16 JULY
This has not been a good week for me in many ways.
I have been in a lot of pain with my wrists and feet and spent a couple of days in bed, doing nothing since it hurts to use my mouse. I did check my email for a couple of days but because I was so depressed I even gave up on that.
Then to top it off.... last Saturday night I thought Jared was in bed.... Jason (his Dad) was away for the night... but I was wrong! He took the second car we have and had a couple of mates with him when he was stopped by the police! He has no driving licence, he doesn't even have a learner's permit because he's too lazy to go and get one, he expects everyone else to do this for him. So he's been charged... there's an automatic monetary fine with the charge. I'm NOT paying it, neither is his Dad so finally he'll have to do Community Service to pay it off. I don't know when the case comes up and frankly I don't care any more.
I won't be here tomorrow, Friday, for most of the day. Jason and I are leaving at 7am for Maroochydore to visit the specialist. They had a cancellation and I am getting in a month earlier. It's a 5 to 6 hour round trip depending on traffic... plus the time spent with the doctor. Hopefully he'll prescribe the Humira and maybe I'll get my life back if it works.
28 JULY
OK... here's the low-down on my absence...
Jason and I headed off to Maroochydore on Friday 17th July at 7am...
we got within 100km of our destination ... I was desperate to relieve myself so we pulled into a service station... just as he pulled in he sensed there was something wrong with his car!!!
I bolted (that might be the wrong word description since I couldn't move fast) for the restroom and Jason checked out the car...
NO REVERSE, 1ST GEAR, or OVERDRIVE!!!!
He checked out the transmission... put in 2 LITRES of transmission fluid!
Still no reverse gear! (I knew we should have gone in another car... I just had a feeling..)
After around half an hour of fiddling he told me we could still make it to Maroochydore on time
BUT wasn't sure we'd make it home.
My heart sank... I ended up calling the specialist and explaining the predicament we were in.
I told them I opted for heading home instead of Maroochydore because I didn't want to be stuck andnot be able to get home. We still had the "drive" gear so could possibly make it home, or at leastclose enough to home before having to call the RACQ if we needed assistance.
To say I was "disappointed" doesn't quite cover what I was feeling.
I made another appointment when I got home, now for 4th September!! :-(((
Jason's car is in with a transmission specialist... will cost anything from $170 to $1500 to fixdepending on the damage. :-((
I got more depressed because the pain in my arm was getting worse and this disaster capped of a lousy weekwith the 'scrap' problems. I've refused to go back on the Prednisone until 2 nights ago when I could no longer stand the pain. I could barely walk, raise my arms and worse... couldn't use the mouse for my computer! It cause too much pain in my arm.
My home was like a pig sty.... why are some men so bloody untidy????
My friend Marg dragged me out on Thursday... I could barely use a fork and knife...
it was so embarrassing. Then this weekend was grocery shopping on Saturday. I had to get Jason to come to unload the groceries at the checkout and pack for me.
Then I hobbled around Woolworths supermarket to get a few things Aldi don't stock.
THEN... I had to scan everything for Nielsen Surveys!
By the time that was over and I threw together some dinner I was buggered! (Sorry)
My pain was worse on Sunday, I just didn't want to be alive, bit the bullet and went back on the Prednisone.
I got back on my computer and it seems like I have a monkey on my shoulder...
the pages weren't loading properly. Some of the icons under the address box were blackened out!
I would have thrown my arms in the air and screamed if I'd been able!!
I couldn't load my Optus page to check my mail. So I tried my Gmail account and managed to get that up. I had around 1000 emails so set to checking and deleting.
Then if there happened to be something I wanted to save.... when I right clicked and selected
"save target as" the window where you select where you want to save the file on showed the blue edgeson either side.... the centre was blank... no "save" or "cancel" buttons showing.!!
I managed to close everything and reboot my computer, then deleted all the temporary files.
Started all over again and it was still doing the same thing.
I had to wait for Jason... he said I should check the space I have left on my computer!
Haven't done it yet.... too scared to find out.....
However, it seems to be working so far, so I'll check out the 'space' option later.
I finally got my Optus webmail page up.... I had over 800 emails!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A lot were Spam...
7 AUGUST
Remember this from the bushfires here in Australia????
Sadly, Sam had to be put to sleep.... :-(
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Firefighter David Tree devastated at Sam the Koala's death
August 07, 2009 12:00am
Kelly Ryan
Herald-Sun
THE firefighter who saved Sam the koala from Victoria's catastrophic infernos is devastated after the world's most famous cuddly animal died. "I'm sobbing like a baby and I am a grown man," David Tree said. "She just meant so much - she highlighted the plight and vulnerability of Australian wildlife. "She was a battler, a survivor and a wild animal who showed trust to turn to a human at her greatest time of need. I am shattered, devastated."
Sam became a symbol of hope amid the bushfire disaster when an image of her sipping from Mr Tree's water bottle was flashed around the world. She fought back from severe burns and smoke inhalation but could not survive chlamydia, a disease that causes cervical infection. Sam was put down during surgery on cysts associated with the disease.
She was about three years old. "It's like it's not worth it now - that she managed to survive the fires but die from a disease that they should be able to vaccinate her against," Mr Tree said. The picture of Sam and Mr Tree was sold through the Herald Sun, raising $500,000 for the CFA and the wildlife shelter that looked after Sam.
Carer Colleen Wood, who tended Sam for six months at her Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter, said she felt empty after countless hours dressing the koala's burnt paws and treating her smoke-damaged lungs and eyes. "I'm sad. I'm devastated," she said. Ms Wood said despite the tragic end, Sam was a remarkable story and worth every moment invested in her rescue and rehabilitation. "It sure was worth it for what it taught the world about the vulnerability of Australian wildlife and the wonder of survival of a few, when so many thousands more didn't make it. "You have your miracles and there are days when you don't," she said.
Ms Wood was on the phone to Dr John Butler as he operated on Sam at the Morwell Veterinary Clinic. "The fact it had spread to her bladder was going to be a pain issue down the track -- we did not want her to suffer after all she had already been through. "I want the public to know that everything that could have been done was done for Sam.
She was made as comfortable as possible. "But I had a gut feeling something wasn't quite right, which is why I hadn't yet gone ahead and released her. "It is a real slap in the face after all we have been through. "She appeared to be almost there and bang, and no option but for her to be put to sleep."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the world saw the photo of Sam as a symbol of hope. "I think that gave people of the world a great sense that this country Australia could come through those fires - as we have," he said. "Sam the koala was part of the symbolism of that and it's tragic she is no longer with us."
26th AUGUST
All I can say is.... I'm glad to be here....
These last few weeks have been horrendous for me, especially the last 2.
I have had the flu BUT nothing like ever before. I thought it was swine flu and just wanted to die BUT
fortunately it wasn't and you're still stuck with me! *S*
I couldn't stop coughing, my chest hurt...
I couldn't breathe... nose stuffed... then dripping incessantly... then stuffed again.
Every joint ached and I couldn't sit at my computer for any longer than an hour, just enough time to get the scraps done.
My desk looks like a pharmacy... sinus tablets, cold tablets, nasal sprays... you name it... it's sitting here.
Jason had to make meals or get take away, I wasn't fit for cooking anything. Thank God I taught him how to cook!!!
Anyway, I just have a stuffy nose now and an occasional cough.
I'm heading off to the specialist in Maroochydore on September 4th, let's hope we make it this time *S*
And on the family front... Jared is doing Community Service... YIPPEEEEEE!!!
This was for taking one of the cars out in the middle of the night... no licence... no learner's permit
and got sprung by the boys in blue!!
At least this time he has to pay for his actions!!
He's been working his butt off around the house (outside) too.
The place is gradually looking liveable again *S*
On the pet front.... AYDEE is a lunatic... not at all like Buffy.
He chases the birds up the trees, where Buffy would just sit and wish.. she wasn't as adventurous.
He also acts like a dog and 'fetches' things for Jason!
29 AUGUST
I have to vent...
I stayed up all Thursday night working on the students... sending emails to the slackers (*S) and moving the expired sub ones to the new database. Went to bed 6am Friday and got up at 9am ready to continue... I was on a roll!!
THE PHONE RANG!
My cousin, Jennifer (56 years old) from Sydney.... she has a motor mouth... is neurotic (like so many members of my family), never stops for breath especially when she has something on her mind. Well she had something on her mind!
My aunt (also neurotic) tore up all the family photos a few years ago (who knows why)... so Jennifer, way back in 2000 asked if I could send her copies of any I had that would be of interest to her. I did this... she asked for more... then I thought... "why am I wasting my ink printing them... her son can pay for ink to print any she wants to save" so I started emailing them instead.
One of the photos I had actually printed and set to her was one of me, my grandfather holding another child (who my mother had told me was my aunt's (Jennifer's mother) baby (out of wedlock) from circa 1948/9. I wish I had never sent it.
She phoned me back then and asked me who the other child was... said I didn't know.
That was fine.... then earlier this year she must have been going through all the photos and asked me again who the child was in that photo and these ones (the fat one is me *S* I was almost 9 pounds born and I was breach) The woman in the other one is my Mum.
She nagged and nagged and nagged, so stupidly I gave in but made her promise to keep the info to herself. I told her this child was her mother's... she had her before she ever met her father but she had a hole in her heart and died before she reached the age of 3. This is what my mother told me. Her name was Lena... they called her "wee Lena" after my Mum.
I thought that would be the end of it... dream on Jamie!!!!
Yesterday morning she called... she fronted her 82 year old, sick mother with the revelation! Of course her mother ended up hysterical! She denied that the child was hers! Said she'd only had one boyfriend before meeting her father.. a farmer.
That's not what my mother told me... she told me Nette (my aunt) was promiscuous, had been spoilt rotten because she'd been a sickly child, never had to help with housework. hated school, never had a paid job in her life.
She phoned and screamed at me that I was a LIAR! I tried to butt in and ask why she'd even discussed it with her sick mother! Through her ranting she heard me and said because SHE had to know if she'd had a sister and why wasn't she told! She ranted on and on and on... I knew I wasn't going to get a word in... so I hung up!
I sat and thought about it... Jennifer has had a rotten life, a drunken husband and 2 boys 36 & 31 years old who still live at home, she's never had a paid job and regretfully married the first boy who took an interest in her. She's never had the guts to leave him.
She's been to psychiatrists but is to bloody minded to take their advice.
I thought... I'm the only one she can call who will listen to her when she's upset or has problems... so I sent her an email... said to contact Jack (my uncle in Scotland), he'd verify it. I didn't think she'd do it right away.... it was 2am in Scotland.. she woke him up! He's another neurotic... he wasn't happy about being woken. He told Jennifer that I was lying... the child was MY mother's. She'd had twins and the other twin had died before she got to 3 years old!! He told her to ask my mother! Jennifer told him she couldn't ask her.... Lena was dead! We hadn't let Jack know Mum had died (that's another neurotic story).. I didn't want him to know and now Jennifer had let the cat out of the bag. Thanks Jennifer!!!!!
So she called me again with this revelation! I told her to look at the photos... do we look like twins???? This child is obviously younger than me. Then she decided the one with the two of us with my Mum wasn't a girl... must be a boy... since she's wearing little trousers. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! She didn't let up..... I couldn't get a word in...but she did hang up eventually.
Again I started thinking.... somewhere deep in my memory I vaguely remember something Mum might have told me about my being a twin. Obviously I hadn't pressed the matter, probably because it was in the past, nothing I could say would change anything....
Another phone call.... I should find out if my mother had twins !! I told her... if my mother had borne twins the other would have died at birth probably because my Mother wasn't the type of person to say her child was someone else's. She would have made a big deal of wee Lena's condition if she were her child. My mother was also semi neurotic but she was truthful... she hated liars. It's not something she would have been ashamed of or want to keep from me. My father would have told me sometime during his life. He wasn't neurotic... he was a stabiliser in our family.
So after even more phone calls with suggestions from Jennifer I decided to find out if my mother did have twins to settle the matter one way or the other. I too need to get to the bottom of this now.
I went to the "Scotland's People" site and I did a free search for KRAWCZYK 1946 to 1946 (Krawczyk was my maiden name)
Result was 2 births and 1 death.
Because of the unusual name, especially in Scotland there wouldn't be many results.
So now I'm thinking maybe my vague memory was right, I might have been a twin and the other child died at birth.
BUT if this were true then the child in the photos wouldn't be MY sister would she?
I wrote and asked them how I could access this information and how much it would cost. Unfortunately they replied directing me to Customer Information and Site Charges section on their site. I couldn't make head nor tail of the info in these sections and I don't want to spend money unless I know the information is going to be useful.
So I wrote to "National Archives of Scotland (NAS)." sending them details of my birth certificate and asking if another child was born to my mother at the same time..... asked how to access the info and would be willing to pay any charges. I'm waiting for a response...
Jennifer must have phoned me at least 6 times yesterday and sent 11 emails, I'm glad I don't have to pay her phone bill... she's never on for only 5 minutes... I remember at least one call was over an hour!! I was exhausted by the time she quit calling and so screwed up mentally I couldn't finish the work I was doing on the students for Artistry.
I got up early this morning to get on with the work... another phone call !!!!! Still ranting on... won't settle until she knows the truth!!! Was up all night worrying about the situation... all coffeed up! Opposite to me... I died last night... didn't lose a wink of sleep *S* Her husband and sons even said this child looks like her when she was a child.... I said "What does that tell you Jennifer???" She wouldn't listen.
I haven't sent these pics below to Jennifer... this is her mother, photo taken around the same era... and wee Lena. Am I wrong in thinking these's a huge resemblance???? I don't have any photos of Jennifer as a baby around this age because she was born in Germany, her dad was in the military and didn't return to Scotland until she was much older than this child appears.
This is me and wee Lena
Anyway when the proof comes out either way.. whatever the result, it won't make any difference to me. It's in the past, done and dusted, I certainly won't lose sleep over it.
The only relatives in my family who are or were not neurotic was my grandfather (deceased), my aunt Elizabeth (Bette) (deceased), her husband Ross (deceased), her son, my cousin Eric (living in Scotland), my Dad (deceased), Jason (living) and my Mum (deceased) was only neurotic when she knew something was right or wrong and no one would listen to her. She had a sixth sense about things that drove me nuts.
The rest of my family are all lunatics! I'm so glad we don't live close to each other.
We can choose our friends but we're stuck with relatives...
Jason has taken Jared and his brother Hayden up to the driving range so I have peace here for a couple of hours. I wish I could hold a golf club, I would have gone with them *S* It's a beautiful day.
"Be kind to each other"
Catch you next month *S*
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