Tax Check Arrives

Yay my tax check arrived into my account just a little under two weeks after I submitted my return online....

Now I can get some things done that has been on hold for over two to three years due to Sally's health and care needs.

First thing of course is to order my water cooler device for my computer, will do it online, it still should arrive before the weekend. This computer shop is local so it should arrive in a couple of days I would imagine. So I be busy fixing my computer over the weekend, will have to take it apart to install the water cooler. May probably uncover other issues as it is an old computer, well about 5 years which is very old in computer terms!!!

Next on the list is the get the remote clicker for my car alarm fixed. The alarm itself is ok, it is just the clicker, that in spite of a new battery it is not working to set the alarm. It be probably some electronic issue, and it will probably cost me an arm and a leg to have it fixed, afterall it is over $200 just to replace it!!!! WHY it is so expensive when it contains only $10 worth of electronics that can probably be gotten from Dicks Smith is something I shall never know..... anyway it is a necessity so it has to be done.

Then at long last I will be able to get the car serviced for the first time in nearly three years!! They will probably pick up other issues, indeed I expect this to be my most expensive item. The car will now be about 9 years old and it hasn't been checked at all for close to three years. Not quite sure where I will take it to be serviced, but will look it up with the RAC, I always make sure to go to an RAC approved place, and probably go with one of the large car servicing chains who hopefully be slightly more honest than the many independent mechanics around. Although "honesty" is very much a relative term when it comes to companies involving cars such as servicing/repair companies, they take advantage of one's lack of knowledge of car mechanics - a bit like computer companies except that I know a thing or two about computers and can usually figure out what is wrong with them and can fix them myself, so my only dealings with such companies is in the purchase of certain items needed to fix the problem!! Car mechanics however I am very much in the dark, nevertheless, one would hope that with a large servicing chain that is RAC approved the mechanics would be better qualified and can source better quality parts, and perhaps the prices would be slightly more reasonable - say $999 instead of $1000 !!

Then after that will be the trailer, but that will probably wait until I go on leave in September. They come pick up the trailer and put it on a truck, then fix it in the shop, and deliver it back again. It is the electrical system that is not working, the lights and signals are not working, which makes it unroadworthy hence the need for a truck to come pick it up. But I need the trailer in case I have to move out in October, or just on general principle anyway. I'd hardly ever use it unless to move my belongings, but it be handy to have around anyway.

These four items will probably kill the tax check. The water cooler is only $80, but probably $200-$300 for the car alarm fix, and was quoted about $250 for the trailer but that was three years ago so probably have to allow for inflation perhaps closer to $300 now, and hell knows how much the car will end up costing me!! Probably $1000 minimum by the time at least the most urgent issues are dealt with. It is a good little car, it really seems to be running just fine in spite of the lack of servicing, but you know how it is, it will probably need new tires, new brakes, etc, on top of the servicing. But at least I will be able to address this before I have to move out!! This will leave me a couple of months to save up for moving expenses should it become necessary.

Last weekend was Justin's birthday but just as I thought it would be, there was no family gathering..... also didn't see Julie so it was another weekend alone. I haven't heard not even a boo from Julie for over a week now, as if she had been abducted by aliens or disappeared down a vortex and ended up in a parallel universe..... so I am having to rethink some things..... indeed if I don't hear from her by this weekend then I will have to seriously reconsider my "relationship" (for want of a better word) with her, and start thinking about updating my profile on the contacts site - as they say, there are plenty of other fishes in the ocean. But I do see a pattern emerging - we arrange to meet then she backs out at the last minute. Classic sign of nerves getting the better of her. This has happened at least three or four times. Well I can only do so much to reassure her, etc, but it is her who has to make the final move. And well I can't hang on forever, I need to get on with things. Opportunities may never arise again. And it is ME who is usually the "nervous nellie!!!" However as nervous and gut wrenching as I was, I was so ready to meet her on every one of those occasions...... uh well I guess it proves there are people on this planet who are more prone to nerves than me!!!! And I probably came across in the msgs as being more self assured than I really am, that perhaps freaked her a bit. Well the door is never closed, but at the same time, I can't always be behind that door while life passes me by.

Here this is where my Virgo analytics kicks in. We Virgos are very analytical about things. We are the "Mr Spock" of the astrological world, this is where our legendary logic kicks in. The downside is that it is why we are no good at relationships, we try to take the scientific approach to things that transcends science. But with Uranus in my natal sign and Venus in my natal moon sign the emotional part of me can't be ignored, my calling to help raise humanity to ascension, and my need for a companion, a soul mate......

This does go to prove that what is meant to happen doesn't always happen. There is chaos in the universe and this often messes up the plans that originated in the universe. Our destinies are not always fulfilled. The purposes set out in our lives doesn't always come to pass. Herein lies the idea behind reincarnation. Although there are many and varied variations of reincarnation theory, a common thread seems to be that if we miss out on fulfilling whatever purpose or destiny assigned to us in a current lifetime, we simply are given another opportunity to do so in the next lifetime. I have heard that if one commit suicide then you have to live your life all over again with similar trials the next time - and I hate the thought of living through conditions similar to the 8 years of hell, the various other trials, and the hell of losing mother and dealing with Sally's health problems all over again!!!! So in my more rational state or mind this prevents me from suiciding, and this is part of the reason for seeking a soul mate or partner to embark on a spiritual quest with me - as long as this occurs, the self harm and suicide is no longer on my mind. There are certain destinies attached to my life, and if for whatever reason they are not fulfilled in my current life then opportunities will arise in a subsequent lifetime. Furthermore we do have more than one soul mate, we all belong to specific soul groups from which soul mates manifests, and it is not always romantic, sometimes they can be close friends or even family members although soul groups does not always nor necessarily coincide with earth family groups or relatives.

So I suppose I have to see..... as another long cold rain-less night looms.... how things all pans out..... but at least I got my tax check and so can get those necessary things finally accomplished!!!!

The Three Weeks still haunts

Oh what an eventful week it has been. We first had some very rare but good old fashioned winter days, indeed a massive four days of wind, rain and storms. But as it is said, all good things comes to an end, and it has been pretty well clear with only isolated showers since then, with the night temps dropping like a rock again. There are no more storms in sight.

Anyway last Friday I went to my PO box and found a note for a registered letter for Sally. I thought it must have been something to do with the child support issue, as I said, I contacted them by mail posting the death certificate, etc. However when I went in to collect the letter, it was from New York!! Hmmmmm..... it can't be the child support issue as it is a State issue, administered by the State of Texas. New York is a long way from Texas, indeed about a 4-5 hour flight - I know from my experiences flying around America!! So what the hell could it be!!!!?????

Well when I got home and opened it, I got the shock of my life!!!! It was a bloody writ from a large clothing company in America!! I have never heard of this company as it is not in Australia, but apparently it has stores in many cities throughout America, so it is clearly doing very well for themselves thank you very much!!!! Apparently what Sally had done was to sell some clothing items through the Cafe Press website, it is a website where you can make your own artistic designs and the website prints it onto clothes for a fee and so you can sell such clothes with your own designs on them. Well it seems one of the designs involved a couple of words which happened to be the trademark of this particular company!! OMG!!! What other dark secrets Sally has which I yet don't know about!!!!??? Well I am sure Sally didn't do this on purpose, and with so many companies around there seems a high likelihood that whatever words you choose with the design that it will coincide with a trade mark of a company somewhere in the world!!! It seems as her nearest kin I get to pocket her financial gains but at the same time I am also responsible for her liabilities, and so if this company decides to sue, that will be the end of me, through no fault of my own!! I had no idea that Sally had done this. I knew she had a Cafe Press account and was trying to sell stuff but I didn't know what she was selling, and in any case, I know she had never made any money out of it, this I know from the Tax Returns that Sally had to submit each year. I have a beef with large money making companies to begin with. I believe in the fact that nice people does not make money, well not a lot of money anyway. Companies becomes large and successful only through unethical means, you have to be a bastard to make money, you also have to be dishonest, unethical, and be uncaring of your fellow human beings. As I say again, nice people does not make a lot of money. And I must say, a struggling disability pensioner with only a couple of websites can hardly be seen as a threat to the profits of such a successful company - but as I say, you have to be a bastard to make money, and part of it is to screw little people into the ground, indeed a Goliath squishing a little ant.

The letter was dated 12-July, this places it within the curse of The Three Weeks, indeed within the more intense Nine Days of Av.

The author of the letter obviously doesn't realise that Sally has passed away. Well the letter contains a series of demands, all which has to be met within 10 days of the date of the letter. The demands basically involves disclosing any other products attempting to be sold with the offending trade make, and to submit written undertakings never to use the trade mark ever again! However the letter states that even if the demands are met, it does not waive or prejudice the rights to remedies which are expressively reserved - in other words, the bastards can still sue!!!!

As I say, with the many hundreds and thousands of companies even in America itself, there is a high chance that given any names or even any designs that you choose for the products being sold, that it will coincide with a company name somewhere!!!! So if the law allows a large profit making company to sue you for what was an honest mistake or oversight, then it's about the the law gets changed!! But that is as likely as there being a man on Mars, as govts and large companies are in bed with each other!! Furthermore, me being utterly unaware of this until now, it is even more a travesty of justice that I would be made to pay for this honest mistake. I am certainly Sally would not have done this deliberately. It is a good thing that Sally has passed away, as this would have so upset her and made her utterly livid!!!! She would never have gotten over this!!!

Anyway, the first problem is, the letter stated the demands has to be met within 10 days of the date of the letter. It didn't say 10 "working" or "business" days, just a straight 10 days. So with the letter dated 12-July, ten days brings it to 22-July. I visit the post office only once per week, and as of last Friday which was 19-July, the letter hadn't arrived. So the earliest it could have arrived would be Monday, that would indeed be 22-July. However of course, the demands are to be in written form, which means a letter has to be sent in return, and it takes a week for a letter to reach America. Therefore impossible to meet the 10-day deadline. As it was I didn't get to the Post Office until last Friday, that being 26-July. So the reply to the demands were composed over the weekend, and posted on Monday 29-July, so add a week, it will be possibly the following Monday 5-August.

Second problem is I have no access to Sally's Cafe Press account nor the email addressed used in association with the account, so I wouldn't know what else she was attempting to sell. I do know however that she never made a cent nor a penny for that matter from her Cafe Press websites. I know this from the Tax Returns Sally needed to file each year as she was actually a business owner with an ABN.

Anyway I did compose the letter, being a relatively polite letter in spite of my feelings to the contrary, firstly explaining that Sally has passed away, enclosing a copy of the Death Certificate, and that I have no access to her online accounts. I addressed each of the demands to the best of my knowledge, and posted the letter via the normal means. I was not going to outlay the extra money involved in making it a registered letter when it was already late through no fault of my own.

However I am sure this will not be the last I will hear from them, especially since the writ was dated within the final week of the dreaded The Three Weeks.

So that was curse number 1 that hit this week resultant from The Three Weeks. Curse number 2 involved my computer. I had for the past couple of weeks noticed one of my fans inside the computer was becoming rather noisy. Silly me didn't think much of it, figuring that the computer is getting old anyway. The noisy fan also originated within The Three Weeks, and it turned out to be the fan associated with my water cooling system that I had installed many years ago on my computer. The system gave up the ghost this past weekend, causing my computer to overheat and shut down. Fortunately my computer automatically shuts down when it reaches a certain temperature to avoid any damage. But when I realised what had happened, two and two came together. The noisy fan was associated with the water cooling system, and it had gave way completely, causing everything to overheat. So my computer is now out of action until I can get a new water cooling system. That will have to wait until either I get my tax check or payday. Then I spend the next weekend taking my computer apart to install the new water cooling system. Hopefully no other issues crops up. I really need a new computer, but that will have to wait until I get the word from the landlord as to whether my lease will be renewed or whether I will have to move out. The tax check will pay for immediate concerns - car servicing, car alarm repairs, trailer repairs, etc, all designed to get me ready to move out if I have to. Any remaining money will have to be set aside to put towards moving expenses, assuming I have somewhere to move to, an assumption that appears to be rash considering the housing crisis in this hell-damned god-forgotten state of Western Australia.

Meanwhile I am working from Sally's old laptop, plus I also have my phone and tablet devices all linking to my emails and websites. So not totally cut off from the world, it just means I can't play my vid games!!!! This little laptop won't be able to handle the kind of vid games that I have.

The Telstra saga... well hopefully resolved. I was able to set up my account again, only thing is they wouldn't let me use my original email address!! WHY I will never know, it was not as if the email was being used!! The account was closed down, meaning, the email address was NOT being used!! Uh well trust Telstra to make up these silly rules for no reason but just because they can!!! So I had to choose another email addy which really messed up my plan! I have different email addys for different things, so this Telstra power play really messed that up, which me being a Virgo does not like at all!! Nevertheless at least, for the time being, the account is working. And another thing I discovered is instead of paying a fortune for my prepaid gigs for my portable, I can just add the extra gigs to my phone plan for less than half price!! You see, you can turn the mobile phone into a portable wi fi device, so I just that now when I am at work or otherwise away from home, just use my mobile phone as a portable wi fi device and use my much cheaper gigs allocations. This makes my portable wi fi virtually obsolete.

Watch this space as I wait for my tax check.......

Round 18 - Those Weavils again..... grrrrrrrrr

Would have had a perfect round with all nine points..... if not for those bloody Weavils!!!! grrrrrrr..... those Weavils always mess things up for me when I be fixin for a perfect round or anything to do with points variance. What China man did I kill in a past life to deserve the curse of the Weavils. Well I hope those piranhas enjoyed their Weavil dinner tonight!!!!

So I remain in 8th spot in spite of the variance blow out. I guess no one else expected them Hawks to have such a huge win!! A pretty good result from my point of view.

Uh well.... next week the Weavils have the Suns to contend with, while the Maggies will play them Bombers..... hmmmmmmmm............. interesting......... hehe.......

Round 18 - Perfect round so far!!

Uhhhhh a perfect round so far but then there hasn't yet been any matches involving the Weavils!! That will come tomorrow and I fear my perfect round will not be sustained!! I am a wee bit worried about them Maggies, I thought they were going to lose their 2nd consecutive match to a bottom half team, it was only in the last term that they started to hit their strap for a fair win over the Giants in the end. But the signs are not good, them Maggies are struggling, have to see who they play next week before I figure if I stick to my rule of always pick the Maggies.

So what for tomorrow's matches.....

Power against the Lions. Port Power should make it over the line in that one.

Bulldogs against the Weavils..... hmmmmm this is most likely to be the reason for my perfect round to be spoiled. Weavils always seem to play better away than at home, probably cos Weavils supporters always leave the ground half way through the match when the Weavils are not doing well. The bookies have the Weavils at shorter odds so I will go with them - my tank of very hungry piranhas will be primed and ready for when the Weaviles lets me down!!

Sydney against the Tigers.... I will have to go with the Swans here.

So I will be reasonably happy with two points from tomorrow's match, may only end up with just a single point........

Round 18 - So much for my points variance!!!!

What happened to them Bombers!!!! I thought they were way better than that!!! Maybe it was their turn to be abducted by aliens and have a hybrid clone team replacing them..... hmmmmmm..... well with a massive increase in my points variance by a massive 51 points, that will knock me down a cog or two down the ladder. But at least I gotten the all-important first up point to my tipping!!!!!

Now let's see how the matches for today are likely to pan out......

Gold Coast and Carlton..... well with solar flares activity being much less than last weekend when the Suns prevailed over the Maggies, the Blues are unlikely to suffer the same fate. Probably still be a close match but my money - or at least my points - are on the Blues.

The Demons against the Skippies..... well them Skippies have been falling short even after substantial leads, but me thinks in this occasion they should hang on for a win over the Demons.

The Maggies!!!!!!..... okay so they got beaten by the Suns.... but surely not the Giants!!! Surely the Maggies should be able to prevail over the Giants even if they were abducted by aliens!!

The Puddy Cats and the Saints..... hmmmm them Egyptians used to worship Puddy Cats..... perhaps the worship of Puddy Cats will return when they beat the Saints today! ;)

The Dockers against the Crows here at Pattersons. It is a rare old fashioned winters day today, high winds and storms last night, and conditions continues to be most decidedly blustery and wet!!! A rare day of winter indeed. Even though conditions are forecast to moderate by the time this match begins this evening, it is nevertheless likely to be a low scoring match, the team who manages to kick the ball through the tall timbers early is likely to prevail. My tip is for Freo to be able to achieve this feat.

Round 18 - Toughie one to pick first up

Hmmmmm..... fate would have it that the first up match for this round, a points variance match, would be one of the toughest to pick!! A top-of-the-table clash between them Bombers and the Hawks!! Hopefully the whole round will go more to plan as only low level solar flares are expected!! Nevertheless it is going to be touch and go as to how tonight's match will pan out. A case can be made for either team to come out on top, yet there can be only one winner - bar a drawn result!! Of course if a draw then all tipsters will get a point. I am choosing a very low point variance to minimise any damage, it is likely to be a close match whoever ends up coming out on top. Definitely a toss of the coin here. Most tipsters in the newspaper are going for the Hawks who are at shorter odds, but I think a lot closer than many will think. Hate to say this but am leaning towards the Hawks, just make it over the line..........

Back to the mid-week updates

Now that The Three Weeks is over and done with for another year and the planetary energies have settled for a bit, it is back to the non-football mid-week musings.....

Telstra.... still battling with them to have an online account created. Telstra turns f-cking up into a fine artform!! Indeed Telstra just wouldn't be Telstra unless they f-ck up!!! It is part of their trademark I am certain of that!!!!

Earlier this week I finally was able to create an online account and there all my phone accounts including the pre-paid cell phones and wi fi were all there! At long last I am able to keep track of my data usage on the portable wi fi..... However Telstra teaches a lesson - don't count your chickens before they hatch!! Last night I logged into my account again only to find that all of my phone and wi fi accounts has utterly vanished, as if they went down a vortex and ended up in a parallel universe!! Furthermore they wouldn't let me re-add the accounts!! So I had gotten onto their live help facility so soon found myself chatting with a techie. He himself was scratching his head, of course they don't say so, techies have a way of appearing to know what they're talking about but in fact they have no idea what is causing the problem!!! I should know, I was a techie once back in the dim dark past, and it is one of the techniques we used to impress those lowly end users of the computers, most of them who were females, to make it appear that we have it all under control so to prevent them from panicking but in reality we had no idea what was going on!!!!! That happens a lot in the techie business!!! And so after quite a few minutes of waffling and making out that he knew what was going on, he finally did the classic solution to problems that they can't fix cos they don't know what is causing it!!!! - the "re-boot" or the "reset" option!!! Again that is what we did when confronted with a problem that we had no idea about, we just either reset the whole computer, or we take away the computer and re-install everything!! And this is basically what this techie has done to my account, he basically closed down my account, then told me to wait 24 hours before attempting to create a new online account. Well I am going to give it 48 hours, so though tonight makes it 24 hours I won't attempt to create the account until tomorrow night - that is so he can't say I tried to do it too soon, perhaps after 23 hours instead of 24!!!!!

My Taxes.... well I finally did my tax return online and was most delightfully surprised. I am actually going to get some credit for those months of hell in being Sally's carer!! In reality if I get paid to the amount that would cover the depression, anxiety, utter torment, having no social life, being constantly stressed, the self harm, and suicidal thoughts then this country would go broke!!! None of you knows just how close to suicide I had come on more than one occasion during those years of hell!! Nevertheless I am more the grateful for the amount of money I will get for those 9 months of being Sally's carer during the financial year!! I didn't think I will get any money except from my Union Dues cos they had cut out the tax offset for dependent spouses, the major source of my tax refund check!! But it turned out I could claim an offset if I was the carer for a disabled dependent which can include one's spouse!! Guess what!! That was Sally!! She was certified as 100% disabled in regards to employment, that is unable to work at all not even part time, which was why she was drawing a disability pension. And the way they calculated my entitlements it turned out that I will actually receive MORE money than I would have under the old system of the dependent spouse offset in spite of the fact that Sally was with me for only nine months of the tax year.

If she had lasted until June 30 then I would have received even more, but it is doubtful that I would have lasted until June 30 such as the stress level and being so close to suicide - you will never know how close I came at times. What will haunt me for ever is that evidently Sally had actually wanted to die, perhaps even doing it for me!!!!!! And here I thought she would eventually recover!! But in hindsight the circumstances of her last few months and what her best friend Sylvia had told me now all makes sense. She was actually planning her own death!! Since suicide is prohibited under her Christian faith, she got around it by refusing care - the same way mother died. Mother died after refusing food when she finally went into the nursing home, she basically starved herself to death. Well in regards to Sally she had for the past year or so refused to go into hospital, especially the last few months, she had gone in as an involuntary patient. She refused to go into hospital just after Xmas last year even when the nurse told her that the infection of her sores were life threatening - what ultimately killed her just a few weeks later!! The Silver Chain nurse needed to invoke the duty of care clause in order to force Sally into hospital!! And here I thought it was just because Sally didn't like hospitals!! Sally was a smart cookie, her IQ were in the top 10% on the planet!! She was forever Googling about her medical conditions, it was to the point she knew more about her conditions than even the nurses!! She knew exactly what she was doing. She KNEW the nurse was correct when she warned Sally about the sores being life threatening, yet she still refused hospital admission until the nurse was forced to invoke the duty of care clause!!!  But since then she had manipulated the home nursing situation so to have the nurse cancel her visits, so we were without a home nurse for the last few weeks. And me being a Physicist and not a Medical Practitioner I wouldn't know whether her sores were life threatening.... and well as they say the rest is history!!!!

Anyway back to my upcoming tax check, well it will be a few 100s of $'s more than last year in spite of being only nine months worth of care. So when the check finally reaches my account, probably early next week since I done my return online, I will be able to get the car alarm fixed, my car serviced for the first time in now nearly three years, and get the trailer fixed, among a few other minor things. Furthermore I finally finished paying off Sally's medical debts, I sent the last ambulance check just this last week. However I certainly am not out of the woods. If my lease doesn't get renewed at the end of October then I will be back to square one. Admittedly the unexpected tax check will place me in a far better position, however, we are in a housing crisis with no end in sight. If I have to move out then given that I manage to find a place I will be destined to pay higher rents even for a one-bedroom flat. I was shocked to learn that the going rents for a one-bedroom flat in a basic high rise apartment in the inner city is more than I am currently paying for this 3-bedroom house on a 1/4 acre block!!!!!! And I am talking about a basic block of flats, not those fancy executive-style apartment blocks with secure parking and all the other mod cons!!!! The only reason why I am paying virtually dirt cheap rent is because I am renting privately, the owner was simply looking to keep the house occupied after the death of one of his parents who were originally occupants of the house, forcing the other parent into a nursing home!! Now the other parent has since died, so perhaps they will want to sell the house to divide up the estate the same way as Sally's father's house was sold to divide up the estate after his death. That is what I am worried about. If my lease is not renewed, my fate is sealed, paying extreme rents for stingy one-bedroom flats assuming that I can even find one!!!! Rents here are more expensive than even Sydney!! But it is what happens when you have a fuckwit govt who cares only about money and doesn't give a rat's arse about the citizens of this state!!!

The weather.... well I am delighted to report that it actually rained last night!!!! And it was more than just a few drops!! It rained virtually all night!! An extremely rare occasion here!! Of course the rains have since cleared. When it rains it never lasts for more than a few hours here. But I have been told on good authority, well by the Weather Bureau anyway, that we may perhaps get some more rain tomorrow!! One thing for certain is that the nights are much warmer now, it is always warmer at night when it rains. During clear weather the temperature at night drops like a rock, and it was utterly freezing these past few nights! Now it is almost balmy. And if it does really rain tomorrow, the nights will still remain warmer.

This weekend is Justin's birthday, that's my half-brother. But more than likely there won't be any family gatherings. Justin is the kind of guy who'd be happy to just go to the pub with a few of his mates. Mother was the great organiser of family events, but since her death, no one else has such organisational skills and we hardly ever get together. They can barely organise Xmas let alone anything else!! Since her death there has never been any family gatherings to honor any birthday, not even Pasco's own birthday, nor even mine though I never wanted to celebrate mine anyway. I am too broke to get Justin any gifts, I mean, the tax check won't come until next week most likely, so I will just send him a card. I bought one today, and will post it out tomorrow, so should get there Friday - in time for his birthday on Saturday.

Last but certainly not least.... my beautiful Angel from Heaven - Julie!! That beautiful angel who pulled me out of the mire of suicide and self harm, and give me hope that life can be better!! All seems set for finally meeting her very soon, hopefully this weekend. Julie told me just last night that she wants to meet only me, no one else of her online contacts. Awwwww she makes me feel so privileged, so special. I don't know what I would do without her in my life. She has made it plain that she wants to meet me very soon, so just a matter of time. She is very nervous about it, which is probably why we haven't met yet, but sooner or later we will meet. And if by some extreme slim chance the family organises a get-together for Justin's birthday and it clashes with Julie's date, well guess what!!!! I waited THIS long to meet Julie, I am not gonna wait any longer!!!!

With this in mind I will play this song cos truly Heaven must be missing an angel.... that angel is Julie !!!!!!

Round 17 - Very bad worms!!!!

Hmmmm them worms has been very bad, the score "worm" on the AFL app on my tablet device!! I will have to take them worms fishing and use it as bait!! haha!! Ironically it was a Weavils match that gotten me my very lonely solitary point for today!! Sydney did win as expected, and all but the most deluded Weavils fan have all but conceded that they will not make the finals.... but then 90% of Weavils fans are deluded!! In theory they could still make it into the top 8 but in reality it is more likely I would make it back into the top 6 in our tipping comp - very unlikely!! Them Weavils will have to win five of the last six matches to make it into the finals - not going to happen!!!! Sorry Weavils but it ain't your year this year!!! They have the Bulldogs next week and admittedly the Weavils are likely to win that one, but four of the last six matches involves teams in the top 8.

By some miraculous means I actually moved up a spot into 8th spot, so tantalisingly close to the top 6 yet so very far away. Top spot has 109 points, I have just 106, so unlike Weavils supporters I am under no delusions. I will have to settle for hopefully a spot in the top 25% or even perhaps top 20% but no prize money.

Round 17 - Them Solar Flares !!!!!

Well I did say them solar flares are likely to cause some upsets during this round. How ironic it is that the upset of the round so far was at the hands of them Suns!!!... and a pity that the Maggies were at the wrong end of this upset!!! Uhhh them aliens again, why they always abduct the Maggies and send a hybrid clone team in its place, I do wish they wouldn't do that, it messes up my tipping!!! It turned out this was my only miss in an otherwise perfect Saturday, results of the other four matches going my way. A 5-1 result, so far so good, but then we haven't had a Weavils match yet and they always throw a spanner into the works!!!! So let's see what Sunday's matches will bring.....

Richmond and Freo.... hmmmmm that one a hard one to pick, could be a bad start to the day. Will probably go with Freo, a toss of the coin really...... not liking my chances here!!

Adelaide and them Puddy Cats.... well I would think them Sirian Star Kins should come out on top in this match, the Puddy Cats for me.

Last but not least, could very well finish off a bad day. Picking Weavils matches are an utter headache!!! Am going to go with them Swanees, really they should beat the over-rated Weavils..... but you know them solar flares......

Let's see if I can get through Sunday alive !!!!!!

Round 17 - OMG!!! Getting too old for this..... !!!!!

Well all I can say is I am glad for the good start to my tipping round, even if I grew a few more grey hairs in the process!!! A one point victory to the Blues means a vital first up point for me and a variance increase of a reasonable 9 points - not too bad!! But I am so getting too old for this!!! These thriller matches, was close up to half time, then I thought the Blues had lost it, but they seemed to keep on coming back, me hanging on for dear life for what I thought was a vain hope..... until they gotten that one point lead with still way too much time before the end!!!!! I collapse in relief at the final siren, heart attack averted!!

Now lets see if my good fortunes carries on to today's matches or have I used it all up last night!!!!!! Them solar flares could yield an upset or two, or at least closer than expected matches, depending on individual effects......

The Hawthorn Bulldogs match..... well with the Hawks at such short odds one would think they should surely prevail over the hapless Bulldogs who seems destined to suffer the same fate as Gillard! ;)

The Bombers against the Giants, the odds are even shorter for the favorites, the Bombers should surely win that one. Just don't take it too easy cos them Giants could very well get up for an upset, remember them solar flares!!!!

And my other beloved aside from Julie... haha..... them Maggies!!!!! Now they should surely prevail over them Suns, just be careful of them solar flares!! haha!!

Now the Lions against the Demons, I think will be a lot closer than many will give credit for. Am going to stick with the Lions due to probability theory but won't be too surprised if them Demons gets up to deny me the first point for the round.

Last but not least for today, the match that is the most difficult to pick for today. The Saints against them Powers. Hmmmm....... not sure about that one..... possibly leaning towards the Power, they are slight favorites on the TAB.

Given that three of the matches should be near-certainties, I be happy with four points for today.

Round 17 - A tough one to pick tonight

With this being the first round since The Three Weeks I hope my luck runs better, though we are still in Mercury's retrograde though it is slowing down and scheduled to turn direct again on Sunday. Furthermore with a Coronal hole opening up on the Sun we can expect gusts of solar winds to reach Earth on this weekend. This may produce upset results depending on how the individual teams are affected. Nevertheless am ever hopeful of a better result this weekend, though admittedly last weekend's result was pretty good!!

With such heavenly influences in mind, trying to pick tonight's match boils down to little more than a toss of a coin. It is about time the Skippies have a win, but at the same time, the Blues under Malthouse seems hard to beat when playing at their best, especially when a spot in the top 8 is still up for grabs!! Hmmmmm..... The Skippies are the favorite but seeing they let me down last week I am leaning more towards the Blues. Being a Points Variance match, a match that could go either way, picking a relatively low value will limit the damage should my pick fails to come up with the goods.

Most picks the Skippies but since I have little to lose now, am gonna go with the Blues.

Day 22 of The Three Weeks - Tisha B'Av

Now near the end of The Three Weeks..... it ends sundown this evening!! Yippee!!!! Yeeeee haaaaaaa!!!!!

No major incidences but it has been, and still is, very windy!! One of our rare winter storms!! There was evidence of a power outage at the house while I was at work! I hope for no more power outages!! But the rain even with the high winds is making me feel better.

Indeed I already feel the vibes improving. We still have Mercury's retrograde until this weekend, but the planet is slowing down in its retrograde, and that is easing off the chaos. And with the Full Moon happening on Monday night (actually early Tuesday morning here), this weekend should be a whole lot better. Ever hopeful of finally meeting Julie - just a matter of time before that happens!!

I guess the major incidence of this period would be the announcement of changes in my job which will result in job losses a couple of years down the track. The other major incidence is the speeding ticket!!! And well, this is also when I dropped way out of the Top Six in our office Football tipping competition, I am currently in 9th spot, and with only seven more rounds to go, it seems unlikely I will get back into the Top Six, so it will be yet another year since Mother's death that I will be without prize money.

Anyway.... better times are ahead with the stars, planets and lunar phases more favorable......

So a song to celebrate the end of The Three Weeks..... like a Bat Outta Hell.... !!!!!!

Day 21 of The Three Weeks - 8 Av

This cursed period of time is almost over! yay!!!! No major incidences today, but beginning tonight at sundown is Tisha B'Av, the end point of The Three Weeks, perhaps the most sombre day on the Jewish calendar as it was on this day on the Lunar Calendar that both the 1st Temple and 2nd Temple were destroyed, the 1st by the Babylonians the 6th century BCE, and 2nd by the Romans 70AD. Devout Jews embark on a 24-hour fast from food and water - I am not a devout Jew ;) nevertheless I will be extra careful tonight and tomorrow. Then as the sun sets tomorrow I can breath a sigh of relief as the energies starts to dissipate. One thing that could be in my favor is that it is actually RAINING!!!!! OMG!!!! Such a rare event here!!!! I hope it continues to rain through the night, that will make me more relaxed. The vibrations of the water molecules are very relaxing, so I always feel better when it rains. Indeed I think they are forecasting storms tomorrow, or at least a "chance" of storms which usually means it will never happen!! But just surviving this night, the most intense night of this period, is a priority, and the rain will make it that much easier for me. I may have to learn the rain dance, well being Native American in one of my past incarnations, it ought to have some effect!!!!

Maybe this song will bring better vibes for more rain tonight as well as convey the message that better days are ahead hopefully with my beautiful Angel from Heaven after the chaos of The Three Weeks................

Day 20 of The Three Weeks - 7 Av

After a remarkably calm past few days looks like a major incident today. I was coming back from the shops, I usually watch my speed but with my mind very much drifting off into the land of Julie's I found myself drifting a few km/h's over and a speed camera up ahead. This will have been the first time I was caught for speeding since my 19th birthday, that fateful day when I was caught for speeding in mother's car on my way to university. I haven't been caught speeding since, so this will be attributed to The Three Weeks. It will remain to be seen whether I had slowed down early enough as I was fixin to make a turn into a side street. The speed camera was just after the turn, and I was still over the limit when I spotted the camera. So I guess I will know in a few days if the postie brings bad tidings from the speed enforcement agency - the curse of The Three Weeks will strike sooner or later. The car is still registered in Sally's name as I hadn't gotten around to dealing with it yet, so the potential speeding ticket will be in Sally's name - I could say, you must have seen her ghost!!! LOL!!! But somehow I don't think that will work! LOL!!

Then when I got home there was a msg from Julie - my poor Darling was feeling ill, low energy like what I suffer from at times. Needless to say, I am yet to meet that Angel from Heaven..... *sigh* It was probably better that we didn't meet for the first time during The Three Weeks, it will be better next weekend when it is within the Full Moon period and Mercury turns direct again. The Three Weeks ends on Tuesday, this being the lunar anniversary of the destruction of both the 1st and 2nd Jewish Temples some 6 centuries apart.

Today's song for The Three Weeks..... this has a motor speeding theme.... and no I wasn't going quite THAT fast !!!!!!!

Round 16 - A Perfect Sunday at least in the Football

Wow!!!! If I hadn't seen it on TV or rather that very nice worm on my tablet device I would not have believed it!!! A perfect Sunday on what is the 3rd last day before the end of Three Weeks. I actually ended up with 8 points. Only that nearly everyone else in our office comp also ended up with 8 points, the Skippies being the surprise on most counts!! It was due to my low points variance that I actually managed to move up one spot to 9th spot but with the gap to top spot remaining unchanged there is no chance of a top six finish, there are only seven more Rounds to go before the end and the Finals. I at least am still within the top 25% of the competition, indeed within the top 20% of the competition. Not too bad for a last Round within The Three Weeks.

The next Round should have better vibes. It will be well beyond The Three Weeks, and just on the end point of Mercury's retrograde, well within the Full Moon period - the Full Moon being next Monday.

Meeting Julie...... Almost !!!!!!!

Now it's Day 20 of The Three Weeks, 7 Av, so just three more days including today, and no major incidences thus far, indeed even the football tipping went mostly my way, though as of the composition of this blog there are still three matches yet to be played. Julie must be sending me good vibes!!

Last night Julie buzzed me and said.... Let's meet for a drink and a bite to eat!!!!

Ya mean.... NOW!!!!!!????

OMG!!!!!!!.... I hadn't got clothes together, most of them are in the laundry basket as Sunday is laundry day as part of my Virgo routines.... and well it was a shock!!!!..... but I so utterly wanted to be with her that I'd do anything to accept her invite.... so I said.... Yes!!! Let's do it!!!!

So then we making plans, and it ended up that it was to be at a pub in Vic Park which she says is in her area!!! Uhhhh.... so she lives in the Vic Park area! Hmmmm..... that is not far from both my original neck of the woods - Kensington, and of course Wilson!! I knew she lived south of the river, it was the feeling I got, just didn't realise it was so close to my old neck of the woods!!!!

We were just fixin to head out when she buzzed me.... Uhhhh didn't know it was so late, let's try for tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon!!!

Arrrrrgh!!!!.... ya mean I have to wait an extra day!!!????

But Julie was right.... it was around 9pm when she buzzed me, and by the time we finished the planning and we'd get around to arriving at the joint it would be after 10pm, and the pubs closes at midnight around here, it is not like on the east coast where they open at all hours!! They have to by law here close by midnight, so would probably stop serving dinner or at least a more restricted menu choice by the time we get there.

So now the tentative time is this afternoon, yet to confirm a time..... and well I hope she doesn't change her mind..... changing one's mind is what Gemini's do, what Sally always did! LOL!..... but whatever happens this is certainly the closest we have gotten to finally meeting each other!!!! It is just a matter of a short time, if not this afternoon, that we will meet.

Now to get the laundry started early and head on to the shops this morning..... and being the Virgo that I am, do a "dry run" to the place so I can figure out exactly how long it will take to get there! You know us Virgos, we do things down to a T, and I always like to arrive at appts/dates within 10 minutes of the due time - I hate being too early as much as I hate being late, so doing a "dry run" is the only way I can really see how long it will take for me to get there.

So fingers crossed that I will finally get to meet my much beloved Julie!!!!!!!

Now to think of a song to mark the at least potential occasion...... uhhhh yes this song will be more or less my reaction when I first set eyes on Julie for real...... !!!!!

Round 16 - Trust the bloody Skippies to let me down!!!!!

Well I actually got four points yesterday!!!! Looked like it was going to be five points until them bloody Kangaroos decided to go to sleep early!!!!! Uh well it was a relief that the curse of The Three Weeks hasn't hit at this point!!! Julie must have been sending me good vibes ;) hehe!! Still three matches to go this afternoon including them Weavils who always throws a spanner into the works.... bloody Weavils!!!!!!.... So let's see what my chances are for today's matches.

Sydney and the Giants. Now Sydney SHOULD win that one, although as Mother kept on saying, there is no certainty in football as far as results goes. Maybe so but surely the Swans shouldn't have too much trouble with this one!!

Western Bulldogs and them Bombers.... hmmmmm..... that could throw a spanner into the works too.... I am picking the Bombers, and well I lost only one point so far, so them Bombers had better win or else I will use my magic powers to turn them into weavils and feed them to the Piranhas.

The final match.... that one seems destined to mess things up for me!!!!! A derby match, Weavils and them Dockers. And well lo and behold all of the tipsters except for one politician are picking the Dockers, they must have had a reality check!! And as for the politician, they are dimwits to begin with. So no prize for guessing whom I am picking! They're associated with the sea and they don't fly!! haha!!!!

Round 16 - Will it be a Saturday whitewash?

Oh them Maggies, oh what a good win after it looked like they had been abducted by ETs!!!.... the ETs must have let them go during half time haha..... But also the margin was close to my nominated points variance, I nominated 20 points and they won by 27 points so my variance increased by only 7.....

Now for today.... the last Round for The Three Weeks. On the first Round of The Three Weeks I missed 3 points on a Saturday. Last week on the second Round of The Three Weeks I missed 4 points. So does this mean on this final Round of The Three Weeks I will miss all 5 points for Saturday?? Hmmmmm for that to happen there would have to be a couple of major upsets...... So let's see if I have a fighting chance to score at least a point or two today.....

Port Adelaide against the Hawks..... well it is a Port home game, one would say the Hawks should win but is not a foregone conclusion.

Geelong and Melbourne..... well Melbourne had been playing better lately, but surely them Puddy Cats should be able to account for the Demons? Surely the Demons couldn't beat them Puddy Cats....... but then.... stranger things has happened especially during The Three Weeks!!!!

Richmond and them Suns..... yeah not going to pick the Suns anymore unless they play the bottom three team. I thought they had promise but was a wee bit too soon. Give them two more seasons then I might reconsider. Having said all that, the could possibly pull of an upset but am not betting on it. Going with the Tigers on this one.

Carlton and the Saints..... one would think the Blues should prevail here, but is by no means assured.

Last but not least.... the Lions against the Skippies.... that one is probably most difficult to pick, especially during The Three Weeks. Going with the top tipster on this one, he picked the Skippies even though it is at the Gabba.

Round 16 - Another Friday with the Maggies!!!!!

Wow ANOTHER Friday night match with the Maggies!!!! This time against the Crows. Well as I say, you should always pick the Maggies, and so that is what I will do..... pick the Maggies..... plus they SHOULD beat Adelaide anyway.... let's hope the Maggies doesn't get abducted by aliens and send a hybrid clone team out instead!!! And well being a points variance match.... well my points variance is already a disaster area thanks to The Three Weeks, so pick a mid-range value so hopefully won't be too bad......

This is the last Round within The Three Weeks..... though the damage has already been done..... we shall see whether I can grimly hold onto the top 25% of the comp, currently in 10th spot, the top 25% is down to 12th spot.

Day 18 of The Three Weeks - 5 Av

Well I should have known Telstra would mess things up with the changeover. I mean, Telstra wouldn't be Telstra if they didn't mess things up. They turn messing things up into a fine artform!!! I now received ANOTHER bill from Telstra just a day after receiving the first one, and it was even more, nearly three times the normal amount. I thought!.... OMG!!!!! This is really going to set things back and I will have to take out another payday loan!!! However after the initial panic I took a closer look at it and found that it INCLUDED the bill from yesterday!! Phew!!!! So although high I can still deal with it without taking out any more loans. This however left the question.... WHY the higher bill?? Well.... even closer inspection revealed that yesterday's bill covered the May period while today's bill covered the June period plus yesterday's bill. Hmmmmmm..... I thought I had already paid the bill for May, but then with so much happening re Sally's affairs it's easy to lose track.... and well it turned out the last time I paid any bills to them was during May and that would have covered April.... I think.... I am confused.... all I know is I paid them two bills since Sally's death.... um.... when did she pass away?.... uh yes it was late in March. So March's bill would have become due in April, and I couldn't get into her account so I contacted Telstra around the date when I thought the bill would fall due, they allowed me to get into her account, and well since the bill was a day late they charged the late fee! grrrrrrrrr..... $15 even if the bill was just a day late, regardless of the reason, which in this case was cos I couldn't get into Sally's account and she had the bills delivered electronically!!! Uh well that is Telstra for you!!!! And $15 is a bit steep even if the bill was just a day late. But then Telstra charges such high fees cos they can, they don't have to justify it to anyone!!!! Typical of big companies!! So that was March..... then a month later the April bill came and was paid happily on time..... so now it is the May bill, and am glad that they didn't charge any late fees there cos I hadn't received it until yesterday, they just charged other fees which I assumed was part of the changeover from Sally's account to mine, that made the bill nearly twice as much. It is no wonder Telstra is such a profitable company, I am convinced they'd charge fees if you take more than three breaths per 10 seconds inside any Telstra shop!!!!! Almost as bad as the govt who taxes you for breathing the air!!! So yesterday's was May's bill, and today's was June's bill with May included.... now it is making sense.... I think !!!!!!!!!

And I have my income statement today, this with the union statement forms the basic items I need to do my taxes. In previous years I would have also required Sally's pension statement but that was purely to determine the spouse tax offset that I would normally get, but now since that has been taken away from me for the 2012/13 tax year then I expect they won't ask for such a statement. Now just have to wait until the end of The Three Weeks and Mercury's retrograde. I never do my taxes during The Three Weeks much to Sally's frustration cos we were always needing the money for something, and for the past two to three years the 2 to 3 grand worth of the tax check would all be spent on Sally's medical expenses. But it is now all irrelevant,  I won't even get any tax breaks for Sally's last nine months with me, especially since they also raised the threshold for the medical expenses that in the past I could also have claimed on. So instead of 2 grand it will be more in the order of $200. But all will be revealed when I do my taxes on the weekend that is after 20 July, that is when Mercury turns direct.

Now just have to submit my football tips with much trepidation considering the catastrophe that was my last week's tipping results.... my usual Friday football musings to follow......

Today's music for The Three Weeks..... I think I will play Devil Woman.... this version is wayyyyyyy better than the original Cliff Richards version.... haha.....

Day 17 of The Three Weeks - 4 Av

Well it has been raining again!!! OMG!! A second day of rain in three days after a near lack of rain for several weeks, this has to be a jackpot!! I hope it lasts through the night so I can sleep better but somehow I don't think so, the radar is already showing the rain areas are starting to thin out. It never rains for long around here, but at least we gotten some rain.

Things has been rather quiet these last few days, no major incidences today. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. No counting chickens just yet, still five more days to go, and a further four days to the end of Mercury's retrograde. Tomorrow I will have to submit my football tipping for this weekend's round, given that last week was a catastrophic result, well I just have to wait and see how it pans out this weekend.

Possible issues that could crop up - Sally's child support issue, probably won't hear from them again until after this period, but since this whole issue cropped up during The Three Weeks there is potential for calamities of some sort.

The hospital loans equipment. I haven't heard back from them yet. Want to wait a couple more weeks to make sure the chaotic energies from this period and Mercury are cleared.

I did finally hear from Telstra, they sent the bill to the house rather than my PO box, will have to see if that can be changed. And they bloody charged for the privilege of having the accounts changed over, well I assume it is why I will have to pay nearly twice the amount that I usually pay for the month, I don't understand all their terminologies, but I was well under data usage and phone calls so I assume it is the changeover thingie. Trust Telstra to charge you for everything and anything!! Now just have to see if I can get the online account set up at long last.... well try to anyway.....

And I did hear from Julie again last night, still no word on when to start courses, just more emotional stuff stemming from these planetary energies. The poor darling is going through so much. I wish she'd allow me to come support her, but I guess she is so used to fighting her own battles. She knows I am available to be there, I remind her often enough, but am conscious not to push the issue too much. At the moment there seems to be issues cropping up conspiring to prevent us from meeting - can probably blame The Three Weeks for that.

Now for today's song for The Three Weeks..... "the end" to this period is in sight.... however if certain calamities happens to me in these last five days then it will be "the end" for me in other ways......

Day 16 of The Three Weeks - 3 Av

The 3rd day of the Nine Days of Av, I guess we can say we're a 1/3 of the way through. So just have to survive six more days!!

Today is council trash collection day, so last night I did my Virgo routines. Take the groceries in and put them away, then cleared all the bins in the house plus any other trash that would fit into the bin including more of Sally's junk that obviously can't be used or recycled. Then wheel the bin out onto the verge, then shutting up house. We did actually get rain yesterday afternoon but as usually the case around here the rain doesn't last long, it was all but cleared again by sundown, so virtually no rain at all last night, and none today.

Then after I had dinner, I was getting tired due to the emotions and energies of the planets and life in general. Being able to get the loan was a relief but the stress leading up to it took a lot out of me, especially being The Three Weeks. So I went to lay down..... and fell asleep!!

When I woke up there were some msgs from Julie on my PC! OMG!!!!!! I was so glad to hear from her, my heart lept at the very sight of her name!! She didn't say much, she didn't say why she had been off-line for so long, nor did she say anything about any of the courses. She just.... well.... shared with me about how she felt about me..... and it is identical to how I feel about her. The synchronicities are amazing. Even our feelings are the same. Indications are if I hadn't taken a nap and was online when she msg me we would have met, I think she wanted to see me!!! Damn!!!!!!! I would have finally met her if I hadn't fell asleep!!! Uh well this just tell me that it is only just a matter of time before that awesome day comes, when we finally do meet. I don't even know what suburb she is at though I get the impression it is south of the river while I am a northerner but it wouldn't matter to me even if she was in Bunbury, I'd still drop everything and come and see her when she gives me the word..... oohhhhhh I really would...... *sigh*...... and it wouldn't matter if we met during The Three Weeks cos we already met before in past lives, indeed we were already together in past lives, so it is just us meeting again...... ohhhhh....... *sigh*

Anyway I end this short note with a song that is becoming more and more obvious the more Julie and I intereact.....

Day 15 of The Three Weeks - 2 Av

As we enter into the final week of The Three Weeks, the most intense week, things had gotten very intense last night. The govt in their "wisdom" - I use the word most advisably since in reality "wisdom" and "politicians" are utterly mutually exclusive - nevertheless I use the word most advisably - in their "wisdom" the govt changed the laws on taking out loans. This I knew that would come into effect this July but I thought it was just a matter of answering a few more questions. But no!! It was more complex than that. I long since realise the laws exists for three reasons - to benefit the govt, the big companies, and banks/finance companies, all which works together to screw the common man. That is why big companies and banks does not pay much tax, it is all a buddy system, look after your own mates. Meanwhile we are nothing more than peasants. Indeed little has changed since the medieval times, the only difference being is that we get to choose our slave master and lords every three or so years!! And well we all know that loan defaults are not good for the economy, this as proved with the Global Finance Crisis of 2008 - too many yanks defaulting on their home loans, which started a snowball effect affecting most of the planet. And so this is the reason for these law changes. It has nothing to do with "protecting the public", the only arses being protected in these laws are the politicians and finance companies.

In previous times up until July, when you seek a loan from a payday lender, you first need to submit bank statements, proof of income, etc, but once those documents has been submitted, you can take out loans as often as you want without any further need for producing such documentations. It is just a matter of getting on the website, and provided that the previous loan has been paid off and cleared by the banks, you can simply enter a loan amount up to a certain limit and the money is yours almost immediately!! Not so now due to govt interference. Now you have to submit your bank's transaction history for the past 90 days every time you wish for a loan. Well fortunately every bank as part of the their online services provides such a statement download as a CSV file, you just enter in the start and finish date, and hey presto the information is downloaded as a CSV file. Then on the website of the loan company, it provides the means to have this file uploaded, and the system supposedly automatically check the file then the loan gets approved (hopefully!!!!)

Alas!!!! Was my CSV file from my bank accepted?? OF COURSE NOT!!!! Both Mercury's retrograde and the curse of The Three Weeks conspired against me. The website utterly refused to accept the document!!! Panic set it.... and I thought OMG!!!! If I don't get this loan I will not have enough for my groceries!! It's like.... I just need two more weeks..... just two more lousy weeks and they will never hear from me again.... well until the landlord decides not to renew my lease and I have to move out in October, I will be needing the loan again when that happens.... But on this go around, I just have to get my tax check later this month, and I be finished paying off the ambulance, no more Sally's medical debts, so I won't need any more loans!!! WHY couldn't this bloody govt wait two more weeks!!!! arrrrrgh!!! I was seriously contemplating life on a crash diet, well I knew I need to lose weight but not quite this drastically!!!!!!!

Anyway... after freaking out for 30 minutes or so, it came to me, well I can just submit a help request on the website, and they would probably just have me to manually submit the file to them, they'd check it and hopefully approve the loan - just for this last time!!! So I did that..... then it came to me to just check the properties of the file on my computer. It turned out to be a quirk in my Windows 7 system. Although the bank had given me the document as a CSV file, the quirk in Windows had added a ".TXT" extension on the end!! This had confused the company website!! So I just have to find a way to overcome this quirk, and it wasn't long before I figured out how to do so.

Then I re-submitted the file, and this time the website accepted it..... but did it work?? OF COURSE NOT!!! Mercury and The Three Weeks strikes again!! For some reason the system couldn't process the file. Uhhhhhh trust me to be with a bank this is incompatible with the website system!! It is designed for the "big four" banks, and I am not with any of those major banks, I am with a lesser bank!! Uh well at least the document is now submitted, that is half the battle. Meanwhile I was still contemplating my possible forced crash diet!!.....

So this morning as I was getting ready for work, I checked my email again..... uh yes I did hear from the finance company, being on the east coast they be already open or at least staffed. They did indeed were able to manually look at the document and had approved my loan!! Ohhhhh what a relief!!!.... and there is a bit of a silver lining. The company has also changed procedures. Previously when you take out such a loan, it had to be all paid back + fees the very next payday (hence is why it is called "payday loans"), and this together with my payments for the ambulance would virtually clean me out, so had to wait the weekend before the payment is cleared by the bank then take out yet another loan to get me through the following fortnite, and so the viscous cycle continued. But now they give the option of paying out the loan over TWO paydays, which amounts to half the amount each payday, so I still have cash left over for the fortnite so bar any unforeseen "Three Weeks" calamities, together with my tax check, and being able to make the last ambulance payments, I shouldn't need any more loans.

So while Mercury's retrograde throws a spanner into these computer systems loan approvals, Saturn turning forward again is working to ease things up financially. You see, Saturn's retrograde was the reason why these sometimes extreme austerity measures since Sally's death and why I could never seem to get ahead. But with that ringed planet turning forward again last week, things are starting to look promising on the budget area, I will soon finish off the last of Sally's medical debts, and I will be free from any more loans obligations....... then I can start on my car and other things, start getting the things done that has been on hold for over two years due to Sally's health issues sucking up my wages. We are more connected with the universe than we realise, and the universe with the stars and planets truly does shape our circumstances.

On a more worrying note..... I still haven't heard from Julie. I won't worry too much, as I said, I decided I don't want to start any courses during The Three Weeks as it will certainly end in catastrophe. So there is just one more weekend of The Three Weeks to survive, then I be happy to start the course. Nevertheless I do miss Julie, and the computer is currently our only means of contact. More than likely hers broke down again. But there is a reason why I hadn't given my cell phone number - my weird voice which sounds like a tom cat high on steroids!! My voice I hate with a passion and was one of the reasons for my suicidal urges in my teen years, it costed me dates and girlfriends - and later in life after my graduation, jobs!! So someone talking to me for the first time on the phone I would sound like some fuckwit recently escaped from the looney bins after being on too much drugs. And this is probably precisely the reason for the damage to my voice. Back in the days of the Autistic Center mother would feed me these pills which to this day I have no idea what they were. I reckon I would have been fed other drugs at the center, cos that is what they did in the 1960s (and they still do now in the 21st century in looney bins). I remember little of my time at the center, the parts I do remember I do so like it happened yesterday, such as the "training booth" that was when I was left in utter darkness inside a cupboard-like structure when I was "naughty", but much of it I don't remember. So probably thanks to the cocktail of drugs I probably would have been fed, my voice has been damaged to sound like an alley tom cat high on steroids!!! So the plan was not to give Julie my cell number until the date of the course was set, then I'd give it to her for to TXT me if anything changes, and then once she met me in person and find I am not some fuckwit escapee from a looney bins, my voice is less likely to make her change her mind about me. That is the way I see it anyway....... But I do miss Julie and I wish somehow she be able to get in contact with me..... uhhh well...... *sigh*

Meanwhile we are experiencing this extremely rare meteorological phenomenon.... I think they call it "rain"!!!! haha!!!.... I hope it lasts through the night then I can sleep better without pills.

Now another Three Weeks kind of song..... this came out towards the end of the 8 years of hell.... a wee bit close to home.....

Day 14 of The Three Weeks - 1 Av

Not a good start to the Nine Days of Av the most intense period of The Three Weeks. I have run out of gigs again on my portable Telstra Wi Fi device, what I use to access my sites at work to avoid using the office computer where the usage is tracked by the dept, and since I still haven't received a bill from Telstra under the new account stemming from Sally's death, I still can't set up the online account so I can't get my data usage analysis!! I was hoping the bill would come last Friday in my PO box cos like most bills it all goes to my PO box, a habit stemming from my previously nomadic lifestyle. Since the bill normally falls due in the middle of the month I thought I should have received the bill by now. Sally had previously set the bills to electronic only, that it would be delivered only to her account with no paper bills, so I wonder if they still do that, but how can it be so if I don't even have an online account?? But Telstra being Telstra you never know what tricks they will get up to.

Furthermore I won't be able to top up my gigs on my wi fi device until at least Wednesday. I am still suffering the effects of paying off Sally's medical debts, and though I had just finished paying them off, I still have the ambulance bill, that should be paid off by the end of the month. However I am always running short of money and having to take out payday loans to catch up, finding myself in a vicious cycle of catch up - the No.1 reasons why you shouldn't take out payday loans unless you really needed them - unfortunately I really needed them. And although the bills are less expensive since Sally's departure, indeed the last utility bill was half of what we usually paid, they still have to be paid. Also I am no longer getting Sally's pension, although it hasn't been much it has gotten us through on more than one occasion, often made the difference between food on the table and starvation. So unless and until I get a break, I am destined to be in this vicious cycle of payday loans.

My tax check as meager as it will be compared due to previous years due to fuckwit money obsessed govt cutting out benefits and tax breaks in their OCD-like obsession with saving money in spite of living in one of the richest countries on earth, it still should be enough to break this cycle. However I will not do my taxes until after The Three Weeks. As demonstrated with the disaster area that is my football tipping results, you cannot avoid the curse of The Three Weeks, it will always find a way to manifest and bite you in the arse. Regardless of what strategies we employ, you simply cannot avoid such a curse, it cannot be broken, it cannot be avoided. In line with one of my philosophical statements - There is order and chaos in the universe, and "fecal matter expulsion" happens regardless of our morals, what we say, what we do, and what we believe in. So no tax form submission until after The Three Weeks, indeed since I do it online, it will be after the end of Mercury's retrograde a few days later, so it will be after 20 July before I do my taxes. Then I can get out of the vicious cycle, and furthermore, I will have finished paying off the ambulance bills. With Saturn recently starting to move forward again, the planet that controls finances and austerity in general, things should start easing up.

Anyway due to bank rules I have to wait until today (after work) before applying for the next loan, and since like everything else around here in this "foreign country" called Western Australia, their offices are based on the east coast, that places it after business hours, so with their promise of the funds being deposited in the bank account the next business day, it won't in fact be until Wednesday here. Then I will be able to top up my wi fi data allocation. Of course they all believe on the east coast that Western Australia is a foreign country, as I relate a story I told so many times before of two people at Melbourne Airport waiting for a friend from W.A. to come off the plane and wondering why he is taking so long - one said to the other "oh of course he will be going through the passport and customs checks!!"

Meanwhile I am not totally cut off online outside of the house. I still have my cell phone, though more awkward from my tablet device, can nevertheless still access my online affairs living of the gigs allocations there as part of the contract.

You'd think being single again I'd be swimming in money. Indeed that is what people thinks of me in the family and etc, and they seem incredulous or even suggesting I am not telling the whole truth when I tell them otherwise!!! There is this myth that singles with a job are swimming in money. But this is simply not so. Between paying off medical debts and losing $300/fortnite that was Sally's pension, money is very much in short supply!! And even when I finish paying off debts and getting out of the loans cycle, I certainly will not be rich. There are things that needs to be done, such as the car being serviced and the trailer fixed. And should the landlord decides he doesn't want to extend the lease this October then I will be back to square one. Although I no longer have to contend with Sally's special requirements in regards to housing arrangements thus I can move virtually anywhere in the city and even near-rural districts, we are still in a housing crisis, rents for even basic one-bedroom apartments are almost as high as I currently paying for this 3-bedroom place on a 1/4 acre block. People on higher wages than me are forced to live out of their cars or in camping grounds cos they can't find a place to live which they can afford. So yes in spite of being single and far more flexible in my choices, the housing crisis still exists and it won't ease up anytime in the near or even middle future.

I must admit I thought I would have at least a bit of money to burn even with paying off the debts but it just didn't turn out that way, indeed it seems I have less money now than I did with Sally!! Ever since starting my job so many years ago I always have had a dependent whom I needed to spend money on. It was Barbara the first few years, she quit working  due to health issues just as I gotten my job and moved in with her. And even the times we break up, it has always been a short time later we be together again, and she was always needing help from me, and so was always spending money on her, even to the point of going into debt. Then of course in later years Sally came along, and it was the same, my dependent was now Sally. So this is my first time ever that I had no dependent. Julie has her own job, indeed is probably paid more than me, most private sector workers are paid more than public servants, so for the first time I would have a woman in my life who is independent. That will be a new experience!! LOL!! Anyway......

Today at work was the first day of the school break when our orders dries up and so we really have nothing to do. The boss already started his game playing, it is the kind of person he is, it's a power and politics thing, they can't help themselves. They are not satisfied that they get paid more than us mere mortals, they feel the need to exercise their powers, it is what gives them their "highs", it is indeed as a drug. So this is going to be a very long school break, Mercury's retrograde ending at the end of the break.

And I still haven't heard from Julie yet. Her computer probably broke down again, being in the period where Mercury's retrograde motion is at its quickest. Of course the planet's retrograde can also be an attributed factor to me running out of gigs on my wi fi device after only two weeks, it usually lasts me three weeks. So still haven't set any dates to meet her yet, seems to be obstacles cropping up - of course this is part of the curse of The Three Weeks. Anyway I changed my mind about the courses, I definitely don't want to start any during The Three Weeks. Due to the disaster area that is the football tipping I am now utterly convinced that you cannot avoid the curse of The Three Weeks. So any courses started during The Three Weeks are destined for catastrophe, just as in the case of the start of my relationship with Barbara which also happened during The Three Weeks - that ended in catastrophe. So anything new starting during The Three Weeks is destined for catastrophe, there is nothing we can do about it. So that leaves one more weekend before the end of this cursed period of time. One more weekend to avoid starting new courses, and odds are at the rate things are going, there won't be any dates with Julie next weekend anyway.

Last but not least Sally's child support issue. I finally gotten the death certificate mailed away today, needed a stamp for the USA. It costs $2:60 these days!! Talk about massive inflation! Back in the days of my penpals it would cost only $1:10 for letters to the USA, had a few penpals from there!! Good thing I have no penpals now, just email-pals, much cheaper that way! LOL! But the child support issue stems from the fact that her friend in the USA closed down Sally's USA bank account. I would have thought she would have also dealt with the child support issue but I guess she doesn't have the authority to do so, hence the communications with me. The letter from the courthouse said unless they hear from Sally within two weeks then they will automatically send a debit card to the given address (my PO box) in her name and the payments would be deposited there. Of course I could have just waited for the card and pocketed the money that is deposited each month, but I learned from a young age the honesty is the best policy, well it makes for better karma anyway. I would hate that the sub-human slime that was her ex-hubby would get out of his obligations of paying child support considering he almost murdered Sally, tried to strangle her, and made her partly deaf in one ear!!! But karma has already caught up with him as least partly so, he is committed for life in the looney bins and the only reason why he pays child support is cos he has a job in there as part of their employment program within the institution. Uh well one can only wait and see how all this pans out. Not sure what the law is in Texas, whether the partner passing away releases one from the obligation of child support payments, or whether it simply goes to the estate, which in Sally's case would be ME since she had not made a will. These are arrears payments and assumedly would be paid until the debt is cleared, and he had quite a bit to go yet before the debt is paid off. Uh well as I say I will just have to see how it all pans out.

And so ends the 1st day of Av, the first of what is destined to be a very torrid nine days of Av to the end of The Three Weeks.

Being a New Moon night, this song from my favorite band is most appropriate for the occasion....


Fear of The Dark - Cradle of Filth

Have you run your fingers down
The wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you're searching for the light?
Sometimes when you're scared
To take a look
At the corner of the room
You've sensed that something's
Watching you

Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a constant fear that something's
Always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
Always there


Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no one's there?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you're sure there's
Someone there

Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a constant fear that something's
Always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
Always there




Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark

Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark

Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark


Watching horror films the night before
Debating witches and folklore
The unknown troubles on your mind
Maybe your mind is playing tricks
You sense, and suddenly eyes fix
On dancing shadows from behind

Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's
Always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
Always there

Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's
Always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
Always there

Day 13 of Three Weeks

There has been no major incidences over the weekend aside from the catastrophe that is the AFL Round 15 and my standings or lack thereof in our Office tipping comp, being my worst performance so far this year. Looks like the 2nd year since Mother's death without prize money after winning prize money each year while Mother was still alive.

Also haven't heard from Julie since last Thursday but then things has been very intense on a planetary energy scale. Aside from the curse of The Three Weeks, we are at the half way point of Mercury's retrograde when the planet is at its highest speed in reverse relative to the Earth. OK I know planets does not actually move backwards in relation to the Sun as they all travel around in their orbits. But from the Earth point of view, they do travel backwards at different points as the Earth "catches up" with the planets, in the same way when we catch up to slower cars on the highway and we overtake them they seem to move "backwards" relative to our faster car!! It's the relativity that matters, even Einstein says so. All motions as we experience them are relative to our particular viewing point which happens to be Planet Earth.

So we are in the middle of the quickest part of Mercury's retrograde, there has been some solar flares happening on the Sun, it often gives me headaches when these solar storms reaches Earth, and we are near the peak of the New Moon. From tomorrow (indeed tonight) we move into the more intense "The Nine Days of Av", the final nine days of The Three Weeks leading to the Temples' destruction on 9 Av - this falls Tuesday week 16 July this year. This Nine Days of Av falls within the first week or so of our Mid Semester school break, the time to avoid malls if at all possible due to all those little brats running around in an uncontrolled manner!!! School break means for quiet times at work, not a good thing cos I get bored easily, and the boss plays games with us knowing we can't pretend to be working cos there is no work to be had. We just spend the time organising the shelves, our desks, and etc, but there is only so much organising that we can do - I am usually through the first two days then nothing for the remainder of the two weeks.

Furthermore there is still no rain. We have been promised "showers" from Tuesday but I won't believe it until it happens. A lot of the time they forecast rain and it never comes. I always feel better energetically when it rains, it helps me cope with these lunar and planetary chaos. Saturn turns forward today after being in retrograde for some months, so hopefully my finances will ease up. I am still paying off Sally's medical debts but should be through with them by the end of this month. Of course there are my taxes to be done, but I never do them until AFTER The Three Weeks and Mercury's retrograde, so that will be after 20 July when Mercury turns forward again. I won't get nearly as much in my refund check anyway, the govt cut out the spouse tax offset last year, so I won't get anything for it not even for Sally's nine months with me until her death. Of course from now on it will be a mute point anyway, but I wish they kept the offset for at least another year. So my refund check this time will go down from around $2000 to probably less than $200 when I can still claim on my Union dues, at least that is still available!!

Just taking it a day at a time.....

Speaking of tax time..... hmmmmm.... appropriate song, more true than ever!!!!!.... some things never changes.....

Tax Man - Beatles

Round 15 - Goodbye "Top Six" it was nice knowing ya

Hmmmm amazing "coincidences". Last week the 1st Round within The Three Weeks I lost three points on the Saturday matches after a perfect Fri night but ended up with a perfect score on the Sunday. This time on the 2nd Round within The Three Weeks, I lost four points on the Saturday matches after a perfect Friday night but ended up with a perfect score today on the Sunday matches!!! Hmmmm. does this mean I will lose all five Saturday points next week being the final Round within The Three Weeks?

Anyway just as I thought I have dropped a few spots and now sitting on 10th spot. With still another Round within The Three Weeks my fate is sealed. The 2nd year since Mother's death that I will be without prize money after winning prize money every year while Mother was still alive. We shall no longer be focusing on the top six, but now just a matter if I manage to stay in the top half. There is 48 of us in the comp, so 24th or higher will have me in the top half, while 12th and higher will have me in the top quarter. Being 10th I am still in the top quarter. But the final week of The Three Weeks is the most intense week, Jews observes stricter mourning traditions during this final week, so I seem destined to drop some more spots in the competition.

I guess we shall see how it all pans out..... with a Western Derby happening next Sunday, will probably pick the Dockers!! haha!!

Round 15 - Four more nails

Well what an utter catastrophe that was! A massive four points out the window. Definitely no way I will hold onto my 7th spot this time. You don't lose four points and expect to hold onto your position, it just will not happen. Four more nails into the Top Six coffin. On what is my worst performance of the year so far this goes to prove you cannot beat the curse of The Three Weeks. Regardless of what strategy one employs to try beat it, the curse of The Three Weeks always finds a way. It happened last year through the points variance, and this year it happens through the tipping points. The scary thing is there are still three matches tomorrow and two of them are no certainties so a potential for an even worse result by the end of tomorrow. So I guess let's look at those three matches.

Sydney and Melbourne. One would think that Sydney should surely win that one. But as mother says there is no such thing as a certainty in football in regards to match results.

Then there is Freo and the Saints. There are two things going in Freo's favor. The match is at Pattersons where as usual there won't be any rain, it never rains here! LOL! Secondly Freo had a number of top players coming back from injuries. So one would think Freo should win that one too, but the Saints are better than the Demons and they could very well put up enough of a fight to make it over the line.

Essendon and Port, well that one could go either way. The poor ole Bombers embroiled in yet more controversies and it has been said they could have premiership points stripped away from them. Such a thing will play heavily on their minds, just a matter of how it will affect their performances. In any case I will go with the Bombers and I won't make any threats about turning them into Weavils and feeding them to the piranhas cos my season is finished anyway, it is just a matter of going through the motions and whether I can stay at least in the top half of the office competition.

Round 15 - Should have picked a higher variance !!!!

Well what an amazing match!!! Those Maggies beyond expectations. It just proves that you should always pick the Maggies!! ohhhh yes!!!! Just messed up my variance big time but at least they won and so a good start to my tipping on at least the tipping point basis!! So when not abducted by aliens them Maggies do play well!! Probably no one else in the office would have picked them so probably got a head start. However there are still 8 more matches to go........

First up the Giants and the Bulldogs. If the Giants are ever going to win then this would be one of their best chances to do so. Does a team ever goes through a whole season without a win?? I would think they should win at least one match and this would be the match to do it if they are ever going to win. However this IS The Three Weeks so am sticking with the top two tipsters who both picked the Bulldogs, however a Giants win will not be a surprise.

Richmond shouldn't run into too many problems during their culling of the Kangaroos.

Lions and them Suns. Well the top two tipsters are divided on this one, one picks the Lions, the other picks the Sun. Well since it never rains here in Perth, I mean as a possible symbollic sign, I think I will put my money or at least my tipping points on the Sun shining down onto it.

Hawthorn seems to be the unanimous choice against the Puddy Cats. I think it could go either way, but will go with the Hawks.

Last but not least, them top two tipsters are facing reality, especially since dandy-boy Kerr is out of action due to injury - ahhh poor baby!! haha!! Both pick the Crows to grab those Weavils like worms out of the ground and have them for dinner, so will I.