A lot of loose change rattling around in my head this week ...
Firstly, the main item on the news for the last few nights has been the heatwave. Victoria is having a heatwave ... No frigging kidding. It's been high thirties since last weekend/start of this week, and the last four days have seen temps into the FORTIES. The freaking forties, people. Forty, forty three, forty four, forty four. And tomorrow we're in for a lovely forty four. The news keeps harping on about it ... It's a heatwave, it's a heatwave ... No shit, sherlock. Remember when it was winter and we were all bitching about how cold it was? Remember that magical, freezing time that was only a few months ago? When we all prayed for summer to start? Maybe we prayed too hard. Apparently it's the only time since 1855 that we've had this many days with the temp above 40. Well, don't I feel friggin special to be a part of history!
I had the week off work last week. I went to Melbourne - left on Tuesday when it was 42 (yeah, it was a great drive in a car with no air conditioning, thanks for asking), and it was mid to high 30's there all week. I went down to go to the allergist - the appointment I waited three months for - and to hang with my sister and my nieces for a few days.
My sister and my nieces are doing well. My little Bug Eyes is such a smart kid. She's very switched on - can't get much past that kid. My little Baby Smurf has turned into such a smiley, giggley kid. She's got a very definite personality - if she's not happy, you know it. But most of the time she's happy to just chill, smiling every few seconds at something random. It rocks!
The appointment with the allergist went great. I'm allergic to dogs! *lol* Funny. Not really badly allergic, but I had a reaction, so there's something there. Mostly I'm allergic to grasses, pollens, dust mites, all that kind of stuff. The good news is that I can be desensitised against those allergies. This involves starting immunotherapy, which is a fancy name for a hideously expensive course of 8 injections, done every second week. Then I go back to the allergist, and start a second course of terribly expensive injections. I finish them, and go back to the allergist again. Then I get a final - yep, you guessed it - unbelievably expensive lot of injections and go back to the allergist once more. Then I go on my merry way, hopefully forever cured of allergies/hayfever.
The good news is that the injections, which go over the next two or so years, will get rid of all the problems I'm having now. My asthma, which is mostly allergy/sickness induced will most likely totally go (woo hoo!). My headaches will disappear, I won't be so tired all the damn time, and I won't go through a box of tissues very two days, I'll be able to concentrate better at work ... The benefits are endless. The bad news? The injections work at out about $100 each. Not $100 per round, $100 each. There are 8 injections in each round. I get about $25 of that back on Medicare (wow ...! That'll help!). The other bad news is that I have to keep going the way I am for a while, it takes a few months (sometimes up to 6 or 8 months) to see the difference. But honestly, I'd pay anything to feel better, and I've put up with it for this long, so what's a few more months? Probably should start saving for the next lot of injections now though ...
So, I had my first injection yesterday afternoon. Because they inject me with what I'm allergic to, I have to have the injection, sit in the room with the doctor for five minutes, have my vitals taken, then go and wait in the waiting room for 25 minutes, and then I can leave. Apparently, injecting me with what I'm actually allergic to is kinda dangerous ... Who woulda guessed it?! The studies say that if a reaction is going to happen, it will happen in the first 15 minutes ... So my doctor makes me wait 25 just to be on the safe side. Apart from it going really red and some lumps coming up where the doctor stabbed me, (totally to be expected, though) it went fine.
Did I mention it's been a little bit hot here ... ?! Oh, I did ... ?!
Work has been good. I worked all this week, since I had last week off. It's been busy as all hell. I'm convinced that the girl who worked all last week did shit-all, all week, because I've spent the week catching up on work that should have already been done. Grr. However, yesterday I actually left at 4 instead of 5. Our power went out, and with no computer (and no air conditioning) there wasn't much point in me hanging around. Since I live about a three minute drive from work, I was worried about getting home to a hot house, figuring the power wouldn't have gone out here too, but I walked into a nice, cool house, with the power still working. I know the power went out in much of Victoria today due to the heatwave (yeah, we're in the middle of a heatwave, didn't you know?!), but thankfully we lucked out again and kept the power again all day.
So, I just finished seven days straight, I have tomorrow off, then I go back for four days, then I get two off. Woo hoo.
Before I finish, I'd like to get a little serious for a minute here. On Sunday night, an Uncle of mine died. His name was Russell, and he passed away after a brief illness. He fought, but the illness was stronger than him.
Russell never did anything "great", or "amazing". He was just an ordinary guy, who went to work each day. He loved his family, (including the two kids who weren't technically his) and was always there for them. He was gruff, sometimes a "grump", enjoyed a drink on special occassions (Sunday was a special occassion to Russell ...!) and love spoiling the grandkids. He wasn't rich, but he took care of his family. He wasn't surrounded by material crap that meant nothing. In the end, he died the way he lived - surrounded by his loving family, who were always there for him, like he was for them. Quite simply, he was a good guy.
R.I.P Russell. You fought so hard, right to the end. You have earned your rest.
Also, R.I.P. Darcey Freeman. I can't remember the last time that a story on the news made me cry so hard. What a horrible, horrible tragedy. How could someone do that to a child?
Ok, this has been a long entry, and it's now 12:27, so I think it might be time for bed. Night guys.
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