Val’s Comments (group member since Aug 28, 2019)

Val’s comments from the Beyond Zon group.

We've actually had two lovely sunny days here but the offset for that is clear nights - tonight will be a mere 3 degrees! Not a lot doing downunder. I've still got this horrible cold and cough but hopefully it will be gone by the weekend so we can celebrate a grand-daughter's 3rd birthday. I haven't done much in the garden - turned compost as best I could. A lovely friend gifted me 8 indoor plants. They came very well packaged but I've had to re-pot them into bigger pots. They're all indoors and looking healthy. It just remains to be seen whether they will survive me either under or over watering them. Outdoors my eucalyptus silver princess has at last flowered. I'll let you know when I've put the photos up. And the self-seeding native violets are loving the cold, wet weather - little purple faces everywhere.

Hi Duke,

Glad to hear that today's a good one - hope it continues! I think it's a good idea to see your GP and keep him/her in the loop re your tinnitus and inability to get to sleep.

Not much to report here except I'm full of a lousy head cold. I was coughing for about a week but now it's the full on runny nose that refuses to let up. Thanks grandkids! I had tickets for a play today but had to pass on them as I couldn't risk passing it on to other theatre-goers, mask or no mask. Saturday night is pizza night (home made) but I have to forego my usual Pepsi Max as the aspartame would make the arthritis flare up and give me a painful night. Alcohol does the same - can't win!

Duke - belated congratulations on your all-clear diagnosis. Now you just have to work out what needs to be done to make the tinnitus more manageable. I do hope it lessens soon.

Hi all, it's been busy here. My 10 month old grandson has been in hospital most of the week with RSV - which seems as common as muck, but nevertheless saw him on intravenous feeding plus oxygen. My daughter took him into her nearest hospital on Monday and they said it's a virus, give him paracetamol/ibuprofen and plenty rest but when he had slept nearly all of the next 24 hours, she rang Nurse-On-Call who said "I'm sending an ambulance". The ambos were great, decided against returning to the original hospital (which I think they were supposed to do), took him straight to the new Children's Hospital where, because he came in an ambulance, he was admitted straight away, as opposed to a potential 5 hour wait in emergency. Daughter got to stay with him Tuesday - Saturday, huge private room with single bed, cot, massive bathroom, etc. It's good to know our health service can work. Then I was required to babysit another grandchild overnight yesterday - he's a real wild child, Evil Knieval in training and he's only 3 - but he was a dream, thankfully. And today I got to have a fab lunch with three girlfriends - so much nattering I'm surprised the hotel didn't ask us to leave, we were there nearly 4 hours!

Oh, and I've heard from Suzy. She's coping as usual but her elderly parents do give her cause for worry. She would love to be back here but real life gets in the way.

Your gardens must be in overdrive with all the alternating sun and rain you've had. Here it's just cold and overcast. Thankfully not too much rain the last few days.

theDuke wrote: "I gather that each state has it,s own internal government, but does the prime minister not have overall authority over state affairs?..."

It's all a bit of a shemozzle. The Federal government collects the taxes and hands back money to the states. Each state has responsibility for its health system, primary and secondary education, law and order and probably other things which don't spring to mind. We've been debating a national school curriculum for years with little progress. Children in Queensland start school at 4 but other states it's 5. In Victoria you leave at 18 with a VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education); in NSW it's an HSC (Higher Certificate of Education). At least all tertiary institutions recognise each state's students as equal. Everyone pays a GST (Goods & Services Tax), similar to VAT, on most stuff (not basic foods like meat, fruit, veg, etc) which goes to the Federal government. But the states squabble about the distribution which is based on a political decision that favours Western Australia which is a wealthy state because of its iron ore deposits. A strong Prime Minister would have grabbed the reins when the pandemic hit but we weren't blessed with one. So each state had their own border closures, lockdowns, regulations, etc. That horse has now bolted and it will be hard for any Federal government to exert power over the states now. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and Queensland currently have Labor governments; Tasmania and NSW have Liberal (Tory) governments. This doesn't necessarily create alliances. W.A. has been no friend to Victoria in recent times, whereas the State Premiers of Victoria and NSW seem to be very much on the same page. As I said, it's a shemozzle. Aren't you glad you asked?

Isabella wrote: "Val, you're setting me a real example with your organisation of DVDs. This past week, I've been going through photos for my brother-in-law, looking for ones of my sister he doesn't have and it's brought home to me that I really must sort them properly as they're on different laptops, memory sticks, CDs and even prints. This heat gives me no excuse, I must sit and do the job...."

I'm not too great with photos. All the ones taken with my camera have been uploaded to the computer and are reasonably well organised by date and subject e.g. "2019 12 25 Christmas Day". And they are backed up on two portable drives. But all the photos taken with my phone and then uploaded are very much a work in progress. And as for the pre-digital era - I've got quite a lot put into albums but still a lot are in the original packets (with negatives) with just date information written on the packet. I have made reasonable inroads into organising my childhood photos and those of my parents. I write everything I know on the back of the photo - person(s), place, approximate date - at least that way when my children get to sort out all the "stuff" in this house, they will have some idea of who everyone is and whether they want to keep them or not.

theDuke wrote: "I,m not much of one for keeping a diary, but I am trying different things however. Last night I took a glass of milk to bed (not in it!) with me, as I read that it contains a natural sleep inducer. Seemed to do the trick last night. I guess that,s why some people have a cocoa before bed? I ll keep trying new things.....but maybe I just get used to it, who knows?..."

When I say diary, it is really basic. I print a one month calendar from the many templates available online. I put a tick for good day (when pain hasn't prevented me from doing essential tasks) and good night (when pain hasn't woken me) and a cross for bad day and/or bad night. Then I just write in things like "tried to leave out Celebrex tablet tonight" or "Pepsi Max followed by bad night - aspartame???"

theDuke wrote: "I ve been reading an article in a newspaper about Australia,s energy crisis. I wasn,t aware that your country still gets nearly all it,s power from coal fired electric power stations. It appears that Australia is a bit behind other countries re converting to renewable energy sources. Anyway, I gather that due all the flooding of late in NSW, something like 40% of the coal mines are flooded, so power outages could be an issue there?

Tis odd, but I though Australia energy production was nuclear, apparently not. Coal must be very cheap to produce there!..."

Part of the problem is that although we produce a lot of gas (no jokes please!), we export most of it. Western Australia (ironically one of the warmest states) made sure all its export agreements ensured that 15% of all supplies was guaranteed kept in reserve for the local market. We over in the east weren't as savvy. There is a clause in agreements that can be triggered to keep some supplies at home - but we have to give 6 months notice. We probably won't need the extra gas in summer!

A lot of coal mines/power stations are being decommissioned. But most are in rural areas where re-deployment could prove a major headache for state governments. Much of our coal is also exported. So it becomes an economic problem as much as anything. Here in Victoria there haven't been any outages to date. It seems NSW is affected more.

The differences between the states always strikes me. When you go to South Australia, it seems nearly all homes have solar power. Since 2006 Victoria has required that all new homes have solar installations and rain-water tanks so they are fairly prolific here too. South Australia also has the world’s first big battery - i.e. lithium-ion.

While I've been spending time indoors, I've at last completed indexing my DVD collection. Well, once a librarian, always ...... I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed to admit it tops 560. My children all rely on streaming services these days, but apart from the fact that there are so many now, and it would cost quite a bit to subscribe to even a few, there's also the problem with these services cancelling titles after a while. If I want to watch something particular, at least I know the DVD will always be available. So I've indexed them by title, format (DVD v Blu-Ray), title, genre, country of origin, year, director, cast, running time, number of discs, whether they've got closed captions, date bought and where from, and price - all in a simple Excel document. And I only discovered three duplicates! So good I bought them twice! Hence the need for a list. It's a pretty diverse collection - feature films, TV series, documentaries, operas, bands, children's shows, musicals, plays, animated films, Christmas-themed, etc. And not many that I'd ever get rid of. So I'm quite happy to have completed that task. And I doubt I'll be buying too many in the future.

I hope you're all enjoying the sunshine. Exact opposite down here. We seem to have been plagued with rain and cold for the last month or so. According to the weather bureau, it's the coldest start to winter for 40 years. Most days range from 7 - 13 degrees but it feels colder (wind chill factor?). There is no incentive for being outdoors at all. I keep checking my bulbs and although I've got jonquils flowering in the front garden (they've been there for about 40 years), the bulbs I planted this year are only starting to show their tips. The anemones and ranunculas are going well though. The only gardening I've done lately was yesterday when I got my almost three year old grand-daughter to plant some seeds (bush beans and sugar snap peas) in cardboard toilet roll holders. She took them home with her so we'll wait and see if they flourish. Two days (8.00 till 5.00) of looking after her has proved very tiring. As I explained to my daughter-in-law, it's not the toddler who's the problem, it's old age!

theDuke wrote: "I just get exhausted from trying not to think about it when I just want to sleep. I,m getting good night's and bad ones, so maybe it be a nicer one tonight. Been wearing me aids all day today, so we,ll see what effect that has, if any. Last night was a pain, I,ve got this weird intermittent low throbbing hum in my left ear, that seems to change pitch depending on what angle my body is at! Weird! ..."

I feel for your ongoing hearing problem Duke - sounds a real bastard! I'm still trying the prescription the rheumatologist gave me nearly three weeks ago and I've decided to keep a diary to indicate good days and bad days and what may or may not have contributed. e.g. I had a glass of wine with dinner one night and had a really painful night. Likewise, the night I thought I would try not taking a Celebrex (anti-inflammatory) tablet - I was right back on them the next night. I was wondering whether doing something similar might be of use to you - i.e. keeping a record of good days/nights and bad days/nights plus measures you have tried - taking vitamin supplements, changing your diet, wearing your hearing aids. It might show you some pattern and might also be a useful record if you get to see an audiologist again.

I don't know him but I feel for him and for you. it seems he can't take a trick in recent times. I hope his work show some understanding.

theDuke wrote: "Love the Hawk! I went to see The Darkness play at the NEC in Birmingham about 15 years ago now, at the height of their fame. He looks very different today and he,s got more tattoos now! It was a very quick almost throwaway comment, I don,t know the artic monkey,s song he was talking about tho. But yeah King Gizzard is getting more noticeable. ..."

Justin Hawkins' YouTube channel is called Justin Hawkins Rides Again. Always interesting because he's provocative (and funny) but he always gives credit where credit is due. He's got me considering paying £75 to see Arctic Monkeys next January. I do have two of their albums so they're not totally foreign to me.

His latest chats are about Johnny Depp appearing on stage with Jeff Beck and David Lee Roth (Oh Dear, Is His Time Up?!). As I said, never less than interesting!

Duke - I realise your hearing problems may make listening to any sounds difficult but I came across this clip where Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) says that King Gizzard may be the closest thing to The Beatles! Interesting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Ghe...

theDuke wrote: "How do,s?

Glorious sunny evening. Well then, the appointment. Bit of a mixed feeling over the advice I got. Firstly, I don,t have any infection, my ears are clear. I asked about diet concerns affe..."

Are you to go back to see him at any time? Was there any reason given for this flare-up? Why was your brain over-compensating at this time? It would be good to know triggers so you can avoid them. At least it's settling down for now.

Isabella wrote: "No rain today but it's cool and damp. The pond has filled after the dry spell, doesn't seem much clearer but I spotted a newt. A hypericum has seeded itself in a crack in the pond edging. I've cut ..."

Could you try pouring boiling water on it Isabella? Or maybe spray it with vinegar?

Wishing you a successful visit to the audiologist Duke. Here's hoping he/she can suggest some solutions.

Enjoy your show P. During the week I at last got to see the "musical" Girl From The North Country which features the songs of Bob Dylan. I put musical in inverted commas because it's really a play with songs. It's far from upbeat as it's the stories of various residents in a boarding house in Duluth during the depression - it features dementia, racism, suicide, euthanasia/murder, prison break-out, unwanted pregnancy, so hardly a barrel of laughs - but the cast was so uniformly good and the singing and songs were all top notch. And not the well-known Dylan songs either, apart from All Along The Watchtower, Like A Rolling Stone, Forever Young, You Ain't Going Nowhere, Hurricane. It made me want to rush home and dig out more Dylan. A great show!

theDuke wrote: "Val, did that bloke find a cure? ..."

As I said, it's a long time since I read it, but I think once diagnosed properly, he was able to get treatment so that he could at least listen to music again without pain.

I found two articles in The Guardian by him about his hearing loss - probably extracts from the book.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2...

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...

Duke - in case it is something more than tinnitus, I recommend the book The Train in the Night: A Story of Music and Loss by Nick Coleman. He was the music critic in The Guardian (I think? It's a long time since I read it) and woke up one morning with this dreadful noise in his head. It got so bad he even contemplated suicide. It took him ages to get a correct diagnosis (Sudden Neursosensory Hearing Loss) and to be able to live again. It's a cracking read for anyone (especially if you love music) as it details how he turned to writing down his memories of music he had encountered over the course of his life. A great read!