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Aussie105

Aussie105's Journal
Aussie105's Journal
April 13, 2024

One of these is not like the others . . .

No picture unfortunately.

I go out in the morning to feed the backyard birds.
(Front yard birds are magpies and ibis, they get left over cat food later in the day. They don't mix with the backyard riff-raff.)

Backyard birds are different species of doves, pigeons, sparrows and visiting ducks.

Did a headcount of the ducks . . . yep, the usual 4 - but wait - one of them isn't.

Cormorant!

First one I've ever seen in the wild. Cohabiting with the ducks in the local wetlands and parkland lakes?
Usually coastal around here. We are nowhere near the coast.

March 30, 2024

Not happy. 8-(

Male dog, 13 years old, is dying.

Been off his food, losing bladder and bowel control, staggering around.

Twice today he got himself jammed in unusual spots, once in the back yard and once in the room he is in now, got stuck and very confused, and howled somewhat demented.

Currently he is lying down and breathing shallow, slow breaths.
I check him every couple of minutes just in case.

Been coming on for a while, haven't taken him to the vet because our vet is predictable as far as putting down animals go.
Better to save him the stress of being put down, as opposed to dying peacefully in his sleep at home.

Sad time, but what can you do really.

To be honest, I'm typing this to make myself feel better.
It's not working.

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about this. 'Power of the dog'.
If you ever lost a pet, prepare to cry when you read it.



March 16, 2024

Recently translated Neanderthal cave writing.

"Roses are red, violets are blue,
Now I lie me down just to dream of you!"

- Lovesick Larry.

"Could the person who borrowed my club without asking, please return it.
Mammoth hunting season is almost here!"

"Cursed be the man who stole my wife!
I hope the next hunt sees you permanently crippled and she returns to me!"

- Jilted husband.

"You were once the girl of my dreams,
All sugar and spice and all things nice.
Now you complain, and I can do no right."

- Confused husband.

Archaeologists surmise this was a notice board with extra graffiti.
And that people haven't changed much.

January 10, 2023

Came across this thread at an 'interesting' time . . .

While sitting in my car, next to a wife stoned out of her mind on pain killers, for 4 hours in an underground car park, in 32 degree C heat.

Yes, the dental pain - so severe, she hasn't made much sense over the last week.

The back story.

1. Snapped a tooth off level with the gumline, in November.
2. Went to a local dentist, nope, needs a dental surgeon, try this guy.
3. Dental surgeon booked - first available spot, 20th Jan 2023.
4. Wife insisted she could wait that long. Turns out . . . nope.
5. Massive pain, multiple doctor visits for antibiotics, pain killers. Pain went, came back.
6. Last couple of days swollen face, major pain.
7. Rang another place, sure, 10:30 am tomorrow.
8. We rock up, waiting time took this out to noon.
9. Too swollen, here is a script for antibiotics, come back at 4 pm.
10. 4 pm became a 5:30 pm wait, she was worked on by up to 3 dentists for 2 hours.
11. Paid the AU $ 550 without arguing. After all, they spent quite a bit of time in that room listening to her throw up.
12. Got her back home and resting, sort of.

I'm totally exhausted! What a way to spend a day!

Major sympathy for those who have been through this.

I better go see how she is . . .

November 11, 2022

Fleas!

Stupid weather here in Australia.
Winter carried on well into what should be spring, and rain like you wouldn't believe.
Lots of weeds, and now, after a few warm days, FLEAS!

12 year old dogs, 6 year old cat, never had flea problems before.

Couple of warm days and . . . FLEAS!

I wondered why one of the dogs was scratching himself so much, rubbed a patch where he was nibbling, and 5 fleas dropped out.
On my bed!
Nearest thing was some alcohol based spray, just made the fleas dopy but gave me enough time to go get fly spray. For the bed, not the pets.

Anyhow, lots of fleas on all three. No fun watching those jump around on the bed, or watching my pets be uncomfortable.

Got some spot on back of the neck type stuff coming in the mail, looking for flea powder to start the kill process off.

Wifey says she has been bitten, I haven't, we did a lot of washing but that is futile while they move around the house shedding fleas.


So my question - what is a good flea powder to rub on the pets?

DAMN! Just realized there will be flea eggs in the carpets and on/in matrasses. Going to be a bit of a job.

November 3, 2020

As an outsider, may I ask . . .

Are property owners boarding up shops and other places because they think Democratic party voters will lose, and loot, rampage and generally run amok?
Or is it the deplorable hordes of vanilla ISIS in major disappointment mode they fear?
Or antifa?
The proud (sad) boys?
The Tiki torch brigade?
The 17 year old out of state self appointed vigilante crowd?
The armed incels?
Bikers for Trump?
Grandmas for Biden?
The lesbian bikers for Biden?

Mmmmm?

But what if someone gave out riot invitations, and no one came to party all night?

And if there is an all night riot party, who will bring the food, the guns, the ammo, and the bandages?

Don't forget if you get injured in that (possible) riot, the hospitals are rather busy at the moment . . .

Never mind me, I'm confused. A lot of people would be, I'd say.

August 29, 2020

The cargo cult (*) of Nice Things.

Nice Things - we all want them, they are different things to different people, and how we relate to them and their acquisition defines who we are.

Trump: If I promise them Nice Things they will keep voting for me, right? Biden wants to take away the Nice Things, right?

Republicans: Nice Things are in short supply. To keep continuing for us getting them, we need to ensure people 'lesser' than us don't get them. (And that is a LOT of people!)

Democratic party: Everyone deserves Nice Things. Let's ensure all citizens get them! Affordable health care, quality education, a living wage! There's enough for everybody! We just have to (re)build the social and economic structures that ensure this!

Young people: My parents have Nice Things! How can I get them for myself, with the least effort, and as soon as possible, like right now?

Bezos: All the Nice Things you will ever want are on Amazon!

Theoretical Communism: If we all work together, we can all get the Nice Things!

Practical Communism: See Republicans above.

BLM people: The main Nice Thing we want, is to NOT be harassed, beaten up or killed by the police.

Environmentalists: Mother Nature supplies lots of Nice Things. But you need to look after Her better.

Me (Retired White Person trying Hard not to be Grumpy): I have all the Nice Things I need! Good luck in your pursuits of Nice Things!


(*) 'Cargo cult' - a reference to WW2 air drops of supplies in the highlands of New Guinea.
The Nice Things that fell out of the sky resulted in a semi religious cult following by the indigenous peoples.

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Member since: Wed Jan 16, 2019, 07:45 PM
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