Oh dear...

For years I have been buying a Tattslotto ticket for the Saturday night draw. Very rarely do I splurge on any of the other weekly Lotto or Powerball games. I figure $5 a week is enough to waste on gambling! Some people spend a lot more - I've been behind somebody in a queue, and seen them hand over $100 or more, and walk away with a swag of tickets. I wonder if they ever win enough to recoup what they've spent? I also wonder if the small spender like me ever gets lucky enough to scoop a million or so?

This week I feel like putting every last cent we have on Tattslotto, and that wouldn't amount to much after this past week. Why is it that when you think (a) things can't get any worse, or (b) things are starting to get better - they do get worse, and they don't get better! Our hot water service died this week. I discovered water running down the side of the tank and yelled out to Ken to take a look. He looked, and said "Oh, no..." This was at 10 pm on Monday night. I found a plumber who advertised himself as on call 24 hours, and sure enough, he answered his mobile phone. I told him about our HWS and he said "It will be okay overnight, and I'll be there at 8.30 am." He arrived on time, and confirmed Ken's diagnosis that the HWS was stuffed. It was 16 years old, and he said we'd done well, as it was way past its use-by date of 12 years. He organised a new one to be delivered, and while we waited, he disconnected the old one, heaved it on the back of his truck to be taken to a recycle centre. By the time he'd done that, the new one had arrived, and he spent the next hour installing it, filling it up with water, and arranging for an electrician to come later and do his bit. We had hot water by 6 pm that night. For a total cost of $1750 - which is added to our home loan account.

The next day I collected my mail at the post office and among the half dozen letters was one of those plain window faced envelopes from a government department. Yup. Speeding fine. $234 and 3 demerit points. Apparently last December I'd been travelling at 73 kph in a 60 kph zone. Shit. When Ken heard how much the HWS cost, he wondered if he should delay putting new tyres on his Honda, as the old ones are 10 years old, and a new pair will cost $400. I said don't worry about the cost, you can't skimp on safety. $2384 gone in one week. Some people these days earn that much in a week. For us, it is more than we make in a month! Oh well. We battle on regardless and rewardless, but I do hope that just once, this week - we might be lucky in Tattslotto.