Home Alone

Lilly pilly berries mentioned in previous posting (above)

my new/old wheels

Do not pass out with shock, - two postings in quick succession, lol but I am awake and siezing the moment so to speak. This weekend between bouts of work, I am home alone as the WM and family have gone camping at Hidden Valley out at Wandalgu, which was where the boys boarded when we were all out at Tardun. They have gone with another ex Tardun mob for two nights away. I would be extremely envious, however they have literally gone bush, no conveniences or ablutions which are basic pre-requisits at my age and stage of life. I can cope with long drops, and boiling water to wash with which is probably my minimum requirements these days. The last time I recall trying to go to the loo in the great outdoors was on a trip round the south island 37 yrs ago. Just as I wandered into the bush, (bearing in mind, no snakes in nz so one less thing to worry about), and was lowering jeans et al, there was a humming sound, and a cloud on incoming mosquitos/midges flying towards exposed nether region, whereupon, jeans et al were immediately hauled up, and that was the end of that until we reached civilisation which was the next motorcamp we were staying at. (mosquitos or midges in the south island are the size of small aircraft carriers and are carnivourous I swear). I also have work, and as I now have a car here to keep up, have joined the new poor again, lol.

You have 14 days over here to change ownership of a vehicle before being fined a reasonable amount. The seller and the buyer both have to lodge paperwork so there is not a lot of chance to fall through the cracks it would seem. I went to DOT - the Dept of Transport where I had to press a button on a machine that indicated I was there for vehicle ownership where upon it spat out a piece of paper with a number on it and told me to sit down and wait to be called. There was a screen up on the wall behind the counter that indicated which numbers were being seen by which section. when it was my turn, my number flashed up on the screen at the same time an automated voice invited me to go to counter 6 - very trippy indeed, lol. There is not a flat rate here to change ownership, they use a sliding scale of fees depending on the worth of the car. I was charged $57 and the girl laughed when I said, what the car was worth, and what I paid for it was not necessarily the same thing. She updated the details on my licence at the same time, - I will get sent out a label to affix to the back of it with my new address details. There is no registration sticker here anymore to affix to the windscreen, as it is all electroncally logged into the police computer should I be stopped and it need to be checked. The car is registered until July. I asked how much it would cost then and nearly passed out when she quoted between $300 - $400! for a year and around $200 for six months. I am told however that there is an automatic third party insurance that is included in the rego so when taking that into consideration, it probably isn't too bad.

Whilst I was on a roll, I decided to check out RAC which is the equivalent of the Automobile Association in NZ and woohoo, struck lucky there. Because I am a member of the AA in NZ, they waived the joining fee, and have also taken into account my 14 yr membership of same. There were a couple of options re membership, the basic one being attendance and help to nearest town in 100k radius of breakdown, one tow a year, amongst a few other things and is linked to the car only, and then the ultimate level of membership which is linked to the person and covers towing and or pick up anywhere to the nearest member garage, transport for member and up to four persons, and a host of other good things. The first option was around $90, the second just under $200. As you can drive 100's of k's in WA between settlements or roadhouses, even though I am not likely to travel that far in my car, I opted for the you beaut membership, as it means no matter what I drive, I will be covered should any sort of breakdown occur.

So' now I have a vehicle, the next thing on my hit list is new glasses, or at least getting my eyes checked out again. I called into the optometrist in the mall which houses RAC and had my next win for the day. I asked how much for a consultation and because I have a medicare card, the govt covers a large chunk and it will cost me in real terms about $10 for basic eye test, and a bit more for a retina photograph (I think that is what they called it) which they advise for the age and stage I am at, lol. Am not sure if hbf, of the health ins fame covers the rest, but again, it is in the doable range, and will give me an idea if I require a new prescription for glasses or what. Co-incidentally, the business is owned by a kiwi - woohoo. Will check out my work schedule for the next two weeks and make an apt and then I guess it is the dentist!

They have been short staffed at work this week so have had a couple of extra hours overtime which is all good for the new bottomless financial pit I am working towards, lol. Had to load the shake and ice cream machine today (could not dodge it this time), and did so with trepidation but am happy to report managed it without incident. This weeks shifts have all been around 7am ish to 4pmish but have a 3pm - 10.30pm tonight (Sat) and noon to 8pm tomorrow. I bought some gel pads to put in my shoes under my big toes and that has made a considerable difference to my feet by the end of the day which I am very happy about.

I had dinner tonight with Phil - ex Tardun neighbour seeing I was to be on my own (would have come back here and had honey sandwhich if left to my own devices, lol). He did pork strips marinated in a very yummy mix of cumin, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chilli flakes and grated orange zest (rind). We had it with rice, chokos, spinache and cooked beetroot which was an interesting mix but it worked. Havn't had choko's for years and had these steamed with a little butter and salt and pepper so much like zuchinni but not, lol. He had got my fav Castello cheese for a snack before and bless some NZ mussles, and then apple and blueberry crumble for desert with ice cream. We watched Master Chef cooking class afterwards on TV which featured some very yummy recipes that looked reasonably simple to do so am going to google them and try a couple I think.

OMG, have just got up to see it pouring with rain outside!!!!! The sixth time it has rained now this year. It is reasonably heavy which is what caught my attention as it was louder than the sprinklers that go off on the lawn each night. I do hope the campers are escaping the wet though the farmers out there will be blessing any rain so they can get started seeding for this years wheat crop. Thank goodness for work this weekend, lol.

It is well past the witching hour so will sign off for now.

Still alive and kicking

For those who are extremely patient with my lapses in writing regularly, bless and now it is time to put the coffee on/ grab a wine and have a sit down as I try to catch up.

The good news is, I have been working flat out since the day after I got back. I am not sure the last time I have been so unutterably tired as the first week back - the days passed in a blur and some days I would get home and be asleep within the hour, completly knackered. However, over the past three weeks, my stamina has increased and have even worked over time when asked a couple of times. Have done a variety of shift patterns and can not pick one that is better than the other, it depends a lot on who comes through the doors and how busy you are. Some days, the hours fly past, then a couple have dragged interminably. Have had several positive comments from one of the trainers on my improved ability on the till etc, and have to chuckle now as there are people newer than me, who know less than I do, something I would not have thought possible a few weeks ago! One of the newbies is a young bloke (20's?) who was on with me during days, training last week. He has a great sense of humour and is a very willing worker, making an impression on all the older staff in the store. He had been working with the younger crew on morning shift (who spend a good amount of time talking to the boys at the back) on Sunday, and when I worked in at lunchtime to work behind the counter with him, he launched himself at me giving me a huge hug in front of the whole store thanking me for turning up so the shift would be fun!!!! It does make the time go faster when you are working in sync with other people and can have a laugh at the same time.

Have done a "close", which meant I worked until 1am shutting our area down, without any prior training , cleaning and leaving the place stocked for the following morning. Thankfully, there was another person on in drive through who knew what they were doing and guided me through some of it while I continued serving and she did the rest. One of the funniest things last week, was the WMH showing me how to fill up the ice cream and milkshake machine with product. I had to lug two large plastic bladders of milk mix from the fridge placing them respectively into a sort of wire basket that clipped shut with the bladder inside, resting the bung ( much the same as an air bed bung) into the lip of the basket, get up onto a plastic step, pull the bung out, and empty said product into the machine which is whirling and twirling in the vat type respositary at the same time. The first one went ok, except I could barely get the bung out, precariously perched as I was. The second was all going well, when whoosh, the bladder slipped out of the cage, into the vat right before my eyes. I was in fits of laughter, the WMH going OMG what next, as he had to fish the bladder out, with milk stuff going everywhere. It was right on the end of my shift, and funny thing is, I haven't been asked to do the job again, heh heh. On my first day back, I was at the cooking vats when some hot fries, straight out of the boiling oil landed on my arm. I was going like the clappers, bagging fries as they were virtually walking out the door so although I felt a buring sort of pain, had no time to stop for at least 30 mins before I could go put some ice on it from the ice machine. Talk about war wounds, I think I will survive without scarring, but the burn was bad enough for Mum to notice it on my arm when we were talking on Skype, lol.

Mother's Day has been and gone and we had a very lazy day here. Thankfully, I did not have to work, so had a leisurely start to the day as I was building up for the roast pork dinner that night. The size of the roast was huge of dinosaur proportions, woohoo, so there was ample crackling which was even better. One of our old Tardun neighbours came for tea with her two boys and there was still enough meat left over for two more meals. I had an email from No 1 son, and a phone call from No 2 son, so both remain in the will for another round, lol. I had barely turned my computer on that morning, when up popped Mum on Skype so had a good catch up with local news from her.



Since being back, I have had three finds in the food department. There is a shrubby tree growing out in the garden that I thought was a coprosma with purplish red berries on it, but when visited by Clair (ex Tardun) last weekend, she said they were lily pilly berries and quiet edible. Well, how interesting were these berries. They are roughly the same size as a red guava, with a round pip in the centre. The flesh is crispy like an apple and the flavour is similar to apple and guava I guess - so, woohoo, the possiblilites are endless. Because we all thought they were poisonous berries, this year's crop was mostly wasted, but thinking on, you could make wonderful jelly, jam, relish etc out of them ...... watch this space.



Called round to Phil's the other weekend and he had a veritable spread on for afternoon tea. Jude had come and picked me up so we sat down to the traditional chocolate mint biscuits but he also bought out jam buns, and the piece de resistance - chia bread and ginger honey. OMG, the chia bread is very tasty, full of anti -oxidents etc and bought from Bakers Delight. It was the honey that took this bread to the stratosphere. I have since bought and finished a bottle of this honey, Capilano ginger honey it is called. I have taken to having two or three pieces of bread in the morning or afternoon with honey on it, and do not feel hungry for ages. It took me back to being very young, when Dad used to slice slabs of bread, putting butter and honey on it before he went to milk - I got one too if I went with him. The honey came with a recipie for ginger bread men, -have not tried that yet and may have to buy two bottles the next time - one to experiement with in cooking, and one to continue to eat along the way.



I have finally succumbed to taking out a form of health insurance over here. A firm called hbf has been running a promotion "four for 4" for the last few weeks. I had a spare half hour the other day so dropped in for a chat to see what it was all about. So, for $4 per week, I could be covered for ambulance, and basic dentistry and then a choice of major dentistry, optometrist, chiropractor, physio, etc etc for the other three options. I opted for dentist basic and major, and optometrist and glasses. I can visit a dentist straight away for fillings and cut and polish so to speak, and get my eyes tested straight away, but it is a 12 month waiting list for major dental work (this was said by the bloke talking to me looking straight at the gap in my teeth, lol) and a year to claim for glasses. The young bloke who was walking me through all this then asked if I wanted to have health ins to cover hospital/operations and the like. So, I said, talk me through your number one policy and give the amount. I nearly had a stroke on the spot when he said it would be $44 a fortnight. I told him I didn't spend that much money a year on going to the Dr and had not been for three years since I had to have a medical for my F endorsement bus licence. And that was the cost of sharing a room when in hospital and for basic disasters not major illnesses. Said I would take my chances and what a rort the whole thing was and thank you very much I would settle for what we had already discussed. Then I asked if I could pay it by automatic payment. Well, another round ensued. I could, but would have to pay monthly on invoice because that is how their system works. The other option was direct debit, which I am not a fan of. However, the coup de grace was that the govt gives a discount on direct debit payments that does not occur paying any other way. So have had to go with the theiving sods and do a direct debit. Before I gave in totally, I asked when the fees would be going up as I was sure there was a sucker punch somewhere in all this, and apparently the govt sets the fees every April and they say by how much they will go up! I tell you, I think Ned Kelly (Bank robber way back for those who read this who are not nz or aust) is still alive and well and working for the govt and ins companies over here, lol. I felt sorry for the young lad who did exceptionally well to remain reasonably pleasant in the face of my stunned and amazed stance on their version of highway robbery (apart from the four by 4 which is the price of a good coffee in some places).



Should have started off with the really really good news, which is that last Tuesday I had my interview for a position with Child Protection in Geraldton as a Residential Care Officer. They have a residence in Geraldton where children are placed after being uplifted from their home situations. I had been dipping into my old social work text books that I bought back with me, to familiarise myself with the theory etc of working with children and families a few days prior. As part of my pre interview planning I decided I needed a hair cut and having worked through the weekend, Monday was my only option. I went to ring my ususal hair dresser but OMG because they work Thursday night and Saturday over here - they close on Monday, as do most of the other salons in town. Fortunately, asa lon in the local shopping centre was open and had an a free apt so hied myself down for a cut and colour. I had been there when I first came to Tardun but for only about three times, so got the woman who had done it before except not surprisingly, she did not remember me at first. So much for my brief flirtation with growing my hair into a longish bob again, - it is short at the back again, with more of a slanting bob in the front. The nicest thing about it was that once she knew I was going for an interview, she offered to quickly joojsheit up again for me the following day but they were not open before my interview. Then she gave me a discount on top of that. We bonded on several levels, - we both have the same name, she has been a single parent, and is much the same age as me, so our conversation covered a variety of topics, lol. I am to go back and let her know once I hear the outcome of the interview.

I thought the interview went well - had a panel of three people to talk to, and the questions were the same ones I had already answered in my application, which, fortunately, I had re read that very morning. I adlibbed a few more social worky terms through my answers and they ended the conversation with the question, "had I ever considered going back into social work" to which I replied I had not looked into social work over here as I had been involved in boarding instead but am open to look into it. There are two positions available as a residential care officer, one is a permanent position, the other is a casual position. The whole process is that if I do not get a job in this round, because I have been shortlisted, I remain in the pool of applicants for one year as other situations may come available. At the end of the year, you can apply to be in the pool again. It seems an interesting way of doing things. I will know within three weeks if I have been successful in this round.



The next most exciting piece of news, is that I am finally mobile with wheels of my own. I had been thinking of getting transport for awhile but it was slightly on the back burner. Janette and Farmer Jeff bought a car two weeks ago from the auctions in Perth where they are currently flogging off all the storm damaged cars from that huge storm before easter. They got an amazing deal and for $3000 bought a Ford sedan (cannot remember correct name) which has several dents from hail stones but only three that are obvious and look like the roof has had a golf ball hit it a couple of times. I was looking through the list of last Saturday's cars when Gerard came home and said he had seen a car for sale on the side of the road where the boys deliver pamplets. As it happened, Wednesday, when I drove the ute while they delivered the pamplets, we ended up by driving past it and then on the way back it was gone again. I thought about it over the next day and on Friday when I finished work, Gerard drove back to where it had been parked but damn it wasn't there. The old chappie who lived where it had been parked was on his verandah so we stopped and asked if it had been sold already. It turned out, it belonged to a neighbour around the corner, so he walked round to let them know I was interested, and we followed behind. What would you know, the mother of the bloke selling it on behalf of his sister, comes from Whakatane (nz), lol. Had a look all about the car, and then took it for a run and it all seemed good. I decided to ring Farmer Jeff and ask his opinion so said to the bloke I would get back to him later that night as he was leaving for Perth the next morning with the car if it had not sold by then. Weighing up numerous pros and cons, I decided I would buy the car, so I now own a Hyundai Excell, 1996, very manual and woohoo, wind up windows, windscreen wiper on the back window, heating and cooling of sorts, lol, CD player and lead to join Ipod to car radio so all good to go. Only paid $1550 for it so if it does me for a year at the very least I will be happy. It does come with a trick though. When you start the car, you have to push the clutch to the left as Hyundai's have an automatic disabler type system when the clutch is merely pushed in. I was expecting a move to the left equal to a dislocation of a joint and for the life of me I do not understand how it works, but the merest smidgeon of pressure from foot straining to the left on the pedal seems to do it. Have managed two starts straight away and the rest with a couple of goes, lol. Should be great thigh exercise, laughing lots. So, am now getting to work under my own steam as of Saturday, and wild excitement, made it to the shops yesterday after dropping one of the girls to school late as she had not been feeling well. The only thing is, I bumped into Jude so had a salad and coffee with her for lunch, saw a bargain on a jumper in a shop that was closing down and did some grocery shopping so dollars flew out of the wallet, lol.

OMG, just as I am writing this, there is rain on the roof - the fifth time it has rained since December!!!!! I might add that we have had some freezing cold nights too. One of the boys said it was 5o outside the othernight and I needed two layers of clothing, sox, a duvet and a rug to get warm. Luckily last night wasn't so bad but put an extra woolen blanket on the bed yesterday to go with the fleecy one that lies on top of the duvet. Speaking of beds, - when I was out and about for my interview, I went to Spotlight looking for some embroidery silks, as you do, (for Gerard's mother who does exquisite chrochet) and bought two new pillows. I had watched some program on TV awhile back on the efficacy of using a good pillow and there they were, all laid out in firm, medium and soft, but also grouped as to whether you slept on your stomach, side or back, laughing lots, and all meant to reduce snoring ........ I got one for sleeping on my back, and one on my side and have had the best nights sleeps for ages - who would have thought. Not sure if it is mind over matter but I don't mind and it doesn't matter, laughing lots, it is working.

This weekend I will be here on my own as the family all have the weekend off and are going camping with Jimmy, Clair and kids. They are not going far but want to try out their new tents and have a campfire. I will be working to support my new bottomless pit of mobility and health, lol, besides which all my gear for sleeping in the cold is still in storage. I also have plenty of work to do on my assignments to keep me out of mischief.

Hope you have stayed until the end, laughing lots. Catch you again.