The night before......

So... ....I had a text today from Queensland Health to remind me about tomorrow.........it hadn't slipped my mind but I was quite impressed they sent a reminder.I have to be there at 6.00 am.....the crack of dawn......I fear I shall be retching at the earliness of it.I have just discovered that I need to take an over night bag just in case.....but I hope to be let out early in the afternoon.I cannot deny I am somewhat apprehensive about what is going to happen and the 'You may feel some discomfort' bit.Wish me luck!

'Hooray for Hollywood!'

So........some people may think I am mad but I love 'The Oscar's.'While Dulcie was happy with her Virginian and then the boys at The Ponderosa, I sat in the Man Cave and watched it live on Channel 9.Neil Patrick Harris was not as good a presenter as Ellen Degeneres was last year for me.I still can't decide if Lady Gaga's medley of songs from 'The Sound of Music' was a bit weird or not, was she too 'English?'....but Julie Andrews herself seemed to like it and heck!.......she is looking good for 79!(If ads pop up you can click on the (x) to get rid of them).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSgQqSmZz6kI'm glad Eddie won Best Actor for 'The Theory of Everything' and I must try and see 'Still Alice' to see Julianne Moore's performance.Last year poor Idina Menzel was introduced as Adele Dazeem by John Travolta but she got her own back by introducing him as Glom Gazingo.....but then it all got a bit creepy with his hands all over her face!.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csZTxfF9EcUThe most moving bit for me was this from Graham Moore.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN1SaF5LNGsHe won for Best Adapted Screenplay for 'The Imitation Game.'This won Best Song and it was the best song....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25bAn6iAkcc Birdman won Best Film and Best Director......I've seen it. It's good but I would have liked 'The Imitation Game' or 'Selma' to have won instead.

So long, Marcia!

Ex-Cyclone Marcia over Brisbane                         .....and back out to sea.

Another wet day......It was raining at breakfast and finally stopped about 4.00. There was 73 mls in the rain gauge, almost 200 mls in 2 days......it was just like being back home.

'Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!.....2,3,4,5,4,3.....'

So.......it rained nearly all night and Marcia reached land about 9.00 am this morning.Channel 9 was on Cyclone watch all day and Dulcie sat and watched it all.When Marcia came ashore it was a Category 5 Cyclone which is the most destructive on the scale but had been downgraded to a 4 by the time it passed over the first major town of Yepoon.Next it passed over Rockhampton and by this time was it had been downgraded to Category 3. It continues to move southwards and will pass over us sometime tomorrow or the day after but by then will probably be ex-Cyclone Marcia and just a tropical low.It has rained here all day....we have had 125 mls overnight and today.There has been a lot of structural damage around Yepoon and Rockhampton but overall it has not turned out to be the catastrophe that was expected and importantly no lives have been lost.

As nightfalls the rain has stopped here....but more is expected tomorrow with added wind!

'Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!'

So.....the latest prediction is that Marcia, presently a Category 2 Cyclone, might become a Category 3  Cyclone by the time it hits land sometime in the morning.It is expected to make landfall some 500 kms north of here, near Yepoon but it is predicted to then swing south towards Brisbane but once it hits it should lose some of its power. Rain predictions have increased from 300 mls to a possible 500 mls.It has been showery all day but the rain seems to have settled in now as dusk approaches. We shall just have to wait and see how things turn out.Update: Marcia has been upgraded to Category 4 and is expected to be Category 5 by the time it hits land....that is gusts upto 225 km. She's angry!(In other news: I went to the QEII hospital today for my blood tests ready for nest week. Later in the day I received a phone call from Respiratory Department at the P.A offering me an appointment next Monday with Dr Fanning. I told them that I had already seen him this Monday. "How weird!" said the chap, "Oh, well forget I rang then.")