Celebrating Positives (offset of the Gripes Thread)

[facthunter]

Geez it's cold and wet here at 1500 feet alt.  The ground is saturated. , Wet until Sunday. Celebrating because rain is good and it's a long while since we got soaking steady rain  It's not the Kind that Causes Flooding. Nev

[red750]

Couldn't hear the people next to me at the Shed speaking, due to the racket of rain on the perspex skylights.

[onetrack]

That looks like a nice spot, Octave. I trust you have an enjoyable stay. 

[pmccarthy]

Ditto, looks great, you deserve it.

[willedoo]

I've figured out some positives. Life is good. We've had twenty seven inches of rain so far this year and the country is looking great. It's finally stopped raining and the beautiful clear and cool weather is here. I have a debt free roof over my head, lots of food, a motor car that works, I can walk, talk, breathe, hear and see and have plenty of fun stuff to do. The first photo is the front yard, the second is the back yard, and the third photo is my best mate outside the kitchen window trying to shame me into giving him some dog biscuits. I've known him since he was born, so he's known me his entire life. There's nowhere I'd rather be.

 

[onetrack]

That's great news, Willie. One of the problems with getting old is getting older alone. I'd hate to do that. I have a mate doing that now, he and his brother built a big shed on some rented land in the deep SW of W.A., alongside the Blackwood River, which is quite a scenic spot.

 

However, his slightly older brother (79) recently developed dementia (last year), and has moved out of his half of the shed, into a nursing home in a small nearby town. He was assessed as being unable to look after himself.

 

So my mate is now living alone in that big shed, and I've noticed how much he's deteriorated in the last year or so. He keeps falling over, too, as he loses his balance easily. He fell over last week in the yard, and went straight backwards onto the ground, and gashed his head open.

So, being the tough old codger he is, he wrapped his head in towels and drove himself to the local nursing post (there's no local doctors or hospital). The nurse there was shocked to see him, there was so much blood, she thought he'd been shot. So then he had to wait 13 hrs for an ambulance to transport him to Busselton Hospital, 60kms away.

 

The doc there stitched him up and sent him home, but when I rang him a couple of days later, he said he was having problems doing jobs in his workshop, and thought he might have had some degree of concussion - although the doc ruled that out with the standard tests.

 

He's just turned 78 last month, and I'm concerned about how he will go into the near future. He's on the bones of his bum, he was never a good money manager, and his ex-wife cleaned him out and took the house, so he ended up in the shed. He's totally resistant to any idea of moving into any form of retirement village, and he can't afford it, anyway.

I reckon he would do a lot better with a partner, but he's got no time for women now, so that's unlikely to happen. One of the advantages of having a woman around, is that she can at least raise help, or find you quickly when you've taken a turn for the worse.

[willedoo]

That story reminds me a bit of my grandfather. He lived alone for a lot of years. My grandmother died in 1958 and my great uncle who lived with them died in a car accident in 1963, then the grandfather in 1972, so nine years on his own. A neighbour rang him one day and noticed he sounded a bit odd on the phone so went around to check on him. He found my grandad with a broken nose and a badly swollen face after pranging his '38 Oldsmobile into a tree stump hidden in the long grass in a paddock. He'd been that way for about a week. That set things in motion where he didn't really bounce back at 88 years of age and eventually pneumonia got him.

 

My dad was the same. Rolled the quad bike and broke the bottom of his leg bone and just kept working on the farm for a week like that until my sister visited and saw him with a foot half the size of a football. I'm glad I didn't inherit that trait; I'm not shy about going to the doctor if I think it's needed.

[nomadpete]

Wille, you have just described my worst fears. Although I am not alone, that path of losses and degraded quality of life is my worst dread of all. 

And not just for myself. I feel badly for my wife having to go through that on her own if I lose my marbles.

 

But for now, we take each day - one at a time - and find something positive to offset the gripes - of - the - day.

 

Last night we went out to the local historic theatre (run by volunteers fighting the boredom of ageing). Watched an engaging but forgotten old movie. 

 

Today is the first sunny day for weeks.

 

And I have good reason to get out of bed; It's my turn to put croissants in the oven for breakfast.

[facthunter]

For a while now, finding the Money  for essentials when living on the OA Pension is a big challenge and the Boss and I have a few Medical challenges. She had open Heart surgery about 8 years ago and I have a very thorough Neuro person who is always Making me do tests and imaging. Yesterday we were in Bayside St Kilda and a low flying formation Led by a DC3 flew above and out over the Bay at about 1500 feet with magnificent noises coming from it's radial Motors.  That Plane would be well over 80 Years old and Pt Phillip Bay was like a Millpond. Other Places in the World are Being bombed daily by R soles. Nev

[Marty_d]

2 hours ago, nomadpete said:

Wille, you have just described my worst fears. Although I am not alone, that path of losses and degraded quality of life is my worst dread of all. 

And not just for myself. I feel badly for my wife having to go through that on her own if I lose my marbles.

 

But for now, we take each day - one at a time - and find something positive to offset the gripes - of - the - day.

 

Last night we went out to the local historic theatre (run by volunteers fighting the boredom of ageing). Watched an engaging but forgotten old movie. 

 

Today is the first sunny day for weeks.

 

And I have good reason to get out of bed; It's my turn to put croissants in the oven for breakfast.

It's a beautiful day.

I'm going for a ride shortly. Thinking Bothwell way.

[facthunter]

I used to Have to watch out for the Timber trucks in Taswegia when on the two wheelers, plus any kind of weather between New Norfolk and Queenstown.. IF one side has bad weather usually the other side is OK. Nev

[onetrack]

SWMBO is good at booking us into shows such as rock tribute bands or classical guitarists (she loves classical guitar), so we get out and about, and dress up and socialise. It's very necessary to keep up a social life as you age, or you just become an old stay-at-home grump.

 

That's the reason I have my block in the wheatbelt, and all my restoration projects and shed-building plans and construction. I get out into the country around 3 times a week, that in itself is invigorating.

I get a change of pace, and I get mental stimulation repairing equipment, buying (and selling) parts and components, and I get to meet new people in that country town regularly.

 

My wheatbelt block neighbour is a fencer, and has an excavator, tip truck and a Dingo, and he's always coming in looking for a BS session, help with something, or even giving me surplus fencing materials and steel he doesn't need. He can't weld for sh**, so he always gets me to do little welding jobs for him. Life is good.

 

We're off to see the Lightscape show in Kings Park soon, we went last year, but it was July 17th, and it was absolutely pouring with rain! You can't pick your day, you get tickets for a set day and time, and that's it - you take your chances with the weather. The lightscape show last year was absolutely spectacular. I took a swag of photos, then lost them when my Motorola phone crapped itself completely.

 

https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=LSPTOURS26&utm_source=ovation&utm_medium=pmax&utm_campaign=LSPTOURS26&utm_content=conversion&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23841141822&gbraid=0AAAAADpZSCT_kspIAeL1Pye-3H_K2rlTo&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrZTRBhDSARIsAHidYfcriQwFvXDUHdq0eIP10u5K_mfUlQsVSlUoudQ4XtUW5aLccL7Dou4aAr1oEALw_wcB

[facthunter]

Don't watch Much TV. It will do your Brain in. Nev

[onetrack]

TV is just rubbish, haven't watched it for years. Rubbishy news and rubbishy, mind-numbing "entertainment", mostly American crap. SWMBO likes the game shows, and things such as "Would I lie to You?" As a coppers daughter, she's big on sorting out the lies! I can't hear the voices on TV, so that's a blessing in disguise.

 

Edited June 8 by onetrack

[Marty_d]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

I used to Have to watch out for the Timber trucks in Taswegia when on the two wheelers, plus any kind of weather between New Norfolk and Queenstown.. IF one side has bad weather usually the other side is OK. Nev

That was great. I went past New Norfolk as far as Gretna, fantastic road. Almost tempted to keep going.

I was going to go through to Elderslie then back to the highway, but the cross road was gravel so I turned around and came back the same way.

Very enjoyable.

[Jerry_Atrick]

It sounds sad, but today marks 3 months a good mate has not visited at all. He actually stopped visiting in mid Jan, but popped in in mid Feb when another mate visited. And again, very quickly met up with me when I met an old work colleague in Mid March - but it was just a very quick visit that time - only one glass of wine. 

 

Of course, that mate is Wolfie (and his cohorts). Funny thing is, I haven't missed it. I got my partner a bottle of Plantagnet Chardy (a personal favourite for what you can get here these days), which she duly appreciated. I did sneak a sip and say to  her, "This is a good wine, right" to which she was quite agreeable. I didn't like it at all! 

 

The most tempting time to have a drink was when I was in Frankfurt a couple of weeks ago. It was lovely weather and we were treated to dinner at a tavern, where the beers looked so tempting. 

 

Even when I was at the cricket with some Aussie and English mates last week - in the social club so with nice sit down meal and a flowing bar - I wasn't tempted. 

 

I feel I have lost a friend - and it is, in this case, cause for a celebration

 

(Now I have to ditch the confectionery) 

Edited 5 hours ago by Jerry_Atrick

[Litespeed]

Socceroos just beat Turkiye in first World cup match.

 

2-0, well done lads.

 

And it was a young Sudanese Aussie that scored our first goal.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Especially sweet since I thiink it was the Turkish coach stated they have a more talented side. I may even watch the highlights (I am not terribly impressed with FIFA, so am not watching the games generally).

[octave]

I can relate to this.   I mostly have 1 bottle a week, but these days Mrs Octave doesn't drink much at all so I end up drinking most of it. Whilst I am pretty moderate (mostly) if there is an open bottle, I will finish it.  We are just experimenting with going out to a wine bar and having just one nice glass rather than a whole moderately priced bottle.

 

Four times a year Mrs Octave is away for a week, so I tend to overdo it. 

 

When visiting my son in NZ I do fall into a bit of a trap.  His household is pretty nerdy. They brew beer which is stored under the house and is piped into the kitchen. There are 3 taps with 3 different delicious home brews.  A new addition is gin, which they distil themselves.  There are bottles in a rack with a dispenser.  This is a little problematic when I am cooking.  Chop some onions, fill glass, saute onions fill  glass, etc. 

 

[facthunter]

I never drink alone but it would be better if I didn't drink at all. It costs and is NOT good for you. .  Especially Distilled stuff. (Liver Cirrhosis) My wife invents occasions to celebrate.. Good wine is my favourite poison.   Life is too short to drink bad wine , drive Land Rovers and eat British food. That's an old one. MAYBE the Land Rovers have improved.  Nev

[rgmwa]

Same here. I like wine but decided at the start of the year that I'd stop buying it unless it was a special occasion. As I'm mostly by myself in the house it's not a good habit to get into. The second glass is always a bit bigger than the first. Anyway, I haven't missed it at all and the recycling bin is a lot less noisy when I put it out these days, so that's a positive. 

 

[facthunter]

Younger People are giving wine up I'm informed. Trouble is that some of it is very good. Some is Just PLONK . Smoking is worse, and hard to kick, VERY addictive. I still have nightmares where I've started again, They even Put Saltpetre in it to Make it Burn Faster, the sod's. Nev 

[Jerry_Atrick]

My intention is to stay off the stuff completely until the end of September. At the moment, I am planning to return after that  - no more than once a month but good wines rather than the table stuff at the moment.. Only with dinner. Which is a pain as I am going to be landing in Melbourne in mid-July, between  Canterbury and the Yarra Valley for a couple of weeks. 

 

 

 

[red750]

The only alcohol of any description that I have had since 2017 is the brandy in the Christmas pudding. I had a glass of the house white at a retired bank officer's luncheon in 2017 and that's the only stuff I've had in years. Throughout my entire life, the total amount would have been less than one bottle per year. A glass, or part thereof, on the odd festive occasion. Never red. Only a few sips and it wasn't for me.

[Litespeed]

I do remember the occasional exploding cigarette from a big lump of saltpetre.

 

I am a beer drinker only, with two half kidneys, I am careful and need the water in beer to process the alcohol.

 

However I do blue moon a exceptional red when my son provides it.