For about four years now I’ve been corresponding with fellow blogger, Sandra Carpenter. She’s an American, married to Robert (an Australian) who has been living in Stockholm for almost a decade. We first met through our respective blogs, and then in 2010, we met in real life.
Spending a few months in Stockholm last year, we had a really great time doing lots of things together. As I returned to Sydney at the end of May, we both (independently) experienced a moment of sadness when we realised we no longer “lived” in the same city, as we share lots of similar interests and experiences.
Sandra and Robert are both in Sydney at the moment. Robert’s work has brought him here and Sandra could continue to do hers locally, as she works for an international company.
Even with limited time, we’ve found time to catch up. We had dinner on Sunday night. And then yesterday, we both started and left work a little early, so we could do some sight-seeing, visit some galleries, and enjoy a drink and a meal (Robert joined us later).
We managed to squeeze so much in such a brief period of time that we were both feeling a little tired this morning, as we exchanged emails. Even this evening, I took a rain-check on catching up with another friend because I was still quite exhausted from all that we managed to over the course of eight or nine hours. It was a lovely day, with many cherished memories to live on, I’m sure.
I didn’t expect to be eating hospital food today. I didn’t expect to be eating anything at all. From Monday’s breakfast until this morning, I haven’t been able to keep anything down, due to an extended bout of vomiting. I’ve thrown up at least half a dozen times.
It all started on Monday morning when the first thing I did was vomit. It was after waking, and a dizzy experience where “the room went spinning round”. Thankfully, I didn’t follow in the footsteps of the great song “The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan” and “climb to the rooftop when all the laughter grew too loud”.
Further bouts of dizziness followed by vomiting continued throughout Monday, as I wrote about in my previous blog post. On Tuesday morning, my friend Andrea read the post and dropped me a quick message, checking in on my welfare. I replied quickly, asking if she could visit.
“I think we need to call the ambulance,” she said as she arrived at my apartment. By the time she had arrived, I was in a pretty bad state. I had already vomited in both bedrooms, the bathroom, and the lounge room. I was also unable to get up off the floor, as I was instantly dizzy, and vomiting followed shortly after. When I opened my apartment door for her, I was flat down on the ground, and without my prosthetic leg.
We called the ambulance, described the situation, and they offered to send a team of two people as soon as possible. While we waited, we chatted, and I also called a few people at work to explain the situation.
When the paramedics arrived, they were quick to diagnose the possible cause – Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo – though noting neither was a doctor.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a disorder arising from a problem in the inner ear. Symptoms are repeated, brief periods of vertigo with movement, characterized by a spinning sensation upon changes in the position of the head. This can occur with turning in bed or changing position. Each episode of vertigo typically lasts less than one minute. Nausea is commonly associated. PPV is one of the most common causes of vertigo. BPPV is a type of balance disorder along with labyrinthitis and Ménière’s disease. It can result from a head injury or simply occur among those who are older.
The diagnosis was later affirmed/confirmed by the doctor at St. Vincent’s Hospital Emergency Department. As with my previous experiences at the hospital, I can’t speak highly enough of the speedy, careful treatment I received. There was even a friendly, recognizable smile from one of the medical staff who recognized me from my time at Sacred Heart Rehabilitation. “James, I thought we had told you to go home and never come back,” she said with a laugh.
The doctor gave me some medication and performed a number of physiotherapy-like exercises on me to reduce the dizziness. Slowly moving my head from side to side, there were moments when I thought I might vomit again, but thankfully did not.
In the “short stay” area of the Emergency Department, there was only one other person, so we were well looked after by the staff. Our part of the department was incredibly quiet, in stark contrast to what must otherwise be quite a busy area. The peacefulness of the space was also an observation shared by a woman I was sharing the room. The discussion which later revealed I have worked (distantly) with her daughter for over a decade. We chatted briefly when she came to pick up her mum. Small world, eh?
BreakfastLunchDinner
Today I had further visits from a physiotherapist and a doctor who also confirmed the diagnosis, took me through some exercises, and gave me a sheet to take home with things I will need to practice.
The modified Epley maneuver
I also had a CT scan, which confirmed nothing unusual except for the “expected impacts of aging.”
I didn’t plan to spend all of the afternoon enjoying food and wine at Circular Quay, but somehow it happened.
My friend Kate gave me a call late this morning, asking if I’d like to join her and a friend (visiting from Beijing) for lunch at the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art).
A good time was had by all, as we enjoyed fish and chips, caesar salad, and lamb kofta with dips. Very nice indeed.
“Shall we have another bottle of wine?”, Kate asked as we completed our meals. “Sure, why not?”, we both agreed.
And from there, we moved slightly down the road towards Cruise Bar, which even though there was a big bloody boat in the road today, ruining our view of the Opera House, was an ideal place to spend most of the afternoon. Unlike Opera Bar on the other side of Circular Quay, it’s far less crowded, the seats are far more comfortable, and the drinks much less expensive. If you’ve never been there, I’d highly recommend it.
Unlike yesterday’s melanoma-inducing case of sunburn, today’s exposure to sunlight was more of a gentle dose of healthy Vitamin D.
Caught up in the dailies, so a little busy for a “proper blog”, though I hope to find time on the weekend. In the meantime, here’s a few recent photographs with some brief comments.
Earlier in the week I was going through some old boxes and found my ID card from 97/98. Or is it the album cover for an Indie band?
Look what arrived in the internal mail at work. So cool!!!
Finally, something in Sydney which is genuinely “New York”, and not just pretend. Restaurant Hubert.
Also…
Start spreading the news, I’m leaving in May.
I’m gonna be a part of it, Stockholm, Stockholm.
Just as things start to get exciting at work, I’m on holiday in exactly 6 weeks.
In all my working life, I’ve never really been a commuter. I’ve always lived reasonably close to work. So close that I’ve usually been able to walk, ride, or take a short drive. I think the longest commute I’ve ever made may have been four or five kilometres, when I lived in Paringa (a small village in South Australia) and worked in nearby Renmark.
As a result, when I moved to Sydney, I made a conscious decision to also live close to work. Having lived most of my life in the country, I was fearful of the endless commute, and so I looked at the map of Sydney, and pretty much decided I’d live in Surry Hills, Redfern, Glebe, Pyrmont places like that, so I could either walk, catch a bus, or take a taxi if I needed to. So at the moment, it takes me about fifteen minutes to walk to work (when the weather’s fine) and a similar time to catch the bus (when it’s raining).
But at the moment, I’m working out of the office which has already involved three days of an hour long commute to and from my temporary workplace.
The Big Commute
There are some things I really like about catching the train for such a lengthy journey. First, I don’t have to deal with the stop-start traffic patterns of Sydney (especially today when the trip home would have been awful due to the rain). Second, I like the quietness of it all, as the trains I’ve been catching at the times I’ve been catching have been reasonably quiet. As a result, I’m arriving to and from work feeling very relaxed, I’m doing a lot of reading, and even managed to knock off my Swedish homework in the the travel time.
The only negative is that I’ve encountered a few very loud mobile phone chatters. As a result, I’ve learned about the intimate operation details of a large Australian company. I’ve also learned about which “diet meals” are good and which are crap. I honestly don’t understand why people aren’t more discrete about their private conversations when they travel on public transport. If I need to take a call, I’ll usually the tell person I’m on a train and unless it’s urgent, I’ll call them back. That’s not the case for many others it seems.
Two weeks of this, and then life returns to normal with my 15 minute stroll from the bedroom the office.
It’s Sunday afternoon, I’m having a Gin & Tonic, and I’m listening to show tunes by Jodie Gillies. Don’t worry, no need for suicide watch, it’s just a wet Sunday afternoon in Perth and what better way to spend the afternoon.
I really love this CD by Jodie Gillies and play it fairly often. The only time I have ever seen her perform was at the Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre in the early 90s. Disappointingly the crowd was small, but she sang with intelligence and emotion. I fell in love! The CD contains really spectacular performances of a range of popular musical theatre songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Although at times, she can be a little “Ethel Merman” there are also moments of great tenderness. What’s she up to now? Who knows? I hope she records again.
I’ve also been reading quite a bit lately, including two books about the American presidency, both from a Democrat perspective, although “Worse Than Watergate” was written by John W. Dean, former Counsel to President, Richard Nixon who draws parralels between the apparent lack of openness of presidencies of Nixon and George Bush Jnr. Indeed, the central thesis of the book is that Bush’s Government is probably even more secret, but so far haven’t been caught out in the way the Nixon was. The book argues the secrecy pre-dated September 11, but became even greater in the period since then. The architect of the secrecy, argues Dean, is Dick Cheney. While there are a few things I didn’t know – such as the existence of an alternative government in the event of terrorist attack – the book’s argument becomes a little repetitive after a while. An enjoyable read.
The last week has been reasonably busy with both work and social engagements, two of which came about through my connection with ABBAMAIL.
The first involved a meeting with a friend of ABBAMAILER, Paul, called Kate who has been living in Europe for about a decade and who has just returned to Perth. Paul gave us a virtual introduction a few months ago,
On Thursday night, Kate and I had a glass of chardy at “The Queens”, followed by dinner at a fabulous restaurant called, Dusit Thai, and then a coffee in town, during which we chatted, compared notes on Paul (we’ll write a character assessment of him sometime soon!) and had a great old time, although I must say meeting her was odd in that she reminded me quite a bit of a woman – both physically and in her personality – I knew millions of years ago. Quite unnerving! But very nice!
I also went out to lunch with Trent yesterday. I first met Trent, who is now in his late 20s, through ABBAMAIL seven or eight years ago when he was just a young pup. On my suggestion, Trent and his friend Tristan went on the Swan Valley Cruise that Damien and I went on a couple of months ago. Like Damo and I, T & T had a great time, with Trent declaring it one of the most entertaining days of his life. And so, planning a day at Fremantle, I suggested we catch the ferry to Freo so Trent could experience the other end of the river which took as past the houses of Perth’s rich and famous. Trent noticed that the commentator for the cruise had an unhealthy obsession with the man made structures – bridges and highways – of Perth!
We had a terrific lunch at the Mussell Beer, feasting on a lovely Pinot Gris from the Adelaide Hills and baked Fremantle snapper. Excellent value and great fun. Although we’ve known each other for quite some time, I don’t think we’ve ever chatted so openly before, which was good. After browsing around Fremantle, we travelled back to the city via the train network, which Trent found amusingly small. Overall a great day.
It’s also been great to have been invited to have a few beers after work this week. It’s four and a half months, now, since I arrived, and I’m starting to feel really at home with the people here. Almost without exception everyone has been really nice.
After a month of travelling back and forward between Sydney and Canberra (for work), it’s terrific to be back at home. Hotel rooms are lovely, but there’s nothing like the feeling of being in your own bed and having your own “stuff” around you.
Lots of signs around Canberra in support of marriage equality
For those who do it more regularly, it must be a difficult life. There was a moment a couple of weeks ago, as I looked around the breakfast room at one of the hotels I stayed at, and I looked at all of the single men sitting by themselves having breakfast, I realised how lonely that kind of life must be. Later in the day, you would see them sitting in the bar by themselves, having a beer.
Though I really enjoyed the opportunity to work between Sydney and Canberra, and I really loved working with the team at ABC Radio Canberra, I’m kinda pleased it was only for a month.
Regrettably, I didn’t spend enough time exploring Canberra. As I was combining a couple of jobs, and never strayed much beyond work and “home”, I never made it much beyond Civic, Dickson and Braddon. Entertainment-wise, I also never strayed much beyond Bar Rochford, King O’Malley’s and Red Chilli. Though I did attend a film, as part of the Italian Film Festival, and went to the opening night of the Wharf Review, both of which were very enjoyable.
Meats at Red Chilli in Canberra
And on top of all that, as in Sweden a couple of years ago, I’ve developed a case of Cold urticaria due to the combination of colder temperatures and 24×7 exposure (at work and in the accommodation I’ve been staying) to air-conditioning.
RUOK Day with the team at ABC Radio Canberra
So this weekend is hopefully a weekend of wearing shorts, getting my body a little exposed to fresh air and sunshine, and catching up with friends ahead of my next big adventure which is only two or three weeks ago. More to come.
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Oh James, it was so great to see you again! I loved our whirlwind day. And I had so much fun. Now, come to Sweden…
Oh James, it was so great to see you again! I loved our whirlwind day. And I had so much fun. Now, come to Sweden…