May 2003
1 May
I have just had the most incredibly busy month and haven't been able to get on here to do updates as often as I would like.
I suppose that is probably a good thing, keeping me out of trouble and all, but its not just this blog that has been suffering, it has also been my sleep.
Last week was supposed to be a very short week, Easter Monday holiday with Anzac day falling on the Friday, however all that ended up being was a 3 day week that I had to cram 5 days work into.
Post had me doing parcels after my regular work, so I was on the road for up to 14 hours, coming home to do more work on the computer.
It didn't leave a lot of time for Jamie's birthday party
Jamie's third birthday fell on a Saturday, so it was a perfect opportunity for a party, (as if the birthday wasn't enough of an excuse).
It was also a good excuse for me to practice my culinary skills on family and friends.
I am actually more comfortable cooking for lots of people than I am just cooking for myself. I eat so badly sometimes, opting for fast food because its easier, admittedly I do try and go for a healthy option sometimes, ie Subway, but I really should get back in the habit of cooking a decent meal and then freezing it down.
but i digress... For the party I decided to make some sandwiches and a nice cheese board for people to help themselves to while I prepared the Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini with a Cabonara sauce and home made garlic bread.
I elected not to do anything too fancy, partly because of the lack of time, but mostly because I HATE the oven in my new place, its one of those magical old style ones that burn things on the bottom while leaving things nicely raw on top.
I was very happy with how it all came together, especially as I found myself very time poor the week leading up to it.
Probably the only thing that put a bit of a dampener on it (for me anyway) was the party blowers I got for Emily.
She has been playing a Blue's Clues birthday party game lately on the computer and part of the game if to collect the "Noisemakers" for the party. Unfortunately they were not very good ones and she didn't have the strength to make the noise with them. I was really quite upset by it. Feeling guilty because I had tried to do something to make her happy, but she would have been happier if I hadn't even got any.
In the end Rob and Maria's children followed her around, blowing their party blowers when ever she blew hers, thus making her think she was doing it!
Happy Birthday my cuddly little boy. Top
7 May
I don't have a problem with the oven anymore, after spending much more than I planned to, replacing it.
I now have a stainless steel double oven and proceeded to road test it this evening on a leg of lamb and all the trimmings.
The lamb melted in the mouth, the potatoes had the right degree of crunch and the sweet potatoes were... mmmmm.
Anyway, can't write anymore... I have to raid the leftovers now!!!
Pass the gravy please! Top
9 May
Signed off on my latest client yesterday. His site (www.leatheremporium.com.au) went live on Monday. When I went in to pick up the cheque there was a list of minor changes he wanted doing before his next ad hits the paper this evening.
While I was there, he was telling me that he had recommended me to someone else and that I was likely to be getting a phonecall regarding more work some time soon.
Some time soon was right enough... Within a minute of him telling me that, my phone rang and an appointment was made for later that afternoon.
I got a letter from the Child Support Agency today. Not a great surprise as I knew it was coming.
It was also not surprising that they have slugged me quite heavily for earning more money last financial year, basically taking about one third of the extra income, effectively doubling what I am paying currently.
I don't mind paying the extra money. What I DO resent is the way they calculate these payments.
Unless you have the children at least 33% of the time, you are not considered a custodial parent. Then, to calculate that time, they only take into consideration the nights that the children stay, so although I have them nearly three days, these are still only counted as two.
As a result, according to the CSA, I am in the same catagory as people like my biological father, which is pretty much the "I don't give a fuck about my kids" catagory
This bugs me no end!
While I think about it, my dad's birthday is on Sunday (the real parent, not the biological one!), as is mothers day.
Apparently I'm taking my new oven out for another Test Flight and roasting a Pork leg.
... Better go shopping then! Top
10 May
We're going to have to cancel lunch tomorrow.
When I posted my log yesterday evening I knew my mum had been unwell, but by all accounts we all thought it was a stomach bug.
Anyway, she was unable to even keep water down, and by the early evening decided that she was getting very dehydrated and took an ambulance to RPH.
By all accounts, it was lucky she got there when she did, as the stomach bug turned out to be complications with her diabetes. Had she waited longer, there would have been a good chance she wouldn't be with us now.
I am pretty much a mess at the moment. I have tried to keep myself busy so I can keep my mind off it.
Last night i was up until sometime after 1am doing stupid little things like shuffling files and cleaning shit I don't need off my computer, doing backups and defraging all the drives. Once I got so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open, I went to bed.
This morning I got straight into doing the washing and the dishes and cleaning up, but I found myself crying a couple of times during the day.
Here I go again. Can't write anymore Top
12 May
I feel a lot happier today.
Saw mum at the hospital yesterday and she is 100% better than she was.
I guess it was a little bit of a shock. She is fairly blase about her diabetes, and I guess we have become that way too, but that is going to have to change.
Top
14 May
I made a promise to myself quite a while ago, that I was actually going to start looking after my health, and surprisingly enough I have been keeping up with that resolution.
I have had a long term problem with reflux for well over 10 years now, and sometime last year I started looking into causes. Personally I think it's diet related and possibly a consequence of my previously much loved (well.. by me anyway!) nicotine addiction.
Today I went into hospital for a gastroscopy (not sure on the spelling on that... Oh well!!!) which basically meant my eating schedule was stuffed around.
My normal routine is to have a light breakfast around 4.30am and light snack about 9, drinking large amounts of water until lunchtime.
Fasting - No food or drink from 7.30am... DAMN!
Around 7am I stopped in at the Croissant Express at the AXA centre to get something to eat. I felt a little weird about it as I certainly wasn't hungry.
Figuring I would need to keep my fluid levels up, I washed that meal down with two bottles of water. Unfortunately, the only effect it had was an increased need to use the bathroom, as bout my thirst and hunger returned to me by around 9am.
I didn't actually get to eat until after 4pm, where I tucked into four tiny sandwich quarters. Ahhhh a meal befitting a King!
Yay for the public health system!
If this entry doesn't make much sense, remember. It was written under the influence of drugs Top
15 May
I probably shouldn't have driven this morning. I was so tired and my head was still a little messed up by the anaesthetic from yesterday, but then, this is a problem I have pointed out to Post on more than one occasion.
No one else can do my job.
Oh sure, you could give them a run sheet and get them to pick up mail from point A and deliver it to point B, but a lot of the first part of my delivery run involves sorting mail and setting up runs for the other drivers.
The last part of my run is fluid, basically meaning, the posties at Malaga DC tell me what time they want their bags out, and I structure the run around that.
Not to mention the whole run is absolutely full on. You need to know all the shortcuts, and have a good idea on traffic flow... Oh and speeding helps too (shhhh!)
It's probably those time constraints that cause the biggest problems. When Emily and Jamie were born, my boss ended up doing the run, (no doubt the 4am phonecalls impressed him no end) but even then, it had to be broken up into sections and given out to different drivers.
Hmm... This has been Another incessant rambling mess straight from my mind to the world wide web
Top
18 May
I was not a well boy last night. Feeling the effects of a cold, I decided to go to bed the same time as Emily. Two hours later I woke feeling so cold that I was literally shaking.
I got up and put more clothes on and filled a hot water bottle (only to find out that the rubber had deteriorated since last winter and the hot water melted a hole in it.)
I am feeling a lot better today though, which is a good thing. I have a cough, but at least my temperature has dropped to normal
Back on drugs (cold and flu tablets) again! Top
19 May
It is Emily's birthday tomorrow and we are all going out to do something (undecided) and then have dinner somewhere (also undecided).
I took her to Toys R Us on Saturday to hunt for a birthday present, she was more interested in playing on the slides, playgym's, go-carts and other things that were way too expensive.
Eventually she did decide to be cooperative and choose her gifts. She picked out a pink raincoat with balloons on it (matches her umbrella perfectly), a toy doctors kit (the torch even worked for 5 minutes), a very realistic toy horse, and a spider
A SPIDER!!!
Harry Potter has a lot to answer for.
When we were there a month ago, she wanted to get one then and I said no, but she still wanted it, and we WERE there to get her presents, so how could I say no.
She won't leave it alone. She dragged it around the shops, she played with it all afternoon and on Saturday night she even took it to bed to cuddle up with
I suppose at least she isn't arachnophobic
Yet... Top
21 May
Amanda and I took Emily and Jamie to one of those indoor kids activity centres yesterday... and we both forgot to take cameras. This is becoming a habit!
On Sunday we went out to Caversham Wildlife Park up at Whiteman Park, where the kids fed kangaroos, rode on a camel, got close to koalas... and had no photo's taken!
I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run, the kids had fun and thats what is important. Oh and I may have had a little too much fun at the activity centre.
There was a section with ropes and slides and ladders, where children under four need parental supervision. Damn shame that. I got to be a big kid again, and I have to confess... I HAD A BALL!
I'm seriously going to have to go there again, umm, I mean... take the kids there again.
Who needs big boy toys... They have a SLIDE! Top
23 May
I really overdid it on Wednesday. I did a full days work for the first time since I came down with this flu, I tried to catch up on work that hadn't been getting done here, looked after Jamie for a couple of hours (never going to turn that opportunity down) and cooked a full baked dinner for my parents.
And boy, did I pay!
I lost my voice that evening and by the time I finished work on Thursday morning I was well and truly stuffed.
11am I was falling asleep on the couch, but I knew I couldn't do that because I had already promised a client that I would go up to his factory and take some more photos.
Figuring it would be best to get that out of the way first, I headed up to Wangara.
I put myself to bed more or less as soon as I got home, (probably less, I decided to eat lunch first) and thats when I got coughing spasms.
I really hate these kinds too, the ones you only get when you are lying down. Every time I would nearly drift off to sleep I would have these violent fits and try and cough up a lung. In the end I had to get some more pillows and sleep sitting more upright.
I think I got around three hours sleep after that
There is another solution to this problem... Codeine!
Codeine will stop the spasming and allow me to sleep, which is good because I have a strong reaction to codeine that results in drowsiness and sleep, followed by sleepwalking.
I ended up getting some tablets yesterday evening and took two before bed, so I feel a lot better today.
I'm going to have some sleep today before I pick up the kids and hopefully that will see me right for the weekend.
Have I mentioned drugs at all this month??? Top
24 May
I have been quite good at putting little (or sometimes not so little) entries up on this page lately.
Perhaps a little TOO good, as its turning the page into a long rambling mess! So I have decided to do a couple of minor changes to the way the site is presented. Nothing too drastic. There will be the current log at the top of the page, and earlier logs from that month will be accessed via a popup window.
Apart from that things will be pretty much the same. I contemplated adding some colour to the site, but I like the minimalistic appearance so I will probably leave it
Stay tuned... Top
26 May
My kids usually choose what movie they are going to watch, quite often it will be the same movie over and over again and you just have to tell them no, other times they select movies that would not be suitable for them to watch.
"Oh, you want to watch the Terminator, how about you pick something else!"
Other times they select things I just don't think they will be interested in, some of these include my Doctor Who DVDs.
Jamie in particular has been going on about watching one particular episode for quite a while, so this weekend I relented and put on Remembrance of the Daleks.
My kids are sci-fi fans, there is no getting away from it, from there on in, all they wanted to do was watch "Daleks", or at the very least, repeat the word over and over again.
Exterminate!!! Top
27 May
Tuesday is half price waffles day at geláre, so I decided to splash out and treat myself.
Much as I enjoy their melt in the mouth belgian waffles (although they could do with more maple syrup), I am starting to discover that the large waffle is just too much for me to eat these days.
For those of you who remember when I used to be able to get real value from "all you can eat" restaurants, this will probably come as a surprise to you
...he whose eyes are getting bigger than his stomach. Top
28 May
Amanda asked if I wanted to babysit Jamie today. Obviously I wasn't going to let that opportunity pass me by.
This morning I messaged her to ask what time she wanted me to pick him up, and she replied with the time as well as a request to bring along the signed divorce papers.
I have to admit I have been putting this off for a little over a month now, mostly because I haven't been ready to close that part of my life just yet.
I know I can't keep putting this off so I bit the bullet and went down to a local Justice of the peace to have my signature witnessed.
Thats that then. I was a little depressed about it for a while, and I guess writing this is some form of closure for me, but its times like this I wish I was able to verbally talk about the things that are fucking with my head rather than resorting to putting them up on here.
Amanda reads this log from time to time, so I don't doubt she will come across this, and I hope that she doesn't get upset about what I have written because that isn't my intention. After I dropped Jamie back to her, we talked for ages about the kids. I don't know why I can't talk to her about how I'm feeling, but then I'm male, I'm supposed to be an emotional cripple.
blah! Top
29 May
I'm a little bit annoyed with Malaga Delivery. Despite the high demands they place on me, I have always been flexible with my times, but recently they have been pushing to have me there for 8am which can be a stretch on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have an extra point that I have to go to first, and its made harder if I have one of potentially two extra points in the CBD.
This morning I got BOTH extra points in the city, and being Thursday, the extra one in Malaga.
I was a little stressed about it and was pushing myself quite hard to keep on time so I could make it out to them by 8am
By 7.30 I was quite pleased with my progress and figured that I would not have a problem getting there if they needed me that early.
It was about that time when I got a phonecall, telling me not to bother with the run today as they needed someone in very early and had already called Messenger Post to organise another driver for... well... 7.30
They would have known quite a while before that. I wish they had called me earlier so I could have eased up a little.
On the brighter side. The lack of the Malaga run meant I was home quite early.
This allowed me to get some work done and let me dedicate the afternoon to visiting clients. I'm hoping to get the newest one online tonight, so I probably should stop writing in here and get on with it.
Oh by the way, I have the photo's from Jamie's birthday up now (not bad, it only took me nearly 6 weeks), if you're interested in having a look Click here
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