MWNews 158

My last post from Tasmania. Or should I say the last one for a while. May be the last one from anywhere but I doubt it. I'll keep going from sunny Queensland, if I survive the heat.

Now that I have started this, again, I am being interrupted all the time. Not sure if I can write or not. Seems everyone knows this is my last day and they keep stopping by to say goodbye. Very nice of them but I don't remember who half of them are but somehow, they all seem to know my name. Very touching. Guess I will miss this place after all.

I leave on Monday, on the boat Tuesday, arrive Tuesday night. Then start driving to Brisbane. Not so sure about the route at this point. Lots of fires between me and Brisbane and they haven't closed the roads yet but I keep seeing pictures of the highways I will be on with lines and lines of cars backed up because of the fires.

I was thinking of going up through the middle but there are fires that way too and the roads are not as good. You'll have to look at a map to see where I mean but basically, you can go along the coast through Sydney or up through the middle via Dubbo. I don't like the Dubbo route but haven't been that way in a long time so maybe it has changed. I doubt it but it is a possibility. Guess I will have to wait and see what issues are on the Sydney route before I decide. It's a longer route through the Dubbo but if there are fires and road closures, it might be quicker.

I am noticing that lately, I do not do a lot of talking about the kids. Or maybe I do but I seem to talk about my troubles and my adventures more than I do them lately. Maybe it has always been that way but I seem to be noticing it more lately. Not that I am planning on changing anything but just thought I would mention it in case you have noticed it also. I am aware of it and hope to get more on the kids when I get to be with them more but for now, I am just a lonely fat man stuck here in Tasmania with no family or friends to talk to so I complain a lot. I don't expect understanding but I do expect ridicule and apathy to my plight. It's just the way it is. Having no readers of this blog, I am really just talking to myself but since I enjoy that so much it is never really a problem.

So lets get back to me. I have the dilemma of how I am going to pack. I also have the dilemma of how I am going to clean, but one dilemma at a time.

I can pack everything with no problems. I have boxes and the time to do it all. The issue is, when do I start putting it in the trailer. I had planned on doing that starting Sunday and finishing Monday before I leave. But I have to move the trailer to a place where I can do it from and not where it is sitting now. Which means, I have to connect it to the car since once I start to load it, I am not going to be able to move it by myself. I probably can but I don't want to take the chance since I am on my own and if I do run into problems, there is no one to rescue or help me.

That in itself is not a problem. It is the question of the carpet cleaner coming on Monday. If I connect the trailer to the car and then load it, there is no where for the carpet cleaner to get to the house. I think they need a connection to their van when they do the carpets and if I move the trailer somewhere to allow access, then that means I cannot be loading it at the same time. Plus, I will have to move it back closer to my house so I can finish loading it and that is a problem due to trying to back a fully loaded trailer via the obstacle course that my new neighbor has created for me to get to my driveway. I won't go into that other than to say I have to maneuver around their car and then swing into my driveway backwards and the space to do that in does not leave a lot of room for error. I can usually maneuver the trailer fairly well after I practice for a bit but since I don't due that except every couple of years, I forget how and have to practice all over again to get the hang of it once more.

My other option is to fully load everything on Sunday. But that means I have nothing to sit on, nothing to watch and really nothing at all to do Sunday night and Monday morning before he gets there. Everything will be packed. That's not a real problem but something I wanted to avoid. Since I am putting the TV into my van, I was going to do that last so I have something to watch/do until it is time to leave. Guess that is a real first world problem but doing it all Sunday is not my first choice.

I could load the trailer, back it into my driveway so it does not block the door, and then take my car to get a coffee or something while the cleaner is there. Then come back after he is finished and load the rest. That way, I only have to pack the TV into the garage before he comes and then put it in the car when he gets there so I will be ready to leave once he finishes. It is probably the best option but as I mentioned, it is the backing the trailer into the driveway that is the issue.

Since you are tired of me writing about this, I will say what I am going to do. Connect the trailer Sunday. Pull it forward in front of the garage and load everything that is going into that from there. Then back it up to the end of the driveway so it is not in front of the door, disconnect it, and then move my car when the cleaner gets there. Come back after the cleaner leaves and load everything into my van and begin my trip. It's a plan and not something anyone, anywhere, wanted to hear about but since I am not doing anything else, it made it easier for me to work it out on here as opposed to sitting around thinking about it all the time.

So lets move on the next boring topic. Cleaning the unit to moving out standards. I won't go into the merits of the moving out standard they have here. It's just too anger inducing. What I want to talk about is how I am going to get it all done. I should have been cleaning for the past month. I have, but not as much as I needed to be doing. I still have both bathrooms, the kitchen and the living room to do. I don't really see that as a problem but what is a problem is the outside. I need to weed, clean up the weeds, and generally make the place ready to moving out standards. Since it was not that way when I moved in but they let me move in anyway, I am not sure I should be held to that high of a standard. I think all I need to do is put it in the same shape it was when I moved in. I am sure they do not see it that way, so I need to do everything. I can do it, probably only take a day but that gives me two days to do the outside and finish the inside, plus finish packing all the boxes. Not an easy task but it is my own fault and since I have no choice, it has to be done. I am thinking I will be doing it in the middle of the night both of the next two nights but maybe it will not be as bad as I think it will be. That's me doing some wishful thinking. But since I work best under pressure, I am sure I will get it done. Not like I have a whole lot of choice.

Now that I have bored you all and talked about things that have nothing to do with anything, it's time for lunch. Not that I am going to lunch, I am leaving early today, it being my last day and all, but it is that time of day and my hands are getting tired. So I am going to begin the wrap up for this entry. Expect only a few more pages of stuff.

There is trouble in paradise. One of the grand-kids was apparently robbed yesterday. Anna, to be exact. I am told her purse was stolen while she was sleeping and the dogs did nothing to stop them. I do not know the whole story but the effect on me is that Juanita is now giving her money, which means I am giving Juanita money, which means any money I have saved for when I do not have a job, starting tomorrow, will disappear quickly. I am also told that she knows who did it but I do not know what that means or if she will be getting it back. And I thought she lived with her boyfriend, so why is there nothing being done by him or how is this all working out. Just another thing I am going to have to deal with when I get up there. I will comment no further on that issue until I have more facts.

Maeghan went to a doctor yesterday. Not for anything in particular but really just to establish that she has a doctor and they can get all her records together. They have to make recommendations and things about her so she can get help or special treatments and special doctors, so it is the first step in doing that. Plus, Juanita lost all her scripts and she has to get new ones. I don't know much about what is going on or what needs to be done but as I will be directly involved on this soon, I will need to find out. I am not sure that they realize that since we will all be living together again, I will need to be directly involved in all this and maybe some of the mistakes that have been made in the past will have to be looked into so they do not happen again. Like Maeghan being pushed from one person to another every time her current coordinator quits or is fired. Seems like every time they get some answers or make any progress, someone in the chain leaves and they have to start all over again. I will be making sure we have all the records and all the correspondence and everything that has to do with anything with us so we do not have to try to get it all again for each new person. I'm not saying anything has been done wrong but it seems there is way too much turn over and way too much backtracking all the time and it shouldn't be that way. Or maybe it can't be helped but since I have not been directly involved, only on the periphery, I will have to start finding out for myself.

William is becoming a teenager, and not in a good way. I hear he is arguing all the time and not doing things and generally being surly. Maybe it is the heat, maybe it is the hormones, or maybe he just needs an attitude adjustment. Not that I am saying I have the answers but maybe he needs more of an example and I can certainly provide that. Just basically be there for him, let him know what is wrong and show him how I deal with things. It probably won't help but it can't hurt. I am sure it is just becoming a teenager. Everyone goes through it and no one has found an answer yet so we will just weather the storm as best we can.

Ok, it is time to go. My hands hurt from typing. No more interruptions so I haven't had a break. Just been typing this whole thing all in one go. I will try to get back to this at some point in Queensland but since I have no internet up there, I will have to see when I can do it. Don't want to try to type on my phone so it will have to wait for my computer to be set up. Guess it is goodbye for now and goodbye for later.

Until next time

MWNews 157

Let's write a new post, full of joy and happiness for the Christmas season and the new year. It will be fun and energetic and make us all feel warm and comfy.

Who and I kidding. Did I forget it was me writing this thing. Warm and comfy is just not me. This is just a place to go when I have nothing else to do. And believe me, I have nothing else to do. So, I have started this once again.

Let's see, in our last chapter, I was complaining about something. Not that I went back and re-read whatever it was I was talking about last time but it's a pretty safe bet I was complaining. I think it was Maeghan's award or maybe it was me being sick, or maybe it was moving to Queensland. Probably none of those so if this repeats anything, pretend the problem is with you and not the writer.

The family has been gone for a while. Off to move into the new place in Queensland. they had the van completely packed, so much so that they had to ride while holding stuff. I don't know how they did that but they are there now and have been for about a month or so, maybe a little less than a month. I have no idea how the new place is or what it is like. I am told it is small but I would have assumed that would be the case. I am only concerned about the location and if it is in a good area or not. Apparently, there are a lot of kids around. It is yet to be seen if they are good kids or not. They do make a lot of noise as I can usually hear them on the phone.

I don't think I have mentioned it before but it is hot there. Very hot and they are currently going through a hotter than normal stage, or most of the mainland is. I am not so sure about where they. It might not have gone their way, the heat that is. I know we are about to feel it where I am. Just in time for me to be working outside cleaning the flower beds and doing the yard this weekend. I am not looking forward to it.

I leave next week. My last day of work is two days from now, or it is at the time I started writing this. I am not entirely sure I will complete it today. I still have a lot of packing and cleaning to do. I have done some, but I got tired and non-motivated and have not done a lot since last weekend. I am hoping to get it all done this weekend as it is my last and it has to be ready to go so I can leave. I still have most of the packing to do but since I don't have a lot to pack, it shouldn't take too long. It is the cleaning that will be the problem. Lots of that to do, especially the outside. All the weeding and cleaning and mowing and chopping I have no idea how much I will actually get done. I would try to do a good job so I can get my bond back but since I never expect to get my bond back at anytime, I am not sure why I would try to knock myself out getting it done. Just do what I can and let them decide how much of my bond they are going to take. All I can really do since I have no way of fighting them if I disagree with anything as I will be on the mainland and unable to argue with them about it.

I should move on to the kids. Not a lot to tell so I will mention the trailer instead. I have the trailer to haul stuff with but it is unregistered. I have been trying to get it registered. Lots of little crap I have to do to get it up to specs but apparently that will not be good enough. The inspector told me it was too rusty and I needed to remove all the rust before I could get it inspected and I do not have the time to do that. So, I am going to try driving it unregistered. I am sure that's not a good idea but at this point, I don't really have a choice. All my stuff will not fit in the back of my van so I have to take the trailer. There is a transport registration I can get but it does not allow anything to be hauled in the trailer, only to move it from one spot to another. I am hoping I can get that and then pretend I did not know I could not put stuff in the trailer. I am sure no one will even notice but just in case, I will get this permit and hope it gets me through.

Maeghan passed the 11th grade. Not that there was a whole lot of doubt about it but she did get her certificate so she is officially graduated. The school system in Queensland is different and we still need to find out what from over here applies to over there. Long story but in Queensland, they have to go through year 12. In Tasmania, it is an option after the 10th grade. Since she has technically graduated and has taken some college courses, it could be that she will not have to attend 12th grade and she can use her certificates to get into TAFE or something. TAFE is the vocational education system people go to instead of college or university. It allows them to get certificates so they can get jobs. If they decide that is what she is allowed to do, then she can start working at anytime. TAFE will help her find a job and give her further training in what she needs to get a job. If they do not allow that to happen, she will have to go to 12th grade and we are not sure what happens to her qualifications at that point. Have to call them up after the first of the year and find out what needs to be done.

We have no idea what William is going to be doing. The private schools over there are expensive and the public schools are public schools so it might not be good. They have not found one yet but will have to call a few in the area to find out which one he needs to go to. I don't hold out much hope there but if I work with him, he might be able to catch up the level he is supposed to be at, which is 10th grade. Since he did not finish 9th grade, I am not sure what that means over there. He left before the end of the school year and I am sure that will hurt him. Don't know a lot about what needs to be done at this point. Have to wait until I get there to find out what is what.

I am told they go swimming everyday while they are there. It is hot. I am not sure I want to go swimming everyday but since it is so hot, I am not sure what choice I will have. And since this is still the beginning of summer, I am sure it will only get hotter.

The apartment has air-conditioning which keeps the bottom floor ok but does not reach the top floor. It is still hot up there, I am told. I will have to see what I can do about that but I do know running the air will cost a lot of money and a lot of money is not something I have. I have no money. I don't have a job. I am not sure how that will work out once I am there. I am ready to retire but I suppose 60 is too early to retire, especially since I cannot access my super until I am at least 65 and probably not until I am 67. Not that it is enough to live on but it is something to look forward to I suppose.

This is going to be a short entry. I am getting tired of typing and since I have done all this at one sitting, I think I deserve a break. I'm tired from working and packing and working and packing so I need to do something else for a while. I suppose driving is what I have to look forward to once I leave. Long ways to go by myself pulling a trailer, and doing it all on Christmas day. I don't really look forward to that.

But, as I said, I am tired and I seem to not be putting out the entries as I was for a while. So, maybe this time I will have something more to say and do another entry soon.

Until next time

MWNews 156

I am going to start this with the idea that I will not be able to finish. I am at work, again, and I have something to do today in about an hour but I just don't want to do it and I don't want to do anything else. So, I am going to attempt to write in here.

Of course, as soon as I started, I was called away to do some work but I am back again, two hours later and am starting this again. Right now, everyone seems to have disappeared. Normally, they would ask me to watch the phones if they had a meeting or something, but I came back from an install and no one was here. I have no idea where they have gone and they have been gone for about 45 minutes now. No one else seems to know either.

Now I have been away for a couple of days since I last started this. Not sure what drew me away but I have a few minutes now so I thought I would try to complete it. Not much chance of that happening but we can always hope. And the fact that I am having trouble typing is not a good sign.

Ok, where to begin, or begin again, or just start from scratch. Or maybe I can pretend I have told you everything and just move on from here.

Let's start with Juanita's going away party. I didn't really have anything to do with it and it was actually a Christmas party that occurs every year but since it was the last chance for a lot of people to see Juanita before she goes, I called it a going away party. Not that anyone actually showed up.

This party is a once a year thing for some family. Not sure what all families are involved but Juanita is part of one of them. I think it might be her mother's side of the family. This year, Craig volunteered to have it at his house. Plenty of room, nice place to be, and he has lots of free booze. You would think that would have brought out the entire mob but it turns out only about 15 people showed up, including us. Not the turnout that usually happens but they did say it has been getting smaller and smaller each year. I remember times when there were over a hundred people at this party, but not anymore apparently. Maybe it was the fact that it was at Craig's, which is really not close to anything but since we have always driven across town with the parents and family to attend the one they normally have, we thought maybe it was their turn to drive over to us. Didn't happen. Just the die hard regulars who are always there showed up. Maybe that is a good thing. I thought so.

Anyway, since this took place about three weeks ago, I have a lot of catching up to do in this blog and I need to move on.

At the party, everyone wanted see me get drunk. I normally never get drunk or not so much that it shows. Since we were going to camp in Craig's paddock, we were going to try out Juanita's new awnings she got for the van, if was ok for me to drink and not have to drive later. So Craig made it his mission to keep me supplied with alcohol. He has this cask of whiskey he like to get everyone to drink. I think I have mentioned it before. I have tried it and it is not bad. Not real good but not bad. Apparently, the reason he keeps pushing this stuff is that is was made wrong. From the stories they tell, it is supposed to be aged in a wooden barrel for at least a year. This is aged for a year but they did not know that the barrel they got was lined with metal. So the alcohol was not aged properly. It stayed in the whiskey so what they ended up with was a whiskey that is about 100 proof. It is very powerful and probably should not be drunk straight without adding it to something.

I found it tasted like crap with coke. It was barely tolerable with anything else so I ended up drinking it straight. I had five. Now I say I had five and you would think that I meant five shots but what Craig was serving it in was about one cup shot glasses. I am not kidding, each one held a little over a cup of liquid. Craig gave me five of these over about a two hour period.

See, I have to finish later. I will definitely re-read this and get back to it at the point I am at now but I have to go somewhere for work and I am already late for leaving for it. Not that you will notice, but I will probably not get back to this before Monday as today is Friday and I only do this at work apparently.

Ok, I have reread this and have no idea where I was going with this. Must have been the fact that I did get drunk and I do not remember what time I went to bed. I normally go to bed early so I assume I went at about 9 or so, but I really have no idea and I am told everyone was in bed by 11 so I don't know if I went to bed before them or after. I do know that when I went, Craig was trying to escort me to the van but he was more drunk that I was so he was not a great help. I know they all said I almost fell down but the way I remember it was I dropped something, can't remember what, and when I bent over to pick it up, Craig said he would get it and ran into me making me stagger out of the way. Not sure if that is what they meant but I know it was not my fault as Craig ran into me.

I suppose, after about three weeks, I should end this and start over. I am going to do that. I am at work again and I just had a lunch they took me to so they could thank me for my efforts. I still have a week left but it was nice of them to do so. I expected everyone to come with us but it was just me and the boss and the bosses boss. It was ok. They made me drink beer and then we all came back to work. I am not sure how having a few beers at work would go over in America but here, it is the norm.

Anyway, I am going to wrap this up. Can't be bothered to start typing on what it is I was going to say. Too tired and too much beer to concentrate, so I guess this will have to be it. Hopefully, I will get back to it this weekend and type some from home. Can't really say that will happen but it might.

So it's goodbye from me and it's good bye from the pints of Guinness I had. Yeah, it's a picture of me. Get over it.

Until next time

MWNews 155

I have a toothache. More of a jaw ache as none of my teeth hurt and they do not appear to be anything wrong with them but I can barely function for the last few days. The only thing that seems to help is putting ice on it, or cold water. I am constantly drinking cold water or chewing on ice to keep it numb and the pain down. Problem with that is the ice makes it hurt at first but then it goes numb and I don't feel it anymore. But that doesn't really work either. The pain comes back a few minutes after I take the ice off or the ice melts and then I have to do it again.

I am keeping cold water near me at all times, which is hard at work as the water doesn't stay cold without ice so I have to only fill my bottle about a quarter full so I can go get fresh from the cold water fountain all the time. Plus, drinking all this water means I have to go to the toilet about once or sometimes twice an hour. It just isn't going well at the moment.

I thought it had mostly gone away but it came back yesterday and is now just a constant pain which gets to the agony stage if I do not put something cold on it as soon as it starts to hurt.

Now you might say why don't I go to the dentist or the doctor. That presents more problems. I can go to the doctor, who will then recommend I go to the dentist but the dentist is not free, or part of the health coverage. It costs $300 to go to the dentist the first time because they have to do all kinds of things to set you up as a new patient. X-rays, cleanings, mapping. You can't just go to the dentist and say I have a tooth ache. They want to establish your current condition before they will start treating you for anything.

So basically, I have to take off work to go to the doctor who will give me a letter to go to the dentist where I will have to take another day off to see the dentist and then have to pay both of them to basically give me pain killers. Maybe they will find what it is but then I will have to start treatment and more visits and this is running into a lot of time not working and paying for a lot of things that may or may not help. And I move away in about a month and an half and I will not have a job. So I cannot afford to pay for all this when I should be saving money for when I don't have a job. So, I have a toothache.

Last night, I had another one of my attacks. Not sure how much detail I need to go into or will go into but basically, one of those times when I thought I might die.

Yea, I know, way too dramatic. But that is what it feels like and there is always the possibility that it will happen. I will go into a few details about what I am talking about. Basically, I wake up not being able to breath. I cannot suck air into my lungs. I can draw a bit of air but I think it mostly goes into my belly. It is very hard to describe. I try to breath in but can't. No air comes in. It feels like my throat is closed.

I wrote all the previous about a week ago. I was at work, still am, and I just go tired of writing it. It was not very interesting and I have thought of deleting it but as you can see, I left it in, just didn't finish my thoughts. So, read it as is, basically, I am old and falling apart and don't have much hope but I will trudge through it all. Still have the tooth ache. Some day I will tell the story of the not breathing part. I might have already done it in the past but these things are hard to read so I don't go back and find out.

The original reason for starting it last time was that I had Maeghan news. As you know, we went to the Huon Show a couple of weeks ago or whenever it was that we went. What you don't know, and I didn't really know about it until the day before, but Maeghan entered the photography contest. She submitted a few of her pictures, four I think, into the different categories of photos. I think there was flowers, scenery, black and white and portraits or something like that. I don't really know but I do know she has been taking pictures with her phone lately and she takes a lot of them. It might be that her best friends dad is a professional photographer but I don't know if she does it for school or just for fun.

I don't really know how many people actually submit photos to this contest. I know her friends father did and so did her friend, but I have no idea how many entries there were. I guess it doesn't really matter if you beat them all.

That's what Maeghan did. She got first place. She got first place in scenery or whatever the category was called, and she got highly recommended if black and white. Don't know what highly recommended is but she got a ribbon and a certificate for it. But she git first prize for a picture of some mountains she took in New Zealand. First prize. Doesn't matter if there were one or a hundred other entries, she beat them all with her photo. I might include it here if I can find it. All I have is a picture of it hanging on the wall and not the original so it doesn't really look that good.

It was a real surprise to all of us. We didn't think there was anything to it, she just wanted to enter her photos and see what happens. The first thing we did when we got to the fair was go to the exhibit building to have a look at the photos. It's not a big building, very small in fact. I think it is a meeting room or something. As you go in the door, the exhibits were on the right. The first thing we saw was the highly recommended photo she had. It was on the left side of the exhibit near the top. We were just saying she won something and we were getting happy about that. Then we saw, right next to the door, her other photo and a blue ribbon attached to it. She had won first prize, beating all the professional and other photographers that had entered, no matter how many there might have been.

I have been writing this entry for three weeks now. I never seem to finish it in the time I have and I forget what it is I have said or not said.  So, what I am going to do it end this here. I have gone back and re-read this but I can't remember where I was headed with anything and I have fresh news so I think I will just skip it and start a new entry. Whether I do that today, which is Friday, or try again on Monday, the most likely thing to happen, its all up to how I feel. Been a very tiring week and I am on my own now, both at work and at home. Yes, they have left for Queensland and I am here until the end of the day covering the phones for some Christmas lunch everyone has gone to.

Before I start typing things again, I am going to close this. I will try to add the photos of Maeghan's awards but I don't know if I have access to them from here. But going into that starts another rant, so if the pictures are there, you already know it and if they are not, look forward to them some other day.

Until next time

MWNews 154

It's a new day. Have fun with it.

I have begun to consider the possibilities involved in being unemployed. Will things change. Will there be more spaghetti in my life. Is there a place that I can be and not be at the same time.

You know, I don't really have anything to say. I am at work, doing the same thing over and over again. My brain has rotted and I am not sure even if I find another job I will be able to actually do it. I might just find some work as a stoker in the grocery store. Or a paid greeter at Costco. Or maybe I can find a job being old. I am getting good at that.

For some reason, when I type stoker, it changes it to stalker. I think maybe that might be a new career. Professional stalker. I can spend my days following someone and being creepy. I certainly have the creepy part nailed. Probably don't have the patience to follow someone for any length of time. I'll just follow people who are sitting down. That way, I can have a coffee.

I would like more spaghetti in my life. Can't get enough spaghetti.

Maeghan is in the process of saying goodbye to her friends. Not a fun time I am sure. She still has a couple of weeks to catch up with them, but she does realize that this will be the end. Maybe stay in touch but probably not likely. She does still talk to some of her friends that have moved away over the years but these are her best friends she has had for a long time. Always hard to do. I've never actually had any friends, so I am just imagining it is hard.

William doesn't really have any friends. He had been spending more time with some of his schoolmates but they have always been mean to him and not really his friends. Don't know why they have chosen now to get closer and let him into their groups. William has trouble in groups, hard for him to not be the center of attention or at least to keep his mouth shut and not try to impress everyone. You know the type and school kids are not known for being very receptive to that. So he spends a lot of time at home.

But, the new world awaits. I don't see anything changing but it will hotter, so we will all be more short tempered. Heat does that to you. You would think I would be ready for it but I'm not. I have no idea how I will be handling it. I don't sleep now but with the heat I think I might sleep even less, if that is possible. The kids have never known this kind of heat. They have lived in Tasmania for a long time and it does not get hot here. It is always hot in Queensland and it never gets cold. Big changes for them.

I am not sure why I even started this entry. I don't have anything to say and I don't really feel like typing. I just thought it would pass the time since I have nothing else to do today and I have to look like I might be doing something.

William's birthday is next week. I got him a game for the Xbox. A game I said he couldn't have back when it came out but it was only $20 the other day so I bought it for him. GTA 5. I know, a game not really for kids but he really wanted it and I always said no but I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. He has to have something to do and he does have his own Xbox. Maybe it will keep him off of mine for a while. I doubt it as I have over 150 games since I have been a member of Xbox Live for about 5 or 6 years. New games every month. I have deleted about 80 of them as I ran out of room on my hard drive. I still own them and can download them again if I want to play them but I have never played most of the games I have. I just downloaded them because they were free. I haven't bought a new game for years. I think the last one might have been Skyrim, but I don't really remember. The games available are usually old and out of date but they are free so how can you lose.

I am currently playing Witcher 3. It was free at one point even though it is a relatively new game. I started it about 6 months ago but they kept referring to Witcher 2 and I had that one also. So I went back and played that. Now I have moved on to the new one, or the newest one they have. I am almost back to the point where I stopped playing it last time, so I guess I have caught up. Although, I am confused as some of the stuff I remember doing the first time are not there this time. I have no idea why. I think it might be because I just went around and tried to find everything there was to find and I think I screwed up the tasks that are available. I think I did some of them without actually having a task telling me to do it so the task never shows up. I don't know, but it seems different this time.

Guess that's enough about gaming. We are going to take William to the Huon Show. I have gone over what that is before so I will not do it again. None of us have any money so I am not sure he is going to get to enjoy it but it's only $25 for a family to get in so it is really cheep. Maybe we will catch some of the shows or music. You can't really avoid seeing that or hearing it but we might just sit down this time and watch or listen on purpose. Then again, the weather is supposed to be terrible, possible snow and rain and wind, so I don't know if we will actually be staying that long. I guess it will keep the crowds away. That's always a good thing.

I think I am going to get a cup of coffee. It is only 2:00 and I still have a couple of hours to go. I was going to go outside for lunch but it is raining and windy outside and I decided I would stay here and write this. Now I have to find something else to do the rest of the day. I can always try to figure out how to install this software but since I already did that on my machine, I only have to figure out why it does not work on other machines.Guess it is because I am an administrator and when I do it for someone else, they do not have access to the right libraries. I am just guessing but nothing else seems to make sense yet.

I will leave this open on the off chance I decide to write more after I get my coffee. Since I have not written my closing line I guess I have to come back to it at some point.

I just herd on my podcast 99% Invisible that they need chili pickers in New Mexico. I'm thinking road trip. From what I can tell, it is because it is too hard to pick them. They used to get cheap labor from Mexico but now they can't and it is too hard to pick them themselves so they plant other things. Maybe its not such a good idea.

By the way, coffee, pretzels, and tangerine is not really good together. Just saying.

I think I am going now. Most of these entries have been too long anyway so having said nothing in this one, I will just let it go.

Until next time

MWNews 153

I want to tell you something about William. Probably won't take as long to tell it as I think, so I will have to include other things in here. Which, of course, means complaining and whining but maybe I can avoid too much of that this time. Don't count on it.

You know I have always said William can't read and his handwriting is illegible. His sentence structure is non-existent and he rarely keeps to any sort of coherence when he is trying to write a story or something. I know, it is sad but it's true. I am told repeatedly that it is his autism and I cannot really argue the point as he does have some compulsive behaviors that cannot easily be explained. It must be something not connecting right in his mind as the behaviors are consistent and not random in how they are projected. But, as I have said and not said enough, he is a very good kid. Very loving and affectionate and thinks everyone should be that way too. To the point that it is really annoying at times but we learn to live with it.

But I have to relate something that really amazed me the other day. We know he plays video games whenever he can get someone to play with him. He plays by himself but he would rather watch a movie or a video than play by himself or without an audience. He is consistently asking everyone if they will plan a game with him. I never do. I would say I rarely do but it is actually never. I tried a few times but I just can't handle it. Another story I have probably related at some other time but I just don't like playing games with others and to play with William is a real adventure. I won't go into it too much but he does not really play the game. He just does what he wants. You can try to ignore him but he finds a way to crash into your part of the game and makes it impossible for you to play the game the way it is supposed to be played.

And before you say why don't I just play the way he does, it's because if you do that, he gets bored and stops playing. He would much rather be annoying you and whatever it is you are doing than actually play with you or even against you. Which brings up playing games against him. He is too good. I mean, I am fair at most games but he is a kid and can play anything all the time and play it very well. Or very well compared to me. I don't mind losing to him all the time but playing against him, you don't even get a chance to lose. It is over and done with before you can even begin to do anything.

There are games, like racing games, where you can beat him all the time, but it is mainly because he does his wander around thing and not really race so it is basically you racing against yourself and him trying to find what else he can do besides race. Again, we can play that way but he gets bored after a while and you either have to quit playing or he quits playing or you just sit there and wait for him while he does his thing. It's not really fun for anyone but we do try on occasion.

I said I don't like playing games with anyone, not even online games. I just never got into it and really don't want to start now. I enjoy the competition but I like doing things on my own and playing with or against others doesn't really appeal to me. I wish it did but then I might spend too much time doing that and forget all the things I need to be doing. Like teaching William to read.

Which gets us back to the subject of what William was doing the other day. Maeghan was playing a new game, or new game for us, not really a new game. It was Sherlock Holmes or something. It requires a lot of reading about what is going on and what you need to do. I was across the room doing something, I don't remember what, and I keep hearing William telling Maeghan what to do.

You know how that goes. One kid telling another what they need to do in a game. Maeghan is usually good about it, or not exactly good but she tolerates it from William, basically because there is no way to stop him from doing it. And, a lot of times. William is right in what you need to do. Most of the times he is not but he does come up with good strategies every once and a while and it gets Maeghan through some harder parts of games. Not just this game but a lot of games.

Anyway, I kept hearing him say the same things over and over again. Like he was reading them from the screen or something. I have no idea what Maeghan was doing and I was not really paying attention but then I hear him tell Maeghan to go back to some screen, then go to another screen and then to different screens. Each time, he would say something about what she needs to do and then piece it together with other screens to find out what was needed. I thought he was being really clever but then I thought how could he be doing all that just from watching.

I know, your first thought is he has played it before but we just got the game. There was no way he had ever done this before and he doesn't even like that kind of game. Too much mental work, I think. As I heard him keep doing this over and over again, William never tires of giving advice, I began to pay more attention. I kind of watched what was going on. And, to my amazement, I think I figured it out. And. by the way, as a side note, just typing this in is making me cry I was so proud. Not a good thing at work so I will have to take a break and go do something else and then come back to this. I might forget everything and not tell you why I was proud but I don't think that will happen.

I am sort of back. People are walking in on me so I have to keep interrupting. I was only gone half an hour so if you could just sit there without reading for half an hour, you can simulate how this entry got entered.

Back to William.

What I found was that he was actually reading the screens and interpreting what they were telling Maeghan to do. Not just the gist of it but actually reading the words, understanding them, and relaying the information to Maeghan so she could understand what she needed to do. And he was doing it across multiple screens, so that you had to remember what one screen said and apply it to the next screen. It was amazing. I could barely follow what he was doing. Maeghan just did it and for the most part, it worked. She got past each of those sections and she did it by following exactly what William was saying to do.

Now this is what is amazing about this and came as a total surprise to me. I didn't think he could read. I thought he could definitely not read that quickly. And, I did not think he understand most of what he was reading. But he could and he did.

A screen would come up, he would read it out loud, and then decide she needed to go to another screen to read that and understand what she needed to do. And he was doing it as quickly as she could change screens. I couldn't barely read it that fast. He was not sounding it out, he was not memorizing it, he was reading it. I watched him do it for a good fifteen minutes. It was truly amazing.

Eventually, Maeghan got tired of him telling her what to do. He got tired of hearing her telling him to go away. So he decided to go watch videos again in his room. As he got up to leave, I told him that was a damn good job. He had no idea what I was talking about. I told him I was proud of him for reading all those screens and doing his best to help Maeghan. I told him I did not know he could read that well and that it was amazing to see him do it so fast and get it right all the time. He kind of looked at me, then smiled really big, came over and gave me a really big hug. He then said, thanks Dad and went on his way to his room. I don't think he understand how much that meant to me, seeing him do that, but I will tell him again when I get home. It was amazing.

Now I don't think he does that all the time. I think he still struggles when trying to read a book or participate in class but I don't really know that for a fact. I don't hear about him having problems at school anymore but I have always assumed it is because they just learned to live with him. Maybe he is actually getting better. Maybe this was not just a fluke and maybe he can read and understand and do the things he will need to do in life. I am hoping beyond on hope that it will be the case, but I need to talk to him about it more to be sure.

It could be because it was a video game, the thing he loves the most, and having it be part of that, he payed more attention and concentrated a little more. It could be that Maeghan was letting him help and he was getting it right most of the time so he just tried harder. But I don't think that explains it all. Yes, it is probably a big part of it but I think he can read and understand and if he has enough motivation to do it, he can do it.

Now the big effort on our part is that we need to find a way to keep him motivated and keep improving. I have always said, if I can get him to read, everything else will fall into place. If he reads often enough, it becomes second nature to him and he doesn't have to struggle with it all the time. I can't say everything will be alright but this is about the best thing I have ever seen him do and it lets me know that there is hope he can get better and maybe, just maybe, his life will not be the struggle I have always tried to prepare for.

I have never worried about Maeghan, mentally. She has the mind to do what she wants. She just doesn't have the physical attributes to do some things like she wants to do them and that will always be her burden to bear. But I have always thought she would be ok, and I believe she always will be. But with William, I have worried and worried about it. He does things that are not smart and if we are not there to project and guide him, he will not be good at life. Now, I have hope. I have a feeling that we can make if better for him. That if I can show him what it takes to do something he wants to do, he will be able to do it, both physically and mentally. He's not there yet, and still has a long way to go, but that was damn impressive and I do not plan on letting him forget it. I don't think anyone else in the room, Maeghan, Juanita, or even William himself, understands what he did but I will not let him forget it and I will be there to encourage him in any way I can.

I think this did take as long at I thought it would so there is no need to add some filler. I think this tale stands on its own. Not that I don't have other things to talk about but I am going to leave this as a William tale and he rarely gets one all to himself. I can't really think of any but I think there have been a couple at least. Besides, I have to get ready to go home. I need to the day off and it is Friday, so maybe I can get some rest this weekend. I doubt it, but I might if I try.

So, it's goodbye from me and it's goodbye from my aching wrists.

By the way, I have added this note after I went back and previewed this entry. There are typos and misplaced words in this and I hope it is not too distracting. I don't want to re-read it and find them, so I typed this instead. Hope that is alright with you. Then again, there is no you as no one reads this, so I hope it's alright with me. I just checked, it is.

Until next time

MWNews 152

Time is running out. Not here for much longer. Work that is, let's not jump to any drastic conclusions. I've got basically a month and a half left. Beginning to get a lot of pressure to complete this project before I leave. Once again, the problem is no equipment and not a lack of effort on my part. It is coming in piecemeal, a couple of pieces at a time. Last week, I got in all the Surface Pro LTE machines, six of them, and I built and imagined them and sent them out. These machines are used by people in the field, State Traffic/Road Users people. The use them while they are out directing, re-routing and monitoring traffic. I actually don't know what they do but they are out in the field all the time. I think they are actual police officers but I can't really be sure. I just know they inspect trucks and things to see if they are road worthy and then go out and check the roads to see if they are truck worthy. Or something like that. This week, I got in two advanced laptops which have been waiting for about four months now. I am setting them up now to be deployed on Monday. Seems the people that get these should be able to set them up themselves.

Right now, I can hear the big, big boss outside my door. Not sure what he is talking about but he has been there off and on all day talking to the people there. Mostly IT people doing different applications within the government so I suppose it is kind of important. I really don't know, not my area.

I am also listening to This American Life on my headphones. Something about square dancing being the national dance of the US. I don't see it but I have not really been paying attention. I think they are for it but I'm not sure.When I get the chance, I listen to my podcasts while at work. And now, I just got the message that my headphones have to be charged, so I guess I will not be listening for much longer.

I listen to mostly US shows, then again, most podcasts are from the US. I listen to This American Life, TMS (The Morning Stream), DTNS (Daily Tech News Show), and lots of others. I listen to the podcast of a Dallas sports station, the Ticket. They put out a top ten moments every day, plus a summation of the best of BAD Radio once a week, although I seem to have noticed I have not heard one of those in a couple of weeks. Might have to check into it. I also listen to SBS news hear in Australia but that is a two to three minute update ten or 15 times a day. Most of the news is not really Australian but there is some. Most of it is from around the world.

I do listen to a number of other podcast, must can't be bothered to mention them. I get about 6 to 8 hours or podcasts a day. I only listen to about 3 hours so I am usually way behind. Right now, I am about two weeks behind. Makes the news not all that relevant as most of it has already happened or has already been resolved but since I do not get a chance to watch anything else on TV or listen to the radio, this is the only news I get.

I have cut way, way back on the podcasts. I used to be about 10 hours a day but I found that just totally unworkable. I think I have actually cut it all the way back to about 3 hours a day and I am catching up. The only way I was catching up before was to just leave it running all the time and miss half the stuff I wanted to listen to. That didn't seem to be very productive but not downloading them at all doesn't seem to be the right thing either. I will either have to quit work and just listen to podcasts or do something else. Fortunately, I am quiting work soon so maybe I will get a chance to catch up.

My headphones just went flat so I can type faster now without having to listen to something else. By the way, I did eat an orange earlier that was very bad. I only mention it so that when they find my poisoned body laying here next to the computer, maybe someone will read the last thing I typed and realize it was the rotten orange. Not that it was all rotten. I ate about half of it and then found a piece that was a bit harder than the rest. I thought maybe it just wasn't ripe but it tasted bad and I had to spit it out and wash my mouth out with a cup of coffee. I can't really taste it anymore but the coffee barely helped.

I think it is time I moved on from work talk and personal talk and any other talk that is distracting me from finishing my job. I have a couple of assignments I need to be doing but I did this instead because they are not really my job and I was only given them because no one else wanted to do it. Something about figuring out why someone's computer is running slow. Like that is something I can fix. It's because they don't know how to use a computer but can't really say that to anyone. I had someone today insist that I had to fix their phone because it would occasionally get a rasping noise on the line. I have nothing to do with phones and even if I did, I am not sure how you would fix that besides replacing it. And all these phones here are programmed for each individual. They can plug it in anywhere and it downloads their information into the phone so they always have the same setup. Too much information to try to describe what I mean and I have wandered back into work talk again so I will leave it at that. I am hoping my earphones charge soon so I don't have to go on listening to myself think.

Juanita and the kids are leaving in about three weeks, I think. They leave on the 26th and it is the 1st right now. I am both very sad and very glad about it. I am very sad because I will be alone again, with no chance to talk to or see anyone. Everyone else I know has or is leaving also and I won't get any closer to the people I work with so I could hang out with them because I am leaving that also.I just don't know about being here by myself again. It might not go so well.

And you add to that the fact that all my furniture is gone. Juanita did a really good job of selling it all but it means for two months, I have nothing to sit on or sleep on. They all have single mattresses to sleep on but I generally sleep in a recliner, long story I don't want to go into right now, and with that gone and no other furniture, I am stuck trying to sleep in a chair that is not big enough to sleep in. I have not really slept in about two weeks now and there is no relief in site. I am thinking of sleeping in the car but I have not done that yet. I do, occasionally, try to sleep on one of the mattresses but that gives me a headache and my back is about gone so it is not very restful. I would go into my back problems but I will save that for another day. Let's just say, most people are telling me I will be unable to walk in a very short time if I do not find out what is wrong and do something about it. I say I cannot afford to be off work and there is really nothing you can do about it other than take pain medicine, which has for the most part stopped working for me. But that is another story.

I am glad they are leaving as it means they will get everything setup at the new place before I get there. I am sad they are leaving because I am sure they will set it up with no thought to my needs and I will once again be a stranger in my own house. I will feel like I am visiting all the time and never really feel comfortable. But once again, another story I will probably never tell.

Maeghan's last day of school is next week, I think. She does have to go back for some test in a couple of weeks, but all her classes end next week. William still has a long way to go but he will be leaving too so there is not a whole lot of point to him going to school here anymore. I will not go into my feelings about that.

Speaking of William, I am really starting to regret not being closer to him like I should be. I have always said I need to fix that but I never have. I miss him a lot and we do not spend a lot of time together and I know he really wants to. I could go into why but I don't really know why myself. I just don't seem to have the patience needed to do it. It's not that I do not like him but we do not have a lot in common and I am sure it is all my fault for not making it better for him. Maeghan and I get along all the time and always talk to each other and I know William feels jealous about that and wants to have the same relationship but they are just two different people and where Maeghan and I can talk and understand each other all the time, William just never gets it and does not appreciate my humor and I do not appreciate his. We just do not have a lot in common. Again, all my fault and I want to fix it. I have so much other things to fix that he gets left behind but I need to make the time. I will make the time. It has to be done and I am the only one who can do it. There is no chance at all that he will ever read this and that is one of the problems, he cannot read, but if you ever do read this William I want to tell you.

I am sorry. It doesn't help but I am sorry. I love you and I miss you and I want us to be friends. I am hoping that if you are reading this, then I might have made a difference but if not, maybe your wife or someone will read it to you in the future. I love you William. It may not seem like it and I hope you are saying that I am wrong right now, but I love you and I am sorry for not being there for you when you needed me.

I would say enough of that but I do not want to make a joke at this point. I mean everything I say about what I want with William and it is up to me to make it happen.

I suppose I should be going now. I hate to have such a downer entry but that seems to be all I do lately. It is not a happy time and has not been a happy time for a long time. I don't see how moving will help and only see that it will make it worse. But, if I can find a decent job and make some money again, maybe this time we can make it work better. It is hard to do when we don't have any money and don't have a lot of things we can do together. Before I go off into another sad story, I am going to end this. Wasn't meant to be so depressing but it turned out that way. Tonight, they are all going to William's school fair. I don't get home in time, or I would not get there until it is actually ending, so they are going by themselves. I think they will be leaving early anyway as this school fair always leaves a lot to desire. Nothing really happening at it and other school fairs are much better. Plus, the Huon show is in a couple of weeks so that should make up for it.

I will just get going now. Talk to you later.

Until next time

MWNews 151

I am going to post another entry today. Just a quick one. I spent about an hour adding titles to all the entries. Nothing flash or having anything to do with the content but I was told to add titles, so I did. I only make this entry because if for some reason the old lack of titles was a way to view this blog, it has not changed. I have no idea what effect this will have on it.

I also have to say that I had done all the entries and was doing the last one. Somehow, it got changed in content and it changed to be published today. It was not published today and I could not change it. So I deleted it. It was just about me complaining about this blog and the terrible time I have in typing into it. So basically the same as every other blog entry. Hopefully, it was not anything important as I did not read the entire thing. I am sure if had nothing of consequence in it. It is all good now.

So, I am not sure why I had to add titles but I did. They are just the number corresponding to the entry. Maybe it helps, maybe it doesn't. I don't really care. But that's it for now.

The really really big boss is on a rampage because he sent a company wide email and no one appears  to have received it. He wants me to find out why. I have no idea how to find out why but I have to go have a look anyway.

Until next time

MWNews 150

The big boss is sitting behind me so I am not sure how much I will be able to type into this entry. I am sure he will wonder why I am typing so much as we do not do a lot of typing in the job.

Today, I am covering the phones as most people took today off. It is a Friday and yesterday was Hobart Show Day. Apparently, it is a holiday in Hobart but I am not sure how widespread it is. The government shuts down but I don't know if it is only the Hobart government or the state government or who it actually is that was not working yesterday. Me, being part of the government, did not work yesterday and most people take today off as well so they get a four day weekend. No such luck for me as I was asked to cover for all the people who are off. Doesn't really matter anyway as I need to work as many hours as I can since I do not get paid when I am not working like the other government workers are.

Anyway, I am going to try to type this but with the big boss right here, have no idea why he did not take off, it might get a little dicey with me doing this instead of answering the phones. Of course, since there is no one here, there is no one to call into the IT support desk but having said that, I have already received four calls in the last hour. Not a lot but not nothing either. Problem is, if I do not know the answer, there is no one else to ask so I have to just log it and tell them someone will look into it Monday. Not that anyone ever does but it keeps them off the phone when I am here by myself.

To continue the work talk before I move on to something else, the project I am working on has run into a stall. I think I mentioned there are no more machines to give out. They did not order them, they did not receive them yet, they did not order enough. Lots of reasons but bottom line is, I have nothing to do. I think they have already noticed that and they might want me to not come in until the next order of machines arrives, which would be fatal to me as I need the money since we are planning a move and all my extra money goes to that. If I don't work, then we cannot move. It's as simple as that. But it hasn't happened yet and I have more news about that anyway.

I don't remember if I mentioned it here, and of course, I am not going back to look, but I was offered the job permanently, or sort of offered it. I probably need to go back and find out how much I have talked about it here but I will try to get through it without too much repeat news. Then again, if I don't say everything, you might get confused. I know I am. But lets give it a try.

Several of the current people have left. Their positions are open. I was told I should apply for it as I have been doing the job for a year and I would probably be the leading candidate. I was told by one person that the job was mine if I wanted it but I was told by another that it is not up to them and I would have to go through the government process of new hires before I would be considered. Me being a foreigner, I may not be allowed to do some government work, so the job is not really guaranteed but they did say it was mine for the asking. I did not ask for it. I am moving. But I have not moved yet so maybe there is still the chance I will stay. Not that I like the job but I do like being employed. As I have been telling everyone, I can be unemployed in Brisbane as well as here so I might as well move. But, stay tuned.

On the home front, plans have changed again. Juanita has a unit in Brisbane, or somewhere near Brisbane, in the north. She has already payed a deposit on it and been told it is hers. It does not become available until December. No idea when in December as they are going to refurbish it before they allow her to move in but they say December. If it is not ready by then, then they are in trouble. She and the kids are leaving November 26. They will stay in Sydney for a few days, then go north of Sydney for another few days and then supposedly on to Brisbane to move in. That is their current plan. Now lets talk about the flaws in that plan.

William does not get out of school until December 20. So he will miss the last month of the school year. She says that is not a problem. It is. Maeghan will already be out of school as she gets out at the beginning of November sometime. She has to go back for a test on some day but essentially, she is out of school in the next two weeks. They would have been leaving earlier except for Maeghan having to be there for this test.

Juanita has already changed the tickets. It cost a bunch of money to do that, money we do not have, but she has already done it without asking me first. Not that I get approval of anything but she could have mentioned she was going to instead of doing it and then telling me. Which brings us to another major issue.

I am still working. I will not be going with them. I am still scheduled to leave on the original date, December 23. I suppose I am still going but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop and be told that I am not going with them. I do have the trailer that is supposed to be filled with some of their stuff but I am sure they will make due without it if they decide they do not want me to go. Yea, yea, she says she wants me to come and she says she still wants us to live together but seems kind of strange to plan all this without including me. Guess it is just me being paranoid, but I have earned the right to be paranoid.

So they will leave on November 26. I will be here to get rid of anything that will not fit in the trailer. Load the trailer and my van by myself, which includes several things that I cannot load by myself. Then have my house cleaned and sanitized for final inspection that I cannot do anything about since if they find anything wrong, I will be in another part of the country with no way back. It does not bode well for me getting any of my bond back. I am not looking forward to it. By then, most of my stuff should be sold, so I will be living without furniture or beds or anything for a month. Anything that is left over, I will have to find a way to get rid of, which means taking it to the tip so I don't have to pack it. I think I am going to try packing everything before they go just so I can see how much I can actually pack and what I will need to be getting rid of. Maybe it will not be a lot, but it probably will be.

I haven't really mentioned the whole Christmas thing. I will be by myself on Christmas apparently. No kids, no family, no one to be with me. I know, poor sad little me. It's actually not that bad, it's just another day, but I feel bad about it for the kids. We do not get to be together. That's never happened before. During all the times that Juanita and I have been apart, we have always been together for Christmas. She has missed my birthday several times, so have the kids. And there was the couple of anniversaries. Of course, no Thanksgiving since we live in Austria, but we have never missed a Christmas. Guess this will be the first, probably in a long line of things to come.

Let see, is there anything else I can rant about. I could go on and on about the real estate people but what's the point. When they come to screw me over again, I will probably find the time to do that later and if not, they there is still no point in doing it now. Let's just say I do not have a high opinion of them.

Let's go on a lighter note. I mentioned the Hobart Show. I might have mentioned it in the past. Think of a stock show on a much smaller scale, or much smaller than what I am used to. It is basically the same thing but a whole lot less fun since it is in Hobart and there are not that many people here to make it a big time thing. It is expensive, or it has always has been in the past. Not that we ever go to it but we have been once or twice. Some of the pictures I post here are from that.

We prefer the local Huon show. It is much smaller but that just means you can get in and out in less than a day and still see everything that you would see at the Hobart show. It is all the same people but on a much smaller scale. It will be in November sometime, I believe the 16th. We usually go to that one each year. It is much cheaper to get into and while the food and everything is still very expensive, there is not as much of it so you are not tempted to eat or spend money all the time. You can watch the shows, see the exhibits, ride the rides (very expensive so limited to one or two per person), play the games (again, expensive so only one or two). Since it is much smaller, you just walk around once, do what you can, and then sit around and decide whether we want to leave or not. Nothing to hang around for, nothing to go see again, and not a lot of hassle in getting around from one place to another. It does get crowded, but if you go early, you can sit in the shade when it gets really crowded because you have already done everything and if we decide to stay, the crowds thins out and we can do it all over again before it closes. It's a good show on the whole.

Since it is in November, it has always been part of Williams presents for his birthday. We take him to the show, give him some money and he does what he wants and is happy. I would think he would want a more permanent gift but he seems happy with it and we do get him a couple of other things besides that. It's a fairly good deal all around, or most of the time it is. I do limit my spending to under $100 and Juanita usually spends about the same thing, so it will cost us $200 to do it again this year but maybe we will cut back on that since we are moving and need the money for that.

Which does bring up another complaint. When we were going together, Juanita was paying the petrol costs as I will have no money, no job. Now that we are not going together, I am wondering if now I have to find a way to get there myself. I don't know. We should probably talk about that. There are lots of things we still need to talk about.

And I should mention the heat again. Yesterday, Show Day, it was very hot here. Or, it was very hot for here. It was 30. Now that is not hot at all for Brisbane, you pray for the days when it is only 30, but for here, it was hot. We had three fans going, until one of them blew up, but we had three giant fans going. These are the good kind of fans and not just they cheap ones as we both got tired of the cheap ones a few years ago and got the industrial strength ones. They move a lot of air. So much so, I do not sit anywhere with them blowing directly on me as it really gives me a headache and makes my joints ache as well. (I'm old). With the three fans, it made it tolerable but I could only imagine what it is going to be like when we get to Brisbane. We do have some semblance of air conditioning in the new unit, or I am told there will be, but those things are expensive to run and electricity costs are not cheap anywhere in Australia. It cost a lot to run them and I prefer to try to get by without turning them on. In Brisbane, you have to turn them on eventually, but I will try to postpone it as long as possible. Weirdly, I do not mind the cold air blowing on me, just the high velocity fans that we both have. In my house, I can keep it really cool by placing the fan at one end of the hall, opening the bedroom windows at that end and then opening the front door and the side door so it creates a breeze through there. I doesn't really keep it cool but it keeps it tolerable, which is all I am hoping for. With everyone living at my place, William likes to keep his bedroom door closed and he is in there all day. His room is critical in the evenings and it is on the shady side of the house and those windows need to be open so a breeze is created. The other two bedrooms are on the sunny side and it gets hot in there so you do not want that breeze coming through. So trying to create a cool breeze while William is home becomes almost impossible. But none of that matters because we are moving. I am sure the good ole Brisbane sun is not as hot as it is here in the wilderness of Tasmania.

Now that I have typed all this, and did it without interruption, I think I should be going to lunch. No more phone calls so far and it is noon. I don't go to lunch until one but I can start thinking about it. Plus, since it is lunchtime, the big boss should be going to lunch soon and I can add the picture to this without him seeing. So it works all the way around. Then again, I will be bored once I finish this so maybe I will do another entry. Two in one day. I think I did that a long time ago but it was an accident and not meant for humans. All in all, a really crappy entry full of complaints and misgivings. In other words, typical.

So it's goodbye from me and goodbye from the water bottle.

Until next time

MWNews 149

The alternative is I don't start typing this and just go about the rest of my day. Being at work, again, I don't really have anything to do so I thought this might be a good idea. Maybe not, but I have started already so I suppose I will have to finish.

Today, I am eating pretzels. Don't know why, just am. I found bags of them at the fruit and vegetable store and they were cheap so I bought some. Now, you know you cannot just eat one or two. Once you start, you just keep eating them until they are all gone. I think it might be the salt or something but I had a whole container of them about two hours ago and now they are gone. I think someone came in here and ate them but since I have been sitting here beside them the whole time, they would have had to be real tricky to get to the container of pretzels without me seeing them. So I did the obvious thing and set up my phone to record the container in order to catch whomever is stealing my pretzels. And now I am tired of typing the word pretzel so I will move on to other thoughts or musings.

Work stuff. Skip until it says no more work stuff if you do not want to read about it. Too late, you already started so now you are obligated to finish. Besides, I finished all the pretzels and now you have nothing else to do.

We have been living in the same house for a couple of weeks now. It has not been bad but it has not really been good either. Not a lot of problems but as we each have our own way of doing things, we get in each others way. Since it is where I have lived, things are in certain places and done at certain times and ways that are how I am used to doing it. Juanita has never had problems with changing what other people are doing. She does it her way or not at all. She has done it the whole time I have known her and not just to me but to everyone. She moves things. She doesn't know how to use appliances or where anything is or where it should be, so she just puts things where they fit or where there is a hole and doesn't really think about the fact that they might have been there for a reason or that is where I expect them to be and if they are not there, I assume I need another one or something.

But, it is unfair for me to blame her as I do things she is not happy with. Can't think of anything offhand but I am sure there is something.

Let's take a small example. She decided to do the dishes by putting them in the dishwasher. Really helpful and a kind thing for her to do since I am at work and usually only do dishes for myself about once or twice a week. First issue was, she was not washing them because she did not know it was a two cycle dishwasher. What that means is when you turn it on, it only gets the dishes wet. This is its soaking mode. I had the same problem when I first moved in so it is understandable that she did not know this. Easily fixed, you just have to either bypass soaking mode or turn it on again once that mode is finished. What it means is we had dirty dishes that she would then take out and put into the cupboards thinking they had been cleaned since the machine had stopped running. Again, not a big deal and it only happened twice before I explained how the machine worked. Didn't make her happy as she said I was blaming her for the problem when I was just trying to let her know how the machine worked but I can live with that.

The real problem is, she put my good knives in the dishwasher. My good knives. That I have had for about 8 or 9 years now. For those of you who do not understand my concern, she put my good knives in the dishwasher. I suppose repeating that does not really explain my concern, but I will try again. She put my good knives in the dishwasher.

Now part of the problem is me. She bought me another good knife a few years ago. Not sure why but I do like good knives so it was a good gift. The problem is, I do not have a holder for it. I have one for all my knives but not for the new one. Since I rarely use the new one, I put it in the slot for the knife I use the most. My chefs knife which I use everyday. That left my chef's knife with no place to sit. My plan has always been to leave it out since I use it all the time. I have a large cutting board, another gift from years past that I leave on the counter all the time. I put my chef''s knife on that when I am not using it. It sits on the counter, all the time. She does not like things left on the counter so she moved my cutting board and then put my knife in the dishwasher. I am not sure what she was planning to do with it after that but I suspect it would have been thrown in the drawer with all the other kitchen utensils. You know the drawer I mean. Everyone has one. It is the drawer where all the gadgets, utensils, and spare things get put so you are constantly digging through it to find what you need. You can only imagine the kind of hell I would have raised if that had happened, but it didn't as I caught it in time.

I know, what an asshole I am . I thought about what other word I could use in place of that one but nothing I came up with really described what I am in enough detail. That one word seems to say it all so I left it. I apologize for offending whatever crowd of people I have offended that might be reading this blog.

I mean, it's such a little thing. So the knife went though the dishwasher. What's the big deal. I cannot explain it. People who know what a big deal it is will synthesize. People who do not cannot be convinced otherwise. It just is and should not happen. I didn't think I complained about it too much bet apparently, I was wrong. I could forgive it happening by accident or lack of knowledge but I know she knows I do not want them in the dishwasher and I can only assume she did it to try to make me upset. I don't know. It is over, for now. I just use it as an example of the kind of things we have to get used to with us starting to live together again. There are other examples, on both sides, but we are both trying and we will work it out. We have to.

On to other things.

I took a break at this point. Probably too much entertainment for one sitting anyway. I think I had some train of thought when I started but now I am tired and don't really know. I suppose I can talk about work. I think I mentioned that I would be doing that earlier but I never got around to it so ignore anything you have read so far and just jump in. I'd say the water was fine but I never get in the water so I don't know how it is. And this is Tasmania, so expect lots of ice and snow.

I'm still doing this same job. The PC Refresh project. Can't say this one is being run any better than the one before but as I seem to be the sole owner of this project, I can say it's going great. Or it would be in they had ordered enough equipment to do the job. It would seem they only ordered half, or less than half, of what they needed. Not sure of the reasons for that other than maybe they could not get it all in one go. Don't know. But the impact is I did most of the building I am in and then ran out of machines to deploy. I still need about ten more laptops before I can call this building finished. What irks me about it is I was asked the other day about when I will start doing the other buildings. I had to explain that since I have no more machines available, I cannot plan on when and where I will be deploying next. This seemed to come as a surprise to them and they asked me why I had run out of machines. I had to explain that they did not order enough and it was my understanding that there were two orders and the second one had not yet arrived. This, of course, caused a lot of running around and high level meetings to find out why the project was stopped and who was going to get the blame.

It would seem that they forgot to order the second order. And, even if they had, they had forgotten to order several specific machines that were needed by certain people, like people in the Road Services department that need mobile devices with LTE so they can connect via phone while out on the job. Now none of this would be my fault but somehow, they managed to put some of the blame on me because I had not told anyone I was out of equipment. Like that was my job in the first place. I had to explain that the person they put in charge of the project went on maternity leave and the person that put him in charge was seconded to another department. So it left me as defacto project manager even though I did not have access to the orders, the software, the documents or anything else that would have allowed me to run this project. I have basically been working on my own trying to make things fit and waiting for someone, somewhere to decide what it is they wanted to do and when they wanted it done. I personally think getting this entire building done with no help in three weeks time was a major accomplishment but hey, who am I to argue with the government.

Anyway, it wasn't really that bad. The boss who was seconded to another department got most of the blame because he had not told anyone what they were supposed to be doing and had not replaced the project manager with anyone even though he knew that guy would not be here to run the project. Plus, the guy who does the ordering claimed that he had never received the second order so he had never placed it. But again, it's government where no one really knows what anyone else is doing at any given time.

That little tirade lasted longer than I wanted it to. Let's have some kids news.

Maeghan has one month left at her school, then she graduates 11th grade. I think her classmates are planning a going away party for her but since it is a secret I am not supposed to know anything. Which is convenient since I do not know anything. Juanita mentioned the possibility the other day but that is all she said so I don't know if it is true or when and where it might be happening.

Maeghan was sick for a week or so and she missed some important classes where she had an assignment to do and she did not get it done. I am told she has to do it or she will not pass that class but I don't know where she is in the project at the moment. I know she said one of her friends was going to help her but I don't know if that happened or not. Since she only had a month left, I don't know what is going on.

William does not get out of school until close to Christmas time. I really have no idea how he is doing in school. I do know that he has a lot more friends now but I am not sure they are good friends or friends I would approve of. I have never met or heard of them but he walks to the bus stop and back each day and he hangs out with them along the way. It is only a couple of blocks but from that bus stop, it is the main one where they fill the bus. The old bus stop by his house was one of the first ones so there was really no one there waiting besides him each day. Now, about 50 kids are waiting for the bus by my house so they try to get into as much trouble as they can before and after school. Or I assume that is what they do as I have no idea. Just a bunch or rotten kids waiting for buses. What else would they be up to.

William does enjoy the freedom though. He seems to be going out a lot on his own lately. No idea whether he is meeting anyone or not but he is always asking if he can walk to to the store for us and get things. The store is only about a block away so I have no idea why he would want to be doing that but he asks everyday if he can. But William has always been helpful like that. Willing to do anything to help as long as he can be a part whatever is going on. He gets in the way most of the time but he is certainly enthusiastic about it.

This delayed school schedule is another problem. Juanita is looking at houses to rent right now. On a good note, the one she was looking at that was near Angie fell through, probably because the operator of that place seemed a bit shady to me, but it means she is now looking elsewhere. Like up north where I wanted to go. That is north of Brisbane where I think the neighborhoods are better. She has found a lady who is going to look for a place for her so that will help a lot. But about the delay in getting out of school. I think, and I am pretty sure it will happen, that as soon as they find a place and Maeghan gets out of school, Juanita and Maeghan are going to leave and go to setup house. It's not really a bad idea but it means William and I will be left here to get rid of, pack and do whatever is left to do on our own, and I will be working full time during that so I will not have a lot of opportunities to get things done. She says we can get it all done before they go but I don't know how that will work as we will still be living here and we will need to have somethings to sit on, sleep on, and eat on while we do that. And I am not sure I will be able to load everything by myself when the time comes for us to leave. It seems like a lot of stuff to leave for one person to do. I guess I have done it all on my own before so I will have to do it again. So much for us living as one family.

And on that depressing note, I will have to go. I am sure I am just the complainer that everyone says I am. I think of it as being practical, but not a lot of people see it my way. It's a living I suppose. I am going to get ready to go home now. Been working too long on this and not on what I should be doing. Maybe tomorrow will be better. I have to go to another site tomorrow so I can waste some time in travelling while I do. It is always better if I am going offsite.

I just typed some words and they did not appear on the page where I was typing. So if there are parts of this that do not make sense, it is because of that and has nothing to do with my incoherence and lack of the ability to type.

So it's good bye from me and good bye from the empty bag of pretzels.

Until next time

MWNews 148

Did I mention I haven't been back for a while. Seems like it's been a few weeks since I last entertained the masses. Must be about time for me to retire. I might but first, a message from our sponsor.

Wouldn't it be nice if I actually had a sponsor. Or at least a supervisor. Someone to keep me in line and make me do this more often. Then again, I am sure the anticipation is exquisite. Makes if seem like there is actually someone worth looking forward to. Not this, but I mean something good. This is just the ramblings of an old man about to visit his ancestors.

So where to begin. Probably should start with the big news and move on to the mostly boring stuff. Then again, I can't think of any boring stuff to relate so maybe it is all big news or what passes for big news at the bottom of the world. I can't really say bottom of the world as there are many places further south but, from here to the south pole, there is nothing in between so it might as well be the end of the world from where I sit.

The big news is we won't be here much longer. As of the end of December, we are moving to the mainland. And when I say we, I mean all of us. We are going back to the mainland and try to be a family again. Mostly because they were going anyway and while I didn't really want to go, there is nothing keeping me here except the crappy job I have. After thinking about it for a long time, I decided to take the chance and move without any prospect of another job when I get there. But that is just one of the worries and not really the point.

Juanita and I have decided to give it another go. I have never been opposed to it and while I can say I was almost ready to give up on the idea, all the things that have happened in the last year have brought us back together. I have to say, I was ready to move on before this happened. Not that I did not still want to be with my family, I was just ready to stop trying and move on. Then the past year. And as I started to help them and be with them I was pulled back in and I was wanting it to happen. It would seem that it is.

Juanita and I still have a lot of problems with each other. I am still very afraid she will change her mind again. But she is saying all the right things and doing all the right things as if she wants it to happen and while I have my reservations, I have decided to try to ignore the doubts and try along with her. I do want it to work this time and I do want it not only for me and her but mainly for the kids. They will not be at home for much longer, Maeghan already talks about being on her own, but I want them to know me and what it is like to live with me and for us to be together as a family. William has never known that. We separated when he was really young and he has never actually lived with me and Juanita in the same house. It will be a real adventure for him I am sure.

The process of moving is the real hardship. We live on an island. We cannot just pack up and go. Each of us has a house full of things and most of that has to go. Juanita did book a shipment on partial semi-trailer load but she only sent boxes of stuff. No real furniture except her freezer, she washing machine and a couple of small items of furniture. She packed close to a hundred boxes and they all went on the truck. In fact, as of this writing, they have already arrived at their destination. Apparently, she arranged for them to be dropped off at her daughter's place. I don't think that is such a good idea but there was no other place to ship them and hopefully, they will be ok while they are there. I won't say what I think about it but we are hoping they are still there when we arrive.

My stuff is all still in my house. Now I don't have a lot of stuff. Maybe my bed, my TV, my refrigerator and many boxes of stuff. I could fit it all into my van and my trailer. I moved over here that way and have not accumulated that much more stuff that I would have to take with me again. The issue is, Juanita still has a lot of stuff that is still here. I have no idea how all that is going to fit. She has her van but there is Maeghan's wheelchair that takes up a lot of room. Plus, she is taking most of her camping gear as she thinks they will be living in it until we find a place. I say they as I am not sure I will be living in a tent for any length of time. Guess I don't really have a choice but that doesn't seem like the best of plans. She also still has boxes and boxes of stuff to take. There is no way it will all fit.

Since I have two cars, she wants me to sell one of them but I don't trust either of the cars to hold out much longer and I think we have to have a backup just in case, I will be leaving the small car here with her brother Craig. or at his house. I'm thinking we will be leaving more than just the car there but she says she can get it all in somewhere. I don't think so but we will see, again.

I don't think I have mentioned where we are going. It is Brisbane. We lived in Brisbane when I first came over to stay. I came over a year before that but I went to Tasmania. Brisbane is hot. It is on the ocean, most big cities in Australia are, but there are no beaches in Brisbane. You have to go north or south to find decent beaches and we will be south, or that is the plan right now. Juanita has been looking at apartments to lease. She has found a few that look good on paper but without seeing them in person I do not know how you can rent them site unseen. She says it is ok but I am worried about what the area is like, what the apartments are like and especially what the neighbors are like. I think there could be an issue, especially since Angie lives near there and she is not known for picking the best neighborhoods to live in. Yea, it's probably related to the guys she has dated but still, she does not make the best choices.

But back to the hot. It is hot in Brisbane. Maybe not Texas hot but I am not used to Texas hot anymore and I am not so sure how I will handle it. I have trouble with Tasmania heat when it happens once or twice a year. But that is only around 30 - 35 when it is hot here. In Brisbane, you look forward to the days when it is only 30-35. It is over 40 when it is hot and can get close to 50 when it is really hot. Now since all these temperatures are in Celsius, no one really understands them but I am too lazy to convert it myself so I leave it up to you.

There are good places in Brisbane. Most of them are north, where we got married and where we used to live. Juanita's family lives farther north in a resort area, although I have never seen the resort part of it. It's a town I cannot spell so I will not try. It is about an hour north of Brisbane, two hours from where we will be living. Not really close enough to visit but close enough to make a day of it sometimes. The place we got married in has a really nice outdoor pool area, or it used to. Having not been there in several years, I have no idea what it is like these days.

I am beginning to wander a bit. I have more to say but I am getting tired of typing. So, I suppose this will be it for now. Be sure to wish us luck. I have not even gone into the whole not having a job thing but as mentioned, I am tired. Maybe I will get back to it sometime soon. Hopefully from my home computer as since I do not have to go to their house anymore, I can come straight home and spend more time there. Kind of crowded but I think I like it. I guess I didn't mention we are living together in my apartment at the moment since we have emptied her house and they have no place to live until we leave. I'd consider it a trial run but since there are no alternatives, it can't really be a trial, it has to be reality. But I really am tired and don't want to think anymore.

So it is goodbye from me and goodbye from the tangerine I am eating.

Until next time