You know what I regret most about this blog. That I didn't keep it up over the years. I am going back through it, reading all my funny posts and mistakes I made, but I see that there are months and years when I did not post. Looking back, I really regret that. At some point, this was really, really good. It changed over the years and I wish I had chronicled it more closely. I am at the end of the day now and I will have to get back to this later, but I just thought I needed to say that while I was thinking about it. Regrets and recriminations, we all have them. It would have been nice to have more of this to read.
Well, I'm back today. Not sure what kind of time I have. Lots of changes at work and no one knows how it will all shake out. Ideally, I would take over, but that is probably not something I want to do. I could make the arrangement to run it until I retire, but that is a lot of learning on my part and I am just not up to that. I say all this because I have more to do at the moment and don't know when I will get back to this. Already been interrupted twice while I typed this paragraph.
Back to the hunt. Juanita came back from her one day trip to Tasmania. And that will be all I say about that.
I had a long lunch with Maeghan while she was gone. We just had lunch. It was very nice. Not sure if we discussed anything other than nothing. I did ask about her friend, the one she lives with. I have the sneaking suspicion that they are not getting along. Maeghan said they were but I still have my doubts. I worry that if they stop being friends, Maeghan will have to move and that presents a whole lot of other issues. She likes living in Beachmere but I am not sure there are other places to live there, plus it is not really a place you can get in and out of without a car. The busses are not reliable and when you take the bus, it adds a couple of hours to the trip before you actually get anywhere. If you miss the bus, you might as well not go. Could be 30 minutes, could be an hour before the next bus. And, they don't run at night, so you have to be home before dark. It's just not a good place to live if you don't have a car.
Along those fronts, Maeghan might be moving forward with getting a license and a car. I don't know all the details but she seemed pleased that something has happened. I think it is just another new person from NDIS working with her and making all the same promises but I suppose we have to wait and see if anything comes of it. I am perfectly willing to help in any way I can, but it hasn't come to that yet. I'd buy her a car if NDIS would pay for the modifications but that is still in the air. I'd buy the modifications if Maeghan wanted to buy the car. The limit I have is I can't do both. I could, but then I would have to die when I am 70 as I would be out of money. Still willing to do it, but I am holding out for NDIS to actually do something before I go that far.
William is still discouraged by the job market. Or I think he is. I don't know if he is actually looking. He or his mother have not mentioned it lately. I know he is keen to get something, but I am not so sure he knows how to do it. Yes, I should be helping him. And I have said many times, I will do it when the time is right. Meaning, I want him to figure it out. It does no good if I do it for him and then something happens to me and he has no idea how to do anything by himself. I think he can figure it out, but as it hasn't happened yet, I am starting to get more and more worried about it.
I don't remember if I told you about the road trip he and his friends were planning. I am not sure I should. Since he can't drive, he is more a passenger on the trip, but apparently they cooked up this idea recently and say they are going to do it.
They want to go to Chucky Cheese. I have no idea why. I explained that Chucky Cheese is a place for little kids. It has nothing for adults. He says it would be cool to go there. Somehow, he and his friends decided they wanted to go. I told him there were places around here that were exactly like Chucky Cheese but you know how that goes. They want Chucky Cheese. And I am tired of writing Check Cheese so hopefully, this will be the last time.
The fact that they have convinced themselves that they want to go there is not the strange part of this tale. It gets totally weird from this point.
When he told me they wanted to go, (almost typed it again), I said there isn't one in Australia. Actually, his mother told me they wanted to go and I told her there wasn't one. She had William tell me what they were planning. I assumed, since it was a road trip, they might want to drive to Sydney because there might be one there. Not an unreasonable trip, about an 8 hour drive. But no, not in Sydney. So then I assumed Melbourne. A much longer drive, but it could be an adventure. It would take them at least three days to get there, two if they pushed it really hard. So they could take a week, go to Melbourne, and then come back. A bit long but he is twenty and he needs to get out more and see the world.
No, not Melbourne. It is in Perth. To give you some idea of what that drive is, imagine New York to Los Angeles. It is minimum of 48 hours driving. That does not include anything else and assumes you can just drive. But let me tell you about a drive to Perth. To do the 48 hour driving route, you have to go the straight line. Not the around the coast route, which would pass through all the major cities in Australia, but the straight route. Through the desert. Across the outback. In the native lands. Yes, you would pass near Uluru, beyond that and much of what is before that, is desert. Several stretches where there are no towns, no buildings, no road in some places, that require you to bring your own petrol. Stretches where there is no petrol for 500 kilometers. Roads that are subject to being washed away if it rains. Places where you can drive for hours and never see anything but desert. Not big sandy desert but rough, flat, scrub brush desert. It is not something you ever want to do.
Yes, trucks and some crazy people do it. But they do it because they have to, not just on a whim. This is harsh country. No one lives there. There is nothing. I have driven a small part of it once, going south to north and not east to west. We went through one part that was 350 kilometers with no towns. At the end, we came to a town and had to spend the night in the car waiting for the petrol station to open in the morning. We were told not to stop in that town. I thought we had to because I was not sure we could make it to the next one. There were no shops, abandoned buildings, very few houses, but some truck filling station that we waited at to see if we could get petrol from them. Along the way, I went through one stretch of road that was perfectly straight for a length of time I had no idea what it was. I tell the story of seeing headlights in front of me and turning off my bright lights as we approached. 20 minutes later, we finally met the other car. It took that long and I could see them that far away that it took us driving towards each other for 20 minutes before I actually needed to turn my brights down. A really desolate place.
But that was, or as far as I know still is, their plan. Four friends, only three of which can drive and they are on their learners licenses which means they cannot drive at night. In an old car that frequently breaks down just driving around Brisbane. Going across the Australian outback with no hope of being able to contact anyone if anything goes wrong. There is no cell coverage out there. I don't even think you can get satellite coverage. It's that far gone. If you were looking for an adventure, this might be the one that you will remember. Kind of rough for the first time out.
Hopefully, I have dissuaded him from this. I don't really know yet. He hasn't mentioned it nor has his mother. Might mean they just don't want me to criticize it again. Another thing we will just have to wait and see.
I have been given a lot of work to do, so I have to go. This entry might be entertaining, if not coherent. It does have to end now though. Not even a chance to go back and reread it for clarity.
Later
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