Category: Diary

Rae renewed the Age subscription yesterday, it was supposed to expire on November 12. I get to read it most days while I have breakfast and we would buy it Thursday and the Weekends anyway so it’s not much more to have it delivered 7 days a week. With taking Bert to and from school next year I may loose my reading time so we’ll revaluate then.

But that’s not what I wanted to write about.

When Rae renewed the gentleman on the phone said it would take 10 days for the renewal to take effect. 10 days! How on earth can it take that long? Credit card payment is instant (or should be!). Do they employ someone to walk from the call centre to my local newsagent to let them know to keep on delivering? Do they only release the pigeons once every 10 days? I can not for the life of my conceive how it could take 10 days for The Age to notify my newsagent. That’s just ridiculous.

I’m in a quandary. (That would be a great name for a suburb. “Where do you live?” “Inaquandry”) I went to see my doctor today and I’m not sure what to do next because I don’t think I have confidence in him any more. I went a couple of weeks ago because the arm I broke back in June is still painful. I went off and had the x-rays like a good boy and because the x-rays were apparently all clear the problem was solved and all I have to do is wait for it to get better. Five months after breaking it and it still hurts but there’s no problem. He just didn’t seem to listen.

I went back today and saw the same doctor. First thing was for the damage I did to my shoulder last week. I explained how most of the time it wasn’t a problem but when it was, oh boy, it hurts like nothing on earth. He felt the bicep and tricep, said there was nothing wrong with how it felt and that I just have to wait for it get better. Now Ren was here on Monday night hand heard the scream as I tried to pick up our doona. I’m sure she  can tell you, there is something wrong and now I’m too scared to use my left arm.

There was another problem I wanted checked out but again he just didn’t seem to listen to what my actual symptoms were. He’s sent me away for a couple of tests for a condition for which I have no symptoms. My four sisters and one of my nieces have all been treated for what I think it may be, and all of my symptoms match that condition. I mentioned this but it was dismissed straight away. I know I’m not a doctor, I know not to diagnose myself but a pattern of not listening to what I’m saying and telling me nothing’s wrong when I know that  something is has me concerned.

Should I have the tests/procedures he has recommended or should I get a second opinion? Decisions, decisions.

It’s Cup Day. We’re having a chicken and champagne brunch. The Moet is the first bottle to go. Thanks for the special bubbly my love.

There’s a book store on Chapel St in Windsor, down near the railway station, that has a cat who loves to sleep in the window. The Astor, that magnificent cinema, is made all the more perfect because it has a cat called Marzipan. I’m over the moon that Between Coffees now has an office cat; our very own Bella.

Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to work in a place with a resident cat. Now I work from home I’ve finally got my wish. I noticed that Bell would climb behind the (now gone) second desk and settle down on top of a cardboard box to nap. With the recent redesign of my office there’s now a lovely spot in the window where I can put a cat bed. It took her a day or two to warm to the idea but now, as long as I’m working at my desk, she’ll come in, spend ten minutes tenderising the outer ring and then curl up for a good nap.

Every office needs a cat.

The lucky guy I am I was given money by lots of people for my birthday . I’ve been keeping it in my account until I could think of something I wanted to spend it on. I didn’t want to buy tech ‘cause that’s just going to be replaced in a couple of years. I’m not in to jewellery or watches so that was out and I wanted it to be something I wouldn’t normally buy.

This week, almost five months after the day, I found something. A brand spanking new bbq. It’s something we’ll use a lot, but is special ‘cause I’d never normally spend this much on a barbie and with care it should last a very long time. Next years GF bbq should rock, if I get enough practice. Who knows, I may even be able to leave cooking until later ‘cause I’ve got more space.

Thanks to everyone who contributed but most of all thanks to my amazing wife who spent two hours on this rainy afternoon out in the garage putting The Beast together. My love, you really are amazing.

I was incredibly happy today when we managed to pick up one of Aldi’s mega bargains (no Rob, don’t worry, it’s not beer) this morning. It’s my last birthday present from my 40th, what I’m spending my birthday money on, but it needs some construction so I’ll wait until we Rae builds it before announcing it.

However, that’s not why I’m writing. It;’s a fairly heavy box and a guy who was buying one too asked if I needed a hand. “Thanks mate.” I said, “I’ll just wheel it outside while you deal with yours.” No problem until I had to turn a gentle sloping corner and the box slid off. Bugger, I’ll just lift it back on. So I reached down to pull it up.

That’s when my shoulder went ‘pop’. And that’s when the pain started.

Sigh, it may end up being a very expensive birthday present after all.

Mr Henry got to do a cut and paster with Rita today.

Poor Daisy and Roger met with horrible accidents this morning. Luckily nurses Albert and Kennedy were on hand to apply bandages and band aids.

I’ve had a JB Hi Fi voucher sitting in my wallet for ages now, it came from a survey I did. I haven’t found anything I wanted spend it on but today I though I’d stop by and check out the new JB in Sunshine. I wandered by the iPads, had a look at the amps and was about to leave when I noticed a NAS (Mum, it’s basically a hard drive that anyone on the network can access) sitting on the shelf. Hmmm. $299, with my voucher that would take it down to $199.

I took out my phone and checked the price on www.staticice.com.au to see if it was good. Landmark had the exact same model for $199 so I tracked down a salesperson (a challenge in itself) and showed them the price. He ummed and ahhed, said it was below their cost. I asked him what he could do it for. $199 was his response. So take away my voucher and for the princely sum of $99 we now have a fantastic little NAS for our out local backups and media storage, I managed to spend the voucher before it expired and I proved yet again that my phone is marvel.

We’ve just a had a visit from Nana Lois and Peter. Nana stayed for two whole nights and the kids were most excited they got to see all three Nanas in one day yesterday. They may have been a little over excited because they’ve crashed today in a rather spectacular fashion.

On the walk to the park yesterday afternoon Nana Lois taught Bert a new song.