You see, the Jews didn't suddenly wake up one day and found themselves slaves! No! It all happened gradually. When they first came to settle in Egypt through Joseph to escape the famine in the Middle East at that time, the Pharaoh would have been more like Bob Hawk, or you could say, Julia Gillard. They enjoyed a great working relationship. The Jews had their jobs working for the Egyptians, but in return they enjoyed great benefits, wage rises, vacation time, tax breaks, and all these other perks. As a result the Jews grew in numbers and influence. Then the next Pharaoh came along, and he was more like Tony Abbot, fearing that the unions have too much power he takes on an anti-union stand. Or that the next Pharaoh feared the Jews were growing in such power that they would take over the land, so he began to impose more stringent conditions on them..... and like what Tony Abbot wants.... he began cutting down on their vacation time, their benefits, and other conditions bit by bit, this over the decades. Like a frog in water being heated to boiling point, the Jews didn't protest much, the Pharaoh probably cited "these are tough economic times" and "so we all have to contribute to belt tightening", and so the Jews accepted each cut...... until when it was all too late.... they found themselves to be SLAVES!!!! Exactly what Tony Abbot would want for us given his way!!!! Nevertheless in spite of being slaves, they still were allowed to keep their properties, their farms, livestocks, etc..... and so they had lambs available to choose for the Passover.
So on the 10th day of the first lunar month, the Jews were to choose their best lamb for the Passover. For the next four days the lamb would be kept in their homes like a pet, no doubt they be growing rather fond of this cute little lamb as they slept with him, ate with him, indeed do everything with this little lamb - probably even take him to school as in "Mary Had A Little Lamb"!! However on the 14th day, that evening (the day begins at sunset on the Jewish calendar), they had to slaughter this little lamb, paint its blood on the door posts, and roast the rest of the lamb, guts and all, and eat it that night! Failure to do so would have the first born male killed by the angel of death!! No room for sentiments here!! They had to slaughter it to survive, and ultimately escape from slavery. So then the angel of death would roam through the land, killing the first born males right up to Pharaoh himself. Imagine Tony Abbot's first born being killed - but I don't think he has any sons, only daughters, and the curse didn't apply to daughters. Point is, back in the time of the Egyptians, Pharaohs were not elected but their rule passed on through their first born sons, hence this final curse. But when this angel of death sees the blood of the lamb painted on Jewish households, he would PASS OVER that house, sparing the family such tragedy - hence PASSOVER. It wasn't enough just to be Jewish to escape this, any Jewish household who didn't have the blood on their doorposts would suffer that fate, and there would have been a few skeptical Jews, the Liberal voters, who didn't paint the blood, a decision they would come to regret. By the same token, any Egyptian who chose for some reason to perform this ordinance and paint the blood on their doorposts would have escaped this fate, and indeed there would have been a few Egyptians who went with the Jews as they escaped - probably those who voted Labor or the Greens!
This year Passover falls next Monday, and the Passover holiday when Jews begins their celebration on Tuesday.
We also have a very interesting Eclipse configuration starting this Passover, and each time such a configuration occurs, calamities would befall the Jews. On this occasion we cast nervous eyes on Ukraine which has a large Jewish population, and the Russians were never very friendly towards the Jews! A lot of pogroms in the past has happened in Ukraine and it usually coincides with times of war or other national revolutions - the Jews always the scapegoats, they get blamed for everything.
And we all know, what happens to the Jews also happens to me.........
A couple of days ago I developed a toothache. Nothing unusual. Every so often I'd develop a toothache, so I take some Panadeine and usually a day or so later the ache would go away. This time however was destined to be a different story, and considering it is near to Passover and the above configuration, I guess it should not have surprised me. This toothache was not going to go away. At first I took Panadeine, and it went away for a little while, then it came back, so I took more Panadeine.... and the pain was getting worse and worse.... to the point where Panadeine was ineffective. It has been a very long time if at all that I had experienced such severe pain. I didn't think I would survive this!!!!
Caroline was there for me through all this ordeal, even if she does scold me for being negative! Uhhh just the Pluto in my natal sign, but astrological configurations are not excuses that she accepts. But I don't know anyone who was so there for me, she didn't sleep for two nights cos of me, probably cos I said I would kill myself if the pain didn't go away. I am more used to being there for others, I never had anyone who was so dedicated and there for me. I have found a gem in Caroline, and I wasn't even looking. I had given up on the dating scene, with no dates whatsoever and a few "potential" dates being duds for various reasons. It was after I had given up on ever finding even a friend to be with me that Caroline came along..... after waiting 15 long years for me......
Well back to the ordeal of the toothache, it has gotten so bad that I didn't sleep at all last night. Caroline had told me to see a dentist, but there was just no way in hell that I would be seeing a dentist. I can't afford them!! They're not covered by Medicare, and on occasion I'd hear stories of dental bills running into $1000's. I did have some money in my savings but it was for when I move out to find an apartment. You have to have basically 6 weeks advance rent to move in - the bond equal to 4 weeks rent, then 2 weeks advanced rent. Not to mention other moving expenses, carpet cleaning, etc. So I had only about half of what I judge I would need to be able to reasonably comfortably afford the move. Having to spend a substantial amount on any dentist would seriously wreck my plans! Not to mention the question of the landlord evicting me early cos he decided he wants to sell the house. Up to now I haven't heard from the landlord, but, he could call at any time with such an eviction notice. Another reason why I didn't want to spend my savings on any dentist bill.
But things had gotten so bad with my toothache that Caroline even offered to pay for me. She is rich, her family is rich, they own several properties with Caroline owning I think at least a couple of them. Indeed when I do visit India I be staying at her parent's guest house - they have a separate guest house on their land, and it is where I be staying. So yes Caroline's attraction to me has certainly nothing to do with money and the myth of rich Westerners!! They have more money than I do!! So she was quite prepared to help me there!!
There was just no way in hell I would be visiting any dentist, even given this offer...... but last night it is where I was..... I was in hell!! How ironic that this marked the day the Jews would choose their lambs for Passover. So last night I found myself Googling dentists! First I checked the public dental system but soon found you need a concession card to qualify. This time last year it would have worked as my name was on Sally's pension card! But with no more Sally therefore no more pension card, I lament the fact that they considered me to be too rich to qualify for public dental treatment - and even so you still have to pay about half of the fees. There are no free dental treatments, just cheaper ones if you have a concession card of some sort.
It turns out that details on dental fees are scant with no clinic willing to publish their fees online. But I did manage to come across some information on average fees. It was stated that there are no set standards, meaning, any individual clinic can charge whatever they darn well like! The average fees however did however give me an idea of how much damage that my house moving savings would expect to be inflicted, as it is becoming rapidly apparent that I will have to visit a dentist and in the very near future - that or I kill myself!! My further research indicate what treatments I would likely to be needing - standard examination of problem area, x-ray, and extraction - getting the sorry little tooth pulled out!! So I figured that the average total cost would be around $300 - cheaper than I thought but still enough to seriously dent my plans for moving house anytime this year!! Then being the Virgo that I am I allow for worst case scenario especially given that there are no standard fees. However I felt that market forces would prohibit dentists from charging too much about the average fees, so if I am unlucky enough to choose a dentist who charges twice the average, given that they don't give fees on their websites, that would still be $600, which is still below what I have in my savings, but moving house will be out the window!!
Furthermore I would need an emergency dentist, or at least one who could treat me the same day! This in itself will mean more $$$$s! However I couldn't take another day of this pain. So I actually came across a 24-hours clinic, so I thought I give them a try. However I decided to wait until the morning. It was about midnight by then, and well they probably charge more after hours, so I figure, I contended with this pain for THIS long, another few hours won't make much difference. But it was to be the longest night of my life, cos for the intense pain, I could not sleep.
The morning could not come soon enough, and as soon as normal work hours kicked in I gave them a call, and was surprised that they could fit me in immediately, indeed it was too immediate, it would take me longer to get there than the first available time slot. So I said about an hour from now. Why could they fit me in so soon? Either they don't have many customers cos they charge too much, or they prefer later hours! The clinic is located in Wembley, near the private hospital and all these other private clinics - an expensive area!!! So an emergency dentist in an expensive area! Not looking good for my budget.
And so I was soon on my way to a dentist for the first time since the 1980s!! Mother would always have us to visit the dentist for our six monthly checkups which invariably led to a 2nd appointment for the flouride treatment which I hated with a passion, the stuff tasted so GROSS, it makes me wanna puke!!! In those days it was with the public system.... then after Pasco came along and she gotten off the pension, it was with a private practice, and well it was better - instead of the flouride treatment, it was just a scrub and clean with one of those microscopic electric scrubber!! Much better, no gross taste of flouride!! However soon after I moved in with Barbara, I decided I couldn't afford any more dental visits, and in those days the 6-monthly checkup was $70.
So with very sore mouth in tow I arrived at my first dental clinic in over three decades. It was a very nice office too, fancy artwork and much fancy trimmings..... it looks a very expensive office!!! More like the lobby area of the Crown Casino than a clinic!! Hmmmm..... and being a first time patient I needed to fill out a form. One of the questions were "Does dental treatment makes you nervous?" with a choice of answers "not at all", "slightly", "moderately", and "extremely nervous"!! I should have put "extremely nervous" about the BILL at the end of the treatment!!!! But I decided not to!! I did choose "moderately" - as I remember about my bad childhood experiences with them, aside from those infernal flouride treatments, it was those damned fillings that they inflicted on me!! Not so much the needle, indeed I hardly felt the needle, but that damned drill!!!! The very thought of it sends shivers down my spine!!! Then sometimes I'd be sent to the Perth dental teaching hospital where I be basically a guinea pig for all those aspiring students!! It's be in this huge room with rows and rows of dental chairs, bit like being herded like sheep into a shearing shed, and all these young students not much older than me inflicting torture on me. I had one of those problems where my new teeth came up before the old ones fell out, so my teeth were all crowded and crooked. So first they fill these mouth-guard thingies with some kind of putty substance, and put it into my mouth, so to get an impression of my teeth, then work out which of my toothies needed to be extracted. Well one day one of those upstart students put a bit too much putty in it, and so i gagged when she put it in my mouth, I felt like I was about to choke, and all she could say is Relax! Breath through my nose!!!.... well its a bit hard to relax when I felt like I'm fixin to choke to death!! I gagged so much that I ended up vomiting all over myself!! All she could do was to clean it up off me..... then I had to go to school with the smell of vomit on my shirt cos for some reason mother couldn't be there, and so the plan was for me to catch the bus to school as soon as I am through at the dentist!! But yeah my past experiences with dentists were not good. I hated going to the dentist with a passion, though the later years at the private practice was not so bad......
Staying on the safe side, it was for this reason I put "moderately nervous"..... and soon enough I was called into the office.... and the dentist was a very nice guy.... he explained everything to me before doing each step.... and oh how so vulnerable I felt in that chair which leaned back to where I almost felt I was upside down!!! I can see why many people does not like dentists. You are in a very vulnerable position with one of the most vulnerable part of your body exposed, that is the mouth, putting total faith into a guy whom I never met before!!! However, he did explain everything to me prior to each step, and things has changed a bit, with these advances in technology. The x-ray consisted of a little portable device inserted into my mouth with a hand held scanner held above it! In days gone by in my childhood, getting an x-ray consisted of going into a separate room and having these cardboard thingies shoved into my mouth with such sharp edges that I felt my mouth was about to be cut wide open, and being made to have these in my mouth for what seemed like eternity!! This time it was a far more comfortable device which stayed in my mouth for only a short time. Anyway it turned out the culprit was a tooth that I had already lost, it fell out a few months ago, but the roots were still embedded, and that was where the infection was. So he began work on extracting the offending piece. There's still the needle, but then the needle doesn't worry me, I don't even feel it when he puts it in. Then he'd test it to see if I can still feel anything, injecting more anesthetic as necessary..... then with a single yank, out popped the root!! Then he showed me what he pulled out! Ouch!!! No wonder it was so painful!!!!
So the whole process was relatively painless.... now the more painful step - heading back out to the front desk where I would be handed the BILL!!! Ouch!!!! Well it turned out to be at the cheaper end of my expected scale, indeed it was less than the average!! About $260 in all!! Still a major dent in my plans to move house, but more manageable, it would only add a month or so to my plans, how long it take to make up this difference. And more importantly I am pain free!! When the anesthetic wore off it did hurt for a bit, indeed for a little while it hurt almost as much as the original toothache, but then the dentist said it would happen. The pain only lasted a couple of hours or so, and well I just have to be careful what I eat for the next few days, and to gargle with salt water for a bit, until the wound heals up.
Well I had gotten a day off work out of this, armed with a note for the boss!! Not the most pleasant way to get the day off, but it means I now have just ONE more day until my vacation! Tomorrow is indeed my last day at work before I go on vacation for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. Yee... Haa!!!!!!!!!!
Here a vid I really like which in some ways I can relate.......
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