What a month this has been.

For me, this month actually started at the end of January, just after the Australia Day holiday on the 26^th. I have been working in a position in Griffith, NSW, since August last year and it was time to finally pack up my goods and chattels and move. The sale of a caravan I had, made it possible to start a lease on a 2 bedroom Unit in the town. Griffith is 256 kilometres, or about three hour’s drive, from Albury.

I had moved most of my furniture into the Unit and was now moving the contents of my shed. Nine motorcycles, engines, frames and other associated bits and pieces, to be exact.

My lower back started to give way on the morning of Saturday 28^th January. This happened when I was lifting barrels containing whole engines and gearboxes into the back of my ‘98 Ford Transit Van. With the Van loaded I headed for Griffith to unload and return for more bike bits.

Late that same Saturday afternoon I headed back to Albury for another load. The outside temperature was around 35^OC so I was keeping a watchful eye on the Temperature Gauge in the Transit Van. It is a turbo diesel so hot days do not bother it too much. I had noticed slight increases in the engine running temperature when I changed direction and either drove into the hot winds or travelled with them.

About 15 kilometres north of Walbundrie the needle of the temperature gauge almost jumped out of the window. Because I was on a downhill run I coasted to the nearest dam about a kilometre away, in case I needed water. A quick check under the bonnet made it known I needed water. Steam was gushing from a cooling system hose. That hose was in the most awkward place I have ever seen on a motor vehicle and too difficult to work with on the roadside.

So my plan was to climb through a fence to get water and carefully refill the cooling system. Luckily I had a bucket in the Van. When I got to the fence my back was so painful I couldn’t climb through the fence so I had to climb over it. Getting up was okay but I had to drop (jump) from the top of the fence to the ground. The jolt shot pain through my whole body. I needed two buckets of water to get going again. That meant climbing that bloody fence four times and doing the painful drop each time.

The next 60 kilometres were covered with my heart in mouth while watching the temperature gauge and gritting my teeth each time I hit a bump that jarred my back. But I made it home. Well, to the home in Albury.

It was raining on Sunday morning so I moved the Transit as close to the shed as I could so I could work on it. It won’t fit in the shed because it is too high. While my mind was saying “get in a fix the Van” my back was telling me, in no uncertain terms, it was having nothing to do with the idea. I could spend about two minutes trying to bend over and look into the engine bay before I would have to spend two hours laying down to get my back to agree to another session of trying to fix the Van.

Monday was the same thing. Two minutes trying to undertake repairs and two hours recovering. On Tuesday, I gave up and rang a Chiropractor. On Wednesday I had the standard X-Rays taken and was told I had a severe spinal subluxation. “Beaudy,.. Sounds impressive,... Can I keep it?” It seems a couple of my vertebra have slipped forward and are squeezing the discs making them bulge out. And all of this is causing pressure on the nerve going out to my right leg.

The Chiropractor pushed and pulled, poked and prodded and told me to come back on Friday, which I did. After two appointments with this bloke, I was worse than ever. Now, I couldn’t walk, stand still, sit down, or lay down without being in pain. I was also on a regular diet of Panadeine Extra (Paracetamol plus Codeine) pain killers that were as effective as taking jelly beans. I had also made an appointment to see my Doctor here in the Albury area for Friday afternoon.

I had been sleeping on a few thin foam mattresses on the floor as my bed had already been moved to Griffith. While the firmer sleeping position should have helped my back it was just making everything worse. I would almost pass out with the pain when I tried to stand up after being on the floor. I decided that, after the Chiropractor’s and Doctor’s appointment on Friday, I would head back to Griffith to get a decent night’s sleep in my own bed.

Sue, a friend of mine, suggested I stay at her place, so I took up the offer and slept in a decent bed for a change. Getting out of this bed was the opposite to sleeping on the floor. The bed I was fairly high and I had to “drop” to the floor. Sue heard my muffled yelp as I dropped with the pain and came into the room to help. It was just as well because I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even bend down to pull my jocks or duds up. It took about four hours for the pain killers and coffee to take effect and I could move on. Talk about being like a bloody invalid.

With all of the pain and agony pushed aside and hoping that the high potency pain killers I was prescribed would kick in sooner or later, I made my plan. The Saturday after the Chiropractor’s and Doctor’s appointment, I was ready to head off to Griffith and to my own bed. I loaded a few light boxes of stuff into an old 1991 Ford Laser I was using when not driving the Transit Van and after three hours of killing back pain, I was finally in my own bed.

I was now into the eighth day of this misadventure and the date was now the 4^th February 2012. The next few days were spent trying to sort things out in the Unit in Griffith. For the next three or four days it was pretty much the same thing, do a bit of work then rest for a long time.

The Doctor had given me the paperwork for a CT Scan and some more blood tests so I booked these for Wednesday 8^th February. I left Griffith early and made the CT Scan and more X-Rays by 10:30am. Feeling a little better I headed back to the house in Albury and loaded some more stuff into the Laser. I spent the night back at Sue’s place and loaded the trailer up with a few things on the following day (Thursday 9/2/12) and, once again, headed to Griffith.

While loading the trailer a huge thunderstorm loomed overhead and finally broke out into a downpour of rain as I was leaving. By the time I came back through Walbundrie the skies opened up. Rain, thunder, lightning, gale force winds,.. you name it and it was being chucked at me! Talk about being challenged by the odds, this was starting to get ridiculous.

The Laser also seemed to be struggling to pull the trailer. This was unusual because it wasn’t loaded that much and it pulled much better when I had two XJ900 Yamahas loaded on it. They weigh 225 kilograms each and I only had half that weight on this time. It was another hot day and the bloody temperature gauge on the Laser was sitting around the high mark as well.

You guessed it! I made it to within 8 kilometres of the Unit in Griffith before the Laser chucked it in. A heater hose blew on that as well. The sluggish behaviour turned out to be worn piston rings so it now has no compression and can’t be started at all.

Great,... Two vehicles out of action now and my prescription pain killers (which didn’t work) were running out! I spent Friday trying to get the Laser going again so I could get back to Albury for more tests (Glucose Tolerance this time) and find out the results of the CT Scan and X-Rays. It turned out the Laser was a lost cause, so I locked it up and left it in Griffith. By this time I had used all of the prescription pain killers and was back depending on the “over the shelf” pain killers so I had to get back to Albury and the doctor.

I knew some relations of Sue’s were going to Albury on Saturday morning (11/2/12) so, after a couple of quick phone calls, I was able to hitch a ride with them. When they pulled up top pick me up on Saturday morning I looked at where I would be sitting. I was in the back seat of a small Mitsubishi Colt. Okay, this is going to be a painful trip I guessed. It turned out perfect. Not a sign of pain,... until I got out of the car after the three hours travelling. I couldn’t stand up. I couldn’t walk any more than two metres without having to sit and rest.

I rested all day Saturday and Sunday. I fasted on Sunday night in preparation for the two hour glucose tolerance test on Monday then slept most of the rest of the day. The same thing happened on Tuesday and I finally got in to see a Doctor on Wednesday (15/2/12).

This time I had to see a Shri Lankan doctor. He told me my back was “Buggered” and that he wasn’t “Bullshitting me”. When I told this doctor the pain killers were not working he said they were a very strong dose and the next ones up, were morphine tables. He gave me a script for those and referred me to a back specialist in Wangaratta.

That specialist was about to go on two weeks holiday and the next appointment wasn’t until July. The bloody Gods are really testing me now. The specialist’s office did refer me to another specialist in Albury and I was able to get in to see him on Monday (20/2/12).

I guess you have heard of Doctor Do Little? This bloke was Doctor Do-Fuck-All. He charged $200 for the consultation, asked five questions, held my leg up and hit me behind my knee, mumbled something and wrote a referral for a MRI Scan and Cortisone injections.

With the pain becoming increasingly worse and my right leg now going completely numb, and the morphine tablets not working either, I went back to my Doctor on Monday 27^th February. She prescribed a morphine patch that gives a slow release dosage over a week. I can also back it up with more of the Panadeine Extra and the muscle relaxant pills.

You would think with this concoction of drugs I would be floating high. Well, part of me is, but my right leg is hanging off my bum cheek crying out to the rest of my body to send some of the drugs down there. My leg is getting so pissed off by this it has occasionally decided it is not going to function and I end up flat out on the floor.

At the time I am writing this, Wednesday 29^th February, I am booked in for the MRI Scan tonight at 8:50pm and the Cortisone injections are on Monday 5^th March.

By the time I get back to Griffith, poor Sue will have had to put up with me staying in her spare room for 25 days, as well as having me repair my Transit Van in her driveway.

So, it’s been one hell of a month and a costly one too. I am paying the rent on the Unit as well as the mortgage on my home until I can get some tenants into the house. The MRI $550 and the Cortisone injections are $750 and I can claim bugger all back on them.

Hopefully things should improve from here on,... HOPEFULLY !!

 

 

 

Today (2^nd May 2011) was a new and pleasurable experience. I had my interview for the position of Regional Program Coordinator (Aboriginal), Griffith, with the Office of Environment and Heritage. This is kinda related to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife but deals with Aboriginal related programs.

The interview was new because I turned up all dressed up including a tie. The convenor of the interview didn’t have a tie on so I commented about being “overdressed” for the interview. The reply from the convenor was “maybe I’m underdressed,...”. With that the tie came off.

Another thing that was different with this interview was being given the questions before going into the interview room. It is amazing how this has a somewhat settling effect on the nerves. After about ten minutes I was called into the interview room.

Here was the next surprise. Normally interview panels for Public Service positions have three (or more) interviewers. There has to be an independent person (from outside the organisation conducting the interviews) and a female representative.

Today there were only two. One male and one female. Maybe this had something to do with the fact this was an Aboriginal Identified position? Whatever the reason, the interview was one where I felt totally relaxed. This also may have been because the convenor has the personality that would make anyone relaxed! What a fantastic bloke!

The lady interviewer was also a very interesting person. She is the Regional Manager of this section of the Office of Environment and Heritage and what a wonderful, quiet, understanding lady she was.

I know it will be an absolute pleasure to work with people like this and I feel I can learn so much from them. Hopefully, I’ll be successful and have that opportunity to work with them.

The interview took about 2 hours. That’s an hour more than normal and by the end of it, I walked out thinking “that was the most relaxed and enjoyable interview I have had in 30 years of applying for positions”!

I didn’t care that it was absolutely bucketing down rain when I left their Offices and became totally saturated by the time I reached the car. That’s my fault for parking at the wrong end of the street but all that water still didn’t dampen my feelings about the interview.

 

 

 

 

Bugger It !!!!

I have a stack of these XJ Series Yamaha Motorcycles now. 

My shed is chocka-block full of them.  In fact, they are spilling out to surrounding alcoves around the house.

I have chased all over the place collecting them and well, to be honest, I have lost track of the purchase dates to make accurate details on each bike.

I decided, rather than spend hours rounding up the details and write the stories behind each one, I'd just stick all of them on the one page.

So,... Once I have it done,...
You Can Check Out My

I'll get it done soon (May 2011 (promise))

 

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WOW, I finally got it Done !!
The Movie of Our Flight Over Lake Eyre!
And now it's yours direct from this website,
at the reduced price of

 

BACKGROUND TO THE DVD

Putting this movie together has been a MAJOR challenge. 

The flight from Albury, NSW, Australia, to Lake Eyre in Outback South Australia was undertaken in May 2009.  This was when the normally dry, salt lake was filling, something that only happens a few times each century. 

I used a Sony DCR-SR85E HandyCam to record the trip.  Using a new camera had its difficulties.  No eyepiece made it difficult to see exactly what I was aiming at and, as everyone knows, LCD micro-screens are bloody hard to see clearly in daylight.

The camera came with Sony's Vegas Movie Studio program to edit the video clips but it kept crashing on me without warning.  I would get 90% of the movie formatted and all of a sudden, the program would crash and I'd lose everything (I now know what was causing that).

Now add to this a month in Thailand, and you have the reason for the delay in bring this movie to production.

But it's now completed and you can have a copy basically for the cost of postage.  The DVD costs me about $7.00 to copy, print the label, include a DVD cover and package it for posting. 

I make "bugger-all" profit from the DVD.  

By entering your name and email address you will be given the opportunity to purchase to DVD of this flight at a very low cost.

 

My next "adventure" is to drive an old 1991 Ford Laser (a small 4 cylinder family car) down to ...

OK, finally got to add this bit,...[Read More,...]