Patra's Other Place

I started out with Patra's Place, primarily dedicated to my linen collection and stitching projects. But I kept getting side-tracked, so I decided to create Patra's Other Place for anything not related to embroidery topics. So you now have a choice. If you are interested in me, read this. If you only want to see my linen and stitching, visit Patra's (original) Place! (Please note that by clicking on any of the photos, they will be enlarged to fill your computer screen.)

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Location: Melbourne, Vic., Australia

I was married to Ken for 43 years, but he died in October 2022. So I am now alone with two cats, eight hens, and a few finches and parrots in one aviary.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

End of Spam, Hung Parliament, taxes.

Ha. Well it's worked. The spam comments have been popping up for moderation and I can delete them without them getting on to my blogs. Thank you Blogger.com!

Well, what a week in Australian politics. A hung parliament. As a comedian commentator remarked on Saturday night, the Australian Sex Party will be very happy. So. There is nothing anyone can do about it, so we just get on with our everyday routine.

I've been working on our tax returns, which can't be done on my computer, as the ATO (Aust.Tax office) people won't accept anything online prior to XP. I don't actually have to submit a return this year because I haven't earnt anything to pay tax on. The pension isn't taxable, and my superannuation income is exempt too, because it has already been taxed. But apparently I still have to submit a Non Lodgement Advice...is there no end to this paper warfare?
Ken has just brought the ATO website up on his computer (which uses the XP operating system) so I'll have a go at his tax now.

Friday, August 13, 2010

MSN News needs a proof reader!!

I don't buy daily newspapers, so I catch up on the news on the Net. MSN is my home page, and I read the headlines once a day. I was amused to find this error this morning. Sounds like the Nine Network are milking Mr Latham for all his worth..
Mr Latham has been commissioned by the Nine Network to present an election dairy for its 60 Minutes program.

And now for my news - an update on Ken's hiccups! Thank you Freda, for your sympathetic comments. It certainly has been a difficult fortnight, but I know you have had to deal with far worse, and I appreciate your kindness here. Ken had an acupuncture treatment yesterday, which stopped the hiccups for about two hours, and he said it made him feel so good apart from stopping the hiccups, he will be going back for regular treatments. Dr J. also prescribed another medication, which Ken took when the hiccups returned, but that didn't seem to work, as he didn't get much sleep last night. Regardless of that, he went off to work this morning, so we'll see how he goes. Dr J. wants him to have an ultra sound on his abdomen, to see if they can locate any underlying cause for these hiccups. So that is three doctors and a chiropractor he has seen so far.

My itching was stopped very quickly by an over the counter medication, so it obviously wasn't anything serious. Dr. said it could have been stress over the last few weeks, or a side effect of the antibiotics, but whatever it was, it's gone, hooray. I'm easily fixed!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Not a good week.

On top of Ken's other problems last week, he developed an attack of hiccups on Friday. Now most people would think "So what?" and if it was just an ordinary few minutes or at the most half an hour, yes - so what! But Ken is still hiccupping - six days later. We spent hours on the internet, looking up remedies, and trying just about everything, but nothing has worked. I had to go and pick him up from work at lunchtime on Tuesday, because the staff were so concerned, they wouldn't let him drive home. I took him straight to our clinic, where the doctor on duty prescribed a pill designed for multiple sclerosis victims, but which apparently has also worked as a muscle relaxant and will stop hiccups. 24 hours have gone by, with no effect. He has been to his chiropractor twice, and the treatment helped - for 20 minutes! Our last resort will be to look for somebody who does acupuncture, as we've seen cases on the net that have been successful.

While all this was happening to Ken, I had caught his cold, and have been coughing my little heart out for the last three days. Doctor diagnosed bronchitis and prescribed the usual antibiotics, which have left me with a horrid side effect - I am itching all over! Just gotta keep remembering that there are many people worse off than us. My cold and Ken's hiccups will come to an end shortly, and life will resume its usual routine. I hope. Anyone know a surefire remedy for hiccups?

Friday, August 06, 2010

Still here...

It is 1.15 am on Friday morning as I type this. I've been online since about 10 pm. Some people think I'm mad staying up this late, but I know there are others who empathise. I had a busy and stressful day today, and all I want to do at night is unwind, and I can't do that in front of the tv, or even reading a book. I can only enjoy a book when I'm relaxed, and I am not relaxed right now.
Ken caught a cold sometime last week or over the weekend, and by Tuesday night he was down and out with the non stop coughing. I phoned his work on Wednesday morning and said he wouldn't be in for the rest of the week. He stayed in bed on Wednesday and Thursday, and I called his doctor to let him know. Dr Smith has told me to call him immediately Ken gets a cold, as he can't risk it turning to bronchitis because of Ken's damaged lungs. So Dr S. turned up yesterday around midday and checked Ken over. He said to stay warm and rest until next week, and start a course of antibiotics.

I did my usual run of shopping and messages in the morning, and looked forward to relaxing with some stitching that afternoon. But after Dr S. left, I had to go and collect the antibiotics script, as well as a medical certificate, so back in the car and down to the shops. By the time I got back, I had to start thinking about dinner.
After washing dinner dishes I made a few phone calls, then instead of finally settling down to relax, Ken needed some TLC because the antibiotic tablet had upset his stomach. A glass of Coke sorted that out, and by then I decided I may as well just go online and surf blogs for a few hours!

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Questionaire for all Australians.

I found a questionaire on somebody's blog and thought it looked like fun. It consists of 100 questions about your life experiences as an Aussie. It took me a while to do, so I set up a separate blog for it. If you want to have a look, it is here. Please feel free to copy it and do your own answers (on your own blog, not mine!)

Monday, August 02, 2010

Minor annoyances on the Internet.

Before I vent my spleen on certain people who create problems online, I want to thank those who commented on my previous post about our Grandfather clock. Any other clock wouldn't have caused the same interest, I'm sure!


I've been getting some moron leaving nameless comments on my blogs. Nothing comes up except a row of boxes for the name, and rows of dots for the comment. I recently read a warning somewhere about opening those odd comments, as they can lead to porn sites or something. So I just click on the rubbish bin icon and get rid of them, but it is such a blasted nuisance. I suppose I can set my blog up to moderate all comments, but that is a nuisance in itself, so I won't go that far unless this miserable fool starts hammering my blogs with his/her garbage.


My next issue is with people who send bulk emails. Ten or more emails all at once, jokes, photos, online games, and so on. I had to email two of my cyberspace friends tonight to beg them to stop doing this. My poor old PC is slow enough now without the added stress of megabytes of graphics that I didn't ask for and don't want!


Finally, Facebook. A few of my friends have 'invited' me to join Facebook so I can be a 'friend' on theirs. Well, if you aren't happy with my friendship as it is, I'm sorry, because that is all I am prepared to offer! Apart from that, things like this item on tonight's news REALLY puts me off Facebook:
Gympie shop assistant was charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence after she posted hateful comments and inappropriate photographs on a Facebook tribute page devoted to Justine Jones, who was murdered last month.
She used a fake name to post offensive pictures, including a headless corpse and vagina, onto the page.
Magistrate Maxine Baldwin described her actions as "appalling, incomprehensible and absolutely sickening."
She also warned other online trolls that the "heavy hand of the law will come down on you" if inappropriate material is posted on social networking sites.

Such charming people we have in the world around us...

adopt your own virtual pet!