Music Part II

Yes, I realize that I just wrote a post on music. Looking back, it was a bit harsh. I guess that's what a working road trip over a Holiday weekend does. Ultimately, I've realized over the last week that pop and rock are all fine, as long as it's something I like to hear. OK, so I'm a hypocrite, whatever. This song has been getting alot of airplay here. I just heard a few days ago that Australian stations are mandated to play a certain percentage of Aussie music, as opposed to US or UK artists. Interesting. So, I'm not sure if this song is really good, or if I've just grown fond of it as a result of hearing it XX amount of times per hour as mandated by the Australian Government. I actually think the artist might be a Kiwi now living here, or the other way around. Anyways, here's something a little different. Or, maybe it's already hit the States?

Medicare Monday

It's Monday morning. I would usually be at work, but I have an ear infection if you can believe that. Hopefully my boss did. I woke up with the feeling of some pressure on the right side of my face, and a headache. Over the next few hours it developed into something akin to an icepick being driven through my right ear. I now know why babies scream and tug on their ears when they get an ear infection. I got some antibiotics and ear drops, so I'll probably be back to work later today, or tomorrow. I also got the opportunity to use my Medicare card for the first time. Coming over on a 457 we weren't eligible for Medicare so we had to get private health insurance. We paid the bills and then sent them in for reimbursement. But when I got citizenship I became eligible for Medicare (it was a nightmare getting it - but that's a different story for another day). I went to the clinic, gave them my card, saw the doctor, signed some papers and that was that. I had the good fortune to pick a clinic that has bulk billing so I wasn't out of pocket. Bulk billing is an agreement with Medicare where the doctors accept whatever the scheduled fee is that Medicare is willing to pay for XX visit. Even with Medicare here, doctors can charge what they want (like in the States). So if what Medicare pays is less than what the doctor charges for a visit, you end up with a "gap" payment. They can't call it a co-payment here, even though that's essentially what it is. Next I went to get my prescriptions. I thought they might be free here, but Medicare pays anything over $32. My Amoxicillan was $16 so I paid for that, the ear drops must have been more because I paid $32 for those. What, no painkillers? Well that's not a problem since you can pick up codeine over the counter in Australia. All in all, Medicare is not a bad plan, just not as good as the States where our prescription plan was a $10 copay for generics, and $20 for anything else. It will be interesting when I choose a general practitioner for my "regular doctor" as opposed to a clinic, and find out what my gap payment will be. Our insurance plan in the States was exceptional, like the AMEX platinum of insurance. We could pretty much choose any doctor we wanted (and it seemed that every doctor accepted our plan) and we could self refer to specialists, and had only a $10 copayment. I have a feeling that isn't going to happen here.

I'm Old....er

I was going to title this post "I'm Old", then I realized that it would be much like the 120 lb waif that pats her rear and exclaims that she's getting fat. You just want to groan and roll your eyes. Then beat her. But, you see, I'm turning 42 in a few months. The good thing is that I certainly don't feel 42 (I don't feel tardy...hello 1984). On the flip side, I haven't aged or developed into one of those distinguished mature woman that I see around me on a daily basis either. I can be cluelessly inappropriate (usually realized hours after the fact), and I still haven't seemed to learn the basic lesson that my Nana tried to instill in me from a very early age - keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. I know that sounds harsh, but don't judge her. Unlike her, you didn't have to put up with me as a child. Last week I received another assignment to go to Batemans Bay. We decided to make it a family trip over the long weekend. I booked a great little two bedroom bungalow with a balcony and a spa over the bay. We even planned to stop in Canberra on the way down. I was going to Questacon with Mitch and Don was going to the Australian War Memorial. However, this was not to be. Don got two calls Friday afternoon. One was telling him that the system that he is working on was starting to crash. The second was from his boss in the U.S. telling him that he had decided to fly into Australia...on Monday. So, scratch the family trip. I was disappointed. It was a long weekend, and I was going to end up by myself, working. It was a five hour trip, and due to poor planning I left a little late on Monday. Abut half way there it started to get dark, and that is when I realized that I drive painfully s-l-o-w in the dark. I think the speed limit was 110, which is basically 68 MPH. I was going 100 at the fastest, or 62 mph. I know I was going really slow because every time a pass zone came up, five or six cars would just blow by me, going a lot faster than 62. When I finally arrived the lodge was gracious enough to downgrade me to a small cabin. I think that even they realized that a single woman staying in a deluxe bungalow with a spa on the balcony was just sad. So, I grabbed a quick dinner, got a bottle of shiraz, read a bit and went to bed. In the morning I completed my assignment and headed back home. On the way down I listened to some CDs but on the way back I listened to the radio. Somewhere in between AC/DC, the Black Eyes Peas and Lady GaGa singing about taking a ride on a disco stick my ears started to bleed and I realized that I seriously needed to update my CD collection. I formulated a mental list. Chicago, Elton John, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, and some books on CD. I was craving music that although I found enjoyable enough to listen to over the years, I was now actually looking forward to purchasing. And Books on CD - really? (EDIT - I just had to change this from books on tape to books on CD) I think in general that I am starting to slow down, and not just with the driving. One good thing about the drive back is that I discovered ABC Radio. It's like a poor man's NPR. They were featuring the author of the book Six Months in Sudan. He was absolutely fascinating to listen to, and I was hooked. I think I know what I'm ordering from Amazon for my birthday.... well, that and Billy Joel's Greatest Hits.

Sinkhole in Baulkham Hills

Today I got a new assignment. Figure out how this happened.



Sand, sand, and more sand.



Should I get a little closer?


Wow - that's a big hole.

I figure this should keep me busy for the next week or so. And because it's Friday, I thought I'd add something really shocking....

Cookies

I'm way behind on photos and new entries. So, I'm posting some photos we took a while back. Nothing too exciting, just to keep Grandma and Grandpa updated, especially since Grandpa has us as his home page! I'm sure he'd rather see these photos than that stock photo of the Q-Man. Look at the determination on that face....must..mix..dough.

Professional photos

The company I work for is launching their new website. Part of the website is a "People" page with our CVs and photos. They brought in a "professional" photographer to take our photos. I spent an hour (YES - a WHOLE hour) making sure my hair and makeup were presentable. An hour is a pretty big deal for me, with having a very limited amount of time to get ready in the morning before rushing to get Mitch to school. Every morning I run around packing Mitch's lunch and backpack, swearing "That's it - tonight I'm packing everything before we got to bed". Then every night I sit my ass on the couch, much like now, and surf the internet and watch AI (Go Adam!!) or Desperate Housewives, or Project Runway, or...well, you get the idea. Where was I? Right, the professional photographer. She had the fancy camera with the long lens and authoritative directives, "turn a little more to the left, lean forward, arms back, face down". That is about where it ended. How can someone who gets paid for doing this for a living take such horrible photos? We got the proofs today. I didn't get to choose which shot they are going to use. That's because my choice would have been to burn the lot. Over the years I've become an expert at having photos taken. I lift my chin up and to the side to e-l-o-n-g-a-t-e my neck for a slimming effect. Not in this photo. The photographer had me turn to the side from the hips, then lean forward, and tilt my head. The final result is something that resembles someone who has thrown their back out and is trying to find relief....with a triple chin. The photographer also kept saying "big smile big smile". I hate big smile. Some people do the big toothy grin well, I am not one of them. But she wouldn't let it go - BIG SMILE PLEASE. The only consolation is that everyone else looked just as heinous. The guy that sits next to me has a double chin in his photo, and he is totally fit and in shape. I'm really trying to blame the whole thing on the photographer. Then again, maybe I'm just not that photogenic.

When we were in Brisbane we came across a street performer making balloon animals for donations. Donation my ass; he quoted prices. I personally think he's figured out a way to skirt the tax laws. Anyways, Mitchell wanted an Alien so we "ordered" the Alien and $5.00 later Mitch walked away one happy boy. We packed the Alien for the trip home. However, when we got to Brisbane baggage screening they pulled the Alien out and announced that we couldn't take the balloon onboard with us. Something about security guidelines, and how it could freak people out if it popped during the flight. Whatever. I was too busy trying to quell the sobs of a five year old boy to listen to reason. So tell me, how does it feel to crush the dreams of a small boy Mr-Baggage-screener-man? Don was on the other side of the metal detector, while Mitch and I were still near the conveyor belt. What do you do in a situation like this? So I did the only thing I could think of on the fly. I gnawed holes in the tips of the alien and squeezed the air out of it. Unfortunately the sight of having the Alien deflated in front of him proved to be a wee bit more traumatic for Mitchell than I had anticipated. He started howling, and these huge bloopy tears came pouring out of his eyes. At this point with people backing up around us, I shoved the deflated Alien in my pocket, picked up Mitch and hoofed it through the metal detector. With the excitement of the airplane ride (and the giant bag of M&Ms) I guess Mitch forgot about the Alien. I was doing a load of laundry the other day and found the Alien. I just can't bring myself to throw him away.