Spitting Into the Wind

I had a bad scare on Friday. I'd gone along to the Year 10 presentation to collect Carly's School Certificate because she was working in Wagga and unable to attend. It was held during my lunch break, and it had gone over the 45 minutes we're allowed for lunch. I ducked home afterwards and grabbed the mail, ripping into it as I was getting into the car to go back to work.

Last week I'd had a free mammogram, one of the benefits of turning 50. The letter I opened was the results. I was trying to read it without my glasses and my eyes flashed to the bold << visible evidence of breast cancer. As I'm seeing this, my mind is fixed on the << and I'm thinking, "Oh, they use fields and it hasn't inserted properly". Then I'm searching through my bag for my glasses, my mind thinking "I knew it, I knew it....". I found the glasses and then the lens popped out and fell on the floor of the car. I'm driving back to work by this stage with a million things going through my mind. "It will be okay, God, I have cancer, I just knew this would happen," and so on.

When I finally got back to work I sat in the car and fixed my glasses and read the letter again. The bold type read "there was no visible evidence of breast cancer." There was also no "<<" characters in the letter. I can't tell you how relieved I was. My mind was now saying over and over, "Oh thank God, thank God".

Breast screens are extrememly important for people of all ages, especially the over 50s group. So is wearing you glasses before reading something important.

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I couldn't help feeling appalled after reading a news story about a 15-year-old boy in Brisbane who had boiling water poured over his face, neck and shoulders. My heart goes out to him. Fifteen is an awkward age for any boy, but this kid now will probably never look the same again.

A 37-year-old man has been charged with one count each of grievous bodily harm and torture. I hope he gets a sentence deserving of the act.

Just yesterday I read about a guy who jumped a queue in a supermarket in London and ended up in a coma after an irate woman called her boyfriend on the phone, who king-hit the man in the back of the head.

These are such senseless and thoughtless acts that these people will have to live with for the rest of their lives. What ever happened to "calm" and "polite"? We live in a changing world.

Posted at 7:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

Meteor Crater, Winslow, Arizona

I don't get it. Something hits the Earth with enough impact to leave a dint this big, but where did it go? You'd expect it to be still sitting in the hole it made. Hard to believe it just fizzed out and very little evidence was left behind.

Posted at 12:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

It's Carly's birthday on Christmas Eve and she wanted a new iPod, so I searched on eBay and found one with 12 months warranty for $225 AUD. One was advertised in a catalogue for $270 so I figured I was getting a bargain.

Anyway, as luck would have it, the seller contacted me to say she didn't think they were the genuine article and if I returned it she would give me a full refund. I was surprised, because when I received it I believed that it was a genuine iPod. It had all the branding, and accessories and looked perfect.

 

It just goes to show the lengths that some suppliers will go to make you think you have the real thing. I was disappointed, but impressed with the honesty of the seller on eBay. It's a refreshing change, because last year I bought a 50-pack of blank CDs and I'm still waiting for them!

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For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

Conclusion

Eat and drink what you like. Being American is apparently what kills you. Glad I'm in Oz.

Posted at 5:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

It's only Thursday but I can pretend it's Friday, with a weekend in front of me. When I saw this bathroom I nearly went into a swoon. We have a pokey little bathroom with a shower over the bath, and I had to get a bi-fold door because the old one used to hit the corner of the bath every time you went in there.

This bathroom I would have in my dream home, the one with the sunken lounge room, slate tile floors and a big open fire-place. I buy a ticket every two months in the RSL lottery, the homes are around $1.4 million, and the plan is to keep all the furniture, sell the house and build my dream home. I hope I'm not too old to enjoy it when I finally win it.

Posted at 6:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

Here it is, Friday night, and I find myself home alone. Not that I mind, I look forward to the day when I have no kids to worry about. My two youngest are still young enough for me to know this is a pipe-dream, but one day...

• I'll have no bedrooms that I need to close the door on because they're such a shit-fight.
• There'll be no black rap music blaring from my daughter's bedroom
• There'll be no yelling and screaming in the morning when I wake up
• No having to listen to derogatory comments from one child to the other
• Washing will be cut to one third
• If I don't feel like eating I won't have to cook

Most of the people that I grew up with have had children leave home and make lives for themselves. Most are grandmothers. I too am a grandmother but I chose to marry again and have children 11 years later than the first two children I had. At the time I thought it was wonderful, and don't get me wrong, it has been wonderful. I feel younger for it.

But now I'm tired. I work 35 hours a week and I come home to a house full of work to do. All the usual drudge jobs like washing (the major drudge job), cleaning, and cooking. The kids want money all the time. Lunch orders and school expenses constantly put my budget out of whack, and what I earn doesn't go far enough. So much for putting something aside for when I want to retire: as long as I have kids at home that isn't going to happen. They're a constant drain on my resources.

I love my kids but I think I'll love life more when they're old enough to live elsewhere.

Posted at 10:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |