Thursday, October 03, 2013

I'm back in Kansas

My house is still standing although the phone line took a battering. Thanks to Telstra being helpful, it's now back online but I'm not telling anyone that yet especially mother. Telstra routed the landline calls through my mobile phone so I wasn't completely cut off, I just let everyone think that for some peace and quiet.
120kmh winds through here two days in a row. The backyard is littered with buckets,  chairs and boxes and they're wet so I'm not picking them up yet. The small branches of the gum tree came down but not the whole tree. Usually I don't mind the wind in the trees, it reminds me of a surf beach and I can go to sleep dreaming of that but this time all I could picture where those photos of lighthouses on the edge of nothing with waves heading for the light on top. The street didn't lose power which surprised me.
Mother heard the storm so she told me as I staggered down to the Home after a no sleep night. She has recovered from the lung rot and is doing well. Bloody terrific, I'm down a hole so deep I can see stars in day time. I keep telling you that she won't go until she figures a way to take me with her and the way I am now, I'll go first.  No arthritis pills for two days and I can barely hit these keys without moaning. I had to get the girl in the pharmacy to crack the childproof lid for me so I could take them at Southland. It's the knuckles across the right hand, burning and swollen and that's the hand that gets whacked because it's the one that hurts, Murphy's Law.
The great and useless IceBear was not frightened of the wind, not at all. Of course he never ventured from the fire to check it out except once when a load of water was dumped on top of him from the tree he was under. I swear his feet never touched carpet until he was on the bed and rolling on my doona cover to dry off. Cracking the tops on his cans of food isn't a load of laughs either.
And something else that hurts, using the remote control for the TV. I just have to calm down whenever politics hit the screen and take my time removing the offending politician from my sight (all sides).
I did enjoy Julia's interview though. She could have dumped a bin load of crap on all of them but didn't and I will buy her book when it's finished.
Phone is ringing, shame I'm here and it's out there. I'll ring the old girl later, much later, maybe next week.

8 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Aaargh. So not fair.

And I too will buy Julia's book. I have been so impressed with her dignity...

Is there anything that we/I can do to help?

River said...

That wind was pretty ferocious wasn't it?
My arthritis is no way near as bad as yours, but here's a tip that might help....at bedtime, rub in some deep heat as if it was hand lotion, then put on some white cotton gloves to sleep in.
Good to hear mother has recovered, she is well enough now to manage without you running up there every five minutes. Call her later.
Use my kids version of later which is "sometime before the end of the century".

Fen said...

Twas a diabolical couple of days, I'm glad you didn't blow away.

I watched Julia too, and was also impressed. She's very dignified.

Anonymous said...

River's comment does my head in. Rub in Deep Heat and then put on cotton gloves for sleeping! So what do single women do while they are sleeping?

R.H. said...

There was a blackout here, around eleven at night. I crept around with a torch.
Miss Gillard is dignified?
Sure, anyone that comatose looks dignified.
What do solo parents think of her?

River said...

Andrew; the gloves are in case you should rub your eyes in your sleep, perhaps while dreaming.

JahTeh said...

EC, I liked that she kept silent until after the election and she's not saying much while the Leader selection is ongoing.

River, I use the Ice Gel but I see that Voltaren now has a cream for the bones not just muscles, expensive though. I could never wear gloves when it was the done thing let alone now.

Fenstar, I'd forgotten you were so close to me. I hope the tomato plants were well protected.

Andrew, ever had Deep Heat accidentally touch eyes or mouth, ouch. And what we do when sleeping is dream of Female domination and males where they belong, under our boots.

RH, I have a torch in every room just in case. Bad mistake about the solo parents but it happened in the Howard years as well, if I remember right. Single mothers could only stay on benefits until the youngest went to school then it was look for work.

River, as I said, Female domination and blokes in their proper place and some placed in leaky boats way offshore.

R.H. said...

That's no surprise from a Liberal govt, but when I saw Labor going the same way I thought they'd lost their marbles. Really, it's not cynical to say that in the end principles don't matter, it's all about keeping your job. And mind you, there's plenty of voters on both sides relieved not to be hearing that horrible voice of hers over the next three years.