Compostable Kate

Once again, I had to contend with a lead-less dog in New Farm. But even better*, this was an unattended , lead-less dog, sitting just outside Coles. My assistance dog Dexter and I had to walk past it  to get to the shop, and it wasn't until it looked around, saw Dexter, got up and approached that we realised it wasn't on a bloody lead. It had a collar, but no tags of any description. A lady passing by at the same time was equally alarmed that the dog was off lead, and free to approach my dog; she wasn't game to approach the dog itself, though, and I don't really blame her. It was a male Golden Retriever, a breed that enjoys a reputation of being gentle and friendly, but that's no guarantee that it wouldn't be aggressive.... Fortunately, Dexter is super-cool about meeting strange dogs, even ones who stand over him like this one did. Dexter always responds by trying to play, and by running round like a lunatic. Not exactly appropriate when he's wearing hi

So, I followed up with the doc about my wrists today, and I still have to just rest them. I have actually seen three doctors at my local clinic about my wrists over the past few weeks. The first one sent me for an ultrasound and suggested physio with dry needling. The second one, who is was my regular doctor until this moment, then said to stop physio and wait for a blood test. The third one, who I saw today, said that all my blood tests came back normal , and that I just have to wait until my wrists get better. When I saw my regular doctor, the one who said to stop physio, he gave me the impression – as he has on several previous occasions – that he thought I was simply an attention-seeking, time-wasting hypochondriac, and he wasn't prepared to waste any resources on treating my wrists. He can't refer me to a psychiatrist for this, as I already see one. (I have also seen shrinks in the past who have concluded that my pain isn't psychosomatic (I don't have a spec

Yesterday evening I received a cruel-to-be-kind phone call from my history lecturer, the ultimate gist of which was to say I have to stop procrastinating and get this assignment done, because she doesn't want to see me fail this semester. It was nice of her take the time, although she made it clear that she was very busy. Although I have other issues going on at the moment, such as my wrist pain, other pain, and the difficulties I find in being an external student, the overarching issue I have with assignments is procrastination, a chronic avoidance of committing my ideas to paper. I do do lots of reading: books, articles, blogs, and, in this case, watch a lot of DVDs: documentary series and educational series on Ancient Rome (the topic of my imaginary History unit). Not only am I reading about historical content, but trying to get my head around historiography, and also reading about lesson planning and pedagogical theories for use in my lesson plans. I take a lot of notes, and

In the supermarket yesterday, I encountered a little family, Mum and her little primary school kiddies doing some after-school grocery shopping. I smiled at the Mum, because she was trying to push the kiddie-sized trolley that one or other of the kids had clearly wanted to use, but then had given up on. Her gorgeous little boy, probably about 5 years old, gave a shout of delight at seeing Dexter - a common occurence - and we had this little conversation: Gorgeous Little Boy: What is her name? Me: His name is Dexter. GLB: Oh. Is she a boy or a girl? Me: He's a boy. GLB: Oh, I thought he was a girl. Me: Is that because he's got long hair? (Just a hunch!!) GLB: Yeah! (By this time GLB is patting Dexter gently on the head. When little kids pat him, Dexter always sits down and waits patiently.) Me: You know, that's called "gender stereotyping". You might learn about that when you get to high school. (His Mum laughs at this; GLB, absorbed in patting Dexter,

I'm typing this bit, because I'm currently struggling with the new Dragon dictation software I just installed, having been previously struggling with the software that came with my PC. After going through the training module, this is my first dictation: Thursday, May 16, 2013 Thursday he may he 16 but it doesn't 13 so I've just installed dragon and it seems to be repeating everything I say I say,, which is really annoying.. which is really annoying So I've just installed dragon I'm not quite sure how to stop it from repeating everything I'm not quite sure how to stop it from repeating everything because a thank things wants this is totally far this is totally flat because amazing things wants It also doesn't understand asks a That end bit was doesn't understand "fucked", which I tried very hard to train it to understand. Not that I swear a lot, but trying to use dictation software of the past coup

(Warning: contains swearing. You'll see why, I hope.) Considering that I am constantly fighting with piles of dirty dishes in my little kitchen, you'd think that the first thing I'd want my cleaner to do is wash them. And I used to. But I quickly realised that although the dishes moved from the pile, through the soapy water in the sink and to the drainer, the vast majority of them didn't end up being clean. It turned out to be a great big waste of time - and a huge disappointment - and I had to wash the stupid things myself anyway. Mine aren't as pretty, but I do have a yellow bowl. So now I do them myself, eventually. When my cleaner comes, once a fortnight, I'll sit and do my dishes while he or she is doing the housework tasks I find difficult (rather than just annoying). I have also even been known to do a sink full of dishes in between cleaning visits, often in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, or when I have other pressing things to d

Last month (December 2012), I ended up with seven smiley faces on my calendar.    Each smiley represents an effort at getting intentional exercise (as Dr Phil would say). This month is was mostly swimming, but I have also included walks with Dexter. I haven't included incidental exercise, such as the slog along the carpeted corridors at the RBWH , although sometimes I think I should; it's hard work! I started my smiley reward system in 2012, as a way of acknowledging my attempts to get healthier. I needed some kind of reward for making the effort, but it had to be something that wasn't food or money! I have a childish love of stickers, so smiley faces on the calendar (which hangs above my desk) it was. It didn't get off to a great start, as was always feeling too exhausted to possibly go swimming or - gods forbid - go to the gym. Smileys in 2012: January: 0 February: 3 March: 1 April: 1 May: 0 June: 1 July: 2 August: 1 September: 0 October: 1 Nov