2020 in review - "unprecedented"

Word for the year? "Unprecedented"
FYI - these reflections are not in any particular order ...
* Replacement of equipment:
- Not that it really needed to be replaced, but with TdF on, it seemed a good opportunity to replace the Samsung with a Sony - besides, the Samsung has never been the same since Felix 'borrowed' it, a 'loan' that took so long, that I said to just keep it. Which seemed to have prompted him to return it? Anyway, the Sony is a great treat :) but so big that I struggled to find space for it;

- Washing machine just stopped working :( so, called up ComInsure, just to check & they went ahead with a replacement - the people who delivered it (Good Guys) even connected the new one & took away the old one! Cycles are different - but it is also about learning new ways; and,

- Mower started smoking! I had taken it in for a service, which included an oil change & ever since then, have struggled to work out how much oil to add, to keep it topped up - turns out I added too much! Took me awhile to get my head around it, but (eventually) I worked out how to drain some oil out & it has been going well ever since. Well, the first few minutes after starting it, there was a lot of spluttering & smoking, but it settled down. Also, the drained oil has allowed me to coat metal tools, etc. & protect them :)
* Arson attack:

- Just in the lounge, watching a Columbian show (which was quite interesting), at 1850 on 06/07 & I hear a noise - the sound being off, as the show was subtitled. Look down the corridor & see flashes of light. Thinking that someone is letting off fireworks in the park, I open the door. To discover my patio on fire! Threw the fire blanket on it, but it had taken hold. So, shut the door, ring 000 & go out through the back door to battle the blaze. Interestingly, the operator was asking irrelevant questions, e.g. "how are you feeling?" & so I had to be firm, about being to busy fighting the fire to address such questions! Anyway, Jen (from across the road) came across with her hose to help fight it. Police/fire engines turned up, But either did little to help, or created further damage, e.g. ripping off tiles to make sure it did not spread - in fact, I feel that it could have been done more efficiently, as I stopped when they turned up, but they dithered so much that the fire spread up into the roof;

-Subsequently, Powercor turned up to turn off the power (& 'forgot' to mention that there was a $300 fee). The fire also burnt out my iiNet cable connection. So, called up to ask if service could be suspended and how to liaise with them re getting repairs done. However, they bluntly said that service could not be suspended, that I would be responsible for ongoing costs & had no interest in coordinating a repair - my only option was to cancel my service & pay an early termination fee;

- Insurance was good - paid for one week in other accommodation, whilst some smoke damage was cleaned & have stayed in touch, sporadically; and,

- But, with COVID, etc. it is still not repaired :( At first, the project manager had to deal with the Melbourne lockdown, but eventually the builder turned up. Memorably, he turns up, to check the job out & makes a start, by pulling up all the floorboards. But then leaves all the boards scattered around the yard & has not replaced any point of egress, so my front door/access is effectively nil :o
* COVID-19:

- Wow, COVID-19 has caused a huge shift in the world, in more ways than one! So many deaths (350000+in USA, alone), so many social changes, e.g. social distancing, masks, etc. & a demonstration that humanity can be flexible/adaptable, e.g. WFH. Suddenly, what I have been saying for years was proven correct - not only can you do this work at home, but productivity does not suffer. In fact, there is a balancing between saving money by not needing (so much) office space & losing oversight over staff, so there is a need for new management models - suddenly, allowing staff to be 'self-managing' has been put to the test;

- One thing it showed was how inefficient & ineffective states are, at least in Australia. A model which allowed for local focus was seen to be best. Mind you, the best thing that the Commonwealth government did was demonstrated by Morrison - when he STFU & acted according to the best expert advice, things went well, e.g. stimulus, like JobKeeper, or safe practices, e.g. hand washing or social distancing. But, when Morrison tried to be  political, e.g. nursing homes, Ruby Princess, scoring points off the State governments, it all fell in a screaming heap; and,

- Of course, the biggest effect was the delay in (bike) racing - TdF, Giro & Vuelta were all delayed. But, it made for more interesting times, as much later in the season, but still many late nights! ;)

* Trump failure:

- Technically, the biggest failure happened 06/01/21. But, for better or worse, this year, Trump managed to get himself impeached, lost the Presidential election & also lost both the House & the Senate (technically, it is now 50 seats each, with Kamala Harris being the deciding vote, as VP). Wow :o

* Medical:

- Healthwise, it has not been a great year :( have gained more weight (& not in a good way), which is being difficult to shift. Also think that I am evidencing symptoms of PTSD, from the way that I was 'evicted' from the ATO, which has been triggered by the arson attack; and,

- Mother had a stroke, so flew up to Brisbane twice in quick succession. Which seems to have triggered another p/e :( Managed to avoid a hospital stay this time, however. Wow. Centrelink refused NS, but without any reason; flying up meant no work, which meant no money; so when I went to renew the Zarelto, the pharmacy wanted $40/script. Which I simply did not have. Then went to Dr Ting & said I had pain, so needed a referral to get scans done. To which he replied that I had gout & needed to stop drinking so much alcohol. Anyway, managed to get the referral, so went to the hospital, where they fitted me in rather quickly - thanks & confirmed the obvious, that I had (another) p/e, so should go to the emergency waiting room. Off I trotted, but then realised it might be a bit of a wait, so wandered off to get some food. But then a bus pulled up & I got to thinking that I might need to stay in hospital. So, jumped on bus & went home to get a change of clothes. Which is where Ting rang me to ask where I was. Which was kind of nice. Except he then starts telling me that it was only due to his immediate reaction that I was diagnosed correctly, etc. To which I kindly pointed out how erroneous that was & hung up on him! Still, ended up getting some endone ;)
* Clothes:

- Turns out Levis Australia now has 38" legs in jeans, albeit 502s & 541s. So have bought one of which, Fabric is much thinner than the US jeans - or, at least, the 501s. Then, had been thinking about the rainbow striped belt by Levis & realised that Myers stocked Levis, so popped in there one lunchtime. Which coincided with 'Black Friday', so it was a bit busy! But I went back after lunch & picked up a pair of 38" x 38" 502s - bit too big in the waist, so I call them my 'big boy' jeans;

- Simon rang in a tizz one night, as he had found a remainder shop, which was selling RMW boots. Except that it turned out to be a Chinese knock-off/rip-off deal. Still, they refunded the money before I asked for it back - might be paranoia, but I felt that they were checking to see if the account was active, e.g. that the c/c details were valid & so I promptly changed card - I think in the end, I lost $1? :p
* Books read:

It has been noticeable that working in Geelong has meant that whilst I have had more time, I have, in fact, spent less time recreationally, e.g. reading books on the train. Having said that, some books read this past year have included Altered Carbon (surprisingly a cyberpunk novel, with quite a lyrical prose, but written in 2000), Fentanyl, Inc. (sensationalist, but showed how manufacture, etc. of those things is often a high tech response to anti-drug legislation) & Agency (not quite as engaging as some of the earlier trilogies - but I expect that it will make sense in future years). This is also the year that I started a Seymour novel (Beyond Recall), but did not actually finish it- who'd have thought, hey? Also read a McNab book (Whatever it takes), which moved beyond the guns & suspense to a consideration of how the 'winners' will respond to changing conditions, by e.g. moving to NZ.

* Mean people:

This has been a year where I have made strong moves to excise the bad people from my life - not perfect, but an improvement. In fact, doing so has highlighted some of my psycho-social patterns, especially relating to violence ... Glen had a go at me & does not like to be reminded that alcohol maybe the reason, but it is not an excuse; Tracy has never given an explanation (or apology) & as I review the relationship, it was clear that the psychosexual nature of the domination was paramount; and, Felix obviously struggles - but then refuses to take personal responsibility. He has so much support & assistance that he is especially blind to personal care - it is just my disease, etc. I am better off & happier for these actions ... despite reading that it is actually a sign of a depressive episode, to exclude people & close off.

* Books bought:

These have included Bad debts, a Wyatt novel, Praise, Nature Strip & the entire season ( four volumes) of the Balzac novels, etc.
* Jobs:

Well, one job ends & another begins. 

- The position at DoJ was an interesting one - not so much re the work being done, but some of the ancillaries. Especially with the impact of COVID & all those shutdowns would have meant that I would have been working in almost isolation. Actually, the question needs to be asked whether the calls would have been re-routed, to allow WFH? Of course, it could have been an entry into 'justice' work, entering through the side door. But, instead, I went to another position/role/workplace;

- Working in Geelong, getting a decent payrate & having a nice place are just some of the advantages. Of course, there are some disadvantages (unfulfilling/unchallenging work, set hours and/or inflexible management), but a 'perfect' job seems a little beyond me at present. COVID has a certain irony, in that I am so close to work & yet was able to do WFH - at the risk of sounding ludicrous, I told you so (& have been saying so for many years)! Taking calls, handling  enquiries, etc. can be done from home, in a safe & productive way. In fact, saving 15+ hours a week just in travel, etc. is a huge bonus, so of course I put more into the job! There have been lows, of course (Emma, not getting an APS4+ role, etc.), but they are so outweighed by the joys, which include, but are not limited to: the management (when Josh is on his game/is focused, we get on well; HD, for QEWS & WPI - in fact, people keep asking me things, which is (perhaps) a great reflection on how competent I am; WFH - despite my Kassandra complex, it is a great relief; and, meeting a whole new bunch of people. Charlotte is quite a good manager & I enjoy that she is so involved with the team. However, does seem to give the impression of a great team = added glory? Of the 8 people I started with, one was gone by the end of the 1st day, one by the end of the 1st week & one by the end of the 1st month. Of the others, they are starting to spread their wings - all due to my tutelage & good examples, of course ;)

* Santa:

Given that I am a hard person to buy gifts for - which is not a reason to stop buying/trying! :p Anyway, spent some $$$ on me:

- Lashed out to buy a new top & some bathers from Cannibal. Also bought some (long & black) socks + a drink bottle - they have the sure-shot valves, from BDA! Which I have always been impressed by;

- Two (2) carnivourous plants, from Triffid Park. One a Drosera adelae - which turned out to be endemic to FNQ & a female Nepenthe hybrid (Ventricosa/Burkeii), which is in flower! Wonder if it has already been fertilised? If so, are the seeds going to be viable? Fun for the future; and,

- Windchimes, from two different suppliers. One is the Mikado, in blue, which has such a sweet sound - ended up hanging it o/s the back door, where the sound fillsthe back area. The other(s) were Japanese cast iron bells, which all that light & titillating sound, which is so invigorating!

Theme for 2020? Exhausted ...

Wow, pt, 2 - 04/06/20

 Day in Melbourne, strangely pleasant - the air was brisk, the streets depopulated & many places were shut. Including the NIB bookshop & many of the eating places in Carlton. Which was not such a loss, I suppose? Does highlight my food insecurities, however.

Previously, popped in to drop off the swipe card off at BDM. But as Jo did not want me to come up, Neil popped out for 15 minutes & bought me a coffee.

As expected, by my careful calculations, I was right on time, but Sonalee was going to be 30 minutes late. So popped into disposal store - nice Opinel utility knife & Redback boots, that laced up? Still early, so stood around on the streets, staring into the windows of the Paperback Store, until chased off by the Channel 10 news cameras, so went & stood in Pelligrini's. Where they promptly followed me ...

After coffee, headed across to NIB. Which was closed. Then wandered through Carlton Gardens, before finding a seat in the sun & chatted - turns she is angling for a $200G apartment, in Footscray. Did another loop back to NIB, but still closed. Checked out Carlton for food, but most places were closed. So headed back through Gardens onto a tram, down to Southern X. Where got on the train in time. For it to be cancelled. Sat on the same train & took off later ... Going home now!

Wow - from 30/03/20

 The impact(s) of the virus is (really) beginning to bite - social distancing, reduction in crowds, working from home, earlier start of school holidays, etc.

The effects are very obvious, e.g. the streets are depopulated, no trouble getting a seat on trains and accessing government services is so much easier.

Indeed, the fear is pervasive. From the top down, the message is 'We are really worried. But do not panic'. All tiers of government are providing services & assistance.

But there are discontinuities in the messages delivered or assistance provided:

Commonwealth is providing financial assistance, aiding applications for social security & providing clear, unambiguous health messages;

States are providing varying levels & types of assistance, e.g. Victoria is offering food packages delivered & Queensland is offering low interest loans. But, the aid offered is quite variable & it is unclear whether what is offered in one state will be reciprocated or even offered in another state; and,

Local government, if mine is of any guidance, is erring on the side of extreme precautions, with the closure of all public facilities, whether libraries, pools or a BBQ - all these before the extreme measures were decided by the Commonwealth!

It is unclear what the effect(s) of social isolation will be.

Am trying to contact people, to reach out & provide some assurance. But not always successfully - TB says she is anxious, yet when I follow through, I get a message saying that she is participating in a 'deliberative democracy' online forum.

For some people, the lack of immediate contact is what will try them the most.

Even with exercising, there is a lack of consideration of the risk to/from other people. It seems that more people are out walking/jogging - although, could be that I am just noticing more? Riding the other day & it was noticeable how many people still rode with other people and/or in close proximity to them.

Simon feels that this is against the 'stay at home' rules. Yet, it ignores the need to exercise and to get out the house, to actually do something. It also seems not to be against his views to go shopping together - to be in close proximity in the car, for example.