Stop Breathing On Me

I've ALMOST missed every single flu shot clinic for the year. As a hospital employee, working around patients and all that .... stuff ... in the ER, I can choose not to have a shot, but if I choose not to have the shot and GET THE FLU - they can and will send me home without pay for the entire flu season.

And there seems to be quite a few interesting sounding ones covered this year...."this year's flu shot will protect you against Influenza A/New Caledonia, Influenza A/New York and Influenza B/Jiangsu and related strains, which are expected to circulate in North America between October 2005 and April 2006. The A/New York component of this year's vaccine should provide good protection against the California flu, a strain that emerged last year and is expected to continue circulating this year in British Columbia."

Tempting. Except for three things.

I can already NOT come to work if I don't want to - I'm casual.

...I've got a honking big debt load. That's even honking-er after a month with no pay gallivanting around the down under. And yanno, I have LONG-TERM PLANS (that phrase still gives me the willies), so that debt must be made to be gone as fast as my little pieces of money can make it go.

...It's been raining solid for at least a week (actually I went back as far as October 15th and there's only been 2 out of the 20 days where it HASN'T rained) and isn't forecast to stop raining (even for a day) until November 17th. There's really no point in going outside - it's cold and soggy and foggy and drippy - work is just the best option.

Interim Bits

Today is seeing the return of "My Eyes" - books I am currently reading - for those of you interested in that sort of thing (a couple of Aussie authors in there).

Also over the next month as I transition back to our regular programming (subscribers to "getsoutmore" will not have to update links as I'll redirect everything once again), the vault will be added to, as well as more regular "words".

Also, expect some serious now site design. My hosting site has been hard-pressed to support 3 column layouts but I know it can be done so I'm trying for a return to the cleaner lines of RG (for those of you who've been with me that long).

I slept all day. So, new pictures - tomorrow, after groceries. Working the last two days has not eased my return to the real world in the slightest.

Just so you know. Although I doubt anyone's feeling much sympathy. ha!

Here Birdy Birdy

One of the other weird things about being in Australia (besides there being a bloddy ton of birds I've only ever seen in pet stores) is that the seagulls are little and the crows are huge.

So, James, here's your souvenir - not the biggest one I saw but quite a healthy specimen nevertheless.

This picture was taken as I was getting in my car outside Ngili Cave. He was eyeing me up and I figured I'd shoot and scoot before he came at me, plucked out my eyes and lifted my entrails to the sky, cawing maniacally. brrrr.

One Reason I Ignore the News

(emphasis added is mine)

Imagine Abigayle Egeland-Northwood's surprise to find out that she owes the Canada Revenue Agency $13,000.

She's never had a job, doesn't have a social insurance number and spends most of her free time playing with her five cats and two dogs. Oh yes, and she's 12 years old.

"I don't think it's fair because I didn't do anything wrong. I don't work and I don't drive. I'm just a kid," the girl said in an interview Friday.

Her parents feel she's being unfairly targeted because of her father's dispute with the Canada Revenue Agency. Nelson Northwood maintains that Parliament has not passed a law requiring Canadian citizens to pay income tax, an argument he lost in court two years ago. He was ordered to turn over records so the Canada Revenue Agency could collect some $700,000 they say is owed.

Last week, the agency went to court again and received an order allowing a bailiff to seize the personal property of the Grade 7 student, up to a value of $13,000.

So on Wednesday, Abbey arrived home to find bailiffs seizing the 1998 Jeep that her mother Karen Egeland transferred to her name in the spring of 2005.

The full story is here.

And I'm sorry, KIDDO, but most of us don't OWN a car at 12. Then again, most of us actually pay our taxes and don't try to avoid them by pulling fuckwitted things like your mothers' OH-SO-SUBTLE attempt at doing so. Not to mention the old "no one ever said I had to pay taxes" defense.

Most of us, actually, find legal and (kind of) moral ways to work around the government that, incidentally, provides most of the reasons you live in one of the best countries in the world.

Maybe, just maybe, your parents should just gracefully admit they lost their little ploy, pay their taxes and move you --- somewhere else --- so the rest of us don't have to be subjected to such idiots on the front page cause I'd personally rather not have any more of MY tax dollars wasted / abused by you and your little family.

Boy, I can't wait till you grow up and believe you don't have to pay taxes either.

I do have a question though - I just can't quite figure out what they were going for by being in the paper - sympathy?

ha

ha ha

You know, I'm pretty sure Cabot needs a Subaru. Don't you agree? He's got thumbs. Even, probably - more common sense.

(See? See what the news does to me? Makes me snarly and mean.)

Spider B(a)it. The Natives Have Welcomed Me Home

In my efforts to live in peace with our hairy freaky I'm-convinced-they're-all-killers little friends and get over my irrational fears of their big fangs and millions of shiny eyes, I haven't been clearing them out of the 'house' for quite a while.

Now, I know that living in a rainforest in dwellings with tiny spaces where bugs can get in means that one can expect they try to come in out of the rain - especially when it's been raining every day for weeks and there's no one really home but a wimpy cat - BUT there is plenty of room to co-exist in harmony without encroaching on my space.

I make an effort in this direction on their little behalf, I do. I duck around the webs. I don't step on any. I no longer (for instance) own a waterbed with niiiice waaaaaarm water since last time I did that, I had colonies of sugar ants breeding in my bed, three feet from my head.

And it took me months to figure out where they were coming from.

(imagine THAT if you happen to have an ant phobia)

I know there are countless common misconceptions about our many-legged (quote/unquote) friends (and no one who's afraid of spiders CARES that the huntsman can't bite, Sal, you silly man) but they are all completely irrational. So the internet tells me....

Spiders do not attack in herds.
Spiders do not lay in wait and attack people.
Spiders do not lift the covers at night and crawl into bed to bite people as they are sleeping.
Some spiders can jump but they are not intentionally jumping at humans to attack them.
A spider generally bites a human because it was scared and bites to defend itself.

LIES! ALL LIES!! Look at this....

That, folks, is my ARM. MY.ARM. Last night. 5 nights after I slept in my own bed again and these babies all appeared (as if by magic) over a large portion of my body.

If you can stop yourself from throwing your hands over your eyes in horror, you can probably count nine (one of them is a freckle) on this arm (including the one peeping out from under my verra cool vintage Pink Floyd sweatshirt from the 80's). Consider, as well, that there are roughly 25 - 30 more spaced out over my entire body. Back, legs, other arm, shoulders, THROAT! THERE'S ONE RIGHT BESIDE MY JUGULAR!

They don't attack in herds! BAH, I say!

Considering they don't have much venom, how many did it take to bite me almost 40 times and cause a poison reaction? Hm?

They do not lift the covers! HA! They're in a herd! Of course they lifted the covers! They have the strength of the herd!

Now, I have to admit I didn't automatically assume they were spider bites. I figured Cabot got fleas while I was gone, even though I don't react to flea bites and they don't normally bite me (must be all the tequila in my blood) so Cabot is now unhappily twisted up in a 5-in-1 cat collar.

Except, today, someone at work saw the blisters that were starting to pop and was insisting I should go to a clinic. So I figured I should do a little research because, honestly, I don't want to spend 8 hours in a medical clinic for them to say "Erm, they're mosquito / flea / bedbug bites, lady. Are you a sissy or WHAT?"

Ergo, I have learned about the hobo / aggressive house spider whose home and native land happens to be the same as mine.

The aggressive house spider tends to climb downward. It is usually found on ground or basement levels, often entering through windows. Vacuuming lower levels can eliminate nests, but if this is done the bag should be disposed of so spiders cannot escape. Worn or damaged window and door seals, where spiders can enter, should be repaired.

Check.

Though the literature suggests that spider bites are of minimal medical importance, the bite of the aggressive house spider may require prolonged treatment and leave a scar, says Robert Flaherty, a Bozeman physician.

The aggressive house spider's (or hobo spider) bite initially produces a slight prickling sensation. A small insensitive hard area appears within 30 minutes, surrounded by an expanding reddened area of two to six inches in diameter. Between 15 and 35 hours after the bite, the area blisters. About 24 hours later, the blisters break and the wound oozes. It scabs over, but tissues beneath the scab continue to die. Surgical repair is sometimes needed. The most common symptom in addition to the bite is a migraine headache. The fully developed lesion can vary from one-half to one-inch or more in diameter and may take several months to heal.

Aggressive house spider bites generally require only local wound cleaning, topical antibiotics and tetanus prophylaxis. Skin grafting is rarely necessary.

hmm, that's exactly what they've done. But....What? Skin grafting? Months to heal? What the hell?

The aggressive house spider is a common biter. It is easily provoked and will be aggressive when crowded. This may be due to the fact that its web is not sticky, so it must attack the entangled prey or lose it. Do not take aspirin for a hobo bite. The venom is injected with a spreading agent that will travel further in thin blood.

Easily provoked? I WAS SLEEPING. I was jet-lag sleeping, not moving at all! Being very friendly and non-threatening.

Every single website indicates that chemical control is nigh on impossible but they do have some helpful advice about the hobo spider's natural enemies....

The giant spider population is increasing, while the hobo spider is decreasing in frequency of occurrence. As a result, the number of bites in the household is decreasing. The giant spider is a fierce competitor of the hobo spider and will keep hobo’s out of its territory. In addition, the giant spider is relatively harmless and bites are rare. This is why hobo’s are not a problem in Europe, they are naturally controlled. Soon, we will expect to see the same results here. Kudos to you if you’re able to tolerate giant house spiders in your home; aside from their shocking nature, they are the good guys in this case. Have you hugged your Giant House Spider today?

I seriously can't believe that I survived all the deadly animals known to man in Australia (in cases where I even went looking for them) only to be brought low by something I've lived with all my life.

Yet have never seen.

And that to control them I have to go out and find EVEN BIGGER ONES to help me.

I mean, for god's sake, they've even named it using AGGRESSIVE in it's title. That's gotta be a really bad sign. It would be like.....oh, I can't even think of a good metaphor, I'm so flustered.

Oy vey. I think I have a migraine.