Wednesday, August 17, 2011

I'm back, again

I suppose I should give an interim report after being MIA for what seems like months.

Weight: Don't ask. I'm eating my way out of a nervous collapse and if keeping my mind (Ha!) means being mistaken for Moby Dick, I don't care. I am hanging on by a thread and an apple cake.

Diabetes: Stable. I do a blood test in the morning and last thing at night and cheat like hell during the rest of the time.

General Health: Crap. Sinus infection makes me dizzy. Lungs have given house room to some virus that feels like it's sucking the water out of every cell, making my lungs feel like they've been tracking through the Sahara for a week.

Mother: Worried. She always is when I'm crook just in case I drop off the twig and leave her to the tender mercies of my sister. The rest of the time she's off to the coffee and cake shops, crafting cards, with bereavements slightly ahead of birthdays and conning most of the staff into shopping for her.

The BrickOutHouse: Still grieving for the kitty. Still shows no sign of leaving and I am not about to throw him back into the arms of "the girlfriend of very little brain". Still has three cars in my drive and knows every inch of them but can't remember to put the bins out on Wednesday nights. I waver between finding him a good woman and footing him up the backside with a steel capped Blundstone boot.

Financial: Good gravy on a sausage, the bills!!! Insurance for the contents has yoinked way up but the actual premium hasn't. It's the fire levy, state levy and the GST. I don't know what it would be like without my old age pensioner and no claim bonus discounts. The house insurance also went up but that's a direct debit so it's not as bad as the contents. I'm sure they write those clause booklets in ancient Egyptian then translate it into something like English but I can never understand a damn thing. I really tried to read and understand it after the flood fiasco in Queensland. It seems like I am covered for every thing including planes and/or meteorites crashing through my roof but if rain comes in through the said hole and ruins the contents then I'm not covered.
And then we have the Council Rates. Four years ago or thereabouts, I was paying by Postbill, a fortnightly sum which continued throughout the 12 months but with internet banking, Australia Post just up and stopped it, cretins. I rang the Council wanting to pay with Direct Debit but the arse in charge said people wouldn't leave the money in the bank. I continued to pay at the Post Office fortnightly and as long as I paid they couldn't do a thing and I kept going long after the rates were paid and the rest came off next year's bill. So now they have trumpeted a new arrangement, we can pay by direct debit in 10 equal instalments except I'm not, I will go on doing what I'm doing and I hope I'm annoying them.
This year I have a new charge on the rate and valuation notice.
Waste Choice C - Landfill Levy Charge ($25 p.a.) On the back of the notice it says: A service charge applying to developed residential properties for the collection and disposal of refuse (includes Landfill Levy) where applicable. No other explanation and if it's a choice why am I being billed for it?
The City of Kingston is now on Facebook. Oh gee golly gosh, does that excite me not in the least.

And I've found out that if I don't want a smartmeter then I can tell them to pissoff in no uncertain terms. I don't want a smartmeter. They're getting told.

Any good news? Our dearly beloved Lord Hughes of Fleetwood has deserted Farcebook (took him long enough) and has come back to the welcoming bosoms of blogdom. I must go and find my book of pommy insults.

9 comments:

Jayne said...

After hearing/reading about the noxious vile odours wafting with vigour from said tips (sorry, wastefill) they should be paying us to put up with the stench.
FB isn't so bad, it's a good waste of time :P
Treat yourself to a spicy soup, it'll clear your sinus' within a bulls roar of a second :)

Elephant's Child said...

Welcome back. I sadly fear that a lot of your complaints could be matched here. The health - crap, the bills ditto. If I thought I could get anything for him I would sell the smaller portion. Gas, electricity, water rates, house and contents insurance. Aaaargh. And as a self funded retiree of slightly under retiring age no concessions to be had. Bah humbug. And I love, love, love that you are giving the council the irrits by paying your bills.

And Jayne is right about the spicy soup. To be enjoyed with crusty bread and followed by chocolate.

R.H. said...

Can't find your book of pommy insults? Let's know and I'll send you a copy.
I wrote it.

JahTeh said...

Jayne, you'd be getting a snootful if the wind is in the right direction from Clarinda.
The sinus season has hit early this year but I'm getting plenty of Vitamin C from the orange tree outside the back door.

EC, my sister doesn't believe in insurance which is why her important jewellery is at my place. She's probably right about contents insurance since no-one in their right mind would steal all my stuff but it's scary what 7pieces of jewellery can add up to.

Robbert, speaking of insults, got any good ex-husband ones. Mine are getting a little stale.

Ann ODyne said...

dear Moby Diva dahling - the health and the cost of living can be ignored while reading The Dilly Mailonline.co.uk bringing us distraction in the form of the daily tragedies of the rich and skinny.
It works for me.
Did your household policy claim extra for you being in a bushfire hazard zone because of Kingston Heath Golf Club next door?

Brian Hughes said...

Put the book back, Witchy, before you do your back in. I'll get the forklift.

River said...

"Godd gravy on a sausage"
I love that so much, I'm going to use it.

Go to the council office and check on that Waste Choice C thing. It may be a charge that has always been included. but now is separately listd so that people know exactly what they are paying and what for.
If it really is a new thing, then find out if it is a choice or compulsory.
Refuse to leave their offices until you get answers. Take a thermos of spicy soup with you.
For the sinuses, get some pure peppermint oil and put a few drops on a hanky and breathe it every few minutes, for night time pin a hanky with the oil on it on a part of your pillow where your face won't roll on it, the fumes will keep you breathing easy while you sleep.
BOH? no effing idea how to help there.

JahTeh said...

Annie O, love the Mail and its contingent of skinny skanks but on the up side they do have a brilliant science section which is more than I can say about any Melbourne paper.
It was never the golf course I had to worry about, it was the grassland under the electricity steel things that caused our last emergency but Mirvac and Australand have taken care of that with their concrete jungles.

Ever the gentleman, MiLord. But save the forklift for teh whisky and Sedgwick insults.

River, I use a salt spray called 'Fess' which cleans out the dust and pollen. I sprinkle calming oil blend on my pillow at night to help sleep.
I think that charge has always been there *hidden*, but I'm waiting for Jayne to see if the same charge is on her rate notice.

iODyne said...

'calming oil'? if it comes in 44-gallon drums please order me a couple as I need to swim in the stuff.