30th September 2003

Only 3 months of the year left and it'll be gone... POOF!!!
It seems every week is gone in the blink of an eye these days.

We had 2 birthdays this month... Jared was 11 on the 25th and Jason was 34 on the 29th. Lucky for Mum and I they were both over at Fraser Island for 4 days, they left the day before Jared's Birthday and got back the day before Jason's.

Lord... it was bliss... a clean house every day for 4 days!!! No big meals to make and best of all... I actually got phone calls from REAL people because Jason wasn't here to be on the internet 24 hours a day!!!

One friend, Kerry, rang me from Western Australia... she thought I'd fallen in a hole, because she hadn't heard from me... through the Journal ... in so long.

I answered the phone VERY timidly when she rang because I thought it might have been Jason ringing to ask me to pick him and Jared up from the barge from Fraser Island (LOL!!! ) I thought our peace was going to be shattered!
When I discovered it was Kerry... I brightened up considerably (Grin)

My Mum was waiting to go out shopping with me... but when she discovered it was Kerry on the phone she didn't mind waiting. Had it been anyone else she'd probably have been back and forth nagging me *S* Kerry and I have been friends since 1973... when I went to work for one of our advertising
gurus... John Singleton. Kerry won't mind me telling this.... since she's got a great sense of humour.....

She was the company receptionist.. in the days when the switchboards were plugs on the end of cords. She amazed me how she could keep track of who was on what call *S* What amazed me more was..... Kerry is a 'dinkie di' Aussie and she'd be talking to me or someone else hanging around the reception area in her natural best Aussie drawl....
the phone would ring...
and she's change automatically without stopping to draw breath.... to her best "plum in the mouth", Queen's English!!
So it'll be no surprise to tell you that after many years of study she now teaches DRAMA at a school in Perth!!
WTG... Kerry!!!

Just realised... we've been friends for 30 years... met in our mad impetuous youth..
I was 27 and she must have been only 16 or 17 since she's 11 years younger than I.
Oh Lord.... we're both GRANDMOTHERS now!!

Yes... those were great days... what a great place to work!!
We had to work hard.... but the perks were fantastic! John put on parties for all sorts of reasons. The best were the Company Birthday parties when he'd hire a boat for the day and we'd go sailing on the harbour (Sydney)... We'd stop off somewhere and he'd have had caterers organised to provide us with the best Bar-B-Que in creation!!
Not your ordinary burgers and snags....
we had 'a la carte' bar-b-ques

Life was never dull in those days. John decided to do advertising for the Liberal Party campaign. WELL... we had all sorts of security while that was going on. I wasn't
allowed to open any mail until it had been scanned. He got all sorts of threats and his beautiful Rolls Royce was set on fire. I remember he got a bullet inside a greeting card that I'd opened when we thought all the fuss was over.

These were the best working years of my life... I loved working there. AND that's where I learned to become a computer addict!! We had the first computerised
advertising system in Sydney and I ran the whole shebang!

Oh well... back to reality now....

Jared is on school holidays AGAIN!!!!! He told me he has 3 weeks off.... I'll have to check with the school tomorrow *S*
I think it's only 2 which means he'll be going back on Monday.
Not that I want him to.... I like getting to sleep in.

He'll be going away for a week this next term... end of October, on a school camp where they'll be horse riding and abseiling...
woo hoo.... they never had stuff like this when I was at school!!

I've met a couple of the parents of kids from his old school and on occassion I'd been worried that Jared might have missed out on a lot of group activities by changing schools but just listening to them has set me straight. Things are no better at his old school as far a class work is concerned. Plus apparently there's a group of bullies getting away with murder.. almost.

Jason's divorce will be heard some time in November, in Brisbane.
He doesn't have to turn up since it's uncontested. So... I guess he'll be leaving some time after that for Holland and to Chantal.

You know... he enquired in October (I think) last year as to how long it would take for an uncontested divorce to be heard. He was told 2 to 3 months... so he and Helen filled out the forms and he sent them in last October. He got a letter this JULY saying the case would be heard this November!!! Government departments NEVER tell the truth... I think it must be a pre-requisite (the ability to lie) for any government job..... from the highest position in the land to the lowest position.

I better not head along this line.... I'm so ticked off with this country and the people who run it. Pauline Hanson has applied twice for bail until her case is heard and twice has been refused so it looks like she'll be spending Christmas in jail :-(
YET people charged with serious crimes are walking the streets!!

Only this past week we've had a story on our Current Affair TV program proving yet again that the Government is an ASS!!

We have a family.. with 4 kids, the youngest of whom has cerebal palsy... they took the (drug addicted) sister's 6 children under their wing 3 years ago. They were told by a government department that they should apply for Guardianship of the children through the court... which they did, succesfully.

They get NO FINANCIAL SUPPORT from the state government.
It costs them around $900 to $1000 a WEEK to feed them all... THEN there's all the other NORMAL day to day expenses one encounters in bringing up a family... even
without any extras! Both parents work and I believe the wife has 2 jobs just to make end meet. I'm not sure if the husband has 2 jobs also.

Had they applied to be CARERS instead of GUARDIANS they would be entitled to something like $1000 a fortnight (2 weeks) BUT the children would be Wards of the State which would mean that the Government department could walk in any time they felt like and remove the children from their care and split them up any way they see fit!!

This family isn't willing to take that chance, can you blame them?

I know only too well from personal experience how government departments can make up lies and set about ruining your life because it suits THEIR purpose... they screwed up MY life!!

The Premier of Queensland (like a State Governor) has had John Laws (an influential talk back radio host) and the Current Affair program on his back to do something about this. He's scared to set a precedent... leaving it open for others in the same position to 'hit him' for help. Lily livered wimp!!!

This family has saved the State government over a million dollars in the past 3 years and I think it SUCKS!!!!!!!!

Our Premier should think shame for allowing this to happen.
So what if others follow suit and apply for funding!! If they are in the same position then they bloody well deserve all the assistance they can get!

People who saw the program have sent in money to this family to help them get their heads above water. Two of our supermarkets have given them $5,000 worth of shopping credit each. Another gentleman has pledged $400 a month to help pay their utilities for the next 12 months and the list goes on.....

These are wonderful samaratins BUT this doesn't make the obligations of the State Government disappear.

This country stinks!! It used to be called "The Lucky Country"
But today... you're only lucky if the government doesn't screw you out of existence.
If you're on heroin... then you're LUCKY because the government will fund your addiction!
If you commit murder and get a LIFE sentence then you're LUCKY because you will be out of prison in 10 years (if you keep your nose clean)!

I HATE the place!
But thanks to the NSW Government I can't do anything about it.

I hope that this famiy doesn't get talked into anything they'll regret later down the track. The Minister in charge of Family Services is meeting with them to work something out supposedly to help them. BUT I don't trust her.

Oh yes... while I'm on my 'soap box'.....
The government has added a levy to our electric bill to fund the Ambulance service!! Some people are being charged this levy many times over since not only are they being charged on their household bill... if they own a business (or a couple of businesses)... they are being charged again!!
Talk about double dipping!!!!

You'd think some bright spark in government would have seen this coming when they were tossing the idea around. Obviously BRAINS are not a pre-requisite for holding a government position!

Lastly... on the political theme....
I know some of you are Bush supporters and I never mention other countries political situations BUT with the news today that a female soldier was killed in Iraq... my blood boiled!!
These are kids Mr Bush has sent to Iraq, Kids with their whole lives ahead of them...
what a waste!

He's created a huge mess and expects other countries to step in and help him clean it up... countries who didn't want the "war he had to have" in the first place.
He sucked in our Prime Minister.... but hey... that was easy pickings... he's an idiot...
We were just lucky we didn't lose any of our forces.

The amount of military lives lost through 'friendly fire'
(that's a joke... what's 'friendly' about killing your own side???)
is disgusting. This is what you get when you send inexperienced kids to do men's work. Maybe if he had a son in the military he might have thought twice. I feel so bad for the families who lost their loved ones for a country who could care less about their 'freedom'.

AND Saddam is still alive and kicking even though his sons are supposedly dead.
Where are the weapons of mass destruction??

What I would like to know is.....
why didn't the CIA or FBI hatch a plot to assassinate Saddam Hussein???????
Would have saved billions of dollars and many lives.
From what I understand of the CIA and FBI this would have been easy and no one would have been the wiser since they are shrouded in secrecy.

There would have been NO need to rebuild Iraq.
There would have been NO strain on the American taxpayer.
There would have been NO lives lost through 'friendly fire'.
There would have been NO reporters lost.

AND I wouldn't be writing this.

OK... That's all my bitching out of the way....
I just hate injustice..
What'll we discuss before I finish off?????

The weather *S*.. Rain has been threatening for a couple of days... think it's
been sprinkling this morning.... well it sounds like it's raining in fits and starts *S*
At least it's still reasonably cool so I'm thankful for small mercies.

Took my car to the smash repairer this morning, a gentleman backed into me in a
parking lot about a month ago and damaged the 2 doors on the passenger side of the car. He WAS a gentleman... he took care of all the details right away. It was because of the 'blind spot' in his car and he just didn't see me and it all happened too fast for me to give him a warning by blowing my horn. So we're without transport for a couple of days.

Jared bought himself a new pair of Skateboard shoes with his Birthday money.. of course Mum had to add $41 to Jared's money so he could get them *S* His Mother bought him a shirt and shorts which he hated.... so we took them back to the store and got a credit which he used to buy a soccer ball and a remote control car LOL!!! Who buys kids clothes for their birthday anyway???? Her taste in clothes stinks!!

I can't be bothered with her.... Jared was over at her place the other day and the kids were having lunch... did she offer him any???? NO!! He told me he was hungry too :-( When it came time for him to come home he asked if he could ring his dad to pick him up.... she wouldn't let him! Said he could ride home... shouldn't be bothering his dad! Bitch!!! His dad was waiting for Jared to call!!!

She's not my most favourite person in the whole world... can you tell ??? ROFL!!!

Actually... I'm wondering if I have any friends left...
I've been so tied up with the PSP classes I've not had time to catch up with everyone.

Did I say it was sprinkling???? I take that back... it's POURING!!! Yippee!!

I feel really guilty about not having the time to write to everyone as regularly as I used to and I hope you all forgive me. We're taking a 10 week break from mid November to the beginning of February... so I hope I'll find time then to contact you all on a more regular basis.

Again... I hope I haven't bored you witless *S*

And for the family receiving this.... and anyone else interested... we have photos of Jared and Jason.... NOT ME (Lucky you) which you'll find HERE *S*

I hope my American and Canadian friends have a wonderful Halloween and
Thanksgiving... but I hope I find time for another Journal before Thanksgiving *S*


I need a cup of coffee... then it's off to bed *S*

OCTOBER

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