A Long Time..

 It's been a couple of years. But it's been busy too.

After my last post, I got c.diff again once more and was extremely ill with it. I was also on long-term antibiotics and found it hard to get off those because of how they worked with my bung immune system (which I've been told by doctors doesn't exist anymore). This means I can catch pretty much anything going around - virus-wise.

I had no immune system as a child... and now I don't have one in my 50s and I don't know how long it'll be before I can build it up again. If it ever comes back. But I'm doing my best to get myself sorted out for the next lot of viruses and infections. Hey... I caught one and they don't even know what the name of it is; but it's nothing they've ever seen before (isn't that fun?).

Anyway, later in 2022, I caught a stomach bug caused by c.diff... and the doctors couldn't do anything for me except put me into another droplet room and wait for it to pass. They actually thought I was catching covid and put me into a room down the corridor from the main Covid Ward in Greenslopes - and I tell ya, it's a freaky looking place that ward!

Anyway, when I got home, I began the clean-out to end all clean-outs of my townhouse. I started on my living room, went through the kitchen, the art supplies, my bedroom, bathroom, and this year, the last room on the list was my home office. 

I got rid of so many clothes that didn't fit me. Tossed out a lot of things that I just simply didn't want or didn't like, or didn't use anymore. Then, I went through my books, and found there were entire genres I had no interest in, and gave them away to Lifeline (a charity here) and then? I went through the place with a fine-tooth comb and did it all over again.

I know that sounds strange, but six months had passed and I my winter and summer wardrobes had swapped over and I was perusing through another wardrobe, for a different season. So, I did it all over again. And I'm improving, parring back and making sure my place is just filled with things I want and would use in the next few years. And that'd be it.

I did end up catching Covid. After four years, being in a hospital with a gut infection caused by the vaccine, and getting my appendix out, I finally caught THE Virus. I caught it off a customer at work who wasn't supposed to be outside the house - who was still contagious and, well, she didn't care that she was spreading it. She coughed on me once, and that was it. Yeah... great.

Anyway, I hope you're all keeping well. It's a dull, rainy day here in Brisbane (a total change from last week of stinking hot heat and weirdo thunderstorms with spikey hail and weather events which look like tornadoes!). It's a nice day really. Until next time. 

A Lot Has Happened

 Well, let's see...

It's been quite a while since I last posted here, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about this place.

I've been very sick. Don't worry, my Epilepsy had been fine, very stable in fact. I had my appendix out actually... okay let's start where it all did. October, when I was going to begin really talking about what I was going to get up to over Christmas.

I got my Phizer jab - the first one - and within the week of my birthday, I got my appendix out. Then, I had my second one and I got really sick with this awful bacterial infection called c.diff. It's painful, gross and just plain disgusting; and takes a long time for some people to recover from it, while for others, you take a few courses of antibiotics and - bang - you're on your way to your life again.

Me? Well, It seems that my guts don't like what antibiotics do. I don't take them anyway, unless I really and absolutely have to. And it's just that these really strong ones don't work on me. The minute I tried to ween myself off them, the symptoms of c.diff came back... and I was back in the ER at Greenslopes Private Hospital.

Jeez... not a great place to end up just before NYE. 

Anyway, I've been out of hospital just over a month, and I'm cleaning out the house. So far, the coffee table has been donated, and replaced by 3 little tables. And the white drawer has been donated too... and not replaced by anything. I'm also cleaning out my book collection. So far, I've got over 40 books I'm either getting rid of or offering up to bookcrossing friends... this is a good thing for me. I'll have more room in my office, and more floor space, less stress.

I've already gone through my wardrobe twice and it's looking good. The kitchen is cleared up and and the living room is tidy too. So, I'm good with those places. 

Volunteer work has closed for a little while, as everyone there has covid... well, except me. It was weird. I went in last Monday, worked for a few hours, came home, showered and washed my clothes (as I have been doing since covid struck), then the next day, I got my eyes looked at by an eye surgeon. Australia Day was the next day. Then, on the Thursday, I showed up for my volunteer work, and found out from my manager that everyone at that store had been diagnosed with covid on the Tuesday. How strange is that?

Well, I haven't had any symptoms. And I'm well, have been since the virus broke out. Seeing I've been staying at home isolating, I've decided to get right into the home office and really begin to clear it out. And I'm thankful I'm doing that. It's a good thing to do it while I can, and while I'm well enough to.

Anyway, I'm off to the doctors this Thursday to get myself looked as my hair isn't growing and it's thinning. I've been eating well, and sleeping as much as I can. But nothing I do is working as it should. So, we'll see what goes on after this. As for the eye surgeon? Well, I had been sent to him because my optometrist was worried I had pale optic nerves...and the eye surgeon was happy to tell me that I have the biggest optic nerves he's seen. They're twice the size of normal people... how weird is that?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and well. 

New Things Happening

 It's been a while since I last wrote here. But that's because not much has been going on really. 

I've been cleaning out the house, painting more at home - then just when I began going back to my social art group, we had a lockdown. I've been reading again and then I'm looking at clearing out the office and starting again. It's a good thing I'm in no real hurry to clear out my place.

But then, I'm in a hurry to get out of where I'm living, mainly because I'm looking at moving. Yes, I want to move from my townhouse. I hate it here. There's so much noise and I want quiet to be able to sleep, to be able to read, to be able to paint, and to be able to spread out in my garden more... you know how goes, I need more room.

I want to move to bigger place out west - as the city has become too expensive to live in. I have told my folks that I'd like to live out west, but they're not sure about living so far from a city, but I wish to because it's out at a place where you see the stars, breath the fresh air and enjoy a small town kind of life.

But that's me.

Anyway, I've begun working at Lifeline in my local area and I'm loving it. It's a good way to get myself out into the world again, seeing I've been away from volunteer work for so long - since early last year. And the irony is that the Logan Art Gallery has offered me to come back to work for them again next month. However, I've been with them for 20 years, and I promised myself only 20 years with the place, then I'd move onto another volunteer organisation and work with them for another lot of time. I thought it would be a good way to live my life, instead of spreading myself too thin in too many places, I'd do one place at a time.

It's turned out to be a good thing for me, as I can work out at Mum and Dad's place (as they have a home gym) and I'm cleaning out the house, then working on my garden, and I'm catching up with my Netflix a few nights a week, and catching up on my reading before I head off to bed each night - well, that's the plan. Most nights, I barely get to bed to read before I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow. This is a good thing. 

All these new things which are happening, are good for me. But I'm looking forward to doing more for myself as I head towards the next six months of this year to see where it goes. Hopefully, I'm going to build a greenhouse in my backyard - that is if FlyBuys lets me in to converts my points to cash to use them to do this. I've been on the phone for 20 minutes on hold only to be told I've got a 20 minute hold to be sent to another person to talk to in 20 minutes... makes no sense, right? No I didn't think so either.

I hope you're all working on yourself in a positive way this year; as it's not been very easy for any of us. I have read that the second year of a pandemic is one of the most difficult; let's see if we can make it easier for each of us. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember I'm always here.

Not Much Going On

 Well, I haven't really done much around the place lately, thus the no need to really post anything here lately. And the last time I posted was around early January this year. 

I wish I had more to tell you.

I have a new next door neighbour, who not many people like - yeah, I don't like him either - because he's still figuring out you can't be noisy in a unit complex.

I'm just getting back to my social painting days at the local art school, when I'm off to get myself tested by doctors for skin allergies. Oh, yay, great fun! Not. I've been getting severe itching and hive-like reactions from bamboo over the past 5 years and yet it's just now I'm getting it done. It's mainly because I'm sick and tired of my neighbour (who grows the stuff) telling me she wants to clip it and I have to not be home in the two hours she gets somebody in to do that... well, I don't want to leave my house anymore because she decides to clip her garden. It's my house and my life - not hers. I hate being told what to do. and the body corporate is wanting her to get rid of the plants... So, getting tested now is a good idea.

My garden is looking beautiful, and I'm acquiring large pots from friends and family without paying any money... which is great! I just have to wait until Winter and I can repot some of my plants! Yay! Great stuff.

I'm getting back into writing - slowly but surely - and it's feeling good to sit for 3 hours and just write 2,000 words in four chapters on a book I've been thinking about! So, when I get the ideas onto the computer screen, it's a good thing. 

And my cleaning out is going really well. The home office has had 3 rubbish bags of crap - gone! I'm working on the desk next! As soon as I post this post? Yep, it'll be all cleared out and worked on. Well, how's your cleaning out doing? As good as mine is I hope. Until my next post, stay safe, and remember I'm always here.

And It's Getting Worse

 Well, it's the New Year, and gotta say: things are going from bad to worse. I'm in Brisbane, Australia, and today, we're going into lockdown for 3 days, starting from today at 6pm. This means no going out, unless it's absolutely necessary - and we must wear a mask.

I had to go out today to buy a part for my computer and I wore a mask for the small trip to OfficeWorks. However, there were so many people who didn't wear a mask... and yet there were plenty who did. I was pleased and disgusted at the same time. So, what can I say? This isn't the first time we've been told to stay home, and to wear a mask, but it won't be the last either; and yet people are not taking it seriously.

Anyway, there's new strains of the Covid virus and we can't seem to get it to stop spreading. This is not a good thing... and I'm making sure I'm staying away from people. Today, I was supposed to go out and have coffee with a friend, but she got a cold, and we called it off. I was going to call it off due to the lockdown anyway; and when I called her up, she sounded so stuffy and croaky, I thought it was best if she stayed home.  But there's going to be so many people out and about panic buying things and acting weird, that I'm glad to be home right now.

Anyway, it's just begun to rain again - and it's nice and cool outside, which is strange for January - but I'm glad to see it's the weather is getting better for us. I'm just lucky to have not had to be tested for Covid yet, nor catch it. I've been very careful in where I've been and how I've be participating in public... so when I know there's been problems with everything outside, I'll get my masks going and wear them. And I've got plenty of anti-bacterial gel and wipes as well, which does play well in my life.

I just do hope this gets worked out. The UK strain has hit Brisbane, and it took one person to take it around Brisbane... and that's all it takes - just one person. So, please be careful with where you go. And remember to stay well, keep safe too, and wear your masks. Well, I'm off now, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Pandemic Things

 Wow! It's been this long since my last post?

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to say anything to you all. But I've been very busy over the past months with my isolation here in Brisbane. And really, staying away from people and staying home has had its good times and bad times.

The good times have had me doing up my garden, making it into a lovely little place for me to escape to. I've added a gorgeous archway, with two climbers attaching themselves to it. Then, moving a few things around, and making a new path to the back of the garden - so there's two paths now. And the best thing happened! I asked my Dad (who's also my landlord) if we could put an awning on the back of the townhouse. This was to keep out the rain and bring in the Summer breezes... well, he said yes, and 3 months later, it happened! So, now, there's a lovely 4 metre awning across the back of my place. I've added solar lights and gorgeous little brass wind chimes and there's a new park bench - with a cushion on it - and I've added new cushions to the chairs of the bistro setting... it's all just looking so... so... lovely.

Inside the house, I've decluttered so much of my house throughout this year. I gave away my late-Uncle's entertainment unit. It was big and took up a lot of room; and at the time, he gave it to me, I did need it. However, it's been a time where we need more room in our houses to live in them - instead of existing in them - and I thought it was time to shift it out and move the credenza across from the window and put my tv, stereo and other things on it. It all looks great too. And under the window? Well, my great-Grandmother's chaise lounge! My brother had it at his place, at Sandgate, and he wanted to toss it out. But I have saved it; and from the day it came home with me on my birthday last month, it has looked like it has always been a part of my house.

How weird is that? I mean, when you get a piece of furniture into your place and it just looks like it's always meant to be there? Or you get something new attached to your house and - well, it looks like it's meant to be a part of you place; like it was fated! 

Once the op-shops reopened, I loaded up the car with all the boxes of goodies I had piled up against the front door (yeah, I went into major decluttering mode during shut-down) and did a huge donation at them. It was interesting to find that a lot of places had huge baskets outside their stores to donate your goods. They sat them in the sun and didn't collect them until the end of they. It didn't bother me, I just hoped they kept taking things - and we didn't have anymore cases.

Over the past few months, the garden has really come into itself, as Summer has blasted us with some boiling hot air, and the first massive storms of the season, which gave us a huge lot of good rain for our gardens; even though they were destructive and left a lot of people without homes and power. 

So, I hope you're all working out your remaining time here of the dreaded 2020. It hasn't been the best year for us, has it? But, like a lot of us, I'm making my own style of lemonade from the lemons we've all been handed. Take care, safe and well, and remember, I'm always here.

It's Been A While

I know, it's been a good while since my last post; and truthfully, I didn't want to bore you all to death with my everyday boring bits and pieces of the same old thing.

So, I thought to wait until something worthwhile came up and write about it. 

It's early July and I've been working hard on things around the house, and in my life, and it's been all worth it too. And this week, I had one day where I went out and did three things to get them all done in that day. And I didn't realise how much energy I really needed to get so much done!

I've had my eyes tested and new glasses made over the past week, and picked up the new glasses this week. I also had to drop off my membership to the LAA to pay for the next year - meaning I can still be there in the new year when I want to attending their social groups again. Then, I dropped off my watch to get fixed. I had dropped it in the bathroom and the back of it fell off and I had to take it in to get it looked at. All these took a few hours; and I did stop in at Simply Beans to get my caffeine hit to keep me going for that day. I'm so glad I did that too.

Anyway, I've been staying home over the past month or so, just being here on my own, doing my own shit and painting, cleaning out and making sure the house and garden look its best. This horrible virus has scared me so much, I just don't want to go out anymore than I have to.

And so, seeing I'm not going anywhere and not doing as much as I used to, it's causing me to save money and keep myself to myself here at home. I'm not doing as much op-shopping and I'm cleaning out more of the house than I used to. I think it's because the walls are kinda closing in a bit and if I don't clean out the rooms, I'll feel the cabin fever more than ever.

So, how about you? How are you all doing? Are you going okay in this day and age of staying home and sticking by your close family members more? Or is it bothering you that you can't go out? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and well, and remember, I'm always here.

The New Normal

We've had a real kick in the guts with this Covid-19 virus; and a reality check as well. It's caused us to take a good look at ourselves and how we live and understand that we need to talk to each other, take a look at our neighbours and talk to them - at a good and safe distance, of course.

And we have to look at what we have too. We have become a species of greed (and who said that greed was good? Oh yeah, that dude from 'Wall Street' - um... no it's not). 

Keeping our distance and learning that takeaway food, having our noses in our phones all the time and not talking to our family members has shown us that we have become very rude, self-centered and it's taking its toll on us. 

But why did it have to take a virus like this to show us that we had to not only take care of us, but our families, and friends from afar. Why did it have to take this pandemic to make us step back and take notice of what's going on around us? 

There's a lot of why's in my head - and not a lot of answers which are making any sense to me.

I do understand what the government in my country did was to protect everyone. Closing schools and businesses and closing all of our borders was to protect our population here in Australia. However, not everyone understood this. 

We are getting back to the new normal. Schools, cafes and workplaces are reopening ever so slowly and it's going to take time - years - to get us back to anywhere what we were before. 

If there is ever going to be another normal again.

But I have noticed there are people out there who are acting as though it's completely over and nothing's wrong - as though nothing has been wrong - just because we're allowed to go out and socialise. It's not like that. You still have to keep your distance, you still have to sneeze into your elbow, you still... 

yeah you know what you still have to do - don't ignore it. I'm not going to lecture you all about this.

This is the new normal... and I guess we have to get used to it. But then, what's normal these days?

Things Change

You know, it's been only a few months since this virus spread across this little blue marble called our home planet, and it's changed our habits so quickly and suddenly - hasn't it?

Well, I wasn't here at my home when the new rules came into play, but almost as soon as I arrived home, I pulled my home into order, cleaned up my yard, organised myself into getting things working in such a way things needed to be looked at and working properly - and I also kept my distance with people.

However, the neighbour who butchered my poor little jade in the front yard - and caught the wrong end of my temper - has been doing nothing but bugging the crud out of me. They have been breaking rules about the isolation situation we're all supposed to be in. Three times in the past month, they've been either knocking on my door or trying to get me to talk to them, when I don't want a bar of them.
They don't seem to understand that they wrecked a part of my house which will take a very long time to recover - and this person even came over to my place again today and touched the plant they butchered saying 'it needs another trim' (or something along those lines) and I snapped at them to go away and leave me alone - and that I've told them many, many times to stay away from my house and stop stuffing with my things and my yard; that I've never wanted them to do anything with my place. They said they were 'looking out' for me, and were trying to keep and eye on my place - but no, they were not. This is the last straw and it's really not the way a neighbour should act if they want to be friends.
I ended up calling my Dad and asking him to help me; and he said that this neighbour is feeling guilty, and wants to mend fences - but I'm afraid it's too late. This person has done this once too many times to me, and with this virus around, I'm just way too jumpy to have somebody like this person around being so flippant and idiotic in my life. 

This is what has happened to us in our lives, isn't it? We have had to pick sides, pull away from people we really don't want in our lives and absolutely, physically keep our distance in every way possible so we can keep ourselves well. And the people who don't? Well, I don't know what to say about them. If they think it's something of a joke, that it's a conspiracy, that it's something the government has cooked up... I'm afraid to say but that's your opinion and yours alone. I'm not going to risk it - and really, if you're going to come near me, I'd like to say that you please keep your distance. 

Life isn't what it used to be... indeed it's not... and as we all adjust to this change in our lives, I think it is time we really did take care of ourselves. You see, my Dad told me the other day that when the Spanish Flu hit after WWI, it wasn't the first wave which killed a lot of people, it was the second. So, we have to be careful of the next wave which has yet to come. Take care of yourselves in the biggest possible way in the coming months, okay? 

Broken Computer

Well, I've been away for a bit, and there's been a good reason for it. My computer broke - again. And I called Super Geek - again.

But this time, they did not call me back. I called last Saturday, and they have - to date - not called me back to make another appointment. 

So, I went onto my phone and Googled around to find somebody who would fix my computer. And I found a guy in my local area, Peter, who worked from his own house, and fixing computers is all he did. He was his own boss and has been working on computers and laptops for over 15 years. And the reviews I read over my breakfast were fantastic!

I called him and chatted with him about the treatment I had from Super Geek and he was disgusted - and he bit his tongue about his own thoughts of what Super Geek were really. Then, he told me exactly what kind of company they were - and that their quality of computer company people have slid in recent years.  I was convinced that he was the best person I could trust my computer with... and so, on Wednesday morning, I unplugged everything from the tower in my office and took it in to him. 

While I was there, he took a look at my hard drive and said there was nothing wrong with it - except it was 80% full... and was it okay to wipe it? I said yes, that when the computer was working, I got everything I could off it and onto an external hard drive. He was impressed I had thought of that. I said that it took over 4 hours and most of my sleeping time at night, so I didn't mind staying up late, so long it got done - and well, in truth, I had my suspicions that the computer wasn't going to work the next day (which turned out to be right).

I left my computer with him from around 9:45am until around 1pm Wednesday, while I visited a friend of mine - the first time in over a month - and we had a take away coffee from our favourite coffee place. We enjoyed our time, and I went to check my mail and while I was at my local post office, I found Peter had texted me about the computer - that it was ready to pick up.
I dropped by and he talked to me for around 40 minutes about what he had done to it... and that it's ready to go. And you know, it's running so much better now it's got the right programs in it. He said that this old hard drive could run for another two or three years, otherwise, the rest of the computer is up-to-date.

But you know, that's computers for ya. They'll be working one day, and screwing up the next. I'm so happy I could get this fixed. But I do want my money back on what Super Geek didn't do for me. And I'll be looking into that soon.