CABG surgery minus two days

A quiet day today. A stroll to Victoria Market with Sweetheart Vivienne. A long chat with Sweetheart Vivienne and darling Emily over brunch. A look at some surveillance video then a quick 2-page report on its content and implications. A skype video conversation with darling sister Sue and brother-in-law Jeffrey. Then a visit to long-time friends Peter and Vonne. Busy, busy. So not much time to think about my hospital admission tomorrow let alone the surgery on Monday. It’s hard to know if I’m getting closer to these events or they’re getting closer to me. Whichever or both is so, I feel strangely calm about it all. Why ‘strangely’? Because I reckon I should feel anxious. What’s about to happen is big. Bloody big. But my mindset remains positive. Optimistic. Which is strange for the cup-half-empty bloke that I am. Tomorrow? That’s another day. Today I’m okay. Really okay.

P.S. Thank you to those who wrote such supportive and comforting comments on yesterday’s post. It’s trite to write it, but I’m sincerely grateful to each of you. Also to Sweetheart Vivienne [1] and darling Kate [2] for blogging about me so lovingly. What a support team I have. I am a truly blessed man.

List: '10 tools every homeowner should have'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Sticker shock [1]. For years I’ve known about this term. But only recently I heard about its sibling: bill shock [2]. Recently Sweetheart Vivienne and I had two ceiling fans replaced. We haven’t received the electrician’s bill yet. I’m bracing myself for a case of acute bill shock. I hope it doesn’t eventuate. But as you know, I’m a cup-half-empty man [3]. Or at best a realist [4]. Be all this as it may, the fact is that tradesmen are expensive. At least compared with home visits by general practitioners they are. So it pays (pun intended) to do as much home repair and maintenance work as you can (accepting that by law electrical and plumbing work must be done by licensed tradesmen). Over the years, one thing I’ve learned is that it’s important, and efficient, to have the right tools. And so to today’s list. From gizmodo.com, it’s ‘10 tools every homeowner should have’ [5]. There’s nothing exotic or esoteric on this list. How many of the ten do you have? I have all ten. But that’s nothing to skite about, for it’s a pretty basic list. Two final things I’ve learnt from experience: first, when buying tools, buy the best quality ones. (And if you’re pressed for money, good quality used tools are preferable to lesser quality new ones.) And second, only tackle tasks that are within your expertise, i.e. that you feel comfortable doing. Because being outside your comfort zone increases the accident risk.

farmdoc's blog post number 491

I’m a pessimist. Yep. A cup-half-empty man. It’s just the way I’m built. I reckon. But in relation to the conflict between the Islamic nations and Israel, it’d be difficult to be anything else but a pessimist. It all seems so very entrenched and intractable. But just when it seems hopeless, a ray of hope shines. Last Wednesday Sweetheart Vivienne sent me this link. As the article says: ‘A joint Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian biofuel project will alleviate thousands of tons of organic agricultural waste and produce one million barrels of biofuel’. The project’s brokered by three peace foundations – the Peres Center for Peace, the Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics and the Amman Center for Peace and Development. It’ll help the environment, create jobs, and reduce oil imports. But much more importantly, it’s a joint project that’ll only work if all the parties co-operate. And if – no, when – it works, its impact will be felt far and wide by individual farmers, agricultural cooperatives, regional organizations, and ultimately the Israeli and Jordanian and Palestinian populations. As the article’s ending says: ‘So there will be a new source of energy: One that comprises layers of peace, trust, understanding, environmental and financial gain. Imagine how your car could run on that’. It reminds me of two sayings: ‘It’s always darkest before the dawn’ and ‘From little things big things grow’. Amen.