The Waiting Man

Thursday... a day with a couple of things to actually do

We're off shortly to pick up my Grandmother's ashes. She died last year, after a fall in the nursing home she was in & never woke up. Not the home's, nor the staff's fault & no blame is attached - these things happen. But I hadn't seen her for a few months leading up to her death, as Covid19 had restricted access to aged care homes. Given how many elderly people died from it last year, you can't argue with the precaution, but I can lament its consequence

Anyway, my Mother has steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the funeral, or its long aftermath & an e-mail from the funeral directors earlier this year went unanswered, until I found it & answered it myself, with the result that L-SP & I are off to collect Grandmother today & keep her... somewhere... I haven't actually given a great deal of thought to that bit yet & I haven't mentioned it to my Mother or sister at all... & have no plans to do so until they ask

Then, with the funeral parlour's proximity to Chatswood - a bit of an Asian enclave, we'll be hitting one of our preferred barbecue butcheries for some roast pork & duck. Dinner - sorted!

Afterwards, my battle to find some kind of financial relief from either Federal, or State government during this currently open-ended lockdown, will continue

'Twas the night before Christmas... & all through the house
Not a creature was stirring...

Except, very likely - me. If last night was anything to go by, I'm not going to get much sleep while this Summer cold is pillaging my throat. Last night, we went to bed around 10.30pm & I laid on one side & coughed. Then I laid on the other side... & coughed. Then I rolled onto my back... & coughed. Numerous trips to the kitchen for cough syrup, aspirin, soy milk, cough lollies - repeat until 2.30am, when I broke the cycle by going out to the lounge, settling into my comfy chair with a light blanket... coughed left, coughed right, coughed back & front... until 4.45am, when I returned to bed as pre-dawn broke (through) the windows, coughed some more, then must have fallen asleep for an hour or so, then gave up & got up around 6.15am & had a strong, black coffee

At which point, I stopped coughing

So tonight, the choice is between coffee, no coughing & no sleep... or no coffee, coughing & no sleep

Went to work today, mostly because I had to, certainly not because I wanted to... & made the mistake of wearing a white shirt. Mistake, because my nose started bleeding - again, because of the cold & I looked like I'd been punched in the face. Fortunately I was able to leave early - probably because I looked like a trauma victim - came home & didn't manage to change out of the white shirt before my nose started again. Christmas Day is Washing Day... is everybody happy? You bet your life we are...

Actually, Christmas Day is family day & promises to be... interesting. Gone are the days of the large Clan Gathering in the 70s, 80s & 90s... As the old guard have died off & the Clan has spread around the country, it's rare to have more than 6 of us in a room at any given time, including birthdays, funerals, Christmas &... really, there's nothing else. The family that gathers in Sydney, on these occasions, is best described as dysfunctional & worst described as a neurotic, self-obsessed, decrepit bunch of @#$%s... L-SP & myself excepted, of course

Ah well... let's see what happens. With any luck, I'll pass on my cold to one of them - which, as everyone knows, is the only way to get better

An overnight trip to Tamworth on Sunday/Monday for the funeral of Max Goodridge - a friend of my Father's from his time 20-30 years ago as a WW2 Jeep-owning 4WD lunatic enthusiast. L-SP & I drove up on Sunday afternoon in teeming rain for the funeral on Monday morning. As excuses for a roadtrip go, it's not a great one, but we'll take it. It was also a chance to try out the new satnav we picked up for the impending trip across half the USA (very) soon. Tomtom the SatNav wasn't aware of the existence of the little town we were heading to, so mapped us to a church in a not-quite-as-small town that was fortunately just 10 minutes away from our actual destination. Can't wait to drive across the American desert with Tomtom... must remember to pack extra water. And food... and blankets

When we arrived at the right church, we were fortunately recognised by a couple of my Father's friends, who'd come to his funeral last year, so knew what we looked like. As we milled around the Jeeps parked outside, I eavesdropped on conversations to identify faces & names from all those years ago. After some introductions were made, I could see them searching their memories for the quiet teenage son of their late friend & reconciling that image with the quiet middle-age man before them

A very religious Service - hymns, readings & prayers a-plenty. Certainly enough to test the patience of a Buddhist & an agnostic. When it was over, we joined the convoy of vehicles I assumed were heading to the local Club for the Wake, but no... we were headed to the Cemetery for more prayers & readings. Then the President of the regional RSL Club stepped up & delivered the eulogy for Max the WW2 gunner & the Last Post was played. THAT'S when my tears arrived, as past & present Servicemen placed poppies on his casket

We then followed the staggered convoy to the Club, where I toasted the departed with his favourite drink... & coincidentally mine. Cakes, sandwiches & some reminiscing about not only Max, but my Father & all the fun & trouble you can get into when you combine WW2 Jeeps with typical Aussie bravado & add a little social lubricant. I miss those days & was telling the absolute truth when I said that I never quite forgave Father for selling his Jeep... always thought I'd wind up with it. Maybe some day I'll get my own. Soon...

And it will look like this... I'll even wear the hat



Anyone for a roadtrip?!

Family dinners. Why are they more exhausting than others? Discuss...

A birthday dinner for my mother, with Father, Sister & the Loved One at a local Thai restaurant where the staff know us & look after us quite well... even if the Tom Yum soup is a bit spicy for the parents. They keep ordering it though

An uneventful day at work other than one event ~ a series of e-mails & then phone calls that got progressively more agitated & angry as the war over payment ensued, including threats of being sued & calling in the tabloid current affairs shows

Blmmpphhhpthphhh...

I tired... I very tired

Having become used to working a mere ten minute drive from home, the last couple of days working on the other side of town have been a bit rough ~ leaving home before I'd normally be out of bed, then sitting in the peak-hour traffic with the rest of the drones. I don't know or understand how anyone could do that five days a week, let alone all year

Having gone to bed rather late last night after a productive proto-band session, I arrived at work yawning & was told by my cohort to have a coffee. Which at least stopped the yawning... if not the cause. Then dinner this evening with the Loved One's immediate family at a pizza place in Paddington, before heading to an inner-city Shopping Mall for various purposes

Now home & medicated for headache, lower back/upper thigh-ache & a touch of afterburn... & so ready for bedzzzzzzz

For those Asian friends of mine...

So a trip to a Buddhist temple in Wetherill Park today, became a trip to a second temple in Cabramatta. Feeling very devout now... if unenlightened

Having trouble typing as I have pain in a tendon running from my left wrist into a couple of fingers. Come on Nurofen+ do your damned job!!

Speaking of which, an interview tomorrow for a nice little earner. A safe job, eh guv'nor??!!

Bedwards...

A funeral today... for one of the Loved One's Bar colleagues,who died of cancer at 72 early this week. A simple & quite moving ceremony, very well attended by his family, friends & a large contingent from the Bar. Apparently he knew Barry Crocker quite well too...

Shopping for a new printer, then dinner & a movie in Newtown. 'Samsara' is recommended viewing. Perhaps not as stunning as 'Baraka' & not quite as unifyingly themed, but a wonderous 98 minutes nonetheless

I played some tracks from the album I recorded with Joshua back in the early Noughties this morning, having unearthed the CD in my search for things to put on the iPod. I did some good stringwork in that band, if I do say so myself... & nobody else is likely to, as they'll never hear it... Joshua was a good songwriter & a creative sound programmer ~ it's just a shame he couldn't sing very well & that his love of the green weed prevailed over his creativity. Recording sessions & rehearsals towards the end of my time in the band consisted of 90% sitting on the couch, 5% talking bollocks & 5% music if we were lucky

Halcyon days indeed...

An odd day...

But let's rewind to last night when my Long-Suffering Partner & I gatecrashed my Mother's Birthday dinner plans & invited ourselves along to a completely different restaurant than she'd planned. The Chinese place we selected turned out to be completely empty on a Saturday night, which would ordinarily ring an alarm bell or two, but the on-line reviews had mentioned its quietness, as well as the quirky nature of the service, but the food was meant to be good...

And it was, in a fairly standard 'Round-Eye' Chinese restaurant way ~ where the dishes don't get too adventurous, or overly traditional & stick to the established Western favourites. My L-SP surprised me by ordering Honey King Prawns... the roundest of Round-Eye Chinese dishes & they turned out to be quite good, not too sweet & cooked perfectly. My Father ordered half a duck in brown sauce & was reluctant to share it with anyone ~ the little of it I managed to try explained why... it was delicious!

And so to today ~ a family Christening in a Catholic church in the south-west of Sydney. The priest was about an hour late, so we were all gathered outside the church... waiting... My Uncle & I hatched a plan to break in, find some robes, uncork the Communion wine & perform the ceremony ourselves (I can read & recite Latin), dunk the kid in the font & then head to the after-party... but the priest turned up before we had the lock picked. Damn!

Towards the end of the after-party, my L-SP & I took the opportunity to discreetly present memorial books for my late Uncle to relevant family, as we don't see some of them very often, without drawing any attention to it so as to not change the focus of the day, but the mother of the newly baptised babe sprung me giving a book to her husband & made her displeasure vocally apparent... then was all smiles, hugs & cheek kisses when we were leaving a few minutes later. I understand her reaction to a point ~ a Christening was perhaps not the best time, but it was the only time in the near-to-middle future we would see some of them... & we'd been careful to not make a song & dance about it... or a formal presentation. The worst thing I can say is that I'd been hearing about trouble in the new family & had some of my suspicions confirmed by the interlude... Little things say a lot to me.

Still, it was nice to catch up with that side of the family, who are starting to spread out over two States, so a full turnout is hard to organise & therefore rare.

Back to work tomorrow for a quiet day...