EXTREMELY TOUGH OR TOUGH ENOUGH

 

Hello everyone here we are at another Tuesday and for the next few weeks Tuesday's will be about extremely tough or tough enough creatures.

We kick off with the Green Sea Turtle, like all turtles they like to eat jellyfish, even box jellyfish one of the worlds deadliest animals. The venom of the box jellyfish doesn't hurt the Green Sea Turtle so they can happily eat one for lunch. Sadly they can mistake a plastic bag for a jellyfish, when they swallow it can get sick and die.

The green turtle is the only sea turtle that is a strict herbivore, and its diet of seagrass and algae may contribute to the green fatty tissue. Similarly to other sea turtles, green turtles are known to travel incredibly long distances during their lifetimes.

FACTS

 Another Monday but at last I can see ok now, well it's Monday so it is facts day and here they are.

The length of the finger dictates how fast ones fingernails grow, so the nail on the middle finger grows fastest....Not on my hands it is my thumbnail that grows fastest.

In September 1752 the “Julian” calendar was replaced with the “Gregorian” calendar in Great Britain and its American colonies.

The Julian calendar was 11 days behind so the 14^th September followed 2^nd September on the day of the change. The days between 3^rd and 13^th September 1752 never happened.

A mining hole in the mountains of Bohemia produced so much silver it became the official source of coinage for the entire Holly Roman Empire. The mine was in a valley called Joachimsthal and the coins became known as “Joachimstalers” which was shortened to “Talers” and over more time the American pronunciation of the word became “Dollars”

A fresh egg sinks in water and stale ones float.

WEEK34 OF 2022

 A good night but woke to see a bunch of messages written on the family chat by Tim and the girls mostly from Tim having s rant about how hard his life is and no one understands. I am worried about his mental health.

Had a talk to Tim about his mental health Tasha was here while it was all going on. He got angry and defensive. I don't know if anything sunk in, only time will tell.

His mood improved during the day, he also managed to do the back yard.

Up at 6.05 this morning after a good nights sleep,Tasha in a good mood till she over heard something Kathy said about their dad. I had to explain that it wasn't how Tim said it was, just how he is seeing things lately. Everything is negative in his eyes lately and no one cares about him.

Workmen arrived to look over the area the ramp will go in and also what needs to be done to the bathroom. They said the work should be started soonish.

Tash & Jess bought me some small packets of gummy type lollies which I like.

A new day and my eye is starting to feel more like it should, thus I am feeling more like I should.

At am the workmen arrived to start work on the tree damaged. They removed the sliding door and replaced it as well as doing shit load of other work.

They also removed part of the awning much to Tim's annoyance. Whether or not it will be replaced I don't know,only time will tell.

Another good night but much colder this morning.

Coughing a lot but my eye is much better.

Leo back at school after having a few days off due to his driver having Covid.

Sandy came over for a visit she was here for 1.5hrs and it was great seeing her. She left with a box of snacks for her girls.

Got a text about an appointment at Westmead Hospital with the movement disorder people, it is at 8.30am on the 14^th November.

Slept well till 2am till I needed to pee after that I was somewhat restless. Got up at 5.50am.

At 1.30pm bloke turned up to look at the bathroom, he will be back next Thursday to commence work on the renovations. They are supplying a porta loo and shower, that will be fun.

Up early today woke at 5.40am and felt awake so I got up. I also stunk so I had a shower, h ad to get Tasha to help me get my pants on but other than that I did ok on my own.

I have pathology coming to take blood from me. She turned up at 7.40am.

A coldish day with rain.

Tim rang around 3pm to tell me that 2 blokes got on his bus with a case of bourbon and when they started to drink it he had to tell them they couldn't drink on the bus. That didn't go well and the police were called, one of them showed Tim that he was carrying a long knife in his pants and said he would stick him. This is distressing for me, once being a bus driver was a safe job but not anymore. I think it is time for him to find a new job.

A decent night, up at 5.55am I have a bloody headache.

Kathy not coming today she is too busy.

Tim off today thankfully he needs the day off.

Had no help this morning but managed.

A POEM

 

Clancy Of The Overflow

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just `on spec', addressed as follows, `Clancy, of The Overflow'.

And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)
'Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:
`Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.'

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
Gone a-droving `down the Cooper' where the Western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy
Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all

And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the 'buses making hurry down the street,
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,
Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow rather fancy that I'd like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal --
But I doubt he'd suit the office, Clancy, of `The Overflow'.

More Banjo Paterson poems recorded by Wallis and Matilda

In 1897, long after he had given up droving, the real Clancy of the Overflow- Thomas Gerald Clancy- penned a verse of his own. Read Clancy's Reply...

CLEVER CREATURES

 

This weeks clever creature is the Raven a beautiful black bird they are one of the most intelligent creatures in the world. They belong to a family of birds called Corvids, who have been recorded doing very intelligent things.

They have been known to reel in fisherman's lines to eat the fish, also they will use sticks as tools to get food. They even have been known to drop nuts on roads for cars to run over and crack the nuts open.

There are three species of raven in Australia, and three crows. Ravens are generally bigger than crows, but other differences - e.g. range, calls - are more reliable for identifying which species is which.

A group of Ravnens is called a unkindness.

FACTS AGAIN

 

Hello Monday, hello people, more facts today, hope you like them.

The biggest island in the world is Greenland with 2.17 million square kilometres. The biggest island in Europe is Great Britain which is just ten times smaller with 216,777 square kilometers.

Once in the Mojave Desert in California sits a telephone box 50 miles from Interstate 15, in the middle of nowhere. It was put there years ago for the miners who worked nearby.

A mechanical engineer named Elijah McCoy invented a device in the 1870s to oil train wheels while the train kept running. It was called a lubricator. He made several others for various machines. Though other imitation lubricators followed none worked as well. The phrase was coined “the real McCoy” to specify Elijah's original versions.

The last execution in the Tower of London was in 1941 on the 14 August it was Josef Jakobs a German spy he was shot by an eight man firing squad, however because he had broken his ankle when he parachuted into England, he had to be seated in an old Windsor chair.

Although identified with Scotland the bagpipes are actually a very ancient instrument,introduced to the British Isles by the Romans.

WEEK 33OF 2022

 

Slept well, up at 5.30am, fending for myself. The other day I started listening to a book while working on the computer.

Kathy and her family called in for a visit, they stayed 45 mins, haven't seen Micheal in ages.

Slept till 6am, at 2am I was feeling light headed so I got up and checked my BGL which was 5.1 so normal. I also took pain relief before returning to bed.

Managed over the day to write one letter, well start it anyway. Also managed to write tomorrows blog post.

Kathy came over and gave me a shower.

Had a decent nights sleep, up at 5.30 when I woke.

I managed to finish the letter and do two more.

Sue called in and gave me an early birthday gift, a bloody good lighter for people like me. I am so thrilled with it.

Slept in till 6am this morning went to ring Tasha from the bathroom but it came up not possible. I discovered that the loungeroom phone was on speaker and not on its base, on hanging it up and hitting the hangup button all was good.

Saw the podiatrist my feet are all nice and nails trimmed.

A very warm day.

Had another good night woke at 6am.

Went to the doctors about my eye, he wants me to see my optometrist to check it out. He also prescribed another lo of anti-viral medication.

Also got a referral to see someone about my knees as Tim is fed up waiting to see someone through the hospital.

Another good night waking at 11.40pm to pee and straight back to bed. I got up at 5.55am.

Received a text from some guy who will be here on Monday to do something about the ramp at the front door.

Started the new medication for the tremor, also started second lot of anti-viral medication. See the optometrist on Saturday morning.

Another good night woke at 5.50am again, I could get used to this.

At 8.15 Tim got up this was a surprised, turned out he thought it was Saturday, discovering it is Friday he went back to bed.

Had a phone call from knee specialist he doesn't see patients without private insurance but will look at referral and they will get back to me.

Tim spoke to Paige from the DoH about a letter we need for insurance claim, also we asked about work on the roof. She said it was decided that we can stay here while the work is being done. But no idea when the work will be done.

Slept in till 6am, woke coughing on and off during the night, will do a RAT test when someone can help me.

My eyes are good but I need dry eye drops for 6 weeks. Me and eye drops are not a good mix, but we will do the best we can.

Kathy came over and showered me, she was on her own.

LOVE IS..........................

 

SHINGLES

As some of you will know on the 27 July I was diagnosed with shingles on my scalp and in my left eye. So I am doing a post about shingles. I am improving but still have a lot of bloody pain

and find my eye waters like a dripping tap when trying to watch TV or use the computer. So I am doing things for a short period of time giving my eye a break. I have to see my optometrist asap to check the eye according to my GP.

Most cases of shingles last three to five weeks. The first sign is often burning or tingling pain; sometimes it includes numbness or itching on one side of the body. Somewhere between one and five days after the tingling or burning feeling on the skin, a red rash will appear.

A reactivation of the chickenpox virus in the body, causing a painful rash.

Anyone who's had chickenpox may develop shingles. It isn't known what reactivates the virus.

Shingles causes a painful rash that may appear as a stripe of blisters on the torso. Pain can persist even after the rash is gone (this is called post-herpetic neuralgia).

Treatments include pain relief and antiviral medication such as aciclovir or valaciclovir. A chickenpox vaccine in childhood or a shingles vaccine as an adult can minimise the risk of developing shingles.

Generally shingles is not contagious, but a person with active shingles can spread the virus when the rash is in the blister phase. It's important to keep the rash covered. Most cases of shingles last 3-5 weeks. Most people get shingles only one time, but, it is possible to have it more than once.

CLEVER CREATURES

 

Tuesday now so let's look at this weeks cleaver creature and it is the Mistletoe bird, this bird is the only one known to wipe its bottom on a branch after it has pooped.

It only eats the berries of the mistletoe plant they grow on the branches of other trees, so by wiping its poop which contains seeds on branches it is planting if you like more mistletoe.

The mistletoe bird, also known as the mistletoe flower pecker, is a species of flower pecker native to most of Australia and also to the eastern Maluku Islands of Indonesia in the Arafura Sea between Australia and New Guinea.

JUST SOME FACTS

 

Well another Monday is here and because I can touch type and take my time I am doing a fact post.

The only married couple to fly together in space were Jan Davis and Mark Lee, in 1992 aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.

Russian president Nikita Khrushchev credited spam for keeping the Soviet Army alive during WW11. We had lost our most fertile food-bearing lands, the Ukraine and the Northern Caucasians without spam we wouldn't be able to feed the army.

Thomas Edison was the most inventive person with 1,093 patents.

The first record ever made was “Mary had a little lamb” by Thomas Edison, you couldn't dance to it but everyone was impressed at the time.

Count Dracula has appeared in more horror movies then any other character with 161 appearances.

WEEK 32 OF 2022

 

Managed to sleep in till 7am which is good.

Kathy rang she is sick and may not be over, which is ok with me.

Well Kathy arrived at 11ish but looked awful sick so didn't stay or do anything while here.

Tim did some food shopping.

Sunday at last, home alone as per usual, managed to do a few things on the computer, including a blog update.

Had to get help with lunch but managed ok on my own.

Had a so so night somewhat restless but not too bad, up at 5.10am.

Jess took Leo to his paediatric appointment only to find out it was on the 2^nd not the 8^th.

Sandy came over to see me she had Temika with her.

Had a good day.

Had another good night sleep didn't need to bother Tim at all.

Another good start to the day managed a few things before my eye started watering.

Had a good day ending with a shower.

A good night but a watery start with my eye, very frustrating. I can barely see.

Can't do much today due to my eye.

Had a rough night from 2.20am ended up get up getting up at 5.15am.

My eye is bad, I want to see a Dr about it but finding someone to take me isn't easy. Appointment made for next Wednesday at 9.24am.

Managed to do the shopping online with issue.

Had a good night but yet again my eye is like a dripping tap.

Kathy said her household is full of sick people.

Tim ran the vacuum over the floor before leaving for work.

A cold and wet day.

A poem

 

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone? 
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

BY: Edgar Allan Poe

CLEVER CREATURES

 

Well hello everyone the few weeks we will be looking at some clever creatures starting with the magnetic termite.

The Magnetic Termite can be found in the Northern Territory, they build moulds that are cleverly designed to help them survive all kinds of weather, including floods.

These moulds are twice the size of a human and they're built in flat shapes along as axis that helps them avoid the full force of the sun.

Magnetic Termite Mounds are exclusive to Northern Territory and named due to the wedge-shaped aligned with its main axis running north and south. Therefore, mounds are mysteriously aligned to the earth's magnetic field

"Perhaps most exciting of all -- the mounds are extremely old up to 4,000 years, similar to the ages of the pyramids." The mounds are largely hidden from view in the fully deciduous, semiarid, thorny-scrub caatinga forests unique to northeastern Brazil.

FACTS

 

Good morning I am feeling better in myself except for the watering eye.

During the middle ages there was on average one church for every 200 people.

The worlds largest alphabet is the Cambodian one with 74 letters.

Martin Luther King Jr was originally named Micheal like his father at the age of 5 his father changed both their names to Martin.

Birds played a role in aerial warfare during WW1, because of their acute hearing parrots were kept on the Eiffel Tower to warn of approaching aircraft long before the planes were heard or seen my humans.

The top 109 highest mountains in the world are in Asia with 96 of them being in the Himalayas.

JUST WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH ME

 

I haven't been around much lately due to being sick as, on Thursday 28^th July I was that sick that my sister after talking to Tasha came and checked on me and rang for the ambos, I was taken to Belmont hospital and diagnosed with shingles, on my scalp and in my let eye.

I was on medication for a week and in general feel better, however, I am still in a lot of pain and my eye waters a lot when trying to use computer or watch TV.

On the Wednesday 3^rd we had a skip bin dropped off and workmen turn up to start work on the ceiling, not the roof as yet. They were surprised to see us here as usally the tennet has been moved to other accomation while the work is done.

Tasha rang the DoH about emergency accomation and they are looking into it. I am not keen on being in a motel alone with no help day after day.

Friday saw me venture out of the house for my first Covid booster shot.

I hope to be back blogging as usual soon.