Well I have survived week 1 of the three weeks relatively unscathed except in regards to Sally's sores which has literally exploded over her body in the past week or so. My bandages budget is proof of that. Previously we have been spending $150-$200 per fortnite on bandages, tapes, protection sheets, etc, but in this past fortnite we spent a whopping $350!!! We can't all blame it on the carbon tax! LOL! Indeed the prices for the items have not gone up at all despite the carbon tax. But if some people are to be believed we can blame everything on the carbon tax, so if we vote for Abbot next year and abolishes the tax as promised Sally's sores will start getting better!! LOL!! Anyway I have made it known that we cannot continue to spend $350 per fortnite!! But with two more weeks to go I am experiencing a sense of utter dread, things are going to get worse before it gets better.

Our financial situation thanks to Sally's condition has been so dire that a while ago I needed to take out a loan. My credit rating is a disaster area so I didn't think I would get the loan, but to maximize my chances I went for minimum amount and minimum repayment terms. Much to my surprise I had been approved, and it has helped to get rid of the larger bills and keep our heads above water. I will have the opportunity to extend the loan in six months if I keep a perfect repayment record. At this current rate of things with the bandages I will be needing such an extension. It's not ideal to go deeper into debt but we have no choice, the current situation is unsustainable. We never go out, we don't have luxuries, I cook most of our meals, and we get by on just basic necessities.

Anyway much to my surprise the finance company as part of their promotion gives us a free $50 voucher on successful approval of the loan. I have had no knowledge whatsoever of this promotion. I just googled loan companies and just did an online application with the first one that came up. When I gotten a registered mail from the company I wondered what's the hairy heck was going on!! Well it turned out I received a free $50 gift card that can be used at Coles, K-Mart and a couple of other stores. Well just for a change I am going to spend it on myself! I never get anything for myself. My wages goes directly into rent, bills, groceries, and Sally's bandages etc, being supplemented by her pension. There is never anything left over for me!! So bugger it, I am spending this gift card on myself. I have some radio controlled models and robot dinosaurs etc I have my eye on at K-Mart. I am surprised at how cheap these things are now, as little as $20 for what seems to be a reasonable size radio controlled model 4WD!! For such prices I can get two items on my gift card!! I remember years ago such items were 100s of $$$$s, indeed when I got my first job back in the 1980s I bought myself a radio controlled 4WD for several hundreds of $$$s, granted it was a big one almost big enough to ride on it, but a similar big one now is less than $100.

However I won't be buying anything during this three weeks. Jews traditionally does not make purchases aside from necessities during the three weeks. There is a good reason for it. A few years ago before I even knew about this period I bought a new computer with my tax check and had nothing but problems with it!! It would crash constantly for no apparent reason and the shop could not find anything wrong with it despite repeated trips to the shop with the computer in hand!! It was utterly frustrating!! I became so exasperated!! After several months of angst and pain the shop finally agreed to replace the computer. But when I found out about the three weeks, the date on the original sales receipt for this doomed computer proved that it was purchased during the three weeks!!! Ever since then, when I look to buy new computers or other items with my tax check, I make the point NEVER to perform the purchase during the three weeks!! Indeed I NEVER do my taxes during the three weeks. I wait until well AFTER the three weeks before I do my taxes then make purchases. And so I will not be using my gift card nor buying myself any treats or toys during this three weeks. But it is something to look for if I survive this three weeks of curses and horrors.

Football tipping..... so far it has been reasonably kind. North Melbourne did win as predicted but it was a thrashing, and since I safely nominated a low points variance, I still ended up with a catastrophic high points variance!! It gets added to each week, so mine is going to be huge by the end of the season!! Nevertheless at least my tip was correct. I'm happy to say Essendon won as I tipped, and so far in the lead up to half time the Magpies are looking good. So tipping fortunes has been mixed, the final score will be known this time tomorrow night.