My experience with the Northern Hospital, Epping Melbourne in 2004

My letter to the Northern Hospital  dated the 16th July 2004

            

                                                           To Whom It may Concern.
                                                               ‘Without Prejudice’

 I am writing this letter because on the 30th January 2004, I was unlucky enough to require your services.  I presented at the Emergency Room after having a 600kg horse collapse whilst I was standing beside her, My husband drove me to the ER at approx 8.30pm, I was triaged quickly and placed in a consulting room to wait for the doctor.

 I was kept waiting for several hours and when finally seen by a doctor the doctor was going to discharge me, because it appeared that I was not in pain, as long as I was immobile.  But as soon as any pressure was applied to my leg, I went through the roof.  The doctor still said (with out X-rays) that the leg was severely bruised and rest should take care of. 

As I am a fairly docile person and have a high tolerance to pain, I thought okay, he is the professional, and he has studied and should know best.  But my husband being a little fierier than me requested X-rays.  The doctor thought these were unnecessary, but decided to shut him up anyway.  X-rays were taken and low and behold I had a broken fibula!

 The doctor was amazed that I was in so little pain, but like I had said from the time that I presented to the triage nurse I have a HIGH pain threshold due to previous injuries that have been on going.

So after a while the leg was placed in plaster and I was told to present tomorrow for a ‘plaster check’. No X-rays were taken after the plaster had been set. 

I presented for the plaster check mid afternoon the following day and was told that the plaster needed to be reapplied as the ankle had been set in the incorrect position.

I endured this with some pain, but kept my mouth shut. At this stage I was feeling useless and depressed at the fact that I was unable to earn an income and that I would be relying on people for everything from getting around to even cooking and cleaning (by the way those people that I refer to were my husband and children, 7 and 12) because I have no family within a reasonable distance who are able to assist me.

I was told that within the week I would receive an appointment card in the mail to attend the plaster clinic with the time and day on it. By the following Wednesday the swelling on my leg had reduced and I was able to get my fingertips to my ankle inside the plaster cast. The cast was offering NO support what so ever.

I presented back to the Northern to get someone to look at the plaster and replace it. I would have thought that this would have been a given, considering that I had a broken bone and the leg had not been in plaster for the 6 weeks that I thought was the norm for a broken bone. I presented at the Triage window again and requested that someone needs to look at the plaster as I believe that it is wrong and needs to be replaced. Considering I was in considerable pain and had been for a period of a week by this time, I was feeling useless, depressed and close to tears most of the time. When the triage nurse saw the plaster I believe that she agreed with me and sent me next door to the clinic within the ER.

I waited there for hours, and by this time I was crying because my leg was sore and I felt as though no one believed me.  Finally a person (a nurse)  I believe came to me, looked at the plaster and said I don’t think we need to replace this, when is your appointment with the plaster clinic? I said what appointment, I have not received any notification and I have not even had the plaster on for 1 week. In the end I had to demand that the plaster be replaced through the Doctor. Who also asked me how I was coping. I was not coping. I was unable to feed my children I was unable to wash their clothes I was even unable to have a shower by myself. When I mentioned this to the doctor he found a social worker, who after asking if I lived with anyone, I said yes, my husband. Oh well he has to help you, we can’t

This was news to me, as he was trying to supervise apprentices and stop them from presenting to the Northern Hospital minus a finger or two. Sounds funny? Well stand in his shoes and see how funny Workcover think it is when you are charged with lack of supervision of an apprentice.

 At this same appointment I was presented with a card to see the Plaster clinic doctors the following week.

 Therefore I was sent home to fend for myself,  and try and feed two children and not kill myself getting up and down the front door step to tend the animals and the children. During this time, I was still in considerable pain, and my GP thinks I may have re-broken the leg at some stage when my left leg gave out, as it is prone to do, due to previous injuries, (Which I notified the Hospital about!)

 I presented at the Northern Hospital at the Plaster Clinic had an X-ray and was told it is okay to walk on!  Haha I could not weight bear let alone stand on it and walk.  I went to my GP, a person I am sure you are familiar with.  He took one look at X-ray and put me straight back in plaster.  This time the plaster was neat and reasonably comfortable.  I waited for a further 5 weeks and then the doctor took the plaster off and was happier with the result, but due to the two weeks, without adequate support, the healing process was very slow to start.

Because of this and the fact that the leg was still very painful, I requested a referral to a Specialist, I go to see the specialist In March, 3 months after the initial accident. He was surprised, but non-committal to the treatment that I had received from the Northern Hospital.

I am writing this letter for many reasons; one is to complain about the service and the additional cost that I now have to incur because of the inadequate care that I received under the umbrella of the Northern Hospital. I am sure that when I initially presented I was seen as a hypochondriac because I was not absolute agony, once I was immobile. I am sure that when I presented to the Northern Hospital on the third occasion I was just looking for attention and I am sure that when I tried to talk to the Doctor at the Plaster clinic he saw me as a malingerer.

I am none of the above and have never been. After being involved in a car accident whereby my vehicle was rear ended by a 12 tonne truck, and not having ONE day off. I know I am not. I am by no means rich in fact; some days my husband and children get a meal of potatoes only, because there is no other food in the house.  I am no entitled to any government assistance because my husband owns his own business and because I work a taxable income. I receive NO children support, No family and no income assistance and of course no rental assistance because we are struggling to pay off our own house.

Because of your treatment or lack of it. I am now faced with huge private medical bills and also the uncertainty that had I received appropriate timely treatment, I might already be walking normally on my leg, within the ‘normal’ six week period. I would not have lost as much income, because I would have been back at work already AND not spending time at Specialists along with the money for no reason. Because I am a contractor, I am not entitled to sick leave and was lucky that I did not lose my job. AT no point in time was ANY assistance offered to me. I get the feeling that because I was not ‘on the dole’ and I was not ‘single’ I was discriminated against.

I would like your comment on this letter as a matter of course, because I would like to see what your thoughts are.

 ------------------------------------------------------------

A follow up letter from me to the Northern Hospital dated the 24th September 2004

 

 

‘Without Prejudice’

 

Mr xxxxxx

 

I have previously written to you on the 16^th July 2004, regarding a problem that I have concerning the Northern Hospital, I have yet to receive a response other than ‘we have received your letter and are looking into the matter’ which was dated the 21^st July 2004.

 

It is now 2 months since the original letter was received and I was wondering when I might receive a reply?

 

I have enclosed both letters for your perusal and thought you might like to comment on them.

 

Since that time, I am still under the care of a specialist, the swelling in my leg is still quite evident and the specialist says that it is not normal.  Tuesday the 21^st September 2004 I tripped and managed to jar my leg again. This means that I missed another day of work due to the pain and I am now back on crutches.

 

Again I believe that had I received appropriate and correct treatment in the first place I would not be in this position.

 

I am still incurring specialist fees, I am still losing money due to the fact that I am sometimes unable to drive and consequently unable to attend work and this doesn’t take into account the fact that the house is a mess. Whilst we are on the topic of care or lack of, how many 7 year olds do you know that can make their own breakfast and clean up the mess afterwards? Because I have a little boy that has been forced to do this and that makes me very sad.

 

Should you require any further information please feel free to contact me 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I received a one paged letter, that said, sorry, we have implemented changes in the emergency department and something like this shouldn't happen again. Forget the fact I've paid $1000's if not $10,000's now in 2014, or forget the fact no-one wants to employ a 'cripple'........... Yup, forget about ALL that. As long as the hospital didn't receive any adverse media coverage.

Forget the fact I sat on an esky in the shower, for the time my leg was in plaster, forget the fact.............. Yeah, well, you know the story. You've read it.

Have any hospital horror stories? Let me know

 

 

My Favourite photos of the week

Taken by me for your enjoyment!

A photo of my darling niece, taken 31st January 2012, enjoying bubbles!

Looking for a bite to eat, this crocodile was watching to world go by at the Melbourne Garden Show in March 2012. Couldn;t resist sharing. (he's plastic by the way!)

Artwork at the Melbourne Garden Show, March 2012. This was part of a much larger sculpture. Tow birds talking to each other.

Now this view, to me is priceless, please feel free to enlarge. Clouds sitting in the valley, from my front door step. I am so lucky to wake up to the often. Taken 27th March 2012. This photo has been cropped.
Please do NOT copy any of the photos on this blog - if you would like to use any photos, please leave a comment with contact details, Photos will be supplied without watermark and at full size. All comments are moderated and won't be shown to the public. Thank-you

Please note that no photo has been photo-shopped or altered in anyway on this blog, cropped yes, photo-shopped/altered NO!

Enjoy all of natures beauty!

How Not to Answer a Religious Ed Quiz - if you are a Teen Boy.

1. Who was St Anthony and what was his relationship to monasticism?
WRONG:- St Anthony was the pope’s evil brother who tried to take control of the monastery
RIGHT:- Helped to spread the concept of monasticism, particularly in Western Europe through Latin translations.

2. In what ways did monasteries help people respond to gods call to know him better?
WRONG:- Monasteries helped people get closer to god by getting them high for them to believe they are able to talk to god.
RIGHT:- Monasteries helped people respond to gods call by giving them a place to pray and practise their religions.

3. Among other things what did monasteries develop into?
WRONG:- Monasteries mostly developed into churches buy some did end up turning into night brothels
RIGHT:- Monasteries developed into churches.

4. Describe the two different ways of being in a religious order?
a) Monastic order
WRONG:- When they weren’t allowed to have sexual intercourse in a relationship with another woman.
RIGHT:- Living by yourself and only coming together for holy gatherings.
b) Apostolic order
WRONG:- When they are allowed to have sexual intercourse with women but they have to apologise and pray afterwards.
RIGHT:- Apostolic order is when you live with others all the time.

5. What is a monk or a nun?
WRONG:- A monk is a man that is not allowed to have sexual intercourse with a woman until married.
RIGHT:- A Monk is a man who takes the Celibate vow and a Nun is a woman who takes the vow.

6. What was the ideal that underpinned monastic life?
WRONG:- Pray, east, sleep, pray, eat, sleep and then pray again.
RIGHT:- Monastic life was underpinned with the ideal of celibacy.

7. In what ways was monastic life of service to others?
WRONG:- Because they raised finds for the poor.
RIGHT:- It helped them because it gave them a life to live free and closer to god.

8. Which lines from st Matthews gospel motivated the monks and nuns to serve?
WRONG:- Everyone for themselves.
RIGHT:- The short answer is the book of Matthew proves Jesus legitimate authority by highlighting His wise teachings and righteous life.

9. Describe each of the three main types of prayer to be found in a monastery?
WRONG:- The bored prayer, The sleep prayer, The food prayer
RIGHT:- Prayer, meditation and contemplation.

10. What is the message that is being suggested in the illustration in the top left hand corner of page 80?
WRONG:- People
RIGHT:- To trust other people and live in equality.

11. Describe the variety of books that might be found in a monastery library?
WRONG:- Theology, Bibles
RIGHT:- Theology and bibles.

12. Describe the scriptorium and list its contents.
WRONG:- Is where they re-write all old books by hand, onto newer paper
RIGHT:- A room in monasteries devoted to the copying of books by monastic writers.

13. What motivated such care in the copying of the scriptures?
WRONG:- They treasured the teachings of knowledge to others.
RIGHT:- Them being able to say “a person can hold the Bible in his hand and say without fear that he holds the Word of God, handed down from generation to generation through the centuries.

14. What was the chapter house and what role did it play in the life of the monastery?
WRONG:- Where they all met up
RIGHT:- The chapter house was a room where monks met daily, to discuss business and to hear a chapter of the monastic rule

15. What was on the daily menu in a monastery?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- In a monastery the daily menu was vegan food.

16. What is the cloister?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- A cloister was a monastery devoted to religious seclusion.

17. Why could it be said that monasteries provided the first hospitals and schools?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- St. Benedict required in the monastery an infirmary for the ailing, and to organize particular care of them as a special Christian duty.

18. What was the herbarium?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- A collection of dried plants mounted, labelled, arranged for use in scientific study

19. Describe one of the functions that needed to be fulfilled in the monastery?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- To offer a home to the poor and unfortunate

20. Name two monastic orders that can be found in Australians and say where they are.
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- Third Order of St. Dominic – Ballarat
Anglican Order of Preachers – Warnambool

LETTER OF APOLOGY!

I’m sorry for you finding offence in what I wrote and it will not happen again. I have realised what I had wrote was inappropriate and it will not happen again.

Thanks,

The child has been punished, that I can promise.

When I received the letter from school, I had to try very hard not to laugh!!!!!!!! I mean seriously? Didn't you dream of doing something like this when you were his age?

Anyway, I doubt VERY much that ANYTHING like this will occur again, because next time.... he has been warned - you will be removed from the school, not because the school asks, but because I say so. (He loves the school, just not R.E.)

To BCC or Not? - Let's Stop the Spam

I mean seriously is it too hard to understand a simple email program and use the bloody thing correctly to protect peoples privacy?

Computers have been around since ….. what 1990 (common use) email for just about a long. Email has been common use since 2000 (or thereabouts)

How many spam emails do you receive daily? 10, 20, 30? or more? I imagine that businesses receive 100's if not 1000's.

If employees used BCC for group emails, then spam would be greatly reduced. Just tonight I received an email from a sporting organisation (state based) and in the CC section, there are 25 email addresses.

6 are ISP addresses, like Telstra and Optus
1 is Government defence address
1 private business
15 are free email addresses (predominately hotmail!)
1 is a large business
1 is a "mobileme" address

So big deal you say………………

If everyone on that list forwarded the email without cleaning up the email addresses in the CC line - YOUR email address has been exposed 1 x 25 = 25, and each recipient forwarded that email twice, and  every person who received that email also sent it forward by two. Your email address has been sent to 30,065,107 people (If I am not mistaken) IN SEVEN (7) days……………………….

See how evil not using BCC can be?

Do you know how much a viable (working) email address is worth? It's worth between $10 and $30 on the black market. Value of Email on the Black Market Now add to that any other personal information a hacker or spammer has been able to determine and you can immediately double that value!

So USE BCC, Train your staff, train your parents, train your children and stop the spam.

The meaning of  CC and BCC (Old School)
CC = Carbon Copy
BCC - Blind Carbon Copy

My Favourite photos of the week

Taken by me for your enjoyment!

Natures storage unit! Blanket Bay, near Cape Schank. Photo Taken 28th Janaury 2012

Petrel, taken in Apollo Bay Harbour. 24th January 2012

A childs soap bubble caught on camera. Photo taken 24th January 2012

A tender (boat) used to taken passengers to a larger vessel within the Apollo Bay harbour. I love the way the sunlight is reflecting off the hull. Photo taken 25th January 2012

Please do NOT copy any of the photos on this blog - if you would like to use any photos, please leave a comment with contact details, Photos will be supplied without watermark and at full size. All comments are moderated and won't be shown to the public. Thank-you Please note that no photo has been photoshopped on this blog, cropped yes, photoshopped NO!

Enjoy all of natures beauty!

Responsibly or lack of it – Police Chases – do we or don’t we?

I am so sick of people looking for more ways to stop people doing things that previously common sense dictated were stupid and life-threatening.

In the 10 days of the year 2012, several things spring to mind. The first being the incidents on New Years Eve, one resulting in death, another possible blindness in one eye and another resulting in broken ribs. These fireworks were illegal. Fireworks in the state of Victoria have been illegal (note the word illegal) since 1985. 2003 - Fireworks Every year, people are warned to avoid ILLEGAL fireworks, they are dangerous and they cause noise pollution, which in turn frightens animals nearby.

Add to this the risk of scrub/bushfires in the vicinity of the illegal fireworks and you have a mixed bag that when shaken can cause death. At about 6minutes after midnight on the 1^st January 2012, the CFA website listed approx 12 fires that were thought to have occurred after fireworks were lit. 30 minutes later exactly the same thing happened in South Australia o the CFS site.

Now, the most recent event, which will involve more laws aimed at curtailing the power of the authorities and giving more power to the hoodlums of Australia are police car chases, which most of the time involve stolen vehicles, mostly male occupants, mostly under the age of 25, and often affected by drugs or alcohol or both.

QLD
2011 - Editorial - Qld police lose faith in car chase laws
“Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said the average penalty was inadequate.”
“Nineteen people have been killed and 737 injured during police pursuits since 2000,”

2011 - LNP (Political) CMC highlights Police Upset with Car Chase Penalties
“criminals had a green light to evade police on our roads under this Labor Government and its anti-pursuits stand”

NSW

2011- 2 Car Chases, One Car, 100's KM Apart
“RTA checks found the vehicle had a cancelled registration and was not fitted with number plates.”

2010 - Horror Car Crash Sparks Call for Police Chase Ban
"It almost invites people to flee and to avoid the police after potentially having committed very serious crimes,"

2010 - Police Want Tough Law on Car Chases
"Highway patrol officers have called on the State Government to introduce a mandatory three-year sentence for people who force the police to pursue them."

VIC
2011 - 19yo Dies in Tree Car Crash After Cobram Police Chase
"It is a concern as to why young people don't want to pull over,'' Commander De Santo said.

2011- Spikes Fail to Stop High Speed Driver
“but called off the pursuit after the driver turned off the headlights and the chase was deemed too dangerous.”

2012 - Man Dies adter Police Chase in Stud Road, Dandenong
“Police said they started a pursuit after trying to stop the allegedly stolen and speeding car in Stud Rd about 3.50am.”

Add to the above with blatant speeding and alcohol and drug impaired driving, again (often but no always) involving the same gender, age and stereotyped driver. There seem to be few penalties if ‘Little Johnny’ screws up and kills a couple of mates. There is little consequence if ‘Little Johnny’ is 23 years and hasn’t held a full license, since the day he sat his driving test.

Some posts I’ve written about personal experience/exposure to the youth of today and why I’m scared for them and why I’m scared for you the road user, the public.
2010 - Why Hasn't he lost his licence yet?

2010 - Flashing Lights and Drink Drivers

2009 - Road Rules and Laws

2011 - 1 Weekend and 8 Dead on Victorian Roads

2010 - Youth and Alcohol, are we Killing our Kids

Please add your thoughts.

1 weekend and 8 dead on Victorian Roads

The weekend just past, the second weekend of November 2011, was a horrific one for the Victorian road toll.

I feel for the emergency services who had to attend the scene, I feel for the people who had to knock on the parents doors. I feel for the kids involved and I feel for the friends of these kids. Because kids are what they are.

I have a 20 year old, driving and when I was teaching her. I made sure she knew the consequences of ‘bad’ behaviour. I hope I have managed to achieve this. We were lucky, we had the opportunity for my daughter to do 200hrs of driving under her ‘L’ plates, which was all noted in her logbook.

I don’t know what the solution is, I honestly don’t.

Kids seem to think they are bullet-proof. We have the luxury of having purchased my daughters car and one of the rules of driving was that any penalty infringements received, would result in the vehicle being confiscated for 1 month PER POINT LOST. We were able to do this, because we PAID for the car and it is OUR right to enforce ANY rules we choose, if she chooses NOT to obey the road rules.

Her response was…. “you can’t do that” Our response was “Yes we can, we own the car and we can do what we please, if it means you are alive to tell your children about it, then we have succeeded.”

Two years later, no infringements have been received. I don’t care HOW we achieved the outcome, but I’d like to think that this rule and the risk of losing ‘her’ car had something to do with it.

Mid-October we witnessed an event of colossal stupidity, It occurred within 10m of our vehicle and in front of about 50 witnesses. A driver, (since disclosed to be about 25yo) did 3 donuts in the middle of a very busy intersection, just because he could. He placed himself and others in extreme danger and thought nothing of it. This same vehicle was also witnessed travelling the wrong way around a round-about some 10 minutes later. It wasn’t peer-group pressure as he was travelling alone.

So why did he do it? Because he thought he could get away with it with no consequences. 

The hoon laws only apply IF YOU get caught……………………..

Every action has a reaction, Teach your children this and perhaps we can save them, one action at a time.

My Favourite photos of the week

Taken by me for your enjoyment Apollo Bay, through the flowers to the Beach (20110128)

Silouette Kangaroo Puppets (2011) (This photo is real and not photshopped in ANY WAY!)

  The Fish that didn't get away - the 13yo was the proud owner of one 2kg snapper! (20100121)

The port side of the Marthas Cove Port entry at Dawn (20101121)

Please do NOT copy any of the photos on this blog - if you would like to use any photos, please leave a comment with contact details, Photos will be supplied without watermark and at full size. All comments are moderated and won't be shown to the public. Thank-you

Please note that no photo has been photoshopped on this blog, cropped yes, photoshopped NO!

Enjoy all of natures beauty!

Please visit Redbubble, perhaps there is something there you would like to purchase. Refer the photos below!

My Favourite Photos of the week

Taken by me for your enjoyment



Spider in the lemon tree

A bubble in a bubble

The joys of catching bubbles

A rose by any other name, one that was caught in a rain storm

Please do NOT copy any of the photos on this blog - if you would like to use any photos, please leave a comment with contact details, Photos will be supplied without watermark and at full size. All comments are moderated and won't be shown to the public. Thank-you

Please note that no photo has been photoshopped on this blog, cropped yes, photoshopped NO!

Enjoy all of natures beauty!

Please visit Redbubble, perhaps there is something there you would like to purchase. Refer the photos below!

Wall-E – The Movie, The world that could be….

.............If we allow it to be.

My reason for writing this post, is that I was watching this movie on the weekend with my 13yo and even he realised there is a grain of truth in. Are we smart enough to save ourselves now? Or do we have to wait 800 years for a saviour?

W.A.L.L.E. = Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class.

Walle is a trash compaction unit, left behind after Earth was evacuated due to people just using and abusing and throwing away. Humans are evacuated as a temporary measure until the WALL-E units can clean up the planet and allow the humans to return.

Unfortunately 5 years after taking to the skies, earth was deemed too toxic for humans to return, so they stay in space and with a sedentary lifestyle, turn into fat humans, unable to move and only living because computers do everything for them, from making decisions, to bringing them food, to clothing them and making them scared of the real world.

When Eve is sent down to the Earth to see how things are going, she finds WALL-E and then a seedling, once Eve detects the seedling, she shuts down, hiding the plant, and calling for a ship to come and pick her and the plant up.

WALL-E hitches a lift and makes it back to the mother ship. The Auto-pilot of the Mother ship realises that the plant signifies life and by declaring WALL-E a threat and stealing the plant, the autopilot almost derails humans returning back to Earth.

Eventually the humans realise that being obese and reliant on robots/computers is not good nor healthy for them and make a change.

What I’m getting at, are humans being too consumer orientated, prepared to settle brand-new straight out the box and not fix something that is broken, rather throw it out and get a replacement?

Are we becoming too reliant on computers to feed us, warm us, monitor us, coach us, entertain us and pretty much do everything except spoon the calorie laden food into our mouths and wipe our butts (Although I believe you can buy a toilet seat that does that!)

Have we lost our sense of who and what we are? Have we lost the ability to think for ourselves, have we lost common sense. Are we so stupid that we can’t think for ourselves anymore.

Think it about – watch the movie WALL-E, it might have been made in 2008 and it might be animated, but look, listen and pay attention – there IS A MESSAGE THERE.

Is our society becoming more violent?

This is a question that I have been pondering for some time and I wonder how many other people are asking the same question.
My reason for asking this question of myself is that a service station that I frequent was robbed at gunpoint, not just a pistol but a ‘long arm’ rifle, about 3ft of death pointing you in the face.
Here is a photo of said armed robbery - Armed Hold Up - Thomastown

So I do a quick Google search of “Is our society becoming more violent?” and I get 1,810,000 results, worldwide and 61,800 results from Australia.

I’ve always thought that video games and parental care (or lack of it) and parental attitude has a lot to do with the violence that we are now seeing on the streets, in our homes, in our hospitals, in fact everywhere we look, there is violence, even the local shopping centre car park.

Have we become that rude and intolerant of others, that we can’t stop ourselves from threatening others when we don’t get our own way, or have we become that greedy that we refuse to work, instead robbing those that do work to support themselves?

A quick glance over the results I found, it doesn’t matter if we are talking about America, Europe Australia or even Britain, we are all concerned about the same thing. Children killing, children committing crimes that were once the domain of adults. I understand that the children are learning this behavior from somewhere and that somewhere is home, be it through parental behavior, video games, or TV, it is being learnt and needs to stop.

The articles listed below are just a miniscule fraction of what is reported and far more goes unreported.

28th Sept 2010 - 16yo charged with Murder [WA, Aust]

23rd August 2010 - Women charged after allegedly punching, burning babysitter with cigarette butt [QLD, Aust]

18th Feb 2010 - Sex beast and wife jailed for keeping woman as slave [SA, Aust]

18th Dec 2009 - Life ban for parent who 'punched' umpire [WA, Aust]

Once upon a time, if you were caught stealing something from your neighbour and your parents or the police found out, your parents would give you a swift kick up the back-side, the police a stern talking to in front of your parents.

These days – no swift kicks or informing parents or even stern talkings to by policemen, children have rights, rights to abuse those in authority, rights to do as they please, rights to ignore the law and get away with a slap on the wrist. This is also the second half of the problem, there is no personal accountability for your actions anymore.

You drink alcohol – you must be sick, you do drugs – you must be sick, you bash someone – you must be sick. You kill someone with your car – you must be sick. There is a label for everything and everything with a label. No longer do you have to use self-control – you can attach a label and get away with killing someone. Literally.

Australia and the world needs to wake up, the crime spree we are seeing at the moment is a generational problem and we need to realize that people need to be accountable for their actions and the courts of law need to toughen up and realize that the world will be a safer place if they applied the penalties as dictated by law and not just a slap on the wrist.

Your thoughts?

Memories of Manna

Sugar from the Gods, or perhaps sugar from insects!

A summer ritual, when we were kids. Go to the pool, once the days heat had passed – go for a bike ride and collect the fallen ‘sugar’ – it was white globules of a sweet manna. Which is really a sap excretion from the Ribbon or Manna Eucalyptus Tree.

I don’t remember how I found out about, or when or even who told me. It just seemed natural. We even used to go prepared with a little white paper bag – you know the ones the lollies used to come in when for 20 cents, you’d fill the bag to over-flowing with lollies? Well we’d go and fill that ½ full maybe and get our natural sugar fix from trees located within the township I grew up.

Those trees are now gone. All of them, all the ‘good’ ones are gone. Not because of development, but because of bushfire. I just thought of it now. It hit me like a sledge hammer.

Weird. When I was back in town I used to go for a ‘browse’ occasionally. I can no longer.

Manna has been used for a life-time by the Aboriginal people of Australia, they collected it once the manna had fallen to the ground and consumed accordingly. Australian settlers were also quite fond of it and it’s rumoured that some trees could produce 40lb (20kg) of manna a day.

Manna is a sap excreted by the tree, wither naturally or with the assistance of boring insects, that would injure the tree and the sap would form. Once it was dry – it would drop to the ground, waiting for be picked up, by either human or animal.

Sugar Gliders like the sugar content, which can be as high as 15%, many other creatures also like it, including ants.

As a human child, only the pure snow-white ones where good. The slightly off-colour ones, although nothing was wrong with them, you learned they were not quite as sweet as the pure white ones.

Most pieces were the size of something slightly larger than a match head, other pieces were considerably bigger and they were like trophies.

The memories of growing up and a changing world, be it through development or advancement or natural disaster, hang onto those memories and teach your children. The old ways may seem foreign, but they are the simple ways and the simple things in life bring much pleasure.

(Unfortunately I’m unable to locate a photo for reference, but will try to source one sometime in the near future)

Busy parents, home-made meals, how can it be done?

Having home cooked meals ready for when you get home is really easy, doesn’t even require much preparation – believe it or not.

There’s not need for it to be expensive either.

Essential ingredients:-
1 x freezer
?? x single serve or multiple serve freezer containers
WASHED potatoes (very important – the washed bit)

After that the world is your oyster

I’m the first to admit it – I’m no masterchef, even if I do have a cookbook to my name Marysville Cookbook It’s amazing what generational education can teach you. These recipes are from my grandmother and mother and some I've collected myself

Simple recipes are the key to any success in the kitchen, simple ingredients, simple instructions, little stirring, little time consuming sautéing, little standing in front of stove type recipes. That is the key to healthy home-cooked recipes for the family.

Trick Number 1 – Always cook more than you need, Freeze the left-over for meals later.
Trick Number 2 – never peel another potato again
Trick Number 3 – want roast vegies? – Cook them in the microwave (about 20min) before transferring to oven and lightly coating with Olive oil to complete the cooking.
Trick Number 4 – a slow cooker is a brilliant thing – learn to use it
Trick Number 5 –next time you need a microwave, buy one you can pre-set the start and finish times – a wonderful invention
Trick Number 6 – Saturday/Sunday when I’m doing other things around the house. I’ll cook a meal or two. Not just 1-2 servings but multiples of, soup/stews/casseroles are a wonderful thing to cook copious amounts of. You don’t have to eat them all at once. That’s what the freezer is for.
Trick Number 7 – Failures more often than not, taste the best.

The 7 steps to success (in my kitchen)

Here is my freezer, a little light on ‘stock’ but plenty of single serve meals, single serve because of family dynamics have changed and this allows for 1-2 or 5-6 quick meals to be on hand at ANY time.

When I was growing up.......and modern communication

I was thinking about a conversation with my darling Mstr13 – He wanted to visit some friends, I said ring them and find out what they are doing. He said I don’t have their phone numbers. I said, then how do you contact them? –Internet, was the response.

I thought back to when I was growing up, when I was 13yo. I grew up in a small town and we’d ring friends first thing in the morning (not before 9am) that would be rude, and we’d organize our day that way.

Then we I grew up and left school, same thing, you’d ring the house and organize something, if you were lucky they had an answering machine. If they didn’t, you’d try again later.

Then pagers were invented. Great for working people, great for people contracting, you worked out with family and friends codes, that when the number was sent through, you’d add and extra digit at the start or finish of the phone to signify something. 0=out, 1=in, 2=home soon

Then pagers had text capability – WOW – it was heaven, no more trying to remember what meant what. Mobile phones were around, but they were far too expensive for the average person to have. Mobile phones were for corporate type people.

Eventually the cost of owning a second hand mobile outweighed the cost of a pager and returning phone calls etc. So many people switched over to mobiles.

Now if you don’t have a mobile (or don’t answer it on the second ring) you are a luddite .

Technology has gone far these last 20 years, now it is common for people not to have access to a landline, to only have a mobile phone, everything is wireless and far more cost affordable.

The internet for those under the age of 20 years, is considered the norm, in fact life didn’t exist prior to that apparently!

I think what scares me, is that in an emergency, people won’t be sitting by their computer waiting for you to contact them. How will kids manage if there is an emergency and they don’t have access to a computer?

Mobile phones are great for 12-24hours and then after that you need 240v power to recharge them.

I suppose what I am saying is get something other than an online user name from people you considering friends, imagine putting out a call for “deep_throat”, whom you haven’t spoken to in a month. You know they live in Timbuktu, you know they go to “Prince School of the West” You think their name is Tom, but you have no idea what their surname is. Get their phone number! It would make life a little easier!

Take care out there

The Disappearing Portable Phone

Hands up who has a portable telephone handsets and teenagers?

I can see about 50% of my readers with their hands in the air! (Good imagination here!)

Alright – in my house, the bloody handset is never in the cradle, never on bench, in fact I don’t recall the last time I actually used it. We have an ‘old’ handset – you know the one with the cord that keeps you tied to the same location with 1m to roam, and it seems that is the only phone I’m allowed to use.

The handset disappears into the depths of the teenagers bedroom and remains there. Never goes on charge, yet doesn’t need charging, yet they spend all day (and night) yapping on the bloody thing.

The last time I tried to use it when I found it – it was flat, I’m not just talking beeping flat, I am talking dead flat. The screen was dead.

We are lucky – we have two landlines into the house, left over from when dial-up was the only internet service we could get (only 2 years ago) and I’ve not bothered cancelling the second line. This means that we have multiple phone socket connections throughout the house (not in kids bedrooms though!) and so a phone is never far away.

I am sick of chasing the handset though, I feel as though I am entering the Amazon Jungle every time I have to go through the door of the teenagers bedroom, it’s a completely different world and climate to the rest of the house. It scares me.

How do you stop the phone migrating into the mess known as the ‘teenagers’ bedroom’ without disconnecting the handset?

Ideas please!

I drive a 4x4

I was listening to the radio the other day and the ugly topic of four wheel drives should be banned in inner city areas came up..

I’m all for making the roads safer, but the major argument seems to be the of hitting pedestrians and the damage it can and does cause, along with not being able to 'see' through the car in front to judge traffic.

Any car will damage a pedestrian - the degrees of damage vary. Any vehicle with a bullbar will cause the same damage. Older cars with the squarer fronts will also cause more damage than a slick little sedan. Unfortunately not everyone can afford to drive a slick little new car, nor can they afford to own 2 vehicles.

As for being able to 'see through' the vehicle in front, this is garbage. If you drive with the correct distance between you and the vehicle in front, this is not issue. The number of tradesman's vans, trucks and passenger vans on the road exclude this as being an issue. Also Dark tint is making it increasing difficult to 'see through' a vehicle. People movers because of their height also prove difficult to see through.

We live approx 40km from the CBD and on a rural property. We use the four wheel drive component of the vehicle on a weekly basis. We use our vehicle for the purpose it was intended as well as the family car.

We can not afford a second vehicle, as has been suggested by some. The costs JUST for insurance and registration exceed $1000.00 per year, add to that maintenance and the cost could well exceed $5000.00 per year.

Some people are saying that the users/owners of four wheel drives should pay a higher registration fee to enable us to use the roads. This is grossly unfair. Why should we be punished for living in a rural setting and not in the inner city/suburbs?

I understand that some people buy 4x4’s exclusively for transporting children to and from school, as the darling husband thinks they are safer. When you only have 1-2 children having such a large vehicle ONLY for that task, it is criminal. Perhaps driving lessons are required?

Another aspect of four wheel drive ownership that many people overlook is that a family of 6 (2 adults and 4 children) or a couple with a blended family, have only 2 choices when it comes to vehicle choice. These choices are:- a people mover OR a four wheel drive. I agree with the purchasers a four wheel drive in this instance IS safer. A people mover has inferior driver/front seat passenger leg protection and in my eyes a four wheel drive IS safer.

AND Just because you live in the suburbs or the inner city, doesn’t mean that you don’t use the full potential of the vehicle. You may own a caravan, you may own horses. The towing capacity of a four wheel drive is superior by far.

So just because I live in Balwyn or Gisborne I have equal right to the ownership of a four wheel drive, as long as it is used for the purpose it was intended which is:-
Rough terrain driving
Heavy towing
6 plus people transport

I don’t believe there is a way to monitor usage and therefore to randomly introduce penalties for ownership of such vehicles is not the Australia we all know.

Your input comment and thoughts appreciated!

I nearly hit a pedestrian today…….

It wasn’t my fault.

How could it be my fault, if
a) he was crossing an 8 lane highway,
b) climbing over a traffic barrier,
c) wearing ear phones for music
d) the pedestrian lights were 200m up the road

I am stunned at peoples stupidity, both in high speed traffic areas and also slow speed traffic areas.

Just yesterday on Hoddle Street, Melbourne, a pedestrian was killed by a truck, No - the truck didn’t climb the curb, nor did the driver run a red light. The truck was stopped in traffic and the pedestrian chose to climb OVER the hitching between the dog and trailer!

In car parks, they are the best, people step off the curb and onto the road, hold up their hand, just like a police officer and expect you to wait. Excuse me, the pedestrian crossing is 20m up the road.

Another thing that really gets up my nose, people with children in tow, instead of waiting for the ‘little green man’ when the button for the lights is pressed, the carers either cross against the lights OR cross 50m away from the lights, without the protection of a pedestrian crossing.

People wonder why children get killed when trying to the cross the road. It’s because the children have no idea of HOW to cross a road. They have never been taught.

Cars can be dangerous, but don’t blame the driver, when the pedestrian walks onto the road, at a spot NOT designed for pedestrians, or actively discouraged by pedestrian barriers.’

I am sure you can add to these examples.

Remember Look left, look right and look left again BEFORE crossing the road. Remember a car is bigger than you and if impact occurs you COULD get killed.

Stay Safe

The Meanest Mother In The World

I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different than the other kids' also.

But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we be gone one hour or less--not one hour and one minute. I am nearly ashamed to admit it, but she actually struck us. Not once, but each time we had a mind of our own and did as we pleased. That poor belt was used more on our seats than it was to hold up Daddy's pants. Can you imagine someone actually hitting a child just because he disobeyed? Now you can begin to see how mean she really was.

We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath. The other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of insults because she made our clothes herself, just to save money. Why, oh why, did we have to have a mother who made us feel different from our friends?

The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept-my mother actually had the nerve to break the child-labor law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.

She always insisted upon us telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, even if it killed us- and it nearly did.

By the time we were teen-agers, she was much wiser, and our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting the horn of a car for us to come running. She embarrassed us to no end by making our dates and friends come to the door to get us. If I spent the night with a girlfriend, can you imagine she checked on me to see if I were really there. I never had the chance to elope to Mexico. That is if I'd had a boyfriend to elope with. I forgot to mention, while my friends were dating at the mature age of 12 and 13, my old fashioned mother refused to let me date until the age of 15 and 16. Fifteen, that is, if you dated only to go to a school function. And that was maybe twice a year.

Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did, and miss school. If our friends had a toe ache, a hang nail or serious ailment, they could stay home from school. Our marks in school had to be up to par. Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks.

As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame. We were graduated from high school. With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.

My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have ever been arrested, divorced or beaten his mate. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country. And whom do we have to blame for the terrible way we turned out? You're right, our mean mother. Look at the things we missed. We never got to march in a protest parade, nor to take part in a riot, burn draft cards, and a million and one other things that our friends did. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults.

Using this as a background, I am trying to raise my three children. I stand a little taller and I am filled with pride when my children call me mean. Because, you see, I thank God, He gave me the meanest mother in the whole world.

Copyright© 1967 by Bobbie Pingaro

Why hasn’t he lost his drivers license yet?

21yo male, has interlock fitted due to prior drink-driving offences. Caught speeding 100kph OVER the posted signed speed limit and yet drives away with vehicle and given 1 month to have the interlock device removed before the license is cancelled.

This is not the first time, this ‘kid’ has been caught hooning, it’s not the first time he will have lost his license. He’s 21yo. I thought ANYONE caught speeding in a dangerous manner, (45kph over the speed limit) instantly lost their vehicle for a prescribed amount of time.

Something seems wrong here.

Does this ‘child’ have to die before something is done. Noting that the area in which he was caught was within 500m of where 5 young adults died due to speeding.

Where I Live - Oakleigh/Monash
Car Advice - Vic State Government to Crush Hoons Cars at 3rd Offence
Car Advice - Vic Man Loses car under Anti-Hoon Laws
car Advice - Mid-Life Crisis Worse Than P-Platers
News.com.au - Lamborghini Impounded Under Hoon Laws

If a mechanic, driving his clients car in a dangerous manner can get the car impounded for dangerous driving, then why is this car still on the street and why does the 21yo driver still have his license for 30 days?

Dying for your music

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you”, will be a phrase heard more often as the years pass. Since the conception of personal music players, currently known as iPods, or even iPhones, the state of our ears, thus our hearing has declined dramatically.

This not only affects our hearing, but also our speech, or even the ability to learn or even cross a busy road. If you can’t hear yourself speak, then it is likely that your speech will deteriorate with time, unless you are very aware that this is the case. If you can’t hear the teacher speak, then of course you will not be able to learn everything that is being covered in the course/lesson. If you are crossing at an unmarked crossing on the road, you may not hear a car, a bicycle or even an emergency vehicle and thus place yourself in danger, without even realizing it. Hearing loss can and will impact your life in ways you wouldn’t even think possible, until it is too late.

According to a recent large scale report from scientists of the European Commission examined the use of personal music players such as the iPod and they determined as many as 1 in 10 users of personal music players are at risk of suffer permanent hearing loss if they listen to a PMP at high levels more than one hour a day for five years.

The impact on understanding the world around you - Noise-induced hearing loss makes it difficult to understand what is being said in restaurants and other places with background noise. Conversations sound muffled, as if coming through a hotel room wall. It also becomes difficult to hear high-frequency, soft consonants, such as "s," "t," "f," "h" and the "sh" sound.

Imagine having a church bells ringing in your ears constantly – it may not be that loud – but from 2 blocks away, the sound is the same. That is called Tinnitus and while tinnitus may come and go for some, it’s constant for others and can be a particularly frustrating. Around half of those who suffer from it find their sleep is affected, which in turn can cause tiredness that both impacts their ability to work and the quality of their home life or even their social life and communication.

There is no cure – other than hearing aids, which although with new technology are now almost invisible. Imagine having to ‘plug into’ the world EVERY day for the rest of your life, just so you can hear your children speak.

There are others forms of hearing loss, most often industrial hearing loss, but with the implementation of OH&S policies, the incidence of this type of hearing loss is being greatly reduced.

Jeff Rich, former drummer of Status Quo, warned people against misguided over-confidence and against ignoring the scientific proof that loud noise causes hearing loss. He was unaware of this when he played in his band. As a result Rich has lost 70 percent of his hearing in his right ear and 50 percent in his left. He now requires hearing aids to function in society.

It is estimated that, one in eight children or young adolescents in the 6-19 year age group suffers from hearing loss caused by excessive noise. Once you lose part of your hearing, it is lost forever.
Remember – once the ability to hear clearly is no longer present, you may have trouble communicating with others, communicating with your employer or even doing your job at the required standard if your hearing is an important part of performing your job, for example answering the telephone.

Turn that iPod down, turn that stereo down and remember once your hearing has left the building, it will never return!