Friday, January 29th

I had to pop in to the hospital today to get some blood tests in preparation for next week's op.   My throat was still a little scratchy so, being a good and thoughtful citizen, I asked the woman behind the desk for a mask.  She drew back and went into panic mode. "You shouldn 't be in the hospital if you have a sore throat," she said. " I'll have to tell the nurse and he might not do the test."

I retreated, sheepishly, to my seat until the nurse called me in.  She was very blase and told me the admin staff often over-reacted like that.  She didn't wear any PPE, not even a mask, so she clearly wasn't worried.  Marilyn was bemused by the statement, you shouldn 't be in the hospital if you have a sore throat.  Surely, there would be no better place.  Anyway, I know I am covid-free, so there wouldn't have been a problem.

Thursday, 28th January, 2021

Jamie had a bit of a sore-throat and his company told him he needed to have a Covid test. Because Marilyn and I had been with him for the weekend, and I had a bit of a cough, we decided we should be tested too.  There's a mobile station on the way in to town so we drove in.  The place was deserted, with half a dozen health professionals  standing around trying to look busy.  It says something about how lucky we have been in Tassie not to have the problems of other places.  The nurses said they had about 60 people in during that day, nothing like the crowds that other places have seen.

We had our swabs and the results came back this afternoon: both negative.  Jamie was negative too.

I've had several phone calls today from various people at the Launceston Hospital, collecting details and giving me preliminary information about my forthcoming trip to have an operation.  During my last colonoscopy, they noticed an anomaly and I'm going in to have it remedied.  Today, I had the Admissions Secretary, the surgeon, the Pharmacist, the Anaesthetist, and the Physiotherapist, all ticking off their various lists.  Tomorrow, I go in for blood tests, and to collect the necessary pre-op mixture, and I'm due to check in for the op at 7am on the 8th, two days before my birthday.  Probably not my preferred way to spend that week.

Monday, 25th January, 2021

 Monday, January 25th

It's Australia Day tomorrow and we find ourselves in Hobart with Jamie and Nera.  They invited us to join them on this excursion while Jamie tried his new car: a Nissan Murano AWD, not unlike the Ford Territory I used to pull our van.

We're staying in Cedar Cottage, a very nice little place in Blackman's Bay and spent today on Bruny Island.  The last time we were here was Easter, 2011and nothing much has changed.  The car ferry has been updated but the roads are still third -world.  Still, it was a great day and made me think of a book I read recently.  It's called Bruny and is by Heather Rose, a local author.

It's a good read about a plan to build a bridge to Bruny using Chinese money.  There's a twist, of course and some locals turn the tide on the  baddies and win the day.  I don't know why Bruny Island is so popular with tourists.  There are very few places to stay and to eat but there were 100 cars lined up to get  the ferry this morning and that 's not unusual. Maybe it 's the mystique of the lonely island that draws people in.

Just after we left Bruny back in 2011 we signed the papers to buy the property at Dilston.  Well, that chapter's closed and we have all moved on.