This the final week of the cursed three weeks and is always the most chaotic week. I think this time it will include the saga of the footpath. As I mentioned a few blogs ago the council is fixin to install a concrete footpath down MY side of the street, and they were to start work on it this week. Well yesterday while I was at work they dug up the front part of our lawn and the bottom part of our driveway in preparation for pouring the concrete. So I had to drive through sand to get back home from work. Then there was a note in the mailbox from the contractor stating that the concrete will be pour "tomorrow" - which now means today.

So I thought.... well.... if they pour the concrete it is going to take some time for it to dry, therefore, if I went to work in the morning I would not be able to get the car back into the driveway and into the garage when I come home. Leaving it parked in the street is not an option due to our high crime rate, this being the 3rd week of the three weeks therefore if anything was going to happen to the car then it surely would then, and furthermore the alarm is not working making it more likely for something to happen to the car. Well it's not that the alarm itself is not working but rather the key clicker that activates the alarm, indeed it has been out of action for some time. Battery is not the problem, I had installed a new battery into the device and double checked to make sure the battery was inserted correctly with the correct polarity in the correct position. So it can't be the battery. It must be something to do with the electronics. And when we spend $300 to $400 per fortnite on bandages etc for Sally, there are nothing left for such things as getting the clicker fixed. So the car continues to be devoid of an alarm, but as long as the car remains locked in the garage each night it should reasonably be OK. Fortunately I am able to park the car just outside the door of the warehouse at work, and my office is next to it, and there are always my colleagues near the door as well as couriers and delivery people, so the car is relatively safe at work. It's just the shopping malls that is the worry but I take simple precautions, not leaving valuables in sight, and etc, and I am never in the shops for too long - I am in then out again usually within the hour. And if I can possibly help it I don't go to the malls at night.

However even if the alarm was working I would still balk at the prospect of leaving the car parked in the street overnight, it is simply not an option without the alarm. Perth being the crime capital of Australia, probably the crime capital of at least most of the western world. It is a fact that our crime rate is higher than that of New York City. The only reason there seems to be more crimes in NYC is simply due to the population being close to that of the whole of Australia as amazing as that is to fit into such a small area of land. However on a per capita basis of population you stand a greater chance of being bonked on the head and having your life savings stolen from you while in Perth than in NYC. During my America trip I visited NYC catching the bus there on my own and was to meet a couple of friends on a NYC street corner just above the underground bus station. They were late due to being held up by the trains so I waited on a NYC street corner on my little lonesome for probably a couple of hours watching all kinds of people passing by, black people, white people, red people, Jewish people and all inbetween people, and I felt perfectly safe. Not once did I feel even remotely threatened by anyone. But if I was to stand on a Perth street corner I'd be forever watching over my shoulder, making sure to keep out the way of any shady characters, and keeping my life's possessions very close to my chest!!! Anyway back to the footpath saga........

Therefore I thought of a bright idea, throw a sickie and stay home. That would eliminate the issue of access to our property by car. However as they say even the best laid plans comes unstuck especially during the three weeks!! This is now mid-afternoon and they still haven't started on the concrete pour, absolutely nothing at all in our whole street. So it seems they would not start until at least tomorrow, and I can't take two sickies in a row - well technically we can, under public service rules we can take up to two consecutive days off work without needing a medical note. However my boss is perfectly within his rights to require a medical note if he gets suspicious that I am just throwing sickies, and this being the three weeks of curses, I am not about to push my luck or lack thereof. So regardless of what happens with the concreting I will have to go to work tomorrow.

So public transport it will be. It's been a while since I caught the bus, and I hope my smart rider card still works and that I still have credit on it. I can check on the Transperth website only that I am not sure if I remember my password, and the email addy I submitted to them probably doesn't exist anymore as I tend to keep separate email addys for separate things and I discard them when no longer used. And I have not much change on me. So I will have to sort that problem out in a bit.

So I guess.... watch this space for updates on the saga of the footpath and the curses of the final week of the three weeks.