Badger Galore
Staying ‘Up Over’ for a while.
The Time Traveller.
So... today I became a time traveller due to a vaccination.
No, it is not a weird side effect of having Covid jabs for those of you who leap onto those ridiculous conspiracy theories. I had to travel to a different time zone to get my booster jab.
Since the Queensland border opened on the 17th December last year the number of Covid cases in our state has shot up, despite the fact that the only people supposedly able to cross the border were those who had been double vaccinated and who had had a recent negative test. Today there were over 20,000 new cases...that the authorities know about.
Earlier last week I tried to book my booster jab in town. I want to get the Moderna jab but I was told, at the only place in town that is doing those jabs, that all available appointments were booked up for January and they were not going to book for February until the end of this month. Marvellous!
A few days later, out of the blue I discovered a pharmacy in Tenterfield, in New South Wales, had a free appointment available today so I booked it. I was half expecting to get a phone call in the meantime saying there had been some mistake and the appointment would be cancelled but no such call came.
They are an hour ahead in New South Wales due to Daylight Saving Time which is not followed here in Queensland. So this morning I set off at 7.30 am Qld time and arrived in Tenterfield, 35 minutes later, at 9.05 am. I had my jab at 9.45 am but had to hang around for 15 minutes in case my arm dropped off then I set off home at 10.00 am and arrived back at Frogknot at 9.40 am, a whole 5 minutes before my original appointment time! Magic!
So far I have had no side effects from the time travel or the vaccination.
The Very Huge Caterpillar
It is the caterpillar of the Batwing Moth.
And Breathe...
So...in the world of Covid madness I can just look out of the window and know baby possum is sleeping in the box on the tree outside. I can see two teen walleroos play fighting on the grass in front of Frogknot and the two Frogmouths are back roosting in the tree next to Blue Moon. I love my neighbours and it does your heart good to know that they are there.
Operation update.
So...I had a phone call today from the Hospital in Toowoomba where I will be having my gallbladder operation. I was told that a lot of surgeries are being cancelled at the moment. I wasn't told why but I suspect it is due to the growing number of Covid cases here in Queensland. There were 5,699 new cases reported today with just over 100 people in hospital and 11 in ICU. I have been expecting this after the borders between the states were opened just before Christmas and the numbers are now almost doubling everyday, so it was no surprise to me.
What was surprising, however, is that I was told that the doctor, having reviewed his cases was happy to do mine privately.
"Er,...what does than mean?" I asked, "does that mean I have to pay for it?"
It seems the operation will be done in a private hospital and I don't really understand why but it seems I don't have to pay anything. I was told all costs will be covered by Queensland Health.
So it seems I might not have to wait too long after all. I wasn't given a date but hopefully I will hear something soon.