Did Steve Pinker do this to me??

He does have this effect on me...but no, I got an electric shock on Wednesday afternoon.  I was changing a light globe which had gone off with a bang a few days before, tripping the switch.  A kind neighbour came in and put the new globe in, with me insisting he turn the thing off in the meter box while he did so. There's obviously something wrong so I rang an electrician who said if we hadn't had a safety switch I would have been dead. 

I also rang my doctor, who said to go to the hospital to have an ECG.  I didn't, as I felt OK, but at bedtime (after talking to Philip and all on Skype) I checked with Dr Google, who said anybody who has any type of electric shock MUST go to the hospital, so I drove myself there.  Everything was OK.

I've never had such a fright in my life!

Steve Pinker took this!

I didn't think THE GREAT MAN had been to Australia, but he obviously has, as he's got lots of photos taken in Tasmania on his website.  He's giving a talk at the Opera House at the end of August, so I'll be there with bells on!

Am finding my To Do list very helpful in keeping me going.  It's easy to see what I do too much of, like drink coffee, and none at all of, like learning Japanese or doing family history.

I laughed at your comment, Winifred.  But it's not meant to be things to do every day.

Sunday

Had a lovely morning tea with friends - just look at the size of the croissant!  That certainly gets a cross on my To Do list.  But after that I went HEALTHY FOOD shopping, so that gets a tick. Then I went for a walk and took the next two photos not far from home.

Good that you've shown signs of life, Frank and Winifred.  But Michael, where are you??

Aha - I've figured out a way to keep track of what I do!

To Do 2014

From June 21

Walk

Heartmoves

Use it or Lose it

Japanese

English lesson

Piano

Dust, Vacuum

Shower P

Clean bathroom

Iron

Wash up

Wash clothes P

Sudoku, crosswords P

Jigsaw puzzles P

Friends

Plan meals

Food shopping

Cook

Listen to Radio BBCPABCP

Lose weight 66.2kg

Read paper P

Sleep in P

Bad sleep P

Good sleep

Drink coffee PP

Weed garden

Sweep outside

Read Italian book

Read French book

Read in English

Journal

Sort bills, papers, etc

Save money P

Buy clothes

Tidy kitchen

Emails

Blog

iPad

TV

Cats know how to live...

'Progress' is a funny thing.  I frequently compare my life to Muffy's and wonder where it all went wrong.  She wakes me at 6 every morning, as regular as an alarm clock, pops out into the garden to do a wee, and comes back in for her breakfast - special stuff sold only by vets (of course).  It's then time to chase leaves or butterflies in the garden, followed by a sunbake beside the pool and a lick to clean herself.  Later in the day she curls up on her outside bed, sleeps till dinner time, comes in and demands more food, hops onto my lap while I watch TV and check her for ticks, complains when I get up to go to bed, but happily tiptoes behind me into the bedroom and sleeps soundly on top of me all night.

Every day is the same.  On the other hand, I get up and head for the loo, have a wash, clean my teeth and comb my hair, have breakfast, wash up, tidy up, put a load of washing in the machine, hang it on the line, sweep the yard, have a shower and wash my hair, put on face cream, eye cream, lip cream, makeup, dry hair and put stuff on it, get dressed, walk Emma to school, practise the piano, learn some Japanese, do the shopping, check my emails and fight with the computer when it doesn't want to work, prepare lunch, make some phone calls, do some gardening, go to exercise class, pick Emma up from school, take her to piano lesson, come home, dust and vacuum, do the ironing, prepare and eat dinner, wash up, watch a bit of telly, then fall exhausted into bed with a heavy cat on top of me.

Now I ask you, which of us has it all worked out?

Winter sky - at last we are having some colder weather!

This is my very own photo!  My camera died a long time ago - on 25 Sept last year, in fact - so I asked Philip to recharge the battery in the replacement camera he gave me.  I got it back just the other day, by which time I'd completely forgotten how to use it and how to upload photos to the pc.

You can imagine how pleased I am to have figured it out all by myself just now!

I'm also very pleased with myself for having driven back from the airport last night after delivering the family who right now are in Disneyland in Tokyo.  I find airports anywhere in the world intimidating and they are the last place I want to be.  (Years ago, I used to love them and when I lived in France even considered applying for a job at Charles de Gaulle in Paris.  But I left my husband instead and ended up working as a gynaecologist's receptionist in a small country town!)

I haven't heard from you Winifred, Frank or Michael for ages.  Are you OK????  Please email me.

Winter in Sydney

I've stopped swimming in our pool, but many are still enjoying our balmy winter days in the ocean (which is always warmer than pools).

Got a surprise email from a Newcastle friend the other day, telling me she's sold her house and has returned to England to be nearer her family.  She's in Wellington, Somerset, so I hope you can meet her one day, Winifred.

Another surprise email this morning from a friend who writes the occasional blog.  The three he started with lately are powerful reading, which I recommend to all of you:
rajivrattan.blogspot.com.au.  

Our hottest autumn ever

Whether it's caused by man or not, our weather is a worry.  We have a wattle tree in full bloom just round the corner, and it shouldn't be out till September!  All the flowers are confused, not to mention most of the people.  For days on end we've had temps in the mid 20s - just wonderful to experience, but let's hope it doesn't augur badly for the future. 

Retailers are struggling to shift winter clothing and other seasonal items, such as ski gear. Many Sydney residents were expected to bypass the usual winter shopping spree altogether. Councils across eastern Australia have also decided to keep swimming pools open into early winter.

Winifred, enjoy your break.  It's great to think the kids are grown up and off with their own friends and other family.  The best thing we can do for them is give them independence.

Hugo actually only eats noodles with his chopsticks.  I had a spoon and fork at the ready, but he knocked them back.

I'm off to bed now to listen to The Archers.

Worth more money

Can you imagine what it's like feeding Hugo with (training) chopsticks????????????  I made so much mess helping him just now, he ended up wiping me down!  I've never mastered chopsticks myself and seriously question any culture that uses them when there are such things as knives and forks! 

This morning while I was supervising Emma's piano practice, Hugo got the box of handmade Christmas decorations and hung them all over the living room. Time's going so fast I thought we might as well leave them there.

The other grandparents are away, so I'm now in charge of both children, which is quite a challenge.  Fortunately my hip is much better and I'm now in new orthotics.  A physiotherapist is calling this afternoon, in spite of my saying last week I didn't need him.

A night in hospital

I woke up round 3am on Wednesday with excruciating pain in my right side and struggled into the kitchen to get a pain killer out of the fridge, then slid to the floor in agony, wondering how I could get to the tap for some water.  I realised there was a bottle of water within reach, so swallowed the tablet with water from the bottle, all the while coming out in a terrible sweat.

I struggled to my feet, went back to the bedroom and fluffed up the pillows but couldn't bend or raise my right leg to get myself in.  I didn't want to wake Philip, but after about an hour or so of suffering I had to, so went upstairs in agony and he drove me to the hospital (only 10 minutes away).

The service was wonderful!  They did an ECG, blood tests, temperature, BP and x-rays, and came to the conclusion since nothing was broken that it was possibly a pinched nerve in my right side.  I wouldn't have believed that pain could be so bad - I gave it a 10/10 level when I tried to move, but nothing when I was still.  A physiotherapist came to me round 8am and said I could go home, and that they would send a physio to treat me at home for a couple of days.

I've never seen so many medical people + ambulance officers + police.  I counted heads at the morning round - 10 doctors and 20 nurses - and ambulance men bringing in a patient. Just imagine the salaries bill for every hospital in the country if they're all like this.

When I was told I could go home, I didn't want to wait in the general area as I was in my pyjamas and brunch coat, so they put me aside in the police room.  It wasn't long before four police officers arrived with a grey/green looking yobbo and I guessed he'd been had up for drink driving and was about to undergo blood and alcohol tests.  When he suddenly asked for a vomit bag I though it was time I made my exit, pyjamas or no.  Poor devil apologised to me as I left!

This morning I went to my local GP who wrote a script for strong pain killers.  Nobody can predict how long I'll suffer - the problem could right itself at any moment, or take months. I'm still OK when upright, but find it very difficult to bend, sit or lie.

I, too, was amazed when I listed so many UK TV programs we have here.  Our ABC does very little, it seems, yet costs us a huge amount.  Mind you, it's hard to reach the high standard of your stuff, Winifred, even though we have plenty of local talent.  We've all been brought up on British programs and have come to love them.