Short Break from Spinning my Wheels.

Just so you all get a break from my Life Story (Spinning my Wheels), I thought I'd write something different tonight. Hope you aren't all in suspense for the next episode. (Please, if you visit, write me a comment so I know you've been). Well, spent a few adventure filled days. Well, not high adventure, just low key normal everyday adventure. I went with my mother to a Skin Cancer clinic on Tuesday. Things I thought were freckles, I was told were moles. (Remember that scene from Austin Powers - Gold Member. Moley moley moley moley ... um yeah!) Well, apparently I am a pretty moley moley moley person. None on my face thank goodness. I did discover something worth while though. Years ago, I had a growth on my aorta. Two years later Doctors gave me the all clear (Benign). Approximately, in the same place on the surface of my chest, were two red dots. Previously I had asked Doctors about them. The Doctors had just told me not to worry, they were nothing. This Doctor told me what they were (Scientific name and everything ... wish she had of written it down for me). Apparently, they're benign cancer too. Probably connected to the one on my aorta. (Seems as they're in the same place). So all this time, I've had CANCER! (Okay, nothing serious. But a conversation starter to bring up at parties!) lol Main reason I went, was to make sure my mother was Okay. She was afraid of some grey moles she'd grown on her back. The Doctor told her that by her age (almost 60 ... give her a month and a bit), most people have two of what she had. Apparently they can just be scrapped off. No problem. My mother asked if I would do it. Being the squeamish person I am, I went, "Arrrrghhhhh!" Luckily my youngest brother Jeffrey works in insurance doing health and workers compensation claims, and he sees yucky medical stuff all the time. So he agreed to get the pumice and help scrap these 'barnacles' off my mother. My mother had another major worry too. The one I wrote about the other day. She needed to go in to have her breasts checked for cancer. They didn't know how long she was going to be. I drove her in to the hospital in the city, and dropped her off. I had between an hour to four hours to kill (according to the Nurse who booked my mother). Ended up being five and a half hours. In the meantime I had to amuse myself in and around Perth. So, first up, I drove to Osborne Park and picked up some RTV (Rubber for making molds) and some plastic resin. Both for my youngest brother and our model making enterprise. We're making little armies to go with our DBM (wargaming miniatures) rules. Which reminds me, I have to play some more DBA on-line when I get the chance. After that, I drove around Kings Park for a little. Stopped, bought a coke ($3.50! What a RIP-OFF. Haven't been ripped off so badly since I bought a Sprite for $6 in Rome!) Drove around some more. I parked in a nearby suburb and walked into the City. I found a two hour parking space. First up, I dropped into the Fender guitar Retailer. I had sent them an e-mail asking for a Strat five way pickup selector switch (toggle switch to some of us). They hadn't replied, so I decided to go in there myself and see if they had any. They didn't, but they did tell me where to get one, and the price ($30). Still ahven't been there, because it's in Claremont. I have no idea where that is. I then spent about an hour wandering around. Went to the Warhammer store, and every book store I could find (Angus and Robertsons, Boffins, Perth Language Book Store, Elizabeth's second hand etc etc etc). Yes, I LIKE books. Saya suka buku. Saya suka membaca (Chewbacca's brother). lol Well, after visiting a LOT of stores, and walking around in the heat (some of the stores had poor airconditioning), I headed back to my car. By now, it was hot enough to cook a cake in it. Pity I had no cake mix with me. lol Well, drove back to Kings park, and found a shadey spot to park near the DNA Tower. Felt weird with the guy and girl in the car next to me. They were just chatting, and stuff. Still, I didn't like sitting in my car while they were just sitting in theres. So I climbed the tower. About four tourists (two irish and two scandinavians) climbed the tower and then left. Felt silly at the top of the tower though, so I went back to the car. Drove to another part of the park where they had nice lake (Western Power Park) and sat in car for a ten minutes. (Actually, there was lot of driving around the park that day!) Got my text book out and decided it was about time to do some study for my CCNA. Sat in a nice shady area in the Vietnam War Memorial Pavilion and started to look through the book. Decided browsing the pages wasn't real study. Decided to actually READ the book. (Always helps) Just as I start to read, the phone rings. It was five and a half hours since I dropped my mother off, and FINALLY she is ready to come home. Woo Hoo. So I went back to the hospital, and picked her up. She was really excited. Apparently her breasts have hundreds of cysts, but none which will kill her. More than the average number of cysts for someone her age, but nothing otherwise out of the ordinairy. So she has been happy ever since. The reason it took longer than we were told, was there were more ladies booked in than normal. Apparently my mother was excited about the ladies she met too. They all had a Malaysian connection in some way. Some because their fathers had been in Prisoner of war camps there during the war. (Well, in Changi for some ... which is Singapore). Some others had sons or daughters there, or had lived there, etc. But everyone had more than just a holiday there. Started to teach my mother Italian tonight. Um ... she is really annoying to teach. It doesn't help when my brother keeps interupting to tell her to do the wrong thing too. So her pronounciation was really bad. She says "Possible" like it is in English rather than the way the Italians say it. REALLY annoying. I got tired of telling her how to do it ... but probably only because my brother would interupt and say it like the French say it! Darn! In then end, I cooked dinner, and let my mother and brother listen to the Italian CD. (Michel Thomas Italian Course).http://www.michelthomas.com/ I also helped my mother buy a mobile phone on Tuesday. She tested it at 6AM Wedneaday by phoning my mobile. I usually go to bed between 2 and 4 AM. I think I had an early night, 1AM. Was not a happy little camper when she phoned. I decided not to go to bed because I was driving her into the hospital that day. At least she knew I was not going to sleep in! Also, it was my pleasure to listen to Gene Simmons reading his book, "Kiss and Makeup" (Yes, I got a copy on CD from the Library). So much quicker to listen to a book than for me to read. Which is funny, as they read it nice and slow, yet if I was to read a book, it takes me ages. Maybe because I am so easily distracted when I read too. I got to listen to the Bee Gee's "Spicks and Specks" album. This is like there second album (back in the Sixties). I always liked the song "Spicks and Specks" so was happy to find the library had the CD. I think it was a great CD for its day. Might need some grungy guitars to make it now though. Oh well, we are also returning to teaching my mother French on Tuesday nights. We decided today, we'd do Indonesian on the weekends. My mother is getting quite good at it, because she learns it from her "Eurotalk" language CD on the computer. http://www.eurotalk.com I'll have to check to see if I have both those links bookmarked. lol Oh well, tomorrow, hopefully more of my life story in "Spinning My Wheels - Part Nine" Just in case none of you have visited my website and want to know about my art etc here it is: http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~dsteven3/