MWNews 233

I am thinking of closing this blog. It will probably just be a break, there have been many, but I am just not sure I want to do this anymore. It is good therapy for me but is it really getting accomplished what I what it to do.

It has degenerated into me complaining about my health, talking about my job, talking about my feelings and perceptions. It is supposed to be about the kids and there is just not enough content to support that anymore. I don't know why, but it feels like even if I do mention the kids, it is some boring things that no one wants or needs to listen to. Yes, they might be interesting, but the entertainment and basic amusement of it all seems to have been lost. Probably a flaw with me. I just don't feel it anymore. 

I am sure I will be back with more at some point, but for now, I think I have to give it up. I just hate talking about myself all the time when I should be talking about the kids. I mean, right now, as I write this, someone has come through the office smelling of tomato ketchup. Not sure who it is but the smell is very strong. It is morning break time, so they come in here a lot to sit and eat something and right not, it smells of sauce. A bit overwhelming.

It is things like that, that I should not be including in here. It is entertaining for me and I enjoy it, but does anyone else and, in the future, when I want the kids to go back and read this stuff, will it be interesting to them. I think not. Maybe, but I think not.

I want to be able to celebrate the kids and their accomplishments. But writing in here just doesn't cut it anymore. I need to spend time with them and not time writing about them. 

I will be back, can't help myself, but for now, this will be the end until next time, whenever that occurs. It's been fun. I hope the is good for the kids if they ever get around to reading this. I am not sure they have ever read it, but I will make sure they have the address.

Until next time,

Later

Remember

It will all be ok in the end, and if it's not ok, then it's not the end. 

 

MWNews 232

Had an incident yesterday. Was walking up to work, having angina but that is not unusual, my leg/foot was hurting, also not unusual, but then I started feeling dizzy and disoriented, so I sat down, had my spray, waiting for it to kick in and then started walking again. Got about halfway up the hill and was not really feeling any better. I could barely walk. So I sat down again and thought, this is ridiculous, why am I trying to get up the hill to get to work. How is any of it going to make a difference. I thought about it for a minute and then pulled out my phone and sent them an email saying I am not coming in. It was just before 7:00 and I am usually here by 6:30. So, no one was going to be here for opening, which is at 7:00. But hey, they should have contingencies for this. They don't. Not my problem. I just decided if I am not up to it anymore, I am not coming in. I am too old, too decrepit, and too tired to try to work that hard anymore. If they have a problem with it, fire me.

So now I am at work again. No one else is here. Typical Friday, everyone calls in sick. One of them does not work on Fridays. The other one has been on vacation or sick or working from home for the entire time I have been here. He is quitting anyway. I think he has a week left, but the date keeps changing, so I am not sure. I just heard the one the one that does not work on Fridays is looking for another job. So soon, I am it. They tell me others are going to cover for the ones who are not here, but they do not have the day-to-day knowledge to cover the front desk. Not that it is even remotely difficult, it is just a constant flow of inane problems. For example, I just had someone come in and ask if we have some spare USB sticks they can use during one of the classes. A strange request but not one that I can't accommodate. The issue is, no one else really knows where they are and if they have been blanked or not. We have a odd assortment, but you have to check that no sensitive information is on them before you hand them out. Not a big issue, but since the others do not deal with this on a day-to-day basis, I am sure they would spend much too much time figuring out where they are and if they can hand them out. The real answer is no, we do not supply these, but I am the accommodating sort, so I let them have 5. As long as they promise to bring them back.

But I think that is enough about work.

William was offered an apprenticeship yesterday, or actually two days ago. Not really offered it but was asked if he would be interested. They actually called me about it as he did not answer his phone. It was from my old job, doing the contract work. Oh wait, I said work. I wasn't going to talk about work. I guess this is more about William, so it might be ok. 

Sue, my old contract person, called me from Europe to ask if William would be interested in a new apprenticeship program the government just announced. It is to train system administrators. It is a two-year apprenticeship program. It means he will have to go to school two more years.

I told them yes. He is not so sure when I told him about it. He showed me the message she had left for him on his phone, but he did not recognize the number, so he had ignored it. I know, system administrator is a hard road and a complicated job. It is more than I have ever done, unless you count the mainframe, but that is totally different. To be honest, I don't think he will be able to handle it, but he always surprises me. Maybe if he tries really hard, he can do it. I can help with some of it, but not all. I have never really studied that kind of work. I do it all the time, but not as a full-time job where I am responsible for getting the job done. I normally just support those whose job it is to handle it. He would be making a lot of money if he does do it. It is a hard job though. Too much to remember and I don't know if he can remember it all. But as I said, he surprises me all the time with what he can do. He surprises me with what he cannot do also, but maybe this will be different.

Right now, all we have is the phone call. Don't know anything about what is or will be involved. Sue is supposed to be sending some information. They want a commitment from William. We kind of talked him into it, but he could change his mind. He thinks his path to employment is the army. Not sure if he can handle the army, but that is what he is set on right now. I don't know if I should try to talk him out of it or maybe it is a good thing. I don't know. He has to make that decision himself.

But anyway, a training program to become a system administrator would be really good. I know that is a good job and a good path to take. It just requires a lot of mental work and a lot of stress once you get there. If he can do it, he would be set for life. It is just convincing him to try. He has not done a lot of schoolwork in the past few years. He will be sorely unprepared for the amount of stuff he has to learn. But again, maybe. I hope so but I will not be disappointed if he decides not to do it. It is hard and he may not make it in this world. Too many things to think about all the time.

Having to do it through Sue is another issue. They want him to use his knowledge with them. The problem with that is, they don't pay enough. They don't have these kinds of contracts. They mostly deal in the small stuff. They don't supply system administrators. I was the closest thing they had when I was working there. There were a few others who had more knowledge than I did, but they all moved on to real permanent positions after a while. I stayed around because I didn't like the thought of working full time anymore. But here I am, doing the full-time work, and at one of the easiest jobs there is, front of the house level one helpdesk. Something I never thought I would be doing. 

Here's hoping for the best. He has already started spending the money I told him it was possible to make in that role. So maybe it is not a good idea. But maybe.

Maeghan has been applying for babysitting jobs. Not sure where you go to look for those, but the ones she is applying for are more permanent or regular jobs that happen every week. A couple of them were for Au Pair work, or however you spell that. One was in Europe. It means she would have to move in with someone temporarily, or for however long the job lasts, but maybe that would be good for her. I am not sure why she is going down that route. I hope it is not because I made a joke about the kids living off of me forever. I was joking. I mean, it would be nice if they could get a job and save some money for themselves, but they don't have to. As long as I am here, they have a home with room and board. The issue is how long I will be here, but for now, I am, and I want them to stay. 

I suppose that is enough for now. I am hoping to have more pictures soon. I am just going back through the past, looking for them but I am fairly certain I am reusing lots of them. Hard to know. If only there was some way I could check. Maybe Google has a tool that will check for me and tell me when I re-use a photo. Then again, who cares. So you have to look at the same picture as a previous entry. Its not like anyone actually reads these, so no on will ever notice I am sure.

Until next time,

Later

Remember

It will all be ok in the end, and if it's not ok, then it's not the end. 

 

MWNews 231

 Going to the doctor today. Might have to tell him I have had pain today, but I am afraid he will put me in the hospital again. This is my regular doctor, although I have not seen him in two years. Long story. I had a lot of trouble coming up from the train and then again when I was moving some equipment. I probably won't tell him though. I don't want to spend any more time in the emergency room. That is just a sad and lonely place. Very annoying as there are lots of sick people there and they let you know they are sick. Not all, but enough to make it where I don't want to go back.

I suppose I should get private health but I am not sure there is any advantage in that. Yes, you get better access but then again, maybe not. I don't know, I have never had it.

William had another job he had to turn down. Not that he should have but it was something he was not prepared to do. I didn't find out about it until after he had turned it down. I found out, or I think I found out, when his mother called and told me he was upset because he had to turn down another job. As far as I can tell, he was going to be by himself with no one to help and it was a kind of technical work thing. From what I gather, reimaging computers but he said no one was going to show him how. I find that hard to believe but that is what he was upset about. 

I was also told it was on the weekend, so I could have helped him but I guess he did not think of that. I think he was just scared of doing it or did not want to do it, so he turned it down for any excuse. I will have to find out when I get home, assuming they let me go home.

What I would really like is for someone to look at my foot and leg and now it has moved up into my knee. It hurts all the time and I have gotten used to it but that does not mean it does not hurt anymore. I can barely walk from the train to work anymore. And it is worse going back to the train and that is downhill. It hurts a lot to go downhill, so it takes me much longer, although I do not have to rest but it hurts so I think about just stopping and waiting. Problem is, the train does not wait, so I have to get there by a certain time or wait half an hour for the next train. So I keep walking, no matter how slowly.

I am leaving early today to get to the doctors. I have to leave by 2:30 but I am thinking I will leave at 2:00, which is in half an hour. That way, I can take my time getting to the train. I have to take the horrible train, the one to Kippa-Ring. It stops at every stop along the way, and there are a lot of them going that way. On my normal train, after Petrie, there are only four stops. On the Kippa-Ring train, there are eight or nine stops. I hate going on that train. Juanita is supposed to be picking me up at the station but it would almost be worth it to go on the normal train to the car and then drive over to the doctors office. Means I would have to leave now, but to get off that train ride, it might be worth it.

I hate talking about work all the time, so I am going to refrain from it, although I thought of several things to say. I hate talking about me instead of the kids, but they don't do a lot lately, so there is really nothing new to talk about. William is getting all excited about going to the EKKA next week. He found out that his school day at the EKKA is the same day we are going, so he hates that he is not getting an extra day off. I knew that they had split the school days this year, half the schools go on Monday and half on Wednesday. My school's day is Wednesday, so I have that off as a holiday. William thought his was Wednesday also, but they changed it to Monday. So now he has to go to school on Wednesday. He was upset about that also. I thought about switching our day to Tuesday but now it is too late. You had to switch before yesterday and I didn't do it. I probably should have.

He was looking at all the showbags they have. They have 385 this year. I hate the showbags but everyone else seems to think they are great. I have no idea why. Heavily overpriced junk that is not worth the trouble it takes to cart it around. The only decent things are the ones with candy in them but they are way overpriced for the candy you get. Every other bag has that cheap knockoff stuff with some logo on it or something. All of the bags are themed, so you get a bunch of stuff that has whatever it is you are buying tattooed on it. Things like Harry Potter, Barbie, racing, sports clubs, all sorts of things like that. There is a bag for everything. I didn't see the Dr. Pepper bag this year but I did see one with A&W root beer in it. Last year, they had one that you could mix and match for the Dr. Pepper and A&W, so I got a can of each. Not that I like it in the can but that was the only choice.

Speaking of Dr. Pepper, they have started selling big two litre bottles of it in Woolworths. Not all Woolworths, but one of the ones near me. The bottles are very strange. I don't know if they are that way in America, but they are tall and skinny and very thin plastic. You can't really hold one and drink out of it as the plastic crushes in and will make the Dr. Pepper shoot out. You have to pour it into a glass to keep that from happening. Of course, it is a two-litre bottle, so you wouldn't really be drinking out of it anyway. Or would you? The other issue is it is very very sweet. I don't remember it being that sweet and I know it is not that sweet in the cans you normally get. I don't think it is different, but it just seems extraordinarily sweet from the plastic bottle. I don't like drinking from cans when I have a choice, but this stuff is almost too sweet for me to drink. It only cost about $8 for a bottle and you might be saying $8 FOR A 2-LITRE BOTTLE. But that is cheap compared to the $4.50 you pay for a can and the $6 you pay for a 600ml bottle. I have never bought the 600ml bottle as it has always seemed way overpriced for me, but I might have to try it to see if it is sweet as well. Compared to all other soft drinks, they are about twice the price for regular stuff like Coke, but the Dr. Pepper is 'imported' so it costs more. I am not sure where it is imported from, but it is in the exotic section of the shops that sell imported stuff. That is another reason it is weird to find it in Woolworths.

Of course, now that I have gone on and on about Dr. Pepper, it is time for me to leave. I guess I do not have time to type anything else, so I will just end it with that. Maybe I will have more news from the doctor tomorrow, or more news that the kids are looking forward to the show. I never finished the talk about the showbags, so there is that. But I have to go, so toodles.

Until next time,

Later

Remember

It will all be ok in the end, and if it's not ok, then it's not the end. 

MWNews 230

Well, I am back at work on Monday. No more scares on the weekend. Everything seemed to work well. We didn't do anything, sat at home all weekend, but I got to start playing a new game, so I guess it wasn't a total loss. Next week is the EKKA, so I am looking forward to that. I think everyone is. Maybe not Juanita, but she is usually happy about going, so she should come around. 

Maybe it is because none of the grandkids are going. We asked Shayla, but she said she was busy with friends. I am sure we asked Anna, but she doesn't like to hang around with us old folk. The two boys are just not fun to be with, so I don't know if we asked them or not. They are ok, but kind of surly when they are bored. I am sure Leslie would have enjoyed it but it is a long day, so he would have gotten upset at some point I am sure. Jarvis is ok, but I hear stories all the time about how he treats everyone badly and is not a nice person to be around. I have never noticed it, unless you could being overly polite. He is always overly polite to us but a whole day of it, might not be such a good thing. He is welcome to go, all of them are, but I am a bit different and maybe they just don't like being around me. Who knows. 

So it is just the four of us. I prefer that as we can do more and get more done. With more grandkids, we have to entertain them all so the day gets split up into everyone going one way or another on their own. I am sure the kids will go someplace on their own while we sit and rest, but they both like being with us too, so it should be a lot of fun. 

I remember the fireworks show from last year. It was fairly impressive, and we are looking forward to it again. The two hour show you have to sit through to get to the fireworks show is not so great. It is ok, but not great. Except for the motorcycles. I hope they have the motorcycles again. That was almost better than the fireworks. I will have to look up if they are going to be there again. Don't see why not. It was impressive but if you want to read about that, go to last year's entry and read that one. I vaguely remember writing about it last year.

It is very, very slow here today. Not sure why. I don't know of anything going on, but there must be something, it is way too slow.

Juanita made a beautiful sculpture or plant or fairy garden thing in the art class. It looks like a store bought one, and a very expensive one at that. I am sure it would sell for $150 - $200, maybe more. It has fake plants and real plants and fairies and flowers and fountains and all kinds of things in it. I haven't really told her how pretty it is. I should do that soon. They go to art class again today. Not sure what she is working on now. I see they both brought home some mosaics or platters or something. Tiles plastered together making a pattern.

Back on another day. Not sure when I was last typing. Might have been yesterday. I can't be sure. I am not sure what today is.

No further incidents with my health, unless you count using my spray walking up the hill to here. But that is most days, so I discount it. Doctor say, you have angina? live with it. Very reassuring. I go to the doctor tomorrow. Haven't heard from the imaging clinic. Probably want to do it on Monday and we go to the EKKA on Monday, so I am sure they will not be able to change the date and I will miss out. Already have the tickets for the EKKA so we will be going there.

As much as I want to type more into here and tell the tales of youth and vigor, I think I am just going to publish this and be done with it. I can't remember what I was going to say anyway. I need to have more adventures and more tales to tell, but it will have to wait for another day. I will probably get bored and come back to this in another entry, but I doubt it. Just tired of typing. Too much work, not enough gristle. That's what I always say. 

Until next time,

Later

Remember

It will all be ok in the end, and if it's not ok, then it's not the end. 

 

MWNews 229

Had a really bad scare last night. Right before I went to bed, I had a dizzy spell that was one of the worst I have ever had. Couldn't walk or sit up or move in a normal manner. I was on the cusp of going to the hospital. I probably should have. Juanita said I looked terrible. She scared me even more when she told William to come in and say good night to me. William rarely says good night each night, or not when I am already in bed. I got scared when Juanita was telling he had to. And I heard her say to tell me he loved me. Scary, scary, scary.

I think I had a stroke, but not having been to the doctor, I can only guess. It kind of felt like high blood pressure as I could feel my heart beating or I could feel it in my head, not in my heart. I have no idea what that means or meant.

I would say I am better today, and I have been up until now. I am starting to feel to onset of it coming on again.

I am at home now, I believe it is the next day but I can't be sure. I told my boss that I might not be feeling well and he sent me home. That's the good part. The bad part is, on the way home, I thought I would try to get a doctor's appointment. I didn't think I could on such short notice. There was an opening. So, instead of getting to enjoy my day off, I went to the doctor.

The doctor was 20 minutes late in seeing me. She wanted to know why I was not seeing my regular doctor. I told her because I can't get an appointment to see him anymore, but that's a long story. She was very good though, too good. She did all kinds of tests on me to see if I was having a heart attack or a stroke. In the end, she found nothing but told me to go check myself into the hospital. Not sure how one goes about checking themselves into a hospital but the gist of it is, I went to the emergency room and waited 5 hours before a doctor came to see me. Not a lot of fun in that.

Maybe it is a sign that I am old, but the doctor was very young and very jovial and happy to see me. It was annoying, especially since I had been there for 5 hours already. She asked me lots and lots of questions, did the same tests the GP did, then had me wait for another hour to get an x-ray of my heart. Waited another hour, then she told me to go see my doctor and give him a letter saying they had found nothing wrong. She also told me the imagining clinic will be calling me next week to set up an appointment to have something scanned. Not sure what. She said all the tests were normal or negative and I was free to go. There was nothing wrong with me that they could find. So what, 7 or 8 hours to tell me I am fine and nothing is wrong. Doesn't explain the incident or the issues I have had. Didn't recommend any changes or further tests they can do. Just go home, if it happens again, come back. So I went home.

Now, I have an appointment to see my doctor, my real doctor that I have not been able to get an appointment with for two years, because I have a letter from the hospital that says I need to see my doctor. That is next Wednesday, which means I have to take off work again. And I have the imaging people going to call me for another appointment I will have to take off work for. Probably going to be in my days off I am planning in two weeks for the EKKA. So, so much for the five days off with nothing to do. And all because I said I wasn't feeling well. Teaches me to not say anything in the future unless I am unable to speak and laying on the floor. 

But now it is Saturday, and we had plans to go to the Gold Coast and see the new Costco, but that was cancelled since Juanita decided I needed to rest. The new Costco is near Dreamworld at a new shopping center that is there that we have never been to, or we went to it but didn't have time to look around. Maybe another day.

By the way, the dog has gone crazy. It is constantly staring at the floor looking for spots of light so it can chase them. This might not be so strange, but the dog is constantly looking at the floor watching for spot of light so it can chase them. Not sure why he has decided there are spots of light to chase, but he has been doing it for a number of weeks now and I only mention it because he is standing next the chair, staring at the floor again.

Maeghan and William are playing some game on the Xbox. Not sure what it is but they sometimes play Minecraft together and I think it might be one of the offshoots of that. It has dinosaurs in it but I think Maeghan said she built it so I am not sure what game there is that you can build dinosaurs and ride them. Looks a lot like Minecraft though.

That's all I have to say for now. I have to go take a shower and get ready to go shopping. Even we are not going to the new Costco, I still need to go shopping for stuff. Probably just going to the local shops, Morayfield, so it will be really boring and not a lot of fun. But I still need to go shopping. Juanita just mowed the grass so she might be ready to go. Then again, she will probably have to take a shower also, so it will be a couple of hours before we leave. 

By the way, I am on the home computer, not a laptop or at work and I have found that I can really type again. Not like when I do it at work or when I try to type on a laptop, but a real keyboard and it seems to be going very well. Not many mistakes I have to go back and correct. Or, at least, I have not noticed them and I seem to be typing with some of my old speed. My hands have gone numb, but I think that is because the keyboards feet have broken off and it is at the wrong angle to type. But I am keeping up a fairly speedy pace.

But that's all for now. Have to go shower and get some of the glue off where they attached all the leads last night. It was very painful taking them off, pulled all the hair off. You can see it on the patches of skin it took also. 

Ok, time to fry.

Until next time,

Later

Remember

It will all be ok in the end, and if it's not ok, then it's not the end. 

 

MWNews 228

This brings me to my first question. If everyone quits in an IT department, does the job get easier or harder. We are about to find out.

I am not well today. Don't know if it is lack of sleep or some kind of precursor to a disease, or maybe I am just old. Any of those could be the culprit, but I suspect it is microwaves. That's how they are going to get you, microwave your donuts and see if you can survive. It's a good plan, but sneaky, really sneaky. 

Not a lot of good stories to tell. Most of these days are a blur. I don't remember what day it is, so I get surprised when things happen that I did not know anything about. Take for instance, it is almost time for me to go home and I should be packing things up in preparation for running out the door. But here I sit, typing into this here machine, and what is it for, a little campfire music that can only be enjoyed when you go to the market. It is disturbing.

I am not sure when I started typing in this entry. It was a few days ago. I am certain it has made no sense so far. We might try to keep up with that trend.

Juanita has lost 30 kilos. She is very proud of herself. She looks good but I always think she looks good, so I am not a good judge of it. I cannot keep a straight thought today, forgot what I was typing in the middle of typing it. I am going to stop and give it another rest. See if I can get more focused later. A lot of it has to do with work, I am pretty frazzled right now and upset by the changes. I will try to calm down and see if I get better.

Didn't calm down, got worse, but let's type for a while and see what happens. Hard to not talk about the work but I am going to give it a try. Not sure what I have to say, but since this is all made up anyway, I am sure I can spin a few yarns.

So, Juanita has lost weight. I haven't. I have been steady at the same weight for a while now. I have not really been trying but I don't ever really try, or I don't really believe in it. Plus, I am too old, so what am I trying to do. My life expectancy is set, not a lot I can do now to change it. I will either die at 70 or live to be 100. Not really anything I can do.

Maeghan is all set to go to the Barbie movie with Shayla. I think they are going Monday or something. Both of them bought a pink shirt and pink socks. Shayla is going to come over to our house and stay the night after they go. I have not been told how they are getting there or how they are getting back. I am assuming I am doing it, but I don't really know. I have been so exhausted lately when I get home from work, I have not been able to do anything. I just make dinner and then go to bed. Sometimes I sleep until the alarm goes off at 3:00, sometimes I wake up at 12:30 and stay up all night. I find it is easier if I have my headphones playing while I sleep. Not sure why, but I seem to stay asleep longer that way. But maybe that is why I am so tired, not really sleeping with them on, only partially sleeping. I don't know.

Juanita has lost part of her sleep machine. I have no idea who you lose part of it since it sits next to the bed all the time, but the filter is missing. She has been sleeping without it lately. I have one also, but she cannot use my mask. It is just an over the nose mask and you have to keep your mouth shut to use it. I don't ever use it mainly because I sleep mostly with my mouth open, and I find the whole thing uncomfortable. I don't wear it. I have had it for a number of years, but I have only used it a few times and not at all in the past two years or so. I don't believe in them, but that is a different story. Juanita seems to be sleeping well without it but I know it will not last long before she goes back to wearing one. Maybe we can get a new mask for mine or a filter for hers. They are both expensive, so whatever is cheaper will probably be what we go with.

Just had the lunch rush at school. The eat lunch rather late here, 1:30. School gets out at 3:15, so they only have one class after lunch. Just seems early to me. Today, they have something called Blue day. Non idea what that means but a lot of the girls are dressed in costumes and there are some activities during lunch. It has been raining off and on, but for now, I don't see any rain so maybe they can go through with the activities.

We go to Costco tonight. We usually go on Thursday. I have someone up here at work that is hinting they want to join Costco and they want me to take them sometime to see what it is like. I am not sure when he wants to do this but he lives over near the other Costco, so it would have to be a trip for me, unless he wants to drive all the to my house to go. We live on opposite sides of town. He tells me there is a new Costco somewhere. I have been hearing they are going to build a new one, but he seems to think it is already built. I have my doubts. Maybe I should look it up. I just did. It would appear there is a new one on the Gold Coast, near Dreamworld. Might have to take a trip over there soon just to check it out.

I don't hear any festivities at the moment. I wonder if they have not started yet or if they have cancelled it because of the rain. Hard to say. I can hear all the girls at lunch. None of them are coming in here. They usually do that just after lunch, before their last class. Some of them come in to borrow a laptop as theirs do not last all day. There are chargers around the school, but not nearly enough. And the ones we have are broken a lot of the time. I have to run over an fix them. Problem with that is, they do not come here to ask me to go fix it until I have a room full of students, so it makes it difficult to break away and go do that.

I was just told they are redefining all the roles at work. No one has talked to me about anything. I think I need to leave or take some time off. In any case, I am going to stop typing. Too much going on for me to contemplate.

Until next time,

Later

Remember

It will all be ok in the end, and if it's not ok, then it's not the end.