farmdoc's blog post number 658

Closure. Nowadays it’s fashionable for a relative to acknowledge it when a missing person’s body is found, or when a murderer’s convicted. Thankfully I’ve never been the relative in either of those situations. And I hope upon hope I never will be. But if the relevant definition of ‘closure’ is ‘the state of being closed’, then I can’t believe that all will be bright and rosy ever after the moment when the body’s found or the murderer’s convicted. Be this as it may, in my boring and safe life there have been two recent moments of closure:

The first one occurred last Wednesday when Lars, a local jack-of-all-trades replaced the smashed back porch downpost and a rainwater downpipe [1]. Lars is a lovely man, and as the photograph shows, he did a beautiful job. All the job needs now is for me to paint the post and pipe.

The second one occurred yesterday when our new bridge replacement job [2, 3, 4, 5, 6] was finished by our neighbour Todd. He too is a lovely man, and as the photograph shows, he did a beautiful job. All the job needs now is for me to remove the sawn-off wood pieces.

P.S. To avoid hitting the back porch downpost and a rainwater downpipe again, from now on I’m backing the Triton in to the garage.

farmdoc's blog post number 656

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Yesterday it rained steadily here. Which reminded me that rain after a prolonged dry period means treacherous road conditions due to the rain’s effect on accumulated road oil. Not to mention that here in backwoods Tasmania, when road and traffic conditions change, drivers alter their driving not a jot. So vehicle safety’s on my mind. My new Triton has a 4-star rating (out of a maximum five stars) from ANCAP (i.e. the Australasian New Car Assessment Program. (My Peugeot was also 4-star.) But the world being what it is, the most respected rating is from Euro NCAP. Which explains why today’s list – ‘The world’s top five safest cars’ – is based on Euro NCAP test results. Anyway in order (from top down), the five are the VW Golf, Honda Insight, Toyota Prius, Hyundai i20, and three cars tied for fifth. I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not, but the second and third placegetters are both petrol-electric hybrids. Maybe manufacturers of hybrids deliberately engineer them to be safer cars. These test results are a good guide, but still a bit theoretical. ANCAP’s website says ‘The test results do not prove which is the safest car in all types and severities of crashes. As a guide, consumers should look for vehicles that have earned at least 4 stars’. So today’s list may not be a list of the safest cars under all conditions. But I’m comforted that my vehicle rates four stars; and Sweetheart Vivienne’s rates five stars.

farmdoc's blog post number 655

It was 1:30 a.m. last Monday morning – with February only 1½ hours old – when the fire call came. Sweetheart Vivienne blogged here that last Sunday evening the smoke was thick at our place. So it shouldn’t have surprised me when the call came. But I was in such a deep sleep. I awoke with a start, but I was dopey whilst I pulled on my clothes. As I left our bedroom Sweetheart Vivienne implored me to drive carefully. I think I must’ve been in some twilight zone – not fully awake, yet somehow adrenaline-charged at the prospect of fighting a bushfire I knew little about but which I thought was major and close. I hopped up into the Triton’s cab, and reversed out of the carport. Then – crash. Instantly I became fully awake as I realised I’d backed into – and broken – our back porch downpost and a rainwater downpipe attached to it. Oh dear. I was distraught. Mad at myself. How could I have done such a thing? But, strangely, not inconsolable. Like most accidents, this one was multi-causal. And a key cause was that the Triton is much longer than the Peugeot. Anyway I felt in no fit state to be on a fireground, so I didn’t attend that call. (My chance at the fire came late afternoon the same day.) Sweetheart Vivienne was superb, as usual: sympathetic, comforting, loving. I am so very blessed that I’m married to her. P.S. The Triton was undamaged. Not even a scratch.

farmdoc's blog post number 654

Wikipedia says Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926-2004) was a Swiss-born psychiatrist, and the author of the 1969 groundbreaking book On Death and Dying in which she first discussed what’s now known as the Kübler-Ross model. This model sets out, in five discrete sequential stages, a process by which people deal with grief and tragedy. Twelve days ago, on Friday 22 January, I traded in my Peugeot for a 2010 Mitsubishi Triton GLS 4WD diesel dual cab flat-tray ute (pictured). I’ve been unable to write about it until now because I’ve been grieving for my Peugeot – which I owned for a bit over 2½ years. Among its many features I’m missing are its miserly fuel consumption, superb sound system, trip computer, automatic headlights, automatic wipers, automatic door locking, climate control and digital cruise control. The Triton has none of these. Its fuel consumption’s about double the Peugeot’s, and it goes like a truck. But it has all the safety gear;its 4WD enables access to lots more bushwalks; and my bike fits on the flat tray. Why did I change vehicles now? I can’t tell you. I can’t think about it. I’m too grief-stricken. The Kübler-Ross model’s been debunked – mainly because the five stages are no longer considered to be sequential. True, as currently I have elements of four of them. Of course the Peugeot and the Triton are only vehicles. And Sweetheart Vivienne thinks I’ll grow to love the Triton. But I doubt it. Anyway time will tell. Stay tuned. Ho hum.