Amongst everything that happens and is discussed we both keep returning to conversations and stories not complete.
Did you know today (October, now some time passed) twelve people were blown away and one person died in Wellington the windy city in New Zealand. The person that died was hit by a falling tree.
She also states she would not get blown away. I do love self-deprecating humour, but I still offer her a snort of laughter and disbelief. I tell her I wouldn’t get blown away as I would wrap my one good arm and both legs around not a man but a street pole of some sort. I later demonstrated this very thing to our great amusement and anybody else who happened to witness it on a corner near one of our destinations to achieve things. We can walk around a corner where it creates a wind tunnel and were surprised by the force of the wind.
These days I like people who offer me more solutions than problems. It is to say even if I’m not paying them out of pocket and its coming from my NDIA funding I want solutions. Efficiency is also ideal. One of the many conversations trying to solve the problems around my scooter and storing it and powering it, etc.
Oh my God and when I moved almost a year ago now, I cannot tell you what I would have given somebody to not need to discuss dishwashers ever again, but my scooter. Just kill me.
Had a meeting with an OT, who I will add should probably have been project managing solving this issue! and when she looked to depart, I said to her “Aren’t you going to stay to discuss shed’s and storing solutions?” I was informed she had another client to go see and she didn’t know anything about “sheds!” Fuck! I didn’t either but I might have considered she could have learnt.
I will point out now for over fifteen years when my first OT sorted my scooter, the funding for which and separate funding for a shed from a separate NGO, for which every place I’ve rented since I’ve been able to put the shed on the property somewhere to house and charge and secure the precious hellonwheels.
Landlords came to the party with little effort to install a live power supply. One property manager when I dropped in for a friendly chat to let him know I would be formally giving notice to vacate he told me, “You’ll be leaving the shed?” My landlords were wogs. As was he, and I had no problem reminding him the shed was mine and he could “Fuck off!” so it was never mentioned again. They are lucky the police had not been contacted after my landlord had gotten handsy and I on a second occasion took the time to explain to him he had no right to ask what he had of me and no right to imagine what he had. I will hope you get where this was going? He did not think he had done anything wrong and he was only dissuaded from his thinking when I suggested we ask his son to join the conversation and see what he thought. His son parked out the front to deliver his children before breakfast, then he collected them after work at the end of the day. The landlord lived very close by. The son was close to my age, I know he would have not been impressed by his father’s actions.
I’ve not told many of what happened on several occasions in my home where you should feel safe, where you pay money to someone who therefore has power and responsibility over you, but the few people either did an incident report and another told me I definitely had a skill set that many did not.
In case you are concerned I was not assaulted. I’m not a victim or a survivor; I just didn’t appreciate his hand being anywhere on my person he thought he could put it for whatever his intentions. Not complaining. I think I look back at all the jobs, in clubs or elsewhere and they all gave me certain skills, a calm confidence to deal with situations most do not have to in a workplace.
You should take it for granted that I’m nice, I’m sweet, but you don’t mess with me. Few people have learnt this the hard way and karma is a Bitch! And so am I.
That got dark, didn’t it? I just mean when people do me wrong, I point out to them the error of their ways so they are not misled to think they can take advantage of me or others.
I should also say if you have been inflicted with attention you did not ask for whatever the outcome, please talk to someone you trust, a friend, a person in a position to help guide or navigate unfamiliar territory. But tell somebody. It’s not your fault and you didn’t ask for it. I wonder if I should have offered a trigger warning at the beginning of this post. It is not where I intended for it to go, so I apologise if anybody has reason to feel traumatised.
If people are unaware, I’m telling you now. I do not go to bed early; I’m also not a morning person. Even the receptionist at my chiropractors today was impressed when I told her I got to bed last night before midnight. So, here’s how that goes, got to bed last night by 11.30pm. Woke the first time around 12.30am, meaning that had been a fucking waste of time Then, 2.30am, 3.30am, 4.30am, then 5.40am at which point I set an alarm for 6.01am, so I can hit the MEPACS button and sleep past 8.30am, until my carer arrives. I got back into bed at 8.01am, rolled over to see the bedside clock and a black mark on the wall.
It looked like a white tail spider, prompting me to get straight back out of bed and grab a shoe stating to nobody in particular, “Alright I’ll get it and Where’s my Husband?”
I do my best work when nobody’s around to witness it and ladies, we all know even if I had a husband, I’d likely be the one sorting out the spiders, trades and the criminal reinforcements. That didn’t sound right.
I must say even on my busiest days with the right carer I can sneak in a call to stop a payment to someone who hasn’t don’t their job and doesn’t deserve to be paid, I can take a call from Said Individual where I don’t know the payment has been stopped but the receipts she was meant to forward for reimbursement and the OT report that was meant to sort my replacement scooter did not get forwarded. In fact, that report put a Band-Aid on that issue and there did fuck all in solving any of that problem ongoing. So, annoyed right now.
But the right H’R.ing Human Resourcing and I’m eating my breakfast on the way to my midday appointment. Cos, that’s how I roll. And while my music is playing in her car, calls come in from the individual who had rung me earlier. She informed me she had done the things I already understood her to had done. I confess, I’m not experienced to do texting in the car through the car system, but my carer responded appropriately and I provide the blunt query, “Does that mean you hadn’t done it before now?” You are correct, she did not respond to that.
Why is every time I ask a friend how to, I don’t know today’s example format a Hard Drive. Which for the remainder of this post will be provided with a simple and efficient HD. Why do they always provide this tech support so that its only ever supports PC Users?
Yes, they do know. It’s like you’re just like to tell you how simple it would be. I mean, how about don’t? I could barely string a sentence together a few days ago I don’t think tech is advisable.
I have had a few Computer-Friendly friends over the years which is to say they speak fluent computer. Both PC and Apple/or Apple and PC.
These days I wash my hair twice weekly. I know today is going to be a boring blog post, but I think my life is full of little humorous moments and I like to share. Strap in, You’re Welcome.
Some of you might have read my early posts where I unpacked having had radiation treatment where I was left with bald, I mean BALD patches all over my head. I had a boyfriend back then who buzzed my hair back to a Number 1 and I’d had waist length hair, so my hair had been a big part of who I was.
The last fifteen plus years I’ve grown back my hair and had regular trims to keep it healthy. But it’s never likely going to be as long as it once was or as healthy. I’m also fighting the crazy lady hormones that doesn’t do our hair or skin any favours.
So, every Monday and Fridays my carer takes my hair down from the sassy bun I wear it in and gives it a brush. When I’ve had older carers, we have noticed my curly hair gives me a Diana Ross vibe. My carer wondering how I know who that is? Because I’m older than they realise.
This Monday gone my carer left the room and when she came back I was still sitting in the area referred to as the hairdressing area. She stated, “You know who your hair makes you look like?” I quickly responded Diana Ross? She is too young to know who that is, but I will give homework and if you don’t know you just got homework also. And she responded with one word. Dry, Succinct, Harsh.
Hagrid.
I snort a laugh. It’s not the first time and I have another sibling who is more Hagrid in the hair department. You have to laugh.
Do you ever have those days where you want to have some big impact and if you can achieve the result, you are after it will be really impressive? Now, I know music and probably my taste is not for everybody. However, I like a lot of different music and I have not changed my level of interest in music since my days of Original Helen.
So, I guess, I know my followers and likely my reach won’t likely cut it by which I mean won’t get to the right eyes and ears perhaps we can imagine the law of six degrees of separation and if you follow my blog and you know anybody with the right contacts, or think you might, please just share my blog post to them with the express interest to get to the right people. Because this is my point.
Not since 1994, has my favourite band toured in Australia and they have had four or five World Tours since then, I thought World Tours would include Australia, apparently NOT.
Now, I do vehemently stand behind my statement that I barely drink, it’s very true despite the fact I have some serious alcohol in my home. Today I also went to a drive through bottle shop, also fondly referred to as a Bottle-O. Monday I bought some large jars and today I scooped up 2 Kilos of cumquats to make cumquat brandy. So, having a bottle of brandy at home already, I would be very annoyed if I started this process only to find I didn’t have enough brandy. I make a batch every few years as they need to marinade for four years. My oldest jar is about twenty years and its very dark I’m not wanting to need to crack that one open. I use the cumquats in my baking and the brandy is very nice in some lemonade, specifically Tarax Black Lemonade. It’s a nice Ladies drink, otherwise known as an aperitif. Explaining it like this, do I sound like a drinker?
It’s always much fun at a Bottle-O as I need to be directed to the brandy and they always show me their most expensive drop. I tell them I want the cheaper end of the market because when I’m done with it, it will be top shelf. The banter with the rather young male staff goes well and I mention while referring to my late-twenties carer I once went there for a small and cheap bottle of red wine to put in my bolognese and despite my carer being twenty, they asked her for ID, I asked today “Why don’t you ask the mid-life crazy ladies for ID?” I suggested while I’m not there for wine, they must see many hormonal women they just want to get them outta there with their wine.
Going to the post office I went to collect my two small parcels and I was offered five boxes of wine to which I swiftly replied, “No Thanks!”
So, circling back to my parting from the Bottle-O and my carer takes the purchase and calls back to me we can go. “Come on! Let’s go home and get drunk!” I laughed but hope he believed my version of our encounter. I do love the wit and humour of my carers, and their timing can be absolutely On-Point.
Today’s words of the day – Nose holes, I mean it, um, What? I hear you ask? Yes, exactly. A youngster announces these words to me with great confidence. I comment we already have words for those; they are called nostrils. But to my great amusement she is sticking with Nose Holes. They have been causing much grief with both hay fever and blood noses and she tells me they are both suffering equally.
I have suggested she needs to eat more meat as she might be anaemic. I’ve suggested to go be seen by a doctor and even my Crazy Lady Hormone Doctor because the report back for my bloodwork is very specific and a normal GP will likely glance at some things and be rather dismissive.
My recent report has provided me feedback that I have Way Too Much B6. WTF I’m paraphrasing but that’s in most things that goes into or on my person.
I enquired at a Health food Store and he told me it’s in a lot of supplements. All I could say was “That’s all I take!” I had been planning to die healthy one day. Now, it looks like I can die healthy or I can die in pain. These are not great options.
Today I bought the only Magnesium on the market that doesn’t have B6 and I went home dug out my supply of magnesium and gave it to the Nose Hole Inventor of great joy and humour. And while I’ve given her as much direction and recommendation I can as “Not a Doctor.” I’ve already been nudging her towards getting appropriate medical advice. Best/worst case scenario, it helps her with her aching muscles, her sleep, period pain, and the worst case she doesn’t take it at all. Time will tell.
Two weeks after my latest Angiogram, I still had a nasty bruise at the top of my right leg where the registrar had been pushing down on my leg to better manage the wire. You may see a photo of that.
These are my favoured Thunderpants. (www.thunderpants.co.nz) Sorry not sorry. Amusingly, this floral pattern just adds to the old lady vibe, doesn’t it?
I often find I need to give a little TMI to people who see me out in my community, so they do actually realise I’m more disabled than they realise.
There is a regular human I feed treats to his dog Frankie outside my favoured cafe in Fitzroy North every week. He is twenty years older than I am and when I dare mention I’ve been busy with medical appointments, he motions to all the other cashed up Liberal voters that meet for coffee and social time to chat about travels and how nice people are, in XYZ. He is oblivious to how much I have going on. So, on this special occasion I totally flashed him the photo of my bruise.
He has treated me with a different respect since then so totally worth it.
Hell onWheels/Life One Handed 