Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.

Winston Churchill

We ended up with nearly 4 inches of rain, and it’s still sprinkling! It’s been so long! I heard someone complain, I gave them a dirty look.

Heidi, how is Daisy?

Cyn, how is Col?

How are the rest of you?

I’m grumpy, but the rain is helping.

Just back from Brisbane (Qld for the upsiders). They had better not rubbish Melbourne weather ever again - I had forgotten how you could get hot steamy weather and tons of rain in a day. Unfortunately I was the driver to go to the Gold Coast to visit s-i-l. It was ghastly in the storms. Went to the Doomben races (races cancelled because of the rain) but they still had a ladies day. To see the silly things clumping around in 5 inch heels, dresses no bigger than hankies - what are they thinking of!! Always enjoy Brisbane - we lived there in the 70's and I would like to move there if our family would too. Love Bribie Island. Cyn - our old next door neighbour had one eye and he used to drive the council trucks in Brisbane - lost his eye due to lime as he was rescuing a dog from a pit as a boy. So maybe Col will be able to have a wider scope of things to do - early days as yet and very overwhelming. He was so lucky to escape further harm. Happy birthday to Dana and to Tahli - how nice to have their birthdays so close. Suzy a good idea to get one of the girls (or both) to present the trophy - Don would have been so proud of them to do this. Heidi - rewire the house?? You have no end of things going wrong - my best wishes to you. Hope Daisy is faring o.k. Off to see a vascular surgeon today to see if they can help my stupid legs get going again - can only walk about 20mts before I have to stop. Hoping it is a side-effect of one of the meds I am on.

Daisy just ate a whole can of dog food! Previously, she hsn't eaten more than a third of a can at a sitting. She looks awful, but seems to feel a little better.

Midge, my niece has just had surgery on her leg/s. She has some kind of vascular problem and has needed a treatment that costs a couple of thousand, uncovered, every year for the last few years. This one is supposed to be the final fix. She says her ankles aren’t swollen for the first time in years. It’s a very new surgery and only a few days post op. I hope you are able to find something like that.

Yay Heidi!

They just rewired the internet, only, Midge. Not the electricity.

Greetings friends, I have only read this page, but shall post fore I cannot sit any longer.

Getting my epidural for the sciatica has been a big mess. I think I said here that I have a bulging disk at L4 L5, with pressure on sciatic nerve. Report got to Pain clinic on Tuesday, Pain clinic requested approval from insurance. It was approved, but only for one day (they asked approval be expedited, which states delay could cause health problems or some such) but pain clinic never scheduled it. I went down Friday to get them to reapply for approval, and the only person in the entire word who could perform this function, according to receptionist, does not work Friday. So I wait the weekend. I shall be back in their face again Monday to hopefully get this done. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGH, not the first time this has happened, and the cause is again, that one person who gets approvals and schedules procedures. I shall state my opinion of their procedures to get procedures scheduled, but after mine is scheduled

Spring has sprung here, Bradford and vintage pears have bloomed, violets are up and blooming. I see a couple of lilies coming up, chrysanthemums are back up from roots and I cannot get any new plants to try to get into containers. Can't drive, leg pain sitting in car and too medicated to drive. I have signed up for the one wheelchair space on bus for Walmart Tuesday, but I really hope I am having epidural that day instead. If not, I shall look for pansies and anything else I see that is hardy. I do not see any freezes through first week of March, but it is just too early for spring. I remember only one year in last 20 or more where spring came Mid February, with no more freezes.

OK, sat as long as I could, typed as fast as possible, hope you can read it. Hugs to each of you with extras, till next time.

It has been 33 days since I hurt my back

Hi, All!

Suzy, hooray for the rain you've been getting.

Heidi, so sorry you're getting so much rain. We have also had some, but because ground is still frozen, the rain mostly sits and collects in lower areas. I hope the ground there is no longer frozen and the rain can begin to seep down into the ground. Will you be able to smooth out ruts from delivering hay to the cows a week or so ago - after the ground is no longer so wet?

Heidi, when they rewired for internet, were they able to do any updating which could possibly increase internet speed for you?

Great TOPP, Heidi! I must keep that in mind - either accept or change circumstances.

Welcome back, Midge. Yikes, sorry you had to drive in horrible storms. Other than the driving in bad weather and the 'lovely attire' at the Ladies' Day, I hope you enjoyed your time in Brisbane! I hope your visit to a vascular surgeon today was helpful! I'm sure it's discouraging to only walk a short before needing to stop. You may be right in that it could be a side-effect of one of the meds you're taking.

WONDERFUL news, Heidi, that Daisy ate an entire can of dog food. I'm not surprised that she doesn't look goof after the length of time when she couldn't eat. I hope she continues to eat regularly and show some improvement!

MizT, your frustration is certainly understandable! How awful that the insurance approval was only good for one day, and yet the Pain Clinic didn't get it your epidural scheduled promptly. It ridiculous that only ONE person in the office can request insurance approval and schedule procedures. I certainly hope that person never gets sick! Better yet, imagine if this person got sick and needed to get approval and be schedules for a procedure. According to what you have been told, it couldn't be done if the person were unable to work. ASTONISHING!

It's amazing to read about the apparent early arrival of spring, MizT. It seems unlikely that there won't be another frost, but who knows, with global warming?

I need to head to bed, so will say Good Night from here and send {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, healing energy, prayers, and for those who have posted recently, and those who may not be able to read and post regularly!

Does anyone else think approval for one day is a very sneaky way of fudging procedure approval stats while attempting to discourage people reapplying out of frustration? “We approved 80% of requests, it’s not our fault they didn’t get it done.”

EPIDURAL IS SCHEDULED. And yes, I am shouting with relief. First she told me March 8th and I cried. When I questioned her if not anything earlier, she said she had Thursday March 1, at 7:45 am, if I did not take blood thinners. NOPE I do not, so now only 3 more days. Please keep fingers crossed, send good wishes, that this procedure will do wonders for me.

Fingers ae crossed, MizT!!! I hope it's a doozy.
I'm not surprised at the ''approval for one day''. Mine have been approved that way, too. My next will not be approved through insurance since I no longer have any. I will have to pay the full amount myself, so I have full control.

Daisy looks like h3ll because, not only is she not eating much, but she has intestinal cancer. No amount of food will put much weight on her.

Wow, it's been a few days since I was here. Having Col home 24/7 is reducing my computer time but I won't complain. We are at the point of him relearning to see in 2D. Fo example, if he makes us a cuppa, he has to put the cups into the basin of the sink because his perception often means that he pours too close to the lip of the cup. So many little things need that depth perception. It will take time and patience and I'm sure he'll get there. I now realise how much we take for granted in life.

Midge, oh yes, you picked a bad time to be in Brisbane. We had a couple of bad days there and the resulting humidity is ghastly. And I hope the vascular surgeon can help with you leg/walking problems.
MizT - glad that epidural is booked.
Suzy - I just loved those cards the kids did for Dana. I particularly liked that one of Issy favourite things was that she rode unicorns.
Fantastic!
Heidi, I'm glad that Daisy ate a whole can of dog food despite her illness. Give her a pat from me.
Hello to Julie, I always love your synopses of our SA posts - they're good in case I miss something when reading.

Don't you just love public hospitals?? Aussies will understand this. Last Wednesday when we went to the eye clinic at the hospital, the surgeon said for Col to come back in a week, and gave us a form to hand to the receptionist for her to book him in. She was so busy that day, the massive waiting room had got to standing room only. She said that she had a pile of appts to schedule, took Col's form and promised to advise. Tomorrow is one week and we have heard nothing, not by snail mail, email or text. No use phoning them, they never answer. Has he fallen down the cracks? This is just not good enough.

What is good though is that Workcover will pay the costs of mowing the lawn every 2 weeks. Woohoo! If our block was flat I would attempt it myself even though I haven't mown for 33 years but it is a tricky block with terraces. I'm too old to be bothered if the Government is willing to pay. We get nothing from them and I figure our taxes can pay for once. Well, even then, it's really insurance paid by the employer that pays.

Yay MizT!

Cyn, I read a story yesterday about a professional football player. He lost his sight in one eye when a teammate accidentally poked him in it, I think during a tackle. He trained and trained and, one day when injuries meant they didn’t have enough players, he played. He said something about it being good he was a forward because he didn’t have to catch long passes or something. He has to turn his head more, etc etc. His biggest fear is another accident leaving him blind. I think it’s been 8 years now, something like that. I don’t care much about sport, but read it thinking about you and Col. Turned out to be very interesting.

One of the Navy Seals who took out Osama bin Ladin had only one eye. He worked very hard and passed all of the Navy Seal tests, which are extremely rigorous, to graduate top of his class for the most elite force. He was even a top sharpshooter. Nobody in the Navy thought it was possible. With enough will, anything can be accomplished.

Am I the only one who is not seeing avatars and smilies?

Oh yes, we have been told that he should be used to that lack of depth perception thing in about 3 months, then they will allow him to drive a car again. But, stringent rules for driving heavy vehicles will ensure that he'll never drive a truck again, which is a relief.
We're only 12 days into this, it's all new to us.

He has a friend here at the moment, nice of him to call in - but - oh my goodness does he like the sound of his own voice. I've got so much housework done rather than listen to him drone on and on!
Got another one coming this afternoon, who I know better. He is much nicer.
And then, his boss - the one above Andrew - is coming to take him out for coffee on Friday. I wasn't invited, probably because they want to persuade/cajole him back to work as soon as possible.

Observed on a T-shirt…

Dear GOD,
Why do you allow
so much violence
in our schools?
Signed,
A concerned student

DEAR CONCERNED STUDENT,
I’m not allowed
In schools.
God

I thought thoughts and prayers were like gases, free to roam through the air.

Oh, NO! I've done it again. I had a long post, but didn't get to send it because hubby asked me to help him with something. When I got back here, I remembered that CynB had commented on the birthday cards that Dana's kids made for her. So I clicked over to Suzy's page to see if the cards were posted there. Nope. But when I came back to the Sudokuaholics page, guess what was no longer here waiting for me to post. DARN!

Heidi, it's after midnight here now, and avatars are showing for me.

I hope you all know that I was thinking of all of you!

I'm so glad to hear that you have an appointment scheduled in just a few days for your epidural, MizT. I hope it is sufficient to bring you some much-needed pain relief!

Suzy, your thoughts about insurance approval for one day only seem quite likely to be the case!

Heidi, I'm glad Daisy is eating, and hopefully feeling somewhat better. It's too bad she won't likely put a little weight back on so that she might look a little healthier. Are you taking care of yourself, Heidi?

CynB, you and Col will continue to have some adjustments, but the good news is that he can, that he still has one good eye, and that nothing more serious happened to him. I hope you will soon hear that Col has finally been scheduled for the 'one-week' follow-up appointment. I can't imagine what it must be like to work in a place like that. Good news that Workcover will pay for someone to mow your lawn!

Suzy & Heidi, thanks for sharing about the people you have recently read about who were able to function at a high level in spite of having only one functioning eye. Very interesting what people can do with determination!

DOrA, I really like the saying that was seen on a T-shirt. Thanks for sharing that!

Suzy, there are certainly lots of 'thoughts and prayers' floating through the air above the U.S. If only some of the law makers could come up with something to reduce access to weapons, and not just send their thoughts and prayers . . .

{{{{{HUGS}}}}}, healing energy, prayers, and positive thoughts for everyone!

Finally tracked down when Col's appointment is today. If we hadn't persisted, we wouldn't have found out. Today, we are not leaving the clinic, no matter how busy, until we have an his next appointment.

Good luck to Col today.

I have some more finches arriving tonight. That means a half hour drive to the next county to pick them up at the Post office hub. That saves them a good 10 hours of transit time. The group contains 5 Bronze Winged Manikins , 2 Spice finches, I female Gouldian Finch, 1 Red Headed Parrot Finch and 3 Fife Canaries.Originally, I had ordered 2 Parrot Finches and 2 Canaries, but they only had 1 Parrot Finch available. they substituted 1 Canary and the Gouldian finch for it. I'm adding a photo of the actual birds (the breeders sent it to me) to my page.

Julie, the cards are on Dana’s fb page. Lots of my friends are her friends, have been since Tahli was born. Sorry I made you lose your post ☹️

No problem, Suzy! You didn't make me lose my post. I just wasn't thinking when I got back to the computer after helping hubby. I should have save the post before searching.

I noticed today that the daffodils around my bird room are in bloom! The others probably won't bloom for another week. The weather is being ridiculously warm and wet. It feels more like April!

OOPS - I should have saved the post.

Hi, Everyone!

CynB, I'm glad you found out when Col's appointment was in time to be able to go. Would they have charged you for it if you weren't there? I think your plan to stay until the next appointment is scheduled is a good one! I hope the appointment went well and Col got some good news.

Heidi, I hope the finches arrived without any problems - and hope you and they are safe at home! If I counted correctly, that's a dozen new birds! It must be wonderful to go in and see them!

It's late, and tomorrow will be an early start day, so I should head off to bed. Sending healing energy, positive thoughts, , {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and prayers for ALL!

Heidi, how wonderful to have daffodils to enjoy - in February! I suspect they're a long way off here, though I think the temperature got into the low 50's today.

I have a daffodil bud that 'buried its head' in the latest snow fall and cold temps, down to the mid 'teens. The snow has melted and the bud is rising back up. I'm told that snow can be an insulator...

Somewhere we had early freezing temps followed by nearly 5 weeks with out a freeze, then another week with sub freezing temperatures. The flora is confused...

The birds are here. I got them home at 3:30 am. They're all beautiful and healthy.

3.30 am, gasp! I’m feeling sorry for myself because Alie is working tonight and doesn’t know when she’ll finish. Possibility of 11, but might be 10 or 12. If it was 3.30am, I’d tell her to stay overnight. They offered that once before, but that one was a meeting of 20 men so she wasn’t comfortable with it. This time there’s 100 people so there probably aren’t any beds available.

Anecdote, my status from tos. If you’ve read it there you can skip this one.

Now there are only two people living here, we don’t make much trash. I usually still put the bin out every week because, smells. One of my neighbours has discovered that there is usually room in my bin. A couple of weeks ago they stuck a vacuum cleaner in it. An upright vacuum. Electrical goods aren’t supposed to go in with regular trash and, as you can imagine, it stuck out quite a bit. We took it out to make sure I neither had the garbos leave my bin unemptied, nor got a fine. Tonight I notice there are pillows sticking out of my bin. That doesn’t bother me because they can go in the regular trash. What I did notice was that the pillow on top was still a lovely white colour. Who throws away a like-new pillow?

Suzy, those neighbours are of a certain type, aren't they? I'm just shakin' my head here. I have no suggestions on how to stop them. People like that do as they please and respect for others is not a concept they comprehend!

Julie, no they wouldn't have charged us. It's a public hospital, therefore all services are free. After yesterday's appointment the girl looked at me (because I had complained when we got there) and said, come on, I'll book you in now! Phew. It's not for 2 weeks.
We got a few more explanations yesterday. Apparently they have to wait until the eye gets it's round shape again - he lost a lot of the gel/liquid that is in the eyeball - before they can do anything. That should take 3 months or so. Then they have to judge whether they think they can try to do something like a new lens, corneal transplant etc. Nothing is guaranteed at present. First of all, Col has to be able to function with his one good eye, sounds easier than it is. When he can do that he will be able to drive a car and then return to work, gradually. That could happen before the 3 months. They have stopped the Atropine drops which were dilating his pupils. If he can handle that without pain, it will help with things. I'm leaving him alone today while my sister and I meet up with some cousins. I feel like I'm leaving a baby alone, but I think he's relishing the thought of 'getting his DNA onto the TV remote' as he refers to it. He might have a bad eye but he hasn't lost his sense of humour.

Greetings to All!

DOrA, that daffodil seems determined to brighten its area. You may be right about snow being an insulator. Here's hoping there won't be another visit of below-freezing weather.

Heidi, I hope you, the birds, and your dogs were able to sleep in a bit after getting home at 3:30 a.m. The wonderful news is that the birds are beautiful and look healthy!

Suzy, I hope Alie finished work at one of the earlier times! It's tough having to be her transportation when the ending time can be so late.

Suzy, your neighbors' use of your garbage bin is certainly taking advantage of you. It's especially upsetting that they had the nerve to put an upright vacuum into your bin, which could have necessitated a fine to you and having the bin left unemptied. It's too bad there isn't some way to 'booby-trap' your bin in case they try to add to it, but that could backfire when the garbage workers come to empty it. Is there any possibility of putting it out closer to the pick-up time? They seem very inconsiderate!

I posted the comment quickly because hubby needed me to help him with something. I'm finally back.

Cyn, I'm glad Col's next appointment was made before you left. It seems like the next couple of months might be busy and challenging. Hoping for the very best outcome!

Time to say good night, so here are the daily positive thoughts, healing energy, {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, and