October - 2000

Thursday October 26.......

Only one page on the Journal this month! (Even though it's a long one) This month has been so busy I've not had time to scratch myself.

It began with a fire at Jared's school on the first day back after the holidays. They normally go back on a Tuesday after the holidays but this time they decided to change things The first day is usually a Teacher's Day only, but they were having their day a couple of weeks later. Shouldn't have broken with tradition, methinks

When I drove Jared to school (8:15am) we saw smoke BUT we thought that it was 'burning off' for the beginning of Summer and thought no more of it. By 10:00am the local radio station was announcing that parents should go pick up their children! The whole area was covered with a pall of black smoke and soot. The children had been taken to the local church and what I found funny in the whole situation was... they were instructed to leave their bags at school (sensible) and just leave in an orderly fashion BUT... they had to have their hats on!!

When I collected Jared from the church that was the first thing that struck me, every one of the little darlings was wearing his or her hat! (Must be dressed correctly.. even fleeing a fire )

It appears the fire was started a couple of days beforehand by some kids and it had been slowly spreading until the wind got up to 20 knots and is spread like wildfire (pardon the pun). The entire school is in a bushland setting. It was horribly close to the school buildings and within feet of homes nearby. What was more despicable about the intentional setting of the fire was the loss of animals, especially koalas who don't stand a chance.

PICS HERE

Jared's Mum's partner (Warren) and a friend of his (Chris) helped me out at the beginning of the month with trimming and removal of some smaller trees. I was so grateful. They even cut the trimmings to fit in a neat pile to be collected. Warren came back the next week to finish off for me. I personally wasn't fit to do what they did. Five or six years ago I was, maybe next year when my weight is back to normal I might be fit again and be able to keep the growth in hand myself like I used to.

Talkings about weight!!!! I have now (as of 25th Oct) lost 28 1/2 pounds!! There were a couple of weeks this month when I lost nothing but made up for it the next week by losing heaps. Something to do with the body adjusting to the loss. Doesn't worry me though because as long as it's coming off and not going back on, that's all that matters. I'm getting into some of my clothes that haven't fitted for years, YIPPEE!!!!!

Our patch of lawn outside the front door was non existant after the tree felling, in fact it had become a dust bowl which blew into the house. That was replaced with nice new turf... what a difference! I'm going to do the same with the area directly in front of my bedroom once we decide what we're going to do about the boat. We might have to park it there for a while so I can't see the point in replacing it right now.

The pool is still without liner, waiting for the money to come through. I think Jared misses it, he used to go straight in when he got home from school in the afternoons. Hopefully it won't be much longer.

Now, about the money.....

Why is it we appoint solicitors to assist us in matters so that they can be dealt with quickly yet the solicitors are hell bent on stretching things out for as long as possible???? Maybe my friend Andrea can answer this for me????

The solicitors handling the Probate of the Will make me wonder if they've ever done this before!! First they told me that they have to get Affadavits from the Witnesses to the Will to attest to its authenticity! GARBAGE!!! Turned out this is only necessary if the person has been 'with God' for 6 months or more! Goof number one!

Of course, not knowing any better I tried to contact one of the witnesses... he now has Alzheimer's! So, had it been necessary, he couldn't have attested. The second witness was eventually sacked by my husband so I doubt if he would have cooperated! I asked..."What if they were both dead??? Do we get them to attest through a Medium?" You know, all those Lawyer jokes are not so funny when you have to deal with the 'jokes' personally!

Their latest was.... informing me that once Probate was granted they would have to place ANOTHER advertisement in the newspapers informing the public "That distribution of funds would occur in one calendar month from the date the advertisement appeared" Again GARBAGE!! Another waste of a month! Goof number two.

So I rang the Probate Registry in Sydney to find out for myself. I was told that once Probate was granted that was it! No need for any further advertisements. I informed the solicitors who replied by fax telling me that IT IS THE LAW and must be followed and if "I wasn't happy with their service I could find other solicitors"!

Like I'd go looking for other solicitors at this late stage! What is it with solicitors that every time you question something they want out!? Heaven forbid we should be bright enough to ask pertinent questions!

I rang the Probate Registry again ( remember these are all long distance calls!) and asked to speak to the Registrar. I was (after 10 minutes of waiting) put through to the Deputy Registrar who informed me that "Once Probate is granted then the funds should be distributed to the beneficiaries as soon as possible." I asked about the necessity for a further notice in the newspapers and was told that.... "Sometimes this is done by an Executor of a Will to safeguard them selves BUT since I was Executor and sole beneficiary it was not necessary, that it was NOT MANDATORY!"

Needless to say I faxed the solicitors with this information advising that.... "Since I am the Executor and sole beneficiary I do not require a further notice in the newspapers and that as soon as Probate is granted I require them to distribute the funds immediately." Haven't heard from them yet and that was 2 days ago! I even told them who I spoke to and suggested they give her a call.

What riles me is that these 'tin gods' assume their clients are all 'beneath' them and lacking in common sense and intelligence! Why else would we be appointing them?? Well, they haven't dealt with Jamie before! I've had 4 years of experience with imbecilic bureaucrats!

I am sick of not being able to make definite plans and these idiots want to use any excuse to drag the matter out for more weeks!! Over my dead body!

Jared has over 7 weeks of holidays over December/January. This is our chance to get the hell out of here for a few weeks but if these solicitors think up any more excuses it'll be too late to book anything.

I sat for six hours the Saturday before last working out an itinerary so that everything would coincide, then I got the letter from the solicitors about the additional ad in the papers. Talk about sticking a spoke in the works!! Then last Saturday and Sunday I tore my bedroom apart looking for my passport. I always kept it in the same place no matter what.... nowhere to be seen... STRESSED ? I was more than stressed I was exhausted from the futility of everything. No matter what I try to do there's always that damned brick wall! So my bedroom, which I haven't used for 4 years is like a disaster hit it.... I don't care! Still no passport! Amid the tears and tantrums and throwing things in temper, Mum said I should tell the Passport Office that the passport was gone and be done with it. I was so ticked off because I think it was valid until August 2001! of course you know what will happen don't you....? It will turn up as soon as I get my new $147 passport!

The government here has changed the rules re Australian Passports... children can no longer be included in an Adult's passport. Luckily for me Jared's Mum had a FULL Birth Certificate for Jared so that saved me the cost of aquiring that, but she couldn't find her own. So I have had to apply for a FULL Birth Certificate for Jason (my son) to be included in Jared's application. Damned Red Tape! Malcolm Fraser (an ex Prime Minister) was right when he said "Life isn't meant to be easy"!

Mum just brought in the mail... can't believe it! Something went right for once! Funny it should arrive just as I was mouthing off about it. The Birth Certificate I applied for on Monday just arrived! Just made an appointment for an interview tomorrow to get Jared's passport. He might be the only one with a passport <grin> but he can't go without us

Poor Jared... we had him at the hospital last week to see a specialist. He's been on the same medication for years and it hasn't made a bit of difference! We took him Tuesday and the paediatrician changed his medication. He was to get 4 tablets over a period of 48 hours which were to clean him out completely so we kept him off school for 3 days because we didn't know when they were going to take effect. Poor darling had terrible stomach pains and nothing happened until Thursday evening and Friday. He's now on the new medication and it's working but he's getting more stomach cramps.

We have an appointment for next Tuesday, maybe the Doc. might reduce the dose of one of the medicines. He was saying his prayers last night at at the end asked Jesus to take his pains away. Mum told him if she could take his pains she would. He told her he wouldn't want her to have them! He's so sweet sometimes.

The big news of the month is that my son Jason came in one day and deposited this thick lock of hair all tied up at the end and looked like a ringlet, on the bench and announced he'd saved us money! Not being my usual alert self it didn't dawn on me what he was talking about. Mum of course twigged straight away and told him to take his cap off!

I couldn't believe it! He's gotten rid of his disgusting locks without bribery and corruption from us! It's the first time in years he looks normal. I kept telling him long hair was dated... he finally listened! Hallelujah!!

So the lock Jason saved for me is in the cupboard along with the hunk Jared cut out of his own hair about 3 years ago! I guess we've all done that when we were kids

I'e also had SOME fun this month. Web Dreamers, a web ring I belong to decided to do a Secret Pal thing... and I've been sending clues and presents all month. Needless to say my own web pages fell behind in getting updated but I'm enjoying it. Finishes on Halloween.

Hey, all my American friends, don't forget to turn your clocks back at the end of the month!

We might end up with a second short page to take me up to the end of this month, will just have to see how things pan out in the next few days. We have Jared's school musical on Friday and Saturday, that should be fun.

Lord, I've rambled today!

Hope this hasn't been tooooo boring

And just incase I don't get to this before the end of the month I wish you all a....

Catch you later,

Jamie

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NOVEMBER 2000 JOURNAL

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