In the heat of the moment

Yesterday was one of those days you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy.

Started out alright, quite good actually. One of the mothers from school had her birthday so we went over for coffee and cake. As she is married to a dutch man, the coffee was excellent. I am fussy when it comes to coffee. The cake, a lovely blueberry cheesecake was delicious.

Gabi dropped me home at around 11.45am and she set off for a massage appointment. A present from a friend for her birthday last month. I went down the shed and turned the computer on.

It was about then i started to feel light headed. Weird, sort of spaced out feeling. I was unable to concentrate on the screen, I couldn't hold what I was seeing in my minds eye. I thought I was coming down with the flu and shut down my computer and headed for the house. I lay down in the downstairs room and though I couldn't sleep, all that good coffee me thinks, I was able to just rest. Focusing on the inside of my eyelids was something I could do.

Gabi rang at one and wanted to know if I wanted to do lunch at this lovely little vego place called Colonial that we have found. I told her I was laying down and not feeling too terrific and so she came home.

With no apparent signs of the flu I was now getting worried that I might have dengue fever. A dreaded disease caused by the bite of a smaller variety of mosquito that feeds during the day. There is only 'supportive treatment' available. I drank two liters of Guava Juice, better than water, to maintain a high hydration level. If the platelet in the blood drop too low they will fly you out to Singapore or somewhere to give you a transfusion. This is in extreme cases. People are also known to have died from dengue shock syndrome. All in all, not a good look!

So I am a little worried. Gabi says she will go get the boys and then come back and take me to BIMC. It is a private hospital here in Bali to which we are members. We can go and receive free consultations and just pay for the drugs. Very western, lots of modern gear etc etc..

So by 3.30pm we do get to the doctor and I am feeling more lethargic by now, they take our details and I am taken for a prelim examination by a nurse who registers my vitals and blood pressure. All of which were good I might add.

Back out to the waiting room we sit and are soon ushered into an office with not one but two doctors, I think one was doing his prac here. We run through a verbal and physical examination and the doctor as well has an idea that it could be dengue as all other areas are clean. They are going to take some blood and check. With that done I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and have him look at the sea ulcer on my right big toe which had begun to look a little festered of late.

It is on the top of the knuckle of the big toe and gets bumped almost every time I take off on a wave. He prescribes some cream for it.

We go outside to wait again.

They come back and tell me that the blood they took was 'lazy' seems that the needle was too thin and didn't give them some of the things they were looking for. Sorry to be vague but I was feeling very light headed by now. So they take another sample, this time from the left arm with a needle that you could drive an articulated vehicle through.

We go for one more wait outside. The doctor, the real one, comes over and tells us to ring in about 4 hours to see the results. If the platelet count is below 100 expect to be admitted to hospital.

We go home and I lay on the couch. The boys are watching a Hotwheels cartoon. Soon I start to shiver. Cold flushes run through me top to bottom. It is 28 degrees out and I have two rugs on and still cold flushes wrack my body. This is not fun. I am drinking Guava juice like it is going out of fashion. As suddenly as they started the flushes stop and I start to sweat. Not a little but a lot. I am wet through. I take my temperature it's 39.2! I take two more Panadol and rug up. We eat. At 7.15 I take my temperature again and it has dropped a degree to 38.3 We still have to wait nearly an hour before we can ring them. I am both dreading the call and looking forward to the part where I know for certain. Finally at 8pm Gabi makes the call.

Seems that the abscess on my big toe might have been the culprit. They tell Gabi that it's not dengue but a blood infection, talk about relief! While it is still a bad thing it isn't as bad as i had been thinking.

Hanging on all of this was whether we were going to go to Lombok or not. We have tickets booked to fly on Thursday night. We have the best villa at the Novotel Lombok booked, a friend who goes organised it for us, got a great price. In fact turns out she will also now go over with her daughter. Gabi says she is a little poofed she gave us her villa as she calls it. We know she is joking and besides, it's my birthday on Friday, not hers.

Peace!

An applogy!

For Gabi's birthday I posted a shot of 'everyone', out at Canggu, Echo Beach. Unfortunately it wasn't everyone, far from it! Most importantly Gabi wasn't in the photo, nor for that matter was Margie or any of the kids.

Sorry my love! It was the opnly photos i took with my phone.

Here instead is a photo from lunchtime taken at Kudeta, again I think I am in the water but you have from L-R, David, Jeremy, Margie, GABI, Oscar and William. Ros must have been taking the photo.

Peace

Pictures speak loudly...

So that people do not think we spend our lives on a beach here are some more or less normal photos of us and friends. We do work here you know!

This is for Fluff, she loves a good piccy.


Maxi has found a first love. Not that one, not yet I think, hey he has plenty of time for that, what I mean is acting. Just recently he was one of the principals in Seussical Jr. a mish mash of Dr Seuss stories. He was the narrator, the Cat in the Hat. Maxi brought the character alive. His actions and cheekiness were exactly what the part called for. Takes a lot of guts to stand there and sing not only in front of his peers but hundreds of their mums and dads. I was more than proud of him. Well done my son!

He has now joined the local theatrical society and is auditioning for parts in "High School Musical" More on this later.


Oscar and I are showing off for the camera. Nice teeth grit son! 2 weeks ago we took possession of a new bike. A Suzuki Thunder, all rockin 125 cc of it. The Thunder is a motorbike style as opposed to the scooter style which is very prolific here. The scooter makes me slouch and I get a sore lower back. Will get a surf board rack fitted in the next week or so and will then be able to drive out to Canggu without making the family catch public transport.

As I have said in previous entries, we have had a rash of visitors across this last August - October period.
Here is a shot of the kids hamming it up at the shopping centre. The little girl is Lena. We met her when Maxi and her were just babies together in Balmain. Her parents,who are also German (yes the tie!) and were in Australia as her dad was the Manager of Ikea Australia at the time. They came to Bali for a month to hang and do something different to living in Stockholm, where they are living now. Don't you think she could be sister to Max here? Dead ringers!! Yes they are scary hats the kids are wearing, looks like the sugar has already kicked in with Oscar. Free stylin!


Here is another blast from the past. Ros and Gabi. These guys met when we had Maxi, they were in the same Mothers group in Balmain. Now Ros, David her husband, William the son they have 3 days younger than Maxi Oliver and the newish daughter Rose live in Singapore and have been there the last 5 years or so. Was great to catch up, if only for 3-4 days.


Lounging is an art at Kudeta. Here is a piccy of Jeremy and Margie going for the title. I think I could have been in the water with Max when this photo was taken. It was after lunch on Gabi's birthday if i am not mistaken. Can't be late as that drink looks like a juice not something with punch. Speaking of punch! We had a huge night there with Mikey and Em last Saturday night, thanks for dinner guys. You shouldn't have! They left the next day back to Broome. The island life is settling back into routine.


Sally, Tim, Lotte and Ava were here just prior to Jez and Margie. Here is a shot of Maxi who surprised me with being so into babies. She really did have a good time in his arms. There is a stripey shirt in this here photo, someones trademark? hmmmm, must be Tim's, yes?


Maxi isn't the only one around here into babies. The Balinese love babies annd this shot shows it. Here is Ava again stunning and entertaining the crowd, this time it is Komang and Made. Komang, who is heavily pregnant in this photo, left last week for 3 months to have her second child. Our love and well wishes go after her. She will return in the new year to help us with our life when we move out of here and into next door. Currently a friend of hers, Ketut is helping us with the place here.

Here is a photo of Made and his family. He asked Gabi the other day if she could do some prints with our printer and hence we have the digital photo. It is a festival in their village and they all look amazing in their traditional dress. The babie here is also so cute. An interesting thing, they do not put a baby down for the first 6 months of it's life. Someone is always carrying it. They believe that there are bad spirits on the floor and that the baby is susceptible at this age.


Lastly a photo of Gabi and myself. Sorry it is a couple of months old, but Gabi sent it to me with all of these others so I will whack it in there. Gosh we are looking a tad black here aren't we? I am sporting some facial fuzz too.

Right here is another photo. That one was too dark. We went to a white wedding the other week, this is a photo of us prior to leaving the house, so now you have some contrast here. Sorry it was evening and Maxi was using my camera, I think perhaps it might have been too heavy for him.

Well that is our lot. So much has happened and will continue to do so. Can not believe that we have been living here for ten months now. Our lives move on like the water in a stream never stopping mixing, mingling, taking different paths and to tell all about such a life would in itself rob us of the life we are yet to live.

Hope you enjoy these snapshots and know that not all is a holiday when you live in paradise.

Peace

Something blue....

eM&M are still here until tomorrow. But I can say, normality is finally coming home to roost. What a big August/September. Even my work flow, which is pretty hectic at this time of the year anyway, has been out of control. Even went to Singapore last week! Staying all of one night, hehe! Quick in and out.
I had meetings both days. Got a new 300mm lens for my camera, perhaps now we can start to take surfing shots again and a porta cot. More on that later! And no we are not up the duff!

Got my new surfboard last Wednesday night, you know the one I won in the GSI tell us in 500 words or less how Surfing has changed your life. As you can imagine, was more than a little excited. Funnily enough I forgot about the time and it wasn’t until I received a text from Dan at 11.45pm, GSI’s international courier (Actually he is the Intl. Business Development Manger, and because he was coming up here to see the local wholesaler he got the job to drag the board with him) Anyway, his text said "are you still coming?"
BUGGER! So I immediately replied, "in car about 10 minutes off" and belted for the car. Made Jalan Sunset in about a minute and a half and for the first time since we got the Blue beast I opened it up on the near deserted dual lane carriageway. I am happy to report it will do the tonne sitting on it’s head. Got to that big statue in the centre of the round about right in front of the Planet Hollywood/ Galleria and swung the jeep around it pointing down Jalan Bypass, direction Nusa Dua and once again floored it. Off she when. Next thing I knew the right hand to swing towards the airport was approaching so I slowed a tad but with a clear oncoming lane I didn't have to stop, rather I slid it around the corner at about 70. Handled beautifully, there was a fair bit of body roll but you expect that from Yank tanks. Accelerated and staying in the left lane zoomed through the next lights onward.



Made the airport in under 10 minutes from home. Not bad I reckon! Thank god there isn’t a speed camera in Bali. And if there is, thank god they lost the instruction booklet.

Anyway, Maxi and I have been down the beach paddling the last two mornings. The waves are small which normally would be bad, but the SuperFish seems to just grab onto them and gives me this stable yet maneuverable work platform so that I am able to in turn ride it. Amazing in fact. I hope that it only preforms as good or better in larger surf. I might be one of these born again surfers who go out and preach the word according to Global Surf Industries. Actual now that I mention this their logo does look like some 70’s roman catholic graphic the Jesuits use to come at us with in my youth. Perhaps I have uncovered something here?

Time will tell.

Hey the printer has just spat the GW's Samari Suduko out, Jeremy, bless his polyester socks, scanned and sent me todays from the Good Weekend, which is the magazine lift out in the Saturday edition of the Sydney Morning Herald.

So rather than continue this dribble I am going to get into it while Gabi and boys are out.

Peace

The end is neigh! or not!

The last of the visitors for this couple of months have left. Mikey & Em are still up the road at the Sofitel, but I have retaken the shed as my base of operations. The computers are all set up and I am back in business.
Margie and Jeremy were up here last week for a wedding over at Kudeta, Sally, Tim, Lottie and Ava were here two weeks prior for a 40th, Ros, David, William, Oliver and Rose left this morning back to Singapore.

A good time was had by all. But it doesn't stop there, though we thought it would.

Gus will be here at the end of the month, he is driving some boat up this way and he emailed that his contract ends here in Bali's Benoa Harbour, handy! Jackie and Simon are coming through for 2 days mid November to celebrate Jackie's 40th up here. Oops, I suppose I shouldn't mention ages eh? Too late! So there is still a trickle.



Speaking of birthdays Gabi had hers on Sunday. Not going to make the same mistake twice in one post though. No ages! We had breakfast at Kudeta which drifted towards lunchtime. Then about 4pm we drove to Canggu, Echo Beach and had dinner a couple of Bintangs and a nice sunset. Drove Margie and Jez to the airport and an early night. Photos of sunset and the gang!


Jeremy brought the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald up and I am happy to say that I was able to work out the Samuri Suduko while I was in the thinking room. Yeah, yeah, I know I hear enough feedback from my wife about that. But it is therapeutic, ok? Hey can someone in Sydney please check my answers?

So that is it for another couple. Off to Singapore in a matter of hours. Just an overnighter to freshen my visa and see the client about some different works.

Take care.
Peace