Some people just should not be doctors!

It has been a while since my last post, so I hope I do not repeat myself too much.( Memory's not that wonderful.) I may have reported that my otjer knee has 'gone' like my right one. I am unable to walk many steps before it starts to THROB! The pain is unbelievable! I have a wheelchair for when I go shopping. It is interesting to see the reactions of folk when one is in a wheelchair. It does not take long to determine their attitudes. Most people are accommodating, but some just stand and stare.
Last weekend we travelled to the 'big smoke' so I could have MRIs on both knees. On the previous Tuesday night I had a bad attack of Hay Fever, and consquently developed a nasty cold/chest infection. By Saterday I had a hacking cough, and was concerned about it, as you have to lie perfectly still for these scans. They are very expensive to do. I asked for more pillows to sit me up a bit to try to eliminate the tickle in my throat. Once it takes hold, there is nothing I can do but cough! The young doctor doing the scan was less than kind. To say he needed to brush up on his bedside manner goes without saying. But his manners were apalling! I asked for a glass of water at one stage, and he refused to get it, telling me I needed to try harder not to cough! I thought to myself, 'I hope he treats his mum better than he is treating me' He is about my son's age.
The next day I had a different doctor, totally! To cut a long story short, he managed to get the information he required, is spite of me having a HUGE coughing fit. I thought I was going to explode.
My doctor rang me on Tuesday morning to tell me the results, and said I need to have another Arthroscopy, as I have a tear in the back of the cartelege, and he would get his girls on to it right away. I have not heard a peep from them yet. Will have to ring them in the morning.
More fun and games.

Did the butler do it? They said the bouncer didn't.

So, the bouncer didn't do it, cause David Hookes' death that is. How can Macevic say it was self defence when Hookes was trying to walk away from him? If, as has been stated, Hookes was walking the other way, he was no threat to any one. I am pleased to hear Hookes' family is suing for compensation. I hope they get some.

Knees and things.

Neville and I travelled to the 'big smoke' in the Red Cross car today, so I could consult my Orthopoedic surgeon about my other knee. Eighteen months ago, the anterior horn of my carteledge in my right knee tore. It went off like a rifle shot. He performed an arthroscopy on it, and the upshot of that is I need a knee replacement operation. On the 3rd of this month, the other one did likewise. Now, with two buggered knees, I am finding it nigh on impossible to walk, as it is very painful. Dr. Oakeshott said in his usual flippant way today,' use it or lose it' That is fine for him, he does not have put up with the pain! He has ordered an MRI.
I have had many, many procedures and tests in my life, but this will be the first MRI.I am not relishing the prospect.

Nice day for a drive!

Husband Neville & I had to go to the 'big smoke' today so I could have an x ray & ultra sound of my left knee, which has 'given up the ghost', like the right one. I am once again confined to a wheelchair. For how long is anyone's guess. We were unable to travel in the Ford, so had to make do with the Corolla wagon. Both cars are VERY old, and somewhat unreliable. The wagon is OK on short trips, but not long ones, it would seem.
We got about 40 miles from Adelaide, and the car conked out. It had been struggling up the hills, and I asked #1 hubby if it was hot. He said nothing was showing on the guage, but the wire could have come off. He looked up to see the steam pouring out from under the bonnet. (Hood, to any Yanks) This was at about 9.30 am. My appointment was 2pm. When Neville opened the bonnet, he discovered that most of the oil had been pushed out of the sump, too. He said later he had thought about putting another seal in, but thought he would not need it! Pity about that,eh? He put in more water and a small ammount of oil he had brought with us, and we turned around and limped home. Thank Goodness for my mobile phone. I rang to cancel my x ray etc, and we crawled home at 45 to 50 mph. We called in to Murray Bridge and he bought more oil and some bags of potting mix our daughter had asked us to get from Woolworths.
It truly has been a glorious day for a drive, but it was not how we would have planned it. We were sitting in the car for 91/2 hours, and my knees and backside are very stiff and sore! I have an appointment to see my surgeon next week. Hope we have a reliable car by them.

Life's a Bitch!

They do say, Life's a bitch and then you die, but I'm not ready to shuffle off this mortal coil just yet.Eighteen months ago, just after I had returned from Perth and Mark's graduation, my right knee started to do silly things,like catching and cracking. It hurt a bit, then one day in March it went off like a rifle shot, and hurt like H*** and went out from under me. I finished up in a wheelchair for a month, then had an Arthroscopy. The upshot of that was my right knee is stuffed and I need a complete joint replacement. I am not looking forward to that, I can tell you.
When I went back for the first check up a year later, my knees were x rayed, and no problems could be detected in the left knee. I am the least supersticious person on the planet, but it was April Fool's Day.( April 1st.) About two to three weeks ago, the left knee started to do the very same things, and on Saterday morning, very early, it too, cracked! I am now back to square one, and in a wheelchair again. I go to the 'big smoke' for more Xrays, and an ultra sound,tomorrow, and back again a week later to see my surgeon. In the interim, I am supposed to see the doctor, who is not my usual physician, and in whom I have very little faith. Mainly because he speaks so softly and has a thick African accent.
I shall keep you posted.

At last, I am in!

Howdy folks.I have been off line(if anyone noticed) for nearly two weeks, and it has been hell! My son talked me through a software installation nearly three weeks ago, over the phone. He lives in Perth. I was able to use the computer for the next two days, then it started playing silly buggers. I was able to open my email accounts and write one, but it refused to send it. Then I couldn't send a Blog posting, then it would not let me into that, either. Then it opened up with a blue screen and I couldn't close that or proceed. Then Mark and I tried to work out what the problem was . No luck! We spent hours on the phone. I got so stressed, I was nearly sick. I then decided to call in my Greek friend Spiro, who has a computer business and get him to fix it. He reinstalled it yesterday. No go! Spiro had it for a week. I tried to do a posting yesterday, but no go! I hope this publishes OK.

Modern Technology.

I may be a baby boomer, and not have graduated from high school, but that does not mean I am averse to learning about IT and other techno advances. But, I have a loooong way go to catch up to my son. I am not foolish enough to think I ever will. If I only knew half as much as he does about computers, I would be a very happy chick.
Over the previous two nights, as mentioned in his Blog, Frugal Bastard, he instructed me on how to apply some new soft ware. Now, it is hard enough when you are on the other end of a telephone and 3.000klms away and cannot see the screen, but it is even more difficult when your old Ma is legally blind,(less than 10% in one eye, and bugger all in the other) and she is not very savvy with the jargon and has great dificulty reading. It makes for a VERY slow process. I'dips me lid' to you son! I guess if I had a job where I had to use the thing all day, I would soon learn more. Speed the day! I have tried to publish a post since we did the work, but it would not publish. Here goes nothing. See you all later. I hope.

Crocodile Hunters

I have just watched an item on A Current Affair about Steve Irwin, the so called , crocodile hunter. He is not one of my favourite people, as I think he is over the top with how he presents himself. But that aside, he is passionately trying to protect the wild life indigenous to the Top End of this great country of ours. Tonight's story was about one of the daughters of the late Sara Henderson from Bullo River station, Marlee, by name. She is trying to get a licence to hunt crocs for sport. She wants to bring 'big game hunters' here, and charge them exorbitant fees to hunt these reptiles. There are a certain number that are culled each year, and she can't see why they should not be shot for sport. Now, I am not a lover of anything reptilian, but, I think this is a bit obscene. She wants to charge $1,000.00 per foot, and for a fifteen footer, that is a lot of moula. Steve Irwin was very crafty, if you like, in getting the minister for the envoironment to participate in the capture and tagging of one of the big fellas, to try to convince him they need to be protected more. They are left over from the Dinasaur age, and I think they need to be looked after. It would not do a lot for the tourist industry either if they are hunted like this.

The manners of some people

I shall start with a conversation I had with my brother, nearly two weeks ago. I rang him to enquire as to whether he liked the singing style of Cleo Laine. He said he did, but asked why I wanted to know. I asked if he had a record player. He said he did, but again asked why I wanted to know. I said I had been given some of her records, and wanted to know who I could give them to, as I am not a fan of her style of singing. I admire her talent greatly, but she doesn't 'send' me. I asked him what he was doing, as he seemed more distracted than usual when I ring. He said he was mucking around on his computer. What is so unusual about that you may be asking? Nothing, apart from the fact only a couple of months ago, this same man had said, he didn't know anything about them and didn't want to know anything.He was having a ball! I asked him where he had bought it, and he said from the local High School, and it had cost him peanuts. Later that week, I was talking to my daughter Deb. When I mentioned about her uncle having a computer, she asked if I would make enquiries for her as to the availability of any more. I duly did so, and was told they had three more, but the hard drives didn't work. I was talking to my son about it, and told him I had been quoted a price of $1,500.00 for a new HDD. He said that was ridiculous, and told me he could get one for a mere fraction of that.
I went into the school yesterday morning and told the receptionist, that if they had a computer that needed a HDD, and they were prepared to sell it to me as is, I could get the HDD myself. She went to ask the teacher about it, and came back and told me I could take it there and then. I was quite surprised, but very chuffed. I was not expecting that to happen so soon.
I went in to pay for it this morning, and ran into the woman I had phoned about it. I think she is on the school commitee and said I had my computer, with the sole purpose of letting her know that I had it, so she could take my name off the list. She then proceeded to let me know that it was not meant to be mine it was meant for someone else. Intimating she thought I had jumped the queue! This is NOT the case, as that is one of my pet hates.
She continued to heap coals on my head, at the same time agreeing with me that it was not my mistake. If I had been in her shoes, I would not have said anything, being very concious of the other person's feelings, and not wanting them to feel bad.
This is the bad manners the title refers to.

Charities

I have just had another worthy cause phone call. Now, I am not averse to helping these charities when I can, but I object to being patronised by total strangers , over the phone( or in person) at the best of times. A woman from The Heart Foundation rang me from Queensland and said they needed people to help with their doorknock appeal in September, and could I help. I aasured her I would be only too happy to oblige, but I am crippled up with Arthritis. She said she has arthritis too, and it wasn't untill September, and it would be OK in the warmer weather,Honey! I had to tell her very firmly, that it would not be OK in my case, as I can not walk very far as I also have a very bad back and a bung knee. . She then asked if I knew of anyone in my street who could help, so that when she made the next phone call she would not be wasting time and 'losing more goodwill'! I think these organisation need to 'vet' there phone operaters a bit more stringently, and give them some pointers in tact. I am sick of being treated as though I am in my dotage and have a bottomless pocket.

Health cover

I have had private health cover for some years now, but was somewhat surprised to receive in the mail today from my Fund, an application for accident and accidental death cover. For a small premium I can be covered to the tune of $25.000.00 or $50.000.00, depending on how much I can afford to pay, for accidental death. I don't require any medical checks, I would not be covered if I have an accident, resulting in my being hospitalised or my death. on the day the cover commences. It is supposed to give me peace of mind that if I were to die, my family would not need to worry about my funeral expenses. The thing that gets my attention is this, the cover expires the day I reach the grand old age of 85! As reported in the press today, scientists are saying that the possibility of us living to 120 is not too far away. In the light of that news, the accident cover scheme sounds like throwing good money away to me.

Magpies.

Magpies, or Piping Shrikes, as they more correctly should be called, are nesting near our home. They are a small to medium sized, black & white bird.They nest in the same place each year, providing it has not been destroyed. They can be extremely territorial and swoop anything or anyone they see as a threat. There is a large Gum tree,(Eucalyptus) in the garden across the street & for the past few weeks the male (I think) has been gathering material for the nest. I have two hanging baskets which have thatch type linings. He has been desamating one of them for his nest. He flies in and slams into the window.He either, misjudges the distance, or he sees his reflection in the glass and perceives it as another bird. Then tugs a beakful of the stuff and flies away. He does this three or four times a day. He has been known to swoop my cat and terroise her, too. I think the nesting process has finished, as I have not heard or seen him for a few days now.He is not the least bit afraid of humans, as he sits in my Ficafolia (gum tree) and squawks at me, & he is only two or three feet away. I am dreading the time the eggs hatch, as he swooped me several times last year, & I was in my own yard!

How lucky was that?

Nearly two weeks ago the bleep bleep washing machine went 'on the fritz' again! I had done most of the washing on the Sunday, and on Monday I tried to wash the sheets & anything that I had overlooked. This is the fifth time in 18 months that it has broken down with the same problem. On the Monday, I received the news by phone that a very old cousin of my late father's had died. I did manage to get the load of washing done, but it took ALL day, as I had to keep switching it off & on and trying to over ride the problem. When my husband, Neville, arrived home the next night, I asked him if he wanted the bad news or the really bad news. I told him of Pearl's death then gave the machine a hefty kick and told him it had broken down again. He didn't say anything which was surprising for him. The next day I asked him what we were going to do about it. He said there was a twin tub for sale at a clearing sale on the Saterday and if we could get it for a reasonable price it would tide us over until we had a good look around for a new automatic. We missed out on that one, and another one the same yesterday. This morning, our daughter, Deb, rang me on my mobile and asked if I had seen in the local paper that there was a garage sale with a washing machine for sale. I said I had not , and she said it started at 9.30 AM.It was 8.30AM. The sale was only 6 miles away so we hurried out to have a look. They had a price of $250.00 ono. Neville asked them if they would take $200.00 for it. The guy said he had an offer of $200.00 if it didn't sell. Neville then asked if he would take $210.00. He said yep, that would do. I wrote them out a cheuqe, and the guy helped Neville load it into the back of the wagon. It is a Simpson automatic 4.5kg, and only two years old. It has been working hard all day, and seems to be tickety boo!! If Deb had not told us, we would have had to go to the laundramat. Just as we were about to put it in the wagon another couple got there and were looking at it. They asked if it had been sold and Neville said it sure had. If we had been five minutes later we would have missed out again.

Grandkids sleeping over.

This is a first. We have our other #1 grandson,( he was born the same day as Yu-Jin) Lachlan, staying with us. I asked Deb if he would like to come and stay for a couple of days these school holidays. She said it would be OK, so I asked Lachlan if he would like to. He assured me he would. We had to wait to see what Deb & Pete were doing, as Pete is on holiday too. Then on Monday a relative rang to say that a very elderly cousin of my late father had died. Pearl was nearly 96. I wanted to go to the funeral which was at 4 P.M. yesterday. I rang Deb to let her know that we would be late getting back from Adelaide and it would probably not be possible to pick Lachlan up at that time. She said it didn't matter as Lachlan didn't want to come after all. She said he would not say why. Then on Thursday morning Neville woke up with a bad sore throat. As he usually gets much worse before he gets better, I said we need not go to the funeral as he is the only driver and it is no fun driving or doing anything for that matter, when you feel crook.Rang Deb to let her know we would not be going. The next day she rang and asked if Lachlan could stay with us for the day while she went to Naracoorte to do some shopping. I said of course.
Lachlan and I played a couple of games on the computer, then I cooked lunch. After lunch, we went to the wild life sanctuary to see the white kangaroos. I got a couple of pics of him. Then I asked Neville to drop us off at the Apex Park play ground so Lachlan could play on the swings etc. I was very 'pooped' very quickly pushing him on the swing and generally walking around, as my back is not the best nor my leg. When Deb rang as arranged , I said what we were doing so she drove home and came back two hours later. We went to a local cafe and had hot chocolate and half an iced donut each, then went back to the park. It was only when we got back home that Lachlan asked if he could stay the night. He only had the clothes he came in, but that was no problem. I rang Deb this morning to say he wanted to stay longer, so she brought enough clothes for him to stay until Monday if he likes. I asked him last night why he had not wanted to stay and was it because he didn't think he would have anything to do. He said it was. He has been having a ball and not had time to be bored. He has been no trouble at all.

Scams.

Recently, my son, Frugal Bastard, had a posting on his blog about a lottery scam from Spain. I received a pack of 'post cards' in the mail today and in it is one for a lottery called Euromillions. It emanated from Double Bay in Sydney. All I have to do is order my FREE information pack and I will be automatically entered in to the $9.000.000.00 Bonus draw. I still have my doubts about it, even though it is not asking for money.

Yu-Jin

My gorgeous #1 grandson{he was born first. there is no favouritism } and I had a chat on the phone last Friday, when his dad, my son (Frugal Bastard) rang me. In a previous conversation, I had told Yu-Jin I had some new Click Art fonts, and there are letters with Dinasaurs on them. I asked if he would like me to print his name with them. He said he would. I duly did same and posted them the day before our chat. When I told him I had done this, he asked me if I knew how to spell his name. I said I did and spelled it for him. He said,"No, Grandma, I mean my last name. Do you know what it is?" I assured him I did, and he said what it is, and I said it is the same as mine. There was a stunned silence while he digested that bit of information. "How come Grandma?" I told him I am his Dad's mother so therefore our name is the same. He was speechless for a few seconds, then said in excited tones, "So, you're my Grandma Ham!" We talked a bit more then he said "Goodbye Grandma." and abruptly handed the phone back to Dad while he went to check out what I had told him with his mum. Yu-Jin is five.