Bored!!!!!

Well,
Since my last post, things haven't really been able to break the record on the "Excitement Meter" to say the least!!
I had a minor knee op a fortnight ago and was meant to be up and about and off my crutches days ago so that I would be ready for a shoulder operation that I'm due to have tomorrow.

Our youngest, Lachie, had his Year 12 Graduation Dinner last Tuesday, and during the dinner I noticed my leg starting to hurt and tighten up. We left early as a result and when we got home I saw that my lower leg had blown up considerably and felt like it was going to explode. The pain was severe as well.

So I took the next day off work and rested up, then went to work for the next 2 days, but left early on both due to the hassles with my leg.

On Friday I rang my doctor  who said I need to come in and get it checked. Some further checks at the hospital revealed blood clots in my leg that needed to be treated immediately with rest and medication. "Four days at least laying down with your leg up" was the order.
At first I thought this would be great, but the amount of pain involved meant that any enjoyment went straight out the window. Also, after about two hours on the first day I was already off my tree.
How on earth would I get through 4 days (or more) of this??

First of all, I spent a fair whack of Saturday reading through the end of year reports given to me by some teachers. That got me through until about midday, so what else could I do??

There was a bit of work to do collating our testing data from throughout the year, so that took most of yesterday, but now that I have that done I am looking at two days on my back staring at the tv. There have been a few good shows on (thank goodness for Foxtel) but even watching tv can be mind numbing at the best of times.

It hasn't failed to dawn on me that it is now two weeks since I have had any exercise at all and that is bugging me big time. From being accustomed to doing something energetic every day, this forced rest is driving me nuts. Normally I would go off my tree if I missed just one day, this is totally out of my comfort zone, and doesn't look like changing in the near future.

Finally, as I have blood clots and am on medication for them (yet to see it working yet!!) I have had to have my shoulder operation for tomorrow postponed. This is the most annoying as I have been waiting a while to get it done as it does impact on me quite a bit. Hopefully I can get it booked in soon as I need to be up and about by early Feb as I leave soon after for a few weeks overseas on a study trip.
Having a leg and a shoulder in working order are pretty high on the agenda for me!!!

Anyway, that's my gripe for the day, but in saying so, I can't stop thinking about those who have SERIOUS crap going on in their lives. What I am having is pithy compared to what they have to put up with, so the level of guilt is high when I moan about my pathetic little problems.

It's all about perspective.

Until the next post,

Cheers!

My body transformation...

In some earlier posts I mentioned that I had been getting some treatment on a dodgy knee and shoulder.
The advice I was getting in Bendigo was not having any effect, so I went and saw some specialists in Melbourne.
After a couple of MRI's the problems were diagnosed, and yesterday I had the first stage of getting them fixed, hopefully.
I had an arthroscope on my knee yesterday at Epworth Hospital in Richmond. They do it so fast these days. I was in the hospital at 6:30 in the morning, and then back home here in Bendigo at about 2:00  in the afternoon. For my first arthroscope many years ago I was in hospital for three days, which goes to show how good they are at doing them now. This is the 5th one I have had now, and each time they get quicker, it's just like popping in to the dentist for a filling!

Straight onto the couch with ice pack after getting home.

Not a very pretty sight.

The next day, still too swollen to get to work, maybe tomorrow.

And this is why I mentioned in my previous post why it might be difficult to get around the Camping Show in Bendigo on Saturday. Never mind though, regardless, I am determined to be at it as there is so much I want to see there.

Now that the knee has been done, my next part of the rebuild is in two weeks when I head back to Melbourne again for an operation on my shoulder. In one way, I wish I'd had the shoulder done first as it is causing me the most grief, but if I did, and they found something worse than expected it would mean not getting the kneed done as I wouldn't be able to use crutches.

Either way, I think we have stopped the body from falling apart for the time being, and now I just have to be mindful of doing the correct rehab, as I need to get back into shape for my overseas trip early next year.

I bought a......

Yep. We did it.
Just like so many others, We bought a Jeep!!
For many years I have wanted to get one, and when we bought our last new car we test drove one and I thought 'this is it', only to lose the decision for a different car, which although fantastic, it still didn't grab me as much.

Fast forward a few years and our youngest gets his licence, and as we provided a car for the first two, we felt we needed to do the same for Lachie, so he got the car that Jen has been driving around.
I hand over the Subaru to Jen, and we go and get the Jeep. Simple as that!

I know Jen was never really keen on them at all, but after picking it up in Melbourne, it only took an hour or so for her to say how much she liked it.

We now have plans to get away a bit more, especially as all the boys now have their licence. As we drove past a caravan sales place last week she even said to me, "We need to go in there and look at some things". No protest from me on that one!! This Saturday we are off to the Caravan and Camping show here in Bendigo, but only if I can get around. More about that in the next post!

My excitement with the Jeep copped a hiding a few days after we took delivery.

I was driving to school, and already running late when some warning lights came on, then it just stopped dead by the side of the road before I could do anything at all.

After ringing the appropriate people, a tow truck came and he identified the problem in a flash. He popped the bonnet and saw that the battery cable had dislodged. Imagine my embarrassment!!!

To his credit, he wasn't fussed and said that it was a really common problem with new cars, as the mechanics often didn't tighten these cables properly while they were still in the car yard.

It still had to be taken in to the Jeep franchise to have the computer reset, so it was onto the truck and into the dealer.

The story doesn't end there however.

I rang the dealer late in the afternoon to check on the progress, only for them to say that they didn't know whose Jeep it was, or why it was dropped off. It appears that the driver just unloaded it and drove off, so no-one knew what had to be done with it. It was only after I told them what had happened that they were able to fix it.

Luckily all ended up well after that.

Or so I thought....

Two days later I was in a car park and a young bloke reversed out of a bay and straight into the side of me in the Jeep. With the noise it made, I was picturing the side of the car to be a mess, so imagine my surprise when I found only some scratches and scrapes. The panel had popped straight back into shape after impact.

I went and got the usual quotes as I wanted it fixed so that rust wouldn't set in. Some panel beaters are total rogues, as my 3 quotes were $83:00, $221:00 and $1200:00!!

The dearest one was charging for refitting the mats in the boot among other trivial things. I couldn't believe what they were quoting for when it was just a bit of painting and buffing that needed to be done. Also, I couldn't rip this young bloke off for something that was a complete accident.

Thankfully, it has now been fixed, and we hope that is the end of any hassles with this car.

Farewell Tess...

A sad post this time.

For 15 years we have been blessed with the presence of our dog, Tess.
When we moved to Bendigo our three boys were all quite young, so we thought having a pet dog would be a great experience for them, and didn't it prove to be a great decision.

In that time she has been a big part of our lives, and rarely has a day gone by without someone calling out "Has anyone fed Tess yet?"

Each time we walk in from the carport and open the door, we can look across the room and see Tess outside the glass doors that lead out onto our deck. Without fail she would be there waiting for us, or come bolting up from somewhere else in the yard once she knew we were home.

Tess would love to come into the house and just roam around. We rarely needed to vacuum, as she would scoop up anything that had found its way to the floor.

Will and Tess. No matter what time of the day or night, Will would always be with Tess giving her a gentle pat, especially in her last few weeks.

From being a dog who would chase balls everywhere, poor old Tess had really started to slow down over the past few months, to the point where we would take her to the vet to see if 'it was time yet'.

We all knew that as she got older and more frail, the decision to put her to sleep would have to be taken so that she would not be suffering. In her last few weeks she could barely get up on the deck or get up again if she fell over. We knew the time had come, so a booking was made to take her to the vet, and I was the one left to take her on this final trip.

Once the booking was made, a huge cloud of sadness descended over the house as we all came to realise that in 24 hours she would no longer be with us.

So, after I finished school on the Friday I drove home to collect her, all the time with a huge lump in my throat. No-one really wanted to say goodbye to her, so it was straight into the car and off we went. At the vet I could hardly speak as I was getting emotional about what was to happen, and to the vet's credit they understood this, and made the whole experience comfortable, peaceful and supportive.

Tess has now been laid to rest under a big gum tree on our block, on the side where we will most likely build once we subdivide the block. It is already called 'The Tess Tree'.

Tess just about to make her exit from this world.

Life is Changing...

As it has been many weeks since my last post, I felt the need to get myself organised and make some more posts to 'The Bernard Files'.

A lot has happened since my last post, so I'll address different things in no particular chronological order.

First of all, our youngest son turned 18, which means a whole new level of independence for him, and less reliance on us to drive him around as he obtained his driver's licence.

Just seeing Lachie being able to take off whenever he likes is great, and it also enables Jen and I to go to work earlier, or stay later as neither of us is now required to be the 'taxi'. There are times of course when we don't mind doing the pickups, but now that all three boys are independent it is a whole new world for us as we can go away when we want without having to worry about the boys getting to appointments.

Lachie also recently completed his Year 12 exams, so now is the waiting period for his results to come through. We are now finished with schooling for our boys and with one through University, another part way through, and now Lachie looking like heading there next year, they are all on the way towards forging lives of their own.

The Year 12 Graduation Ceremony was fantastic, as has been in other years.

Pretty hard to get a decent shot of Lachie as they entered the Cathedral.

The final song as they head out after the ceremony.

A wonderful sight as the Year 12's walk out with their candles.