Going Home

My time in Queensland is almost up. Tomorrow morning I'm driving down to pick up Big Brother Alan who is flying into the Gold Coast. He will take over support/care duties with Dad for the next two weeks. I fly out of Brisbane tomorrow evening and this time tomorrow night will be sleeping in my own bed.It has been really good to be here for the last couple of weeks but it will also be good to get home, especially as I have one more week of holidays left. Dad is doing really well in his recovery, even though it has been much harder/more painful than last time. He has lost a lot of weight and needs to keep his protein intake up to build up his strength and energy. I am confident he will continue to get better every day.
As a parting gift to Gympie I hid my first Geocache today.

Football
After the disaster/debacle of the Cat's capitulation to the Lions last weekend it was a great relief to see them outplay and out-muscle the Dockers tonight in an important game. Go Cats.

Kevin's Back

We have a new (old) Prime Minister after a dramatic day in politics. I am glad to see Mr Rudd back in the job. Finally after months of burying their heads in the sand the Caucus realized the only chance Labor has of even being competitive at the coming election is with Rudd as leader. In what might be called a case of political karma, Julia Gillard was toppled when the numbers turned against her, just as she had turned them against the sitting PM three years ago.
Dad and I sat watching the drama unfold on TV and the internet, before turning to the other big battle of the night, State of Origin II,and another victory for Queensland resulted.

I've been in Queensland for two weeks now. Dad's surgery went extremely well and he came home on Friday. He is recovering slowly. The physical wounds are healing but the emotional impact is proving a bit of a struggle. 

Meanwhile I had a welcome distraction from the carer/support role when Mrs Holt Press came up to Queensland for an all-too-brief holiday over the weekend (Thurs-Tues). She had a good time, relaxing and enjoying the sunshine, and I enjoyed having her here very much. Her visit coincided with something of a Jones family gathering for her S-I-L's birthday at her niece Alice's place at Eumundi. I always like killing two birds with the one stone. 

We also got to have a look around the fabulous Eumundi Markets.

While Mrs HP was here we took our first exploratory steps into the world of Geocaching and successfully tracked down 4 caches hidden around Gympie. 
Curious? Go here to check it out.

The only down moment of the weekend was the football! Especially as I had driven down to Brisbane to go to the game at the Gabba. Everything looked good until late in the 3rd quarter, then it unravelled badly.
It was some what surreal seeing the Cats go down to a goal after the siren from Ash McGrath in his 200th game! A shoe on the other foot type of experience!

Happy Birthday to Me

52 today!!!!!!

Popdate

I'm reposting what I put on Pop's blog this morning on his behalf.

G'day, Marcus here again with a quick update on Pop.
He is going extremely well, recovering much quicker than I expected and making significant progress every day.
He's disconnected from all the tubes and lines and drugs and drips now and apart from it being a struggle to stand up is moving around freely. He went for two walks yesterday and climbed two sets of stairs each time.
He had made such good progress that the Dr said he might even come home today but I got a call from Dad this morning that there's been a minor setback with his wound opening up a bit so he'll be staying in hospital another day or two I suspect.
He is in very good spirits and has had none of the difficult and unpleasant after-effects of surgery that he experienced last time.
He must be getting better because he has started cracking jokes at my expense.and playing tricks on me!!!!!! But don't worry, I have his credit card!!!

My wife Carolyn is flying up from Victoria tomorrow for a five day break away from the cold and the stresses of home. Needless to say I am really looking forward to seeing her.

Can't close before saying, "Well Done to the SOCCEROOS who beat Iraq last night in Sydney and are on their way to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup. Go Aussies!"
I was watching the game while riding an exercise bike at the gym last night and let out a very loud yell when we scored the winner with less than 10 minutes to go!! Just as well there was only one other bloke there with me and he was just as happy about it

The Big Day has Arrived

Dad is currently in the operating theatre at Nambour Hospital undergoing surgery to remove a tumour in his bowel.
I am praying and waiting to hear any news.

I flew into Maroochydore at lunchtime yesterday, Dad picked me up, and we headed straight for the hospital so he could be admitted and begin the pre-op preparation.
He was in good spirits and feeling optimistic about everything.

After having my flight from Perth back to Melbourne canceled on Monday morning and being shunted onto the midnight horror flight Monday night I was not in great shape. I slept most of Tuesday then had a few hours to catch up with the family and pack and prepare for this trip to Queensland.
By mid-afternoon yesterday I had a headache and didn't fancy the drive back to Dad's place at Gympie, especially as I wanted to be back in Nambour this morning, so I stayed the night at Reed House, a patient and family accommodation service run by the Red Cross, next door to the hospital.

I said goodnight to dad about 6.00 o'clock and was glad to have a comfortable place to stay nearby and slept pretty well.
However, by the time I got to the hospital this morning they had already taken Dad into surgery, a lot earlier than we had anticipated. I was a little anxious about not having seen him but also glad that it was all happening and the waiting was over. I sought the hospital chaplain and found not one but three chaplain's in attendance who welcomed me and upon hearing my reason for being there gladly prayed with me for the surgical team and Dad's recovery. I felt comforted and encouraged.

If everything has gone well I expect to hear he is out of theatre in the next hour or two.

Back to WA

It's Saturday morning and I'm at Big Brother Alan's place in Perth having spent the week in WA prior to little brother Bruce's 50th birthday party. You know you're old when your little brother hits the half century!
This is the first week of 5 weeks holidays for me and I have been making the most of it and catching up with a lot of friends in WA.

Cam picked me up on Sunday afternoon and we headed for the CFFL mid-season draft at Michael and Rachel's place. Letchy, Warren and Steve were there in person, Peter and Josh joined us online and Kent and Collo couldn't make it. Draft nights are always a great combination of fun and footy talk. For me it is the chance to reconnect with my closest mates, The CFFL has been running for over 10 years so there is a great storehouse of history, shared memories, experiences, fun and mateship between us and I really value my rare opportunities to get together with the boys now that I live on the other side of the country.
I stayed the night at Warren & Laura's in Bayswater.

Monday was a public holiday in WA and I met up with Jordan in town and we took the train down to Fremantle to have lunch. He had been really crook all week with gastro and was still a bit tender. In hindsight  Mexican food for lunch perhaps wasn't the smartest choice we could have made! He survived and was hoping to make it to work the next morning for the first day of his new job at an Italian food wholesalers in Mt Hawthorn.
That night I met up with Chris at Subiaco and we went to the footy to see Richmond beat a disappointing West Coast. Bruce, Paula and Cody were sitting not far from us and were happy with the result. I was too but resisted rubbing it in to Chris seeing as she had shouted me the ticket and driven 800km up from Esperance to be there. We had some dinner in Leederville after the game then she dropped me off at Letchy's place in Ballajura.

Letchy and I had planned to go hiking on the Bibbulmun Track Tuesday and Wednesday but a mishap when I was driving the night-rider bus on Saturday night thwarted that. I slipped over on a pool of water while cleaning some vomit out of the bus(!) and landed very heavily, wrenching my knee in the process. I was limping badly after it happened and although it had improved by Tuesday, there was no way I could have hiked 40km carrying a 20kg backpack.
Letchy lent me his old Gemini and I went to visit our old friend Miriam in Innaloo. She is 93 but in remarkably good shape considering and was delighted to see me.
I had dinner with Mum and Alan before staying at Letchy's place Tues night.

I was up early on Wednesday, met my mate Bruce and we headed down to Busselton for the day. I did the driving because Bruce has a broken wrist, courtesy of an abseiling mishap on the year 9 camp and is off work until the end of August. I needed to do a house inspection in Busselton and talk to the tenants about our plans. We are considering selling the house so that we can buy a place in Ocean Grove so I arranged for a couple of real estate agents to come and do valuations on the house. After finding a few things I wanted in the shed we dropped into the high school so I could say g'day to a few people. I was heartened by the very warm welcome I received from a bunch of people and enjoyed catching up with Gaultie, Cam, St Nick and several others.
Bruce and I wasted no time getting back to Perth because game one of State of Origin started at 5.30 Perth time. After NSW had a rare win I went back to spend another night at Letchy's; with a midnight trip to the airport with Alan to pick up Vicki thrown in.

On Thursday arvo I joined the members of The Breakfast Club, Broady, Hugh and Phil for our first get-together in well over a year. I had hoped we might get away for the night somewhere but typically Broady let me down when it came to organization. Needless to say I gave him grief about it all night.
The Breakfast Club have been meeting together for 20 years so there is a very deep bond between us and we all treasure the times we get to spend together now. I led the group through a bit of a self-evaluation reflection exercise which I think was quite useful in helping us think about where we are in our lives across a whole range of topics. We started at an Indian restaurant, adjourned to an ice cream parlour then finished at a cafe but were kicked out of there at closing time and had to finish the reflection sitting in Hugh's car outside Phil's place. I slept the night in the "school room" in Phil & Julie's backyard.

On Friday morning Alex came to pick me up and we  went to meet Jordy for lunch in Mt Hawthorn. His new job is going well which is great news. From there Al and I went to a local op shop and bought a bed and mattress for Jordan who is currently living in a garage at a mate's place in Wilson.  We picked him up after work and delivered him and his new bed home. He was very grateful to have something proper to sleep on. We drove over to Morley to join the family for a birthday dinner at Sizzler for Bruce, Cody and Zander who had birthdays on consecutive days this week.

After dinner we returned to Alan's place and watched some footy then Alan Vicki and I sat down for a conference to discuss plans concerning Dad who is due to have major surgery on June 13.
We had previously put a plan in place but this had to be re-worked because of other family commitments for Vicki.
We nutted it all out which was useful and a source of relief for everyone.
In short, I'll be with Dad in Queensland from June 12-July 1, Alan will come over for two weeks from June 30 to July 12 and Vicki will go back up once her family have gone home in mid-July.

Tonight is Bruce's birthday party, the major reason I came over to WA but as you can see I have been busy and made good use of my time since I've been here.

Annual Grammar Rant

Every so often my frustration with people's butchering of the English languauge pushes me over the edge and I take to the blog to vent.
I do not have perfect diction, or a superior command of English, but I do know the difference between correct and incorrect pronunciation of words like:

GOVERNMENT: The surprise being that it has two "N's" and should be pronounced goverNment because governments govern. They don't "gover" as in goverment. This is repeated so widely and incessantly that it's really no wonder people don't know how to say it. I hear it mispronounced every day by newsreaders, politicians, radio announcers etc . I even saw a car with signwriting saying "such and such has goverment funding" recently.
BUT, not content with this butchery, Mr Abbott, our Prime Minister in waiting insists on calling it the "Guvment" leaving out the middle syllable entirely. Between that and his neanderthal policies on the NBN he has no chance of gaining my vote but that's another story. (Sadly, he doesn't appear to need it!)

Talking of leaving out syllables, why do people insist on saying "Probly" when the word is PROB-AB-LY?

SIM-I-LAR-LY I get PAR-TIC-U-LAR-LY annoyed when people REG-U-LAR-LY substititue these words with
"Simarly", "Particuly" and "Reguly".

Now I'm on a roll I have to say IT DRIVES ME MAD  when people say "Austraya" when referring to our nation. The word is AUSTRALIA. It has an "L" in it. Trust me, I've checked. Not that you'd know it if you listen to the vast number of people who leave the "L" out. Again Mr Abbott is a regular offender.

While we're on the subject of missing "L"s, renowned football commentator Bruce McAveney is a chief culprit in another common mispronunciation. The word I know as BRILLIANT is bastardised repeatedly to  
"Bri-yant". No "L"s to be heard. 

Seeing as we're talking about football commentators, another pet peeve is the over-use of the adjective UNBELIEVABLE to describe everything and everyone who does anything remotely impressive. It is the adjective of choice, thus losing both its impact and its meaning.
Consider this selection of alternatives, all or any of which could be used instead of UNBELIEVABLE:
Superb, fantastic, extraordinary, impressive, tremendous, stunning, amazing, terrific, super, awesome, fabulous and excellent. There is no shortage of superlatives to choose from but they remain largely ignored.
I know football commentators aren't renowned for their command of the English language but considering they are paid to talk and we footy fans are thus subject to listening to them, surely they ought to master these basics and correct their annoying mistakes?

A couple more that I hear frequently and which I think have their origins in Britain are MED-I-CINE and PO-LICE but are often mispronounced as "Medcine" and "Plice"with the middle syllables abandoned.

I'm sure there are more, you've probably thought of some yourself, but having vented my frustration I'll put my red pen back in its holster and say good night.

Saturday Morning

It's 7.30am on my day off and I'm out of bed...things can only get better from here.

I am about to leave for Queenscliff to umpire two games of football, U/16 & Colts. It's been COLD the last few days so I've got three layers on and hoping it doesn't rain.

Once my duties are finished I'm heading up to Melbourne to see one of my best mates, and loyal reader, Birchy who is in town for a family event. 8 of us are going to the footy at the MCG tonight, Geelong v Collingwood. Regardless of ladder position or form this is always a BIG game but I'm quietly confident the Cats will win their 6th straight game of the season.

It will be great to see Birchy and catch up on one another's news.

In other news, Spike flew back to WA on Wednesday having been "offered" a job with a mate of his. Hopefully the offer will bear fruit. I'll miss him but he is a restless spirit and I suspect he'll be back and forth across the country for a while. Now who does that remind me of?

Pop is doing well and flying solo at the moment as Vicki has come home. His surgery is booked in for June 13 so I'm heading up to Queensland again on the 11th. We're expecting it to knock him around a fair bit based on the last experience. Vicki and Mrs Holt Press will follow a couple of weeks later.

Oops, out of time, gotta go

A Good Day Ahead

Vicki is coming home today which is good news in three ways:
1. It will be good to see her
2. It means Dad is well enough to look after himself for the next few weeks, the first time he'll be flying solo since he got sick.
and
3. Vicki will get home in time to come to the footy with us tonight: The Geelong v Essendon Blockbuster, with both teams undefeated after 6 rounds. A mate, Neil, is also coming to the game, along with Favourite Daughter and sport Boy. Shuld be a great game, and possibly another nail-biting thriller.

I've just had a couple of days off which was spent umpiring a school footy game, having a follow-up appointment to my recent gastroscopy -with the results coming back all clear- and cutting up firewood.
My love-hate relationship continues with the chainsaw!

Spike is doing better health-wise but is restless so on the "promise" of a job with a mate back in Perth is heading back to WA next week. I will miss him.

Gotta start work in 30 min, 5.56am. adios

ANZAC Day 2013

We've got to go back to Daylesford. Tuesday was a day off so Favourite daughter and I drove up to Bendigo to pick up Spike who had been house-sitting for a friend. Apart from lonliness it had gone well until the two dogs, Boomer and Frog had a massive fight on Saturday night that left both of them covered in blood and Frog requiring urgent attention from a vet. He handled it well in the circumstances but suffice to say Spike was glad to see us when we arrived to collect him. It would have been nice to do more in Bendigo than have lunch and check out a couple of op shops  but we were keen to get to Daylesford, because Daylesford is home to a massive Mill Market, an Aladdin's Cave of all things retro and collectable. I hunted around for an hour and although I didn't find any football badges, I enjoyed seeing all the cool old stuff.
By then it was getting dark and there was no time to have a look at the rest of the town but we all agreed it looked like a really lovely and interesting place and thus we would have to go back again for a better look.
The kids bought coffee and we headed for Geelong where we picked up another trailer load of sleepers and some noodles  for dinner. I've been picking up sleepers from a secret location and cutting them up for firewood with my latest toy, a chain saw! (manly grunts etc). In fact I've acquired enough to sell a few trailer-loads of firewood and still have plenty to keep Mrs HP warm in the coming winter.

I worked today (Public Holiday = double time = $ = :) ) I didn't go to the dawn service but I did enjoy listening to the ANZAC commemorations on the radio before the football. Today was the 98th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings. There are no WW1 veterans left and even the WW2 vets are dwindling in number. I wonder how long the ANZAC ceremony will continue to be observed? The continued interest and support of children, young people and the general population suggests it won't cease any time soon which is a good thing but it will seem odd if we are still observing it in 50 or 100 years time.

Update

I've gotta go to work in 5 min so this will be brief:

Dad is doing very well on his treatment regime.

Bruce and Paula came over for a week of footy and family visits and had a great time.

Bruce has gone on up to Gympie to spend a week with dad.

Vicki is home for a couple of weeks and we went to the footy on Saturday night to see the Cats record another great win to start the season.

Spike is house-sitting for a friend in Bendigo but is possibly heading back to Perth where there is the prospect of a job for him working with a mate.

Favourite Daughter and Sport Boy spent last week at Soul Survivor, a Christian youth festival and had a fantastic time by all accounts.

Both of them have seen a new doctor recently and gotten some clear dianoses of there health problems. Sport Boy looks like he has coeliac (sic?) disease which means NO gluten in any form or quantity, ever.

Mrs HP is busy working, spending time with her Dad and trying to keep the household together.

I've just had 3 days off and went to the footy with Broady who is in town for work for a few days. We went out for dinner afterwards and spent the entire day talking and laughing: I love hanging out with him.

Yesterday I took Vicki and Mum up to Melb to get stuff for the new house etc and we all had dinner with Broady again.

That's my 5 mins.

Cheers

Cats V Hawks 10/10

Another classic game
Another brilliant win

Last Night in Gympie

This is my last night in Gympie for this trip. Mrs Holt Press and I are planning to be back in June when I have three weeks holiday and Dad is due to have surgery.
Things have gone well. I've taken on chauffeur/support duties while Vicki has been able to stay home and rest the last week. With no treatment over the weekend things were pretty quiet for all of us.
On Saturday we drove down to Tin Can Bay and had lunch with Dad's good friends Ken and Jackie. It was very pleasant and peaceful sitting by the water and sharing stories, laughs and good company.
On Sunday morning Vicki and I had a browse around the Southside markets before finding our way to The Palms for a look at where Pop first lived when he moved to Gympie.

In the afternoon I got busy in the back yard, whipper-snipping and then trimming the bamboo which has been a bone of contention with one of Dad's neighbours. With another neighbour's help I tidied it up and we took a trailer load to the tip. By the end of that exertion I was hot, sweaty and slightly sunburnt but satisfied with my efforts.

After the first week of radiation and chemotherapy Dad is holding up very well. So far there have been none of the "usual" side-effects: no nausea, no vomiting, no hair-loss (although with the latter it would be hard to tell). We are glad about that and hopeful it will continue. About the only symptom of the treatment so far is that Dad feels lethargic a lot of the time.
I've enjoyed spending the time driving Dad down to Maroochydore each day. Our conversations have ranged far and wide and been laced with laughter and reminiscences.
Today was particularly busy because as well as the radiation we had appointments for blood tests, PICC dressing, wound dressing, stoma condition, chemo canister changeover and to see Dr Alex, Dad's oncologist. In the midst of all that and because it took about an hour and a half longer than we'd anticipated, we forgot to move the car in the 3 hour car park and came back to find that the friendly parking inspector had left us a note just 10 minutes before we got there!
Pop took it in his stride and we went and had some lunch before driving home to Gympie.

By this time tomorrow night I'll be airborne and heading back to Victoria.
I start work at 6 o'clock Wed morning so I hope the flight is not delayed.

My Favourite Daughter will pick me up from Tullamarine. She turned 24 yesterday! 
It is hard to believe she's that old already. She is a beautiful young woman with a lovely spirit, a generous heart and a creative streak which she puts to use in her photography and her art and craft. I love her more than words can say.

Reporting From Gympie

I'm back in Queensland to visit Dad for a week. Vicki is back here too after a brief return home to visit her new house. This means we can share the load a bit in helping to look after Dad. His radiation treatment and chemotherapy started on Monday and will run for 28 sessions in all, which with weekends and Easter will take it up until the end of April.
Treatment involves driving down to the radiation clinic at Maroochydore each day, about a 90 minute trip each way, and occasional trips to Gympie and Nambour hospitals. Thankfully there have been no unpleasant side-effects yet and dad is managing the travel and treatment regime very well. We are all aware that it may get difficult and unpleasant as it progresses so we are enjoying the ease of this phase with gratitude. I had my first lesson (hands-on) in changing his colostomy bag today which wasn't quite as confronting in reality as it had been in my imagination. Dad has adjusted to it very well and the whole process is handled with a minimum of fuss.
Me being here meant that Vicki could take the day off and stay home today which is a welcome relief for her. I'll take driver/companion duties for the next few days while I'm here. I fly back to Victoria on Tuesday afternoon and return to work at 6 o'clock Wed morning.
Wed night I "receive" my Christmas present when I achieve a long-held ambition: to see Bruce Springsteen in concert, at Rod Laver Arena. I have been a big fan of The Boss since the early 80's but this is the first chance I've had to see him live.

I have 11 days off work in total and on the weekend just gone Jordy and I hired a truck and drove up to Mum's place at Tatong to collect the remainder of Vicki's furniture etc. The trip went well and Jordy was a great help and good company. He liked Mum's place and even said he might go back up on his own for a visit.

Over the last few weeks I have been collecting old railway sleepers from a railway stockpile (with permission) and bringing them home to cut up for firewood. I burnt out the motor of the powersaw I bought on ebay because the wood is too hard so I've graduated and bought myself a chainsaw! Woohoo! (Imagine Manly grunts and gestures). With an abundance of good quality firewood for the winter not only should the notoriously poikilothermic Mrs Holt Press stay warm but we might be able to sell off a couple of trailer-loads of firewood as well. Jordy and I will split the workload and the profits on the venture.

Finally I can't blog without saying how much I'm looking forward to the return of the footy season with the opening game tomorrow night. The Summer hiatus is almost over. Bring it on.

Medical Update

Despite my best intentions, my blogging has become spasmodic again. If you are one of my loyally persistent readers, thank you for your patience.

I am currently suffering a broken toe, the 2nd toe on my right foot. I have no idea how I broke it, I have no memory of doing anything bad to it, either accidentally or on purpose. But it HURTS!
There is no correlation between the size of the toe and the level of pain it is generating. It hurts BAD!
And it seems that in the exhaustive annals of medical science, there is no treatment for a broken toe!

But enough of my whingeing.

My Dad is having a much tougher time than I am.
On Monday he starts 4-6 weeks of intensive radiation and chemotherapy treatment on the cancer in his bowel. Then follows a "recovery" period before further surgery to (hopefully) remove the tumour. The op is planned for early June. The whole saga has been very difficult already and is probably going to get worse before it gets better. Dad has always said "I've never been sick a day in my life". Sadly that has all changed drastically.
At the moment my big brother Alan is staying in Gympie to help look after him which has allowed Vicki to come home for a break, and to "settle" into her new home in Leopold. Jordy and I are taking a truck up to Mum's place at Tatong on the weekend to collect the last of Vicki's furniture.
She is going back up to Queensland on Saturday night and will tag team with Alan as he returns to WA Sunday night.
Then I am flying up on Tuesday arvo and will stay for a week as Dad commences the treatment.
None of us knows how Dad will react to the treatment but we're anticipating it will be pretty bad. 
Hopefully Vicki and I can support him and one another as it gets underway.
My little brother Bruce is going up for a week in April to help share the load which is falling primarily on Vicki. Dad is not rapt about being the centre of attention as he hates to be a "burden". Needless to say we don't see it as a burden, rather it is our responsibility and our desire to care for our Dad when he needs it most. Happily I have several weeks of holidays and time-off I can take as needed. I have holidays in June and Carolyn and I were going up to Queensland alread. Now we'll be able to be there in the post-op recovery period.

On behalf of Dad let me say thank you for the many get well wishes and prayers that have been expressed for him.

Pic taken a couple of days after the first operation, in Nambour Hospital

Bad Day For Aussie Cricket

Last Day in Gympie

Vicki and I are about to leave for Nambour to see Dad. He had a quieter day yesterday, with a lot less medical information to digest. Vicki stayed home and rested for the day while I visited him. I'm flying home to Victoria tomorrow morning so she will be doing the heavy lifting after that.
There is a plan in place for Pop's treatment, now we just have to pray and wait for each stage to be carried out. It is going to be pretty tough on him I suspect considering how much this first episode has knocked him around.
His best mate Warren aka Greenie is coming up to see him today and then I will hitch a ride back to Brisbane with him in order to make my flight tomorrow morning. Back to work tomorrow arvo!

Thanks for those who are praying for Dad.

M

My Dad

On Tuesday night I got a message to call in and see my sister Vicki on the way home from work.
She had bad news. Dad was in hospital having had emergency bowel surgery the day before.
And the Dr thinks he has bowel cancer.

Wow! It came as a hammer blow! Pop had only been down to visit a few weeks ago and suddenly he's in ICU following major surgery and has cancer!! It was hard to comprehend.

Between us we rang the rest of the family and some close friends to let them know about dad's condition.
Vicki and I both agreed we should fly straight up to Queensland to be with him which we subsequently did on Wed afternoon.

He is in Nambour Hospital and is receiving wonderful care from the amazing staff. He is weak and tired, runs out of puff and has little appetite but has improved a bit each day. At present he has a colostomy bag but we are hopeful that that won't be a permanent thing. Today was very busy with a procession of doctors and other medicos coming to see him to discuss his treatment and management. It is likely that he will come home early next week but that will be followed by a succession of procedures, starting with further tests then radiation and chemo before another operation to remove the tumour. This should happen over the next 3-4 weeks.

It has been a traumatic and emotional time for Dad, and for  Vicki and I and we are glad we were able to come and be with him. For a man who has enjoyed remarkably good health for most of his 76 years it has been very confronting to experience such sudden and serious problems.
Equally it has been confronting for me to see my Dad in this state, to see his vulnerability and mortality. My feelings and love for him have never been stronger, nor more necessary as we try to support, comfort and care for him.

I have to fly home to Victoria on Monday to go back to work but thankfully Vicki is able to stay on and help Pop with all that lies ahead in the next few weeks. She had just moved into her new home and was expecting the movers to deliver her furniture the day we left so the timing wasn't great for her. Needless to say, even something as big as moving into her new home was never going to be more important than caring for Dad. She's doing an amazing job. I wish I could stay here and help her with it but the economic necessities of life can't be ignored.

They Said It Can't Be Done!

This story starts over 100 years ago with the beginning of "Thomas Jewellers" an institution in Geelong. Situated on the corner of Moorabool and Malop Streets it has enjoyed primacy in the city for over a century.
Thomas recently underwent a makeover, rumoured to have cost over a million dollars! I've never been into the shop but the outside has certainly been spruced up.
 A few months ago, while the refurbishment was still going on, I was driving the Nightrider bus which takes the pubbers and clubbers home to the coastal towns around Geelong through the early hours of a Sunday morning. That's when I spotted something interesting in a skip bin outside Thomas.  NB. This is not THE skip bin in question, it's just an example of A skip bin for the sake of the post.

It was a wooden cabinet which I'm guessing had formed part of the old counter. It appealed to me so after the shift I went back and hauled it out of the skip bin and brought it home in the back of my station wagon.

I particularly liked all the different sized and shaped hutches and a vision formed in my mind of transforming it into a bookcase by sawing it in half. From side to side. To form two "identical bookcases which might even sit one on top of the other.
But how to do it? Cutting something like this cabinet with all of it's shelves, struts and dividers would be tricky.

That's when I thought of "Redgum & Iron", a very interesting business in North Geelong that cuts up great big slabs of redgum and sculpts stuff out of rusty iron such as old railway pins. Surely they could run it through one of their big saws?

No, turns out they couldn't! 
"That's a %*@> of a job mate a real %*@>, can't help you"
Fair enough. Back to the drawing board.

What about a chainsaw? Chris next door has one and while he was willing, he was very reluctant.
"It'll just chew it to pieces Marcus!"
Hmmm!
What to do?

Obviously it was a specialist job, requiring specialist tools. Time to hit ebay.

A circular power saw should work for the outside.
Lo and behold, there's a power saw going for $20 in Gympie.
Pop lives in Gympie!
45 minutes till the bidding closes.
Ring ring.
G'day Pop, can you go onto ebay and look at something for me?
OK.
20 minutes and half a dozen attempts later we were finally looking at the same item! 
Pardon the pun but we were cutting it fine!

Yeah it looks alright Son and yes I can bring it down with me in January if you win it.
Thanks Pop.

I was the only bidder so for $20 and a personal courier to transport it a couple of thousand km I had the first tool I'd need.

 Next on the list was a jigsaw which I managed to get at a garage sale for $10.

The final and critical tool was Mum's "Renovator". You may have seen them advertised on TV. I can vouch for them as being a very handy and adaptable cutting device.

 Employing the help of my trusty sidekick Sport Boy I set to the cabinet with a succession of power saws.
Note the combination of safety glasses and steel toed socks he chose for the job!

 A precision job like this one requires careful measurement!!! In reality I was just trying to establish a line to follow with the saws.

Sadly my photographer went out just after this and didn't get to capture for posterity the brilliant manouvreing and dexterity of my woodworking skills!
 Suffice to say it was tricky and required a high degree of problem solving, not to mention the semi-dismantling of the cabinet, but after an hour or so I had achieved the first part of the task: The cabinet was separated into two roughly equal parts. The final cuts, made in the narrowest sections were achieved using the Renovator with the blade turned back towards me, quite a neat trick if I do say so myself.

Next came the reassembling. A hammer and a packet of nails and another hour or so and voila, 
"half-cabinet A" was back in one piece.

That was enough for one day. I put the second one together the next day.

 Next came the sanding and tidying up. Admittedly the back of each cabinet was pretty munted due to the difficulty of getting to each surface and section but as they will spend their lives hidden up against the wall I was not worried about that. A couple of hours of sanding had them both in good enough order to be moved inside although the second one had to await a spray of varnish.

They now stand neatly and proudly against the wall in the lounge and I have to say I am VERY PLEASED with myself! And Mrs HP likes them too.

So, to all the scoffers and doubters and those who said it couldn't be done: I did it!!

World Series Poper

You may have heard that the Pope has resigned. First Pope to do so in 600 odd years apparently. Normally the Pontiff's retirement party features a coffin. Not this time.

My mate Al is a committed Catholic. In fact a few years ago when Pope Benedict visited Australia Al and I went to see him in Sydney (along with a couple of hundred thousand other people).

Upon hearing the news yesterday I sent Al a text.

No more German Shepherd

After a bit of repartee Al came up with the brilliant idea that:

The modern church should hold a "Pope Idol" contest to choose a successor.
He also offered "Pimp my Pope".

I liked the idea and so we started brainstorming Reality Style TV shows to choose the new Pope.

Me:  "The Choice"

Al: "No Queer Eye for the Vatican Guy"

Me:  "Savivor"

Al: venturing away from the reality genre- "How I met your Pope"

Me:  "The Amazing Grace"

Me:  "Masterchief"

Al:  "Two and a half Popes"

Me:   "My Pontiff Rules"

Al:  "Extreme Popeover"

Al:  "Law and Odear we need a new Pope"

Me: "Popey Days"

Me:  "The Vatican wants a Pope"

Me:  "Vatman"

Me:  "The Biggest Pray-er"

Me:  "Dancing with the Cardinals"

Al:  "So You think you're Infallible"

and my personal favourite

"World Series Poper", with the tagline  "Just gotta play the Cards right"

We kept ourselves amused for over an hour!