sit at my desk my toes feel as if they are getting frostbite due to my steel toe caps.
We are now in the second half of the year and that means that I have only 6 months left at this job, mind you there is a good chance that they might want me to stay……….I’ll review the situation nearer to the time.
We have one staff member off on holiday this week and it certainly affects the running of the store. I am off next week and that will also impact the business but then again I’m on the retail side and not the trade so it won’t be so bad.
When I come back, dispatch will have someone away for two weeks, so it will be fun and games all around till the end of June and then, and then a member of staff that has been here for 7 years is moving on and she does a lot of the housekeeping admin jobs so the place will fall apart when she goes.
Interesting times ahead and all this time the powers that be won’t recognise the obvious, such as this branch is under staffed. It is the same old war cry from many industries. You are expected to work back and complete all the tasks assigned when there is not enough time to do so. Many will get stressed out. Some have done too much overtime but now the overtime has been stopped. However we are still expected to put the time in for free, but I won’t be giving any extra free time.
Businesses are run via the spreadsheet and reports and far away from the reality of day to day trading. Customer service is promoted as number one, however if you do not give them the time then they will not buy or come back.
I’m lucky because I currently don’t a lot of financial pressure, but many do. I’ve been in a position before where I could hardly make ends meet and if something had happened I would have been up shit creek, but I’ve reached a time in my life where the mortgage is under control and my debt levels are low so I have breathing space. The others that I work with are struggling a little bit financially and so they have a different attitude to the working day. If they lose their job it will impact them greatly.
On holiday.
As I write its Friday the 11th of June. My holiday has gone very fast, but I have managed to get a few things done. On Monday I put the car in for a service to see what needs to be done, see how many things need fixed. There was a bit of a list but some of the faults listed are things I can do myself and some are just outright bullshit. I recently had a transmission fluid change along with the filter and the garage told me that this needs to be done again. Aye right!
There are multiple oil leaks but I can fix a couple of them. Wheel bearings need done apparently and the cost to this is around $330, a bit pricey me thinks. Anyway I did go back today to get the main serpentine fan belt done, it’s a fiddly job and they wanted $100 to fit and replace and I thought that was a fair price.
Tuesday I went to see the skin doctor for me annual check-up, all ok thankfully.
Wednesday was the first of the Covid jags, I got the Astra Zeneca. I went to my local GP, it was painless. After the injection they ask you stay around for about 15 mins to see if you have any adverse reaction and then you can go on your merry way.
I had a huge lunch. I’ve heard stories about the side effects that some folk have been having so I thought that I would have a huge lunch and keep the body fuelled. It seems to have worked so far. Mind you I didn’t sleep too well.
Next morn I felt fine and got up fairly early, even although it was a very brisk morn. After breakfast I loaded up the trailer with the remains of the tree. I have two large piles of green waste in the garden and I think it will take at least three trailer loads to clear it.
In between doctor’s appointments and the like I have been busy building benches for the shed. Using the timber frames from the PVC pipe deliveries from work and also some of the shelving that I acquired a few weeks ago. The shed has shit everywhere and I am slowly planning for the time that I will once more put the contents of my life and home back into storage before I head to the airport with passports in hand.
Today Friday, I got the fan bet done in the morn and after I finish writing this I have another appointment with Dr Phuc, eye specialist. My vision is still not clear, although it does vary from day to day. Today for instance reading from the TV is fuzzy, but previously it had been ok. If I can clear up this infection then I’ll be able to get my eyes tested and get new specs, but until then I’ll have to put up with it.
I’ve enjoyed my time this week. Being able to wander about at my own pace and not really look at the clock. It takes me back to a previous life. If only I could win a Million on lotto and then I can get my lifestyle back.
It funny how it seems that time goes slowly when you have no agenda. This week I got out of bed later than usual but could have still managed to leave for work if I had too. Everything has been way more relaxed and I haven’t had to keep an eye on the clock……it’s great.
At the pace I have been going this week, I’m going to need quite a lot of time to get all the jobs around the place finished. I made a list but hardly scratched the surface.
My long weekend (Over a week ago, I forgot to post this) went too quick as usual. On Monday morning, I took the car into get the electric window motor replaced. While I was waiting for the car I went for a walk up to the local water tanks on the hill, you get quite a view from here. The climb is steep but in the fresh winter’s morning with the sun shining it was pleasant and easy.
I picked up the car and the young fella told me that the fan belt will need replaced soon, and so I went to look up my mechanic. The car has not really had a thorough service for many years, simply because she was off the road so I think it’s about time to get that rectified. To my surprise and disappointment, he is no longer there; I will have to find someone else I can trust.
I forget at times that I was away for four years and a lot can happen in that time.
The rest of Monday was spent at home, did a bit of cooking, watched TV and tidied up the shed a bit more, nothing too strenuous. I need to do some work on the computer but my eyes are still giving me jip. I’m going back to the eye specialist on Friday and if my eyes have settled down I’ll go and get them tested to get new specs.
Tuesday.
Work was very slow to begin with and then around 10.30 it got so busy. The mood in the building felt strange. Everyone was quiet, the manager didn’t say too much to me to begin with, and so I’m thinking that it may be time to leave the building.
Around 3pm, he calls me to the office. He explains that we have to run through my employment review. He seems to be a bit serious and sombre so I’m prepared for the writing on the wall…………….but as it turns out they have asked me to stay until the end of the year……….I said yes. Mainly because I need the cash, it is definitely not for the love of the job. Then again, some days it can be no bad J
I can see that in the coming months I will have a few expenses rearing their ugly heads and so I may as well work and get the cash to pay for it. If I am on the brew, I’ll only start to eat into my own money.
I’ve booked in for me Covid Vaccine, a week on Wednesday. I was a little bit hesitant because I was thinking that I might wait for the Pfizer but the “AZ” has been used millions of times and I have to get one anyway so it’s time to bite the bullet. The new outbreak in Melbourne makes you realise that this thing is not going away anytime soon so the sooner I get protected the better. The medical centre also told me that I have four pages of documents to peruse before I sign my life away, I guess it will more or less say I am doing this at my own risk……….but what choice do we have?
I got antibiotics from my doctor to help to clear up the sty on my eye that was threatening to take over my face. After 24 hours, there was a significant difference and my vision began to clear. I still need to get new specs for reading but at least my distance is improving and I feel such relief.
I am continuing with the heat pack twice a day and this is also helping to reduce the swelling combined with the wipes to clean the eyelids. Not a pleasant process but it seems to be helping with the dry eyes at night, which has been plaguing me for some time.
My manager said to me at the end of last week that my 6 month probation will be coming to its conclusion next week, what would I like to do? Stay or go? I hesitated ever so slightly but I said that I would like to stay and if it was possible to go part time, then that would be great. He said he needs someone here 5 days a week so that was not an option, but he never confirmed whether I would still be here.
Therefore, for the next week I will have to buy a few supplies just in case I have to leave the building and return to a life of long and lazy breakfasts followed by long lunches. The only thing I would not like having to deal with is the bureaucracy, having to deal with the brew and the useless job agencies. However, I might have an answer to that problem. A friend of mine volunteers 15 hours a week and is left alone by the powers that be and if I can do the same I would be quite happy to sit on the brew for a while, although I would miss the money. I guess I would also miss some of the crack that goes on at work, and there’s a few nice folk there too.
My long weekend has also arrived and I have many things to do. I really need to go for a run on the bike, but I will stay local because the passenger window in the car is not getting fixed until Monday so I don’t really want to park and leave the car in case she ain’t there when I return.
I stopped writing this on Friday, today is Sunday, and I did not go out on the bike but I did go for a walk instead. Had a very lazy morning and day so far, tomorrow I will do many things.
My eyes seem to be worse today, I just can’t figure it out. I guess the sty puts pressure on my eye and as it reduces it will change shape and the pressure on my eye is reduced and so this is causing the fluctuation in my clarity. Using the computer and reading my phone is not easy so I’m hoping that my eyes settle down so that I can get new reading specs.
I will see Dr Phuc on Thursday morning once more, a check up to see how everything is going and then hopefully I’ll get back to me optician to get new specs. I’ll also know by the end of the week if I still have a job………….
Another week has strolled on by and the world is plunging into a never-ending vortex of death and destruction, partly due to covid but mostly due to war. If it is not greed or power, it is religion.
The hostilities between Palestine and Israel are being fuelled by a war mongering president that was about to lose power and as good old Maggie Thatcher did back in the eighties, he has raised the conflict level which keeps him in power and makes him look good to the electorate. No need for this level of violence.
This is a complicated situation which has been going on for years and I guess the solution is not easy to find, but Israel I feel are just being bastards and of course no one can criticise them or you are branded as Anti-Semitic.
America stands behind them and condones everything that they do and of course, Israel knows that America has its back. Two war-mongering nations that give no quarter and no compromise. God forbid that they lose face………
On another note, I went to the eye clinic to get a second opinion. I saw Dr Phuc Ngo (Fuck No) Young and enthusiastic he listened and then looked deeply into my eyes via many instruments. I was waiting for him to bring out the clips that they used in a Clockwork Orange to keep his eyes open.
I have a sty on my top eyelid. This is due to the bacteria and because some of my tear ducks have been blocked. The solution to unblock the tear ducks was not pleasant. First of all, patches were placed over my eyes and then cooling gel is applied.
A strong light/laser is then pulsed at the area under my eye to help to melt the gunk I guess to make it more pliable. The heat is intense and the side of my nose was hit by a stray flash and it was similar to a hot needle being stuck into the side of my nose.
The patches were removed and then I sat back in front of the microscope. He then proceeded to get a scraper and scrape the gunk form my eyelid, not at all pleasant and I used his name in vain a few times….”Fuck Fuck” I said as he slowly moved along the bottom of my eye. The pista resistance was when he decided to burst the sty on my top eyelid, fuck that was sore.
I asked him to give me something to put on the sty to reduce the swelling, he gave me an eye beanbag thing and some wipes to use in conjunction to clear the rest of the gunk, and this in turn will reduce the swelling.
I got to the checkout at reception and got the bill for all this fun and malarkey and it was $110 for the consultation and another $245 for the treatment and beanbag. What the fuck! I feel that I have been stitched up somewhere along the way. Mind you I never asked the cost, so my fault for that. However, $70 for a beanbag and wipes is a bit rich I feel. Oh, I did get a script that is for lubricating eye gel and I could have bought that over the counter, what I wanted was a cream to put on the sty to reduce the swelling.
One good bit of news is that there is not any real issues with my eyes, just a few minor ailment acting together.
I went on Thursday morning, it is now Monday, and the sty is still there loud and proud. My eyesight is still blurry because of it. I called Dr Phuc this morning and asked for a script for some cream and he recommended using the beanbag three times a day. This message passed to me via the receptionist. I called back and she said the Dr would get back to me when he has a minute.
I have gone to plan B: I called my own Doctor and will see him at 4pm, where I am hoping he will give me a cream to sooth the sty that is slowly taking over my face.
I arrived at work listening to Prince. I parked the car and buzzed up the windows. The driver’s window always needs a little help when it is cold. The passenger window has never been a problem until today. I buzzed it up and thought I heard a banging noise over the music. I turned off the stereo and buzzed the window down and then back up. Going down is fine, going back up is the issue. So even the wee car is going out in sympathy with me and now has a broken electric window. I will take her to the car doctor next Monday, first available appointment.
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