Insects and technology

Following my experience with the bush cockroach that would not die of my last post (well, not quick enough, lol), I was on a mission. I was grocery shopping later in the week and purchased a can of flyspray that said on the label, "kill with one spray" - a label that filled my heart with joy. I did not have long to wait to use it. I was no sooner ensconced for the night, affixed to the couch in front of tv and laptop, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and a cockroach scurrying across the lounge floor. Checking that I had at least 2m of clear space between myself and the insect, I dashed to the cupboard under the sink, grabbed the new can of spray and gave it a blast, expecting that the sodding insect would flip over on its back, feet pointing to heaven, lying extremely still. Wrong. The damn thing ran backwards and forwards across the floor, with me up on top of the couch, blasting enough spray to knock out an elephant. Finally it shot round the back of the couch and disappeared, which meant I walked gingerly about until I went to unplug the laptop from the powerpoint at the side of the couch, and leapt a foot into the air when I espied the dead cockroach on the floor just below the power socket where the laptop was plugged into. One to me, heh heh. A day or so later, and another near miss of a heart attack when I came across another flipping cockroach. Once again I was ensconced on the couch, and feeling a bit peckish, I thought I would saunter out to the kitchen and nibble on a cold pork finger, as you do. As the only doors inside the house are on bedrooms, I had not turned on the light in the kitchen as there was enough light for a raid on the fridge where the pork fingers were resting. I had got one out and had taken a few bites when the rindy, fatty bit came away from the pork finger and fell on the floor. Using the 3 second rule I bent down to scoop it off the floor and eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek, (and there was a scream), it was lying next to a dead COCKROACH on the floor. I was in bare feet - I could have stood on it - arrrrrrrrrgh again. My instant reaction was to leap backwards with the remaining pork piece in my hand. and to jump back onto the couch until my heart rate dropped to a normal rate again. Damn and double damn, as those of you who know me well, know that I would never usually give up the crackling rind end of a piece of pork without a struggle!!!!. But wait,there is more ......... I did not venture back to the kitchen until next morning when it was the full light of day and said insect had been dead for at least 12 hours. Armed with a long handled broom and long handled shovel thingie, I sidled into the kitchen, swept the creature up and dropped it at arms length into the rubbish bin. Feeling a sense of relief I made breakfast and only realised a while later that there was NO pork rind on the floor ............ so what or who had dragged that off in the night ........ OMG what next. This was now war. I had suspected I had a mouse in the house a couple of weeks ago - I hadn't seen it but had come across what I thought was droppings along a ledge in the "pool room" but no other signs so wasn.t sure whether it was a current dweller or a dweller from the past. It just so happened that I was in Bunnings the following day and came across some plug in high frequency thingies that are meant to keep insects and vermin out of the house. I bought two, plus two new continuous spraying insect sprays to go with my death at one spray hand held can and am happy to report, no sight nor sign of an insect or vermin since. Shattered nerves are almost calmed though am still a little wary of wearing bare feet in the house, and have the place fully flood lit as I move about the place at night now just in case, heh heh. Had my three monthly house inspection on Tuesday and got home to find a note from the agent to say the house looked beautiful - may just frame that one, lol. I had mopped all the floors, tidied a few things and at long last gone through the kitchen cupboards putting them to rights. The biggest job was getting all my ironing up to date, which took several goes in the 30Celcius plus heat, and finishing off the back lawns with my handmower, in the same heat. I tackled both in stages early morning and late evening until all was done. I cleaned the stove two days before the inspection so when Jude stayed the night before, we decided to have pizza to leave the kitchen in its pristine state, lol. That and the fact I was knackered from the heat. I got a bloke in to mow the front lawn with its one and one gradient and have to say the whole place did look fantastic, if I say so myself. It is now four sleeps until I am back in NZ, woohoo. This is the longest I have ever been away from home in one stretch I think, ever, so am actually quietly excited about seeing everyone. I get to see sister Kay, Mum and friend Viv on a semi-regular basis on skype so no surprises there but it is a year since I have seen No 1 and 2 sons, wives and No 1 and 2 grandsons. I cant wait to have some Nana time with them both. No 1 son and family are coming to Auckland so the two cousins will get to catch up as well. I am thinking we might get in a trip to the zoo, the museum and maybe a ride on the ferry, (and that is just for me, lol), but have no fixed plans apart from the fact the boys and I will all be in Auckland at the same time. The other event apart from catching up with family and friends, is attending my primary school reunion. I went to Kariaotahi School from 5 yrs until the end of my 9th year and loved it. It was a two room, one teacher school, with a potbelly type fire place in the corner of the front room (how the heck did we ever get away with that ????, would never happen in these occupational health and safety days, lol), and blackboards around two sides of the main room. The school went from primmers to Std 6 or Form 2 ( year 1 to yr 8) and I don't think we had more than 28 kids all up during my time there. There were four kids including me in my year, which gives you an idea of year group sizing. The families that attended came from a mile radius from the school. The school was very much the focal point of the community and has remained so as a community hall since it closed in the late sixties. In fact No 1 son had his 21st birthday there. The school had two locations in its lifetime, and Dad attended when it was in its original spot from memory, with most local families having two generations attend over that time. Work continues to be intense - we had four days training last week in Theraputic Care. The trainer was supberb and I know this because from 8am - 4pm for four days, my attention did not wander once during the training. I learnt heaps and although some basic human development info was a refresher it was great to gain a deeper understanding of how best to work with the kids that we have in care. It would seem I have been working instinctively in some areas the right way but with the training, I can now back up what I do with a more comprehensive approach. We have had an amount of unsettledness amongst our residents with lots of comings and goings through respite care for some and absconding with another. This has led to heightened levels of behaviours with some regressing with toileting, and their coping abilities. I have had to practice lots of patience with some of them ( I know, who knew I had it in me, lol), trying to keep routines going which gives some security to those who do not feel secure. It is not all grim and have had lots of laughs at the same time. I loved it when I told one of our lads to take his shoes off the kitchen bench as we do not put our shoes where we prepare food , when I heard "Look Lynn, I listened" as he stood beaming after complying with my request at first asking. I burst out laughing as not only did he do as he was asked, but he actually knew what he was doing and could tell me in correct context. This from a little boy who knew no emotions when I first started working with him, or had no vocabulary or context for anything that he did (at 7 yrs old). Working with him is like being in a "Mork and Mindy" series. Although he has just turned 8, developmentally, emotionally and cognitively he is probably functioning at a preschool level, though he is coming along in leaps and bounds at the same time. He has no concept of time and asks umpteen times a day, is it morning, is it afternoon, is it night, so have been doing lots of work around that. My response is to ask him back what time he thinks it is, what meal are we having, are we doing morning things, afternoon things or evening things so he learns the code for time. He knows the days of the week but still does not have a total grasp of how a week plays out. He knows Monday to Friday are school days but will ask, is it the weekend yet on a Tuesday for example. I loved it this week when he asked me if I was working today, tomorrow. Scarey thing is I knew exactly what he meant, lol. He is now trying to work out that if I am on a day shifts I will be at work at the same time tomorrow as I am today. We have done a calander with the days I am in NZ marked on it and I have drawn a plane for the day I return so he can keep checking how long I am away. We have had the atlas out and looked at the page that had Australia and NZ on it and looked where Geraldton and Auckland is as well. Our little lass (3 yrs) is mid toilet training and very excited with her successes. She amazes me at the speed she is soaking up knowledge. She has been focussed on shapes and colours this week. She knows circles, squares, rectangles, triangles and stars. We were driving back from dropping the boys at school on Tuesday and said "Lynn, circle", as we went round the round about, and then square at an empty section next to a house. She was pointing at her stripy top and telling me the colours one by one and is now writing her initial for her name and L's for Lynn (which she then turns into squares). I started showing her, her initial drawing in sand back in January, and she is now drawing in chalk on bricks outside, and with a pencil or felt tip on paper. Our 4 yr old lad has learnt songs that I learnt at school as I have sung him to sleep at night. After nursery rhymes, I went back to good old fashioned songs such as "You are my Sunshine","Mary Anne", "Sailor (stop your roaming, not the Rod Stewart version, lol), "This land is your land" (with NZ place names, oops, lol)," Pokarekare Ana" and "Hinemoa and Tutanekai" ( a song I learnt in year 5) to mention a few. It is likely he will have gone to extended family by the time I get back from NZ, and I will miss his "Mum, sing sunshine song", or" sing sailor song". The favourite song of them all is "the Mockingbird" song as in Hush little baby don't say a word, Mumma's going to buy you a Mockingbird", which happened to be in the nursery rhyme book I gave him at Christmas, followed by "Row, row,row your boat" and "Old McDonald has a farm". Over the past couple of weeks I have bumped into several kiwis living in Geraldton - completely unexpected and one you won't believe. I was in what was Dick Smith's (cannot think of it's new name) looking for a new computer mouse the other week when this bloke asked where I came from - I replied I was a kiwi and he asked where from so I told him. He and his wife had moved over last year from Gore (bottom of the south island for those who don't know where it is and only slightly warmer than antartica the last time I was there, lol). It was not long after the Christchurch earthquakes so we commiserated about that and he commented he was going back to NZ for Easter too. At training (and this is the one you wouldn't credit could happen) one of the women from the office was attending who also came from NZ. We ended up at the same table and I asked what bought her over and she said work. She had worked with CYFS in Auckland. When I had to introduce myself I said I had been involved in boarding in NZ in Hamilton and had come over here for work at Tardun. She then said, I have met you before - I had a client in Auckland who was placed at your school and I came down and visited with you both and bang, straight away I knew the girl she was talking about and indeed did remember her visits. It was a very surreal moment. Today I had a plumber turn up to fix a washer and a leaking pipe in the bath room. He asked where I was from and I said NZ, and he asked where from again so I said Waiuku plus have lived several other places. He said he was from Onehunga (where my grandmother was born). He has lived over here for three years and is going back for good at the end of the year. He said when his boss had talked to me on the ph he said she's a kiwi so I guess that means I still sound like me, lol. I am interested to see how prices compare for things on my return to NZ. I hear petrol is over $2 a litre there - here it has climbed to $1.47 though different service stations vary by a few cents up and down with coupon deals. I paid $268 for my last power bill which brings it to just under $400 all up since I moved in here at the end of November which is on a par with what I paid over 15 yrs ago in NZ. Friend Donna ended up with a $800 bill but she has had adult children home all summer and air con going all the time in several rooms. I had air con on when I was gasping but only have it in one room so am extremely thankful for that. There are supermarket wars going on between Coles and Woolworths at the moment so the cost of milk, bread, eggs and chicken have been slashed. You can get milk for $1 ltr, bread for the same a loaf, and chicken was around $4.95 a kilo. Bananas have gone through the roof and have seen them at $13 kilo, brocolli was $6.95kilo and onions $4.95 which are a few that I remember. I have not grocery shopped for myself for several weeks and have been eating out of my cupboards, freezer and fridge to whittle stuff down before heading away. Need to sign off now otherwise it will only be three sleeps lol. Have got Jude's 60th birthday on Saturday night so am staying with her at Dongara and hitching a ride to Perth with other guests who come up for her party. It could be her brother and sister in law or other friends - I am not fussed, as long as I catch the plane. Am leaving Perth around 7pm Sunday and flying Air New Zealand straight through to Auckland - yay. I plan on getting on board, eating dinner and sleeping the rest of the trip over all going well. Night night :)