Just a typical day.

The phone rang just before 8.00 am. It was a 'Joan' asking 'could she come now for Dulcie's shower?'I said that Dulcie wasn't up yet."I'll come later, when does she normally have her shower?""Between 9 and 11," I said.Dulcie was up by 9.15, and was breakfasted and had had all her medication by 9.30.I was pacing about waiting for my Blue Care phone call which finally came just after 10.It was Leo that rang and I was on speaker phone because Bronwyn was there too.....I could hear them but also myself talking to them."Do you mind if we record this because we will need to write a report and it will be easier for us to write down what you say."Crikey! What have I got myself into, I thought.He switched on the recorder and introduced himself then Bronwyn chipped in and I was tempted to say "And I am Genghis Khan from The Brothers of Perpetual Bewilderment," but I didn't.He introduced me.I had to explain again what had happened and I did at length again....not adding anything new, just that Dulcie had mentioned Elaine had been heavy handed on a few occasions but that we did not feel it was deliberate but more an inability, on her part, to be gentle."And we have heard there were bruises that had not previously been noticed before the incident?""Where did you hear that? I never said that. I said that Dulcie bruises very easily but I have never once mentioned any new bruising following Elaine's visits," I said, taken aback.Bronwyn jumped in."We thought there was some new bruising.""I never said there was any bruising from the showering, any bruises are usually from Dulcie banging her legs on her walker and it does not take much for her to bruise. When I first phoned about this I was not making a formal complaint and I never meant for this to 'mushroom' as it has. I don't want Elaine to lose her job or for her to be reprimanded I just think that she perhaps needs more training and some further supervision.""There will be further training given," said Leo.Bronwyn spoke, " and as I said in your phone call to me, you will not see Elaine again and we are very sorry for what has happened. How is Dulcie now?""She is fine," I said, " Please don't think it has been traumatic for her, it hasn't been. Dulcie is fine.""You can call me any time if there is a problem, Nick" said Bronwyn bending over backwards."And I hope this has not put you off calling us again if there are any further issues," said Leo."Not at all," I said, "If there is anything that I feel is not right I will be calling again."They thanked me for my help in the matter.I hope that is the end of it...........but I have thought that a few times this week.Just after 11.00 Joan arrived. It turned out she was a registered nurse and was here to do the three month review (that was about 6 months late........funny that!).She asked us some questions and filled in some paper work and then off she and Dulcie went for the shower.I was washing some pots at the sink when I heard a voice,"Hello? Is anybody there?"It was Janina at the door."Oh," I said surprised, "there is already a nurse here giving Dulcie her shower.""Oh, they never let me know," said Janina, "I better go in."It was a Blue Care overdose.Joan was pleased with how everything had gone and recommended 'no change' to Dulcie's care plan."We will be back in three months for another review."I wasn't going to hold my breath.After lunch Dulcie and I had a trip out.My dental appointment is tomorrow and the temporary 'Pensioner's Concession Card' that they gave me ran out today. I was supposed to get the real card through the post in the last fortnight but it has not arrived......I was not surprised after the address mix up on my last visit to Centrelink.So.....Dulcie and I went to Inala."I'll wait here in the car," she said as we pulled up outside the office."Well, no, you will have to come with me," I said, " because it can take quite a while to be seen in here and I don't want to leave you here in the car on a hot day."I wheeled her in and we got in the queue."That's a nice plant" said Dulcie."I don't think it is real" I said, "I bet it is plastic."I checked my pockets for my wallet that held the expired temporary card and it was not there. I wheeled Dulcie out of the queue and parked her near the red chairs saying,"I just have to nip back to the car for my wallet, just wait here a moment.""Yes, dear,"I ran back to the car, grabbed my wallet, ran back and got us back in the queue, which had doubled in size in the meantime.Eventually we got to the front of the queue and I explained the situation and we were told to 'take a seat.'"It shouldn't be long," said the woman.She was right."Nicholas Allen?"It was the woman I had seen a fortnight ago who had tried to change the address and been annoyed when I walked between the desks when I was not supposed to."Remember me?" I asked."I do!" She said. "It hasn't come?""No," I said.She seemed to have more of an idea this time and said "let's put Celtis St as your temporary address and your postal address and we'll try again. I'll print you out another temporary card.""Great," I said."Now, I wonder which printer I sent it to?" She said. She wandered off in search of the printer and then came back empty handed and wandered off a different way and found it.She stamped it and handed it to me."If it doesn't come again, we'll have to make some phone calls to find out what is going on."I collected Dulcie and we headed out, pausing by the 'nice' plant to have a closer look at it.It was plastic.

Nathan, Olwyn and Pam.

.....Three cyclones on the heels of Marcia.Nathan has dumped lots of rain upon Northern Queensland while Olywn has buffeted the west coast......and Category 5 Pam has devastated Vanuatu:

• Vanuatu is part of a group of islands located in the South Pacific Ocean
• It is about 1,090 miles east of northern Australia
• It has a population of around 267,000 people
• Around 47,000 people live in the capital Port Vila
• Vanuatu's total area is roughly 12,274 sq km
• Official languages are Bislama, French and English

(ITV News)How scary Mother Nature can be!

Two Phone Calls.

We went for a trip out today.The first phone call came half way through the Clem Seven tunnel. I did not catch the fellows name but he was from Blue Care.Bronwyn had spoken to him and had explained the situation but he needed to speak to me about the 'Elaine Affair.'"Can we do it over the phone?" I asked.We could. He is going to ring me back on Monday morning at 10.00.......this is not going away is it?We picked up Con from her house and drove over to the D'Aguilar National Park and had lunch at Bell Bird Grove Picnic Area.We were half way through a difficult game of Canasta (because we had not played it for so long and had to practically relearn it) when the second phone call came."Hello, Nick?""Yes?""How are you today?""Good thanks.""That's good....I wonder if you have a few minutes to discuss something with me?""Not really. I am in the middle of a game of cards.....what is it about?""Funeral Insurance.""I'm not interested," I said, hanging up.Heck! What have they heard? Has Elaine taken a 'hit' out on me or has he been looking at my medical records?

'Following procedures!'

So......after whinging about Elaine yesterday, I discovered two missed calls on my phone, in the afternoon, and a message from a Bronwyn.I rang Bronwyn back."Thank you," she said, " I wanted to follow up your phone call from this morning and wondered if you would be willing for us to take a statement." Bronwyn was high up in Blue Care.I reiterated that I did not think that Elaine could help herself and that it was just in her nature, (as a buffalo wrestler) and that she was not really a delicate person. I said that in no way had I intended for Elaine to get into trouble and certainly did not want her to find out that this had all come from us.......I was having visions of waking in the night with Elaine standing over me saying......."There's room in my husband's grave for you!"Bronwyn understood but said that they had procedures that needed to be followed under such circumstances. She was concerned that if Elaine was being heavy handed with Dulcie it was probably the case with other clients too.....who have yet not said anything."Can we do the statement over the phone?" I asked."We prefer to do it face to face," she said.I explained that I did not think Dulcie would be comfortable with that but that we would all discuss it when Will got home from work and that I would ring her in the morning.We did chat and I was right. Dulcie just wanted to let it lie now. I rang Bronwyn back this morning and explained our decision. I said I was sorry that we could not help them further. I said that it had not been my intention to set all this in motion and that I was just, in my role of 'Carer', looking out for the person I was caring for and I did not wish to cause Elaine or Blue Care any trouble. Bronwyn understood and was very apologetic for the whole thing and said they would be ensuring that it did not happen again but did say that we would not see Elaine again.It is all for the good....and hopefully it has helped others as well but I hope that it does not mean that Elaine is disciplined or let go.......but hopefully that she gets some further training and close monitoring......after all, she has a husband to bury and two 'Westie' possum killers to provide for.

'Setting the dog amongst the possums!'

We were still getting breakfast ready when there was a tap at the door this morning.I opened it to find Elaine on the other side of the screen door.Like waking to a cloudy day, it was a bit of a downer.Every time I see her I wonder if she has buried her husband yet...but daren't ask.She came in and sat down at the table asking how our trip away had gone.She had brought in the local free paper that she found lying on the drive where it had landed after being flung from a car.Dulcie was looking at it as she ate her breakfast.'How my dog saved a possum' was an article on the front page which I read out.Elaine jumped in. "My dog killed one! I came down one morning and there it were, stiff as a poker, with its legs in the air on the kitchen floor. My auntie who were visiting said 'is it a toy?' I said 'no, it's bloody real!"Dulcie had finished her breakfast."Are you ready for your shower?" Asked Elaine."No, I'll just finish my cup of tea," and she did."I didn't wake up until 8.00" said Elaine, "I thought, 'S?$%! I have to be at work by 8.30!'"It's marvellous how dedicated and professional Elaine is in her work.When the shower was over Dulcie came out shaking her head."She's as rough as guts" she hissed.Elaine left. Dulcie made an expressive hand gesture as she disappeared out of the door."She wouldn't feel herself, she's that fat! She's just rough. She grabs you!"I went downstairs and rang Blue Care and got through to Lynn.I explained who I was and said it was a bit of a delicate matter. She put me through to Robyn.Robyn sounded World weary, as if I was the 99 th person to make a complaint that day."We've just had Elaine," I said, " for Dulcie's shower and a few times Dulcie has said that she is too rough. I have asked Elaine to be gentle with her before but again today Dulcie said she was very rough. Dulcie is 92 and bruises very easily.  I don't think Elaine can be as delicate as the job requires.""Right, I'm sorry," said Robyn, " I will see to it that we send someone else next time."Little did I know that I would be setting 'the dog amongst the possums!'