Views From The Edge

I have some good news from my surgery: it was not cancer. It was a clump of flesh that had thickened. Thank goodness it wasn't anything more serious. The doctor agreed that it was better to take it out as the cells could change later down the line.

I am still recovering, but now I have a chest infection and a heavy cough. I don't think it's the dreaded Covid. The weather has turned cold, so we have had a lot of rain. I think it's making my asthma play up.

I did get to see Thunderbolts* and I really enjoyed it. I love Bucky, so I knew I was going to like it for that at least.

Everything else has been good, I have been mostly staying at home recovering and resting.

I hope everyone is having a great week.

Ohh boy, where do I start, the week kicked off pretty well with Steve buying another remote control car. He has found a new hobby because he can no longer play golf and tennis. I was encouraging him to go back to his photography, but his tremor his so bad now he has problems keeping the camera steady. I suggested a stand, but he decided to find something new. He loves the remote control cars, and there are plenty of places that he can take them to, which is great.

That was the good, now the bad. We went to Kmart to buy a quilt, and we both must have had a senior moment because we accidentally bought a mattress topper. The next day we took it back unopened and with the receipt. Now Kmart is usually good with returns and exchanges. I have never had a problem before, but sweet Christ, it got bad fast.

What happened, you may ask? We went up to the customer service counter, where we spoke to a couple of surly staff members. Okay, I worked in retail for years, and I can relate. We explained what happened and I attempted to show them the receipt to prove that we had only bought it the day before and we just wanted to exchange it for a quilt.

They refused telling us that they can't take it back because it has been opened, only it hadn't. They pointed out it wasn't sealed, yeah, that was the way we bought it.

The store manager came out and that was when things really went south. He refused calling us liars and he was rude and unhelpful. Even when we showed him that none of the topper bags were sealed, we opened several of them to prove that they are not sealed. By this time, I could see that the store manager was not going to help us, but when he started laughing at Steve, that was when he exploded. The store manager was rude and unprofessional. Calling a customer a liar and laughing in their face is disgusting behaviour.

We ended up leaving; we won't be going back to that Kmart again.

We did end up going out to Parramatta for dinner at Lone Star and took the ferry back to the city, so the week ended on a good note.

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We celebrated a few birthdays this month: mine, my son's, and my older sister's.

We all live in different areas and states, but it was still nice to call up and chat.

I received a notice for jury duty, but I am not going to be able to serve because it is too close to the surgery I am scheduled for in April. They have set the date for early May, but I will still be recovering from the surgery. I sent a doctor's letter, so hopefully, I will be excused.

Steve and I went to the city to visit an outdoor Asian food court. The food there is incredible. We were coming back on the train when a young man and woman entered the carriage, and she sat next to us. All good so far. Then the young man started looming over the woman, grabbing the phone, tugging at her hair, and becoming more and more physically aggressive. They were not speaking English, but their body language was enough to alert us that this was an escalating situation. We could see that she was crying and looking frightened, and that was when Steve yelled out to the man to leave her alone. I asked her if she needed help; she smiled and said no, but I could see how upset she was. I am so proud of Steve for standing up for this young woman, and he is on a walker. But he's a good bloke who won't sit by and watch a young woman being terrorized.

Now, don't get me wrong, people argue, and we don't usually get involved, but it was the way he seemed to be physically threatening her. They left the train, and I only hope that things did not get too bad when they got home. At least this creep knows that if he monsters a woman in public, there will be people who will not tolerate it.

I have finally started reading the manga series, Joker One Operation. It is pretty good. I just need to find the final book.

That's about it for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

My son arrived from New Zealand, I am so happy that he is back, but we will all be happier when his partner and kids also come over as well. I know they are all missing each other, but he has started a new job, so he can start putting money aside. He is planning on going to Cairns where there are mining jobs. We have family up there so they won't be stuck in a place where they don't know anyone.

The health stuff is still ongoing, but I should get the results of the tests soon and then I will know more.

Luke and I went out to see his younger sister who lives down the coast, then on Sunday, his other sister came up to see us. We are all catching up after him being away for so long.

Other than that, we have been doing the usual day to day stuff. The weather has been warm but I can feel that whiff of Autumn in the air.

Cyclone Alfred touched ground and hit the Queensland and Far North Coast pretty hard. My sister lives up there but I don't think she was hit as hard as by the time it travelled down the coast, it had been downgraded to a tropical storm. It is rare for a cyclone to be so far down the coast as they usually occur in the top end or Western Australia. I just pray that the communities affected will recover soon.

It was one of my granddaughters' birthday a few days ago so her mum gave her a small party with just her siblings and close family. She already had a bigger one with all her friends. Angel made her birthday cake, turning 13 has made her so grown up now.

We had a lovely day with my daughter and me teaching the two younger girls how to skate. After that, homemade cheeseburgers for lunch. After that, I headed back home.

Besides the garage fire, everything has been pretty quiet which I am thankful for. I can only take so much excitement for one decade.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Well, this month got off to a bad start. My youngest daughter has had terrible problems with the new house. There have been leaking pipes and ceiling pieces have been breaking away. Thank god the Real Estate and the landlords have been doing all the repairs. It has still been a nightmare for her and her partner as they have only just moved into the house. I told her that they could stay with us, but the kids are starting school and she does not want to pull them out at the start of the year. Then she started having car trouble just to add to the joy. Luckily her partner has a van that she can use in an emergency.

Then to top it off, I went swimming and hurt my neck so we had to put our weekend trip off. I have been applying heat packs and that seems to be helping. I am looking after my older granddaughter and spending Tuesday with her as I won't be there for her first day at high school. I promised my two younger grandkids that I would be there to see them off at Kindy and pre school. It is just a shame they are all starting on the same day in different areas. Still we will have fun together on Tuesday.

Hopefully the coming weeks will get better for us. I hope January and Febuary has been kinder to everyone.

So I had my appointment at the Breastscreen Clinic at St George Hospital. I had a mammogram and an ultrasound. The mass has gotten a little bigger and more condensed. The doctor decided not to do another biopsy as there is still some bruising from the previous one. She is still concerned about the lump in my right breast so she told me to wait and speak to the surgeon.

After we chatted about it, we decided the best thing to do is have surgery and just remove the damn thing. I have a very strong history of cancer, especially in the female side of my family. I told the doctor that I am not going to play Russian roulette with this thing. So I have an appointment to see him in his private rooms. He is going to put me in as a public patient and remove the lump.

I will feel better when this thing is out. It will probably be benign, but I don't want to wait another six months and another biopsy to find out.

I will say that the staff at the clinic are wonderful. They have made the waiting room so comfortable with tea, coffee and biscuits. They also give you sandwiches. They are caring and they do realise that undergoing all these tests can be painful and even a little scary. I do hope that they can get me in soon, but going through the public system can take a little time. Still, I think I have made a good decision.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas or whatever holiday you are celebrating. I hope the new year brings good things to everyone and that we will all have a better year.

Unfortunately, my new year has not had the best start with me waking up with a sore throat and a chest infection. It is bad enough getting sick in winter, but somehow it seems even suckier in summer. This is why Steve and I are having a quiet new year's day. My daughter invited us out to go swimming at Gunnamatta Bay, then coffee afterward, but I am feeling too crappy. Hopefully, I will be feeling better soon as I plan on traveling down the coast to visit my daughter.

Have a great day everyone see you in the new year.

The weather here is so hot and muggy right now. It has become real Christmas weather. We are having storms nearly every day, and the clouds are trapping the heat, making things really humid. Steve and I have been having showers to try and stay cool.

Steve and I went into the city to finish the Christmas shopping, we ended up going to our favourite pub for a quick (non alcoholic) drink before going home.

For the first time in many years, I bought a Christmas tree. It is a fake white birch with LED lights in the tips of the branches. I am going to paint it black so it can double as a Halloween tree.

That it about it for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Not much has been happening this week. We didn't have many medical appointments, so we had more time to see friends, and I even had time to go to my favourite bay to go swimming. The weather is getting warmer despite all the rain so I planning to spend a lot more time at Cronulla.

On another note, I have joined Bluesky. As much as I liked Twitter, no I refuse to call it X, it is becoming more right-wing and a hell of a lot more nasty. Now with the rumours that Twitter might be merging with Truth Social, I decided to create a Bluesky account. I am going to stay on Twitter as I have friends over on there and it is my way of staying in touch, but I will probably post more on Bluesky. Of course, I will always have LJ and DW so it's not all bad news.

So other than all this, not much else has been happening. I hope everyone has had a great week.