Wet and Cold

I hear rain on the roof. A familiar sound commonly heard over the past four weeks since I last posted. It has been an extended wet and cold period, broken only by the odd day or two when there has been no rain or drizzle. At these times the wind has cranked up ripping through like a scythe of cold chilling man and beast.

Suffer I have with the polymyalgia not abated. I have had awful days, and nights, interspersed with some good ones, usually after treatment of one sort or another including five sessions of acupuncture, the latest today, and more chiropractic. The lady who gave me the Shiatsu massage four weeks ago has not been available in July and my booking for a soft tissue massage after hot sauna in Emerald was aborted due to power failure during a blizzard with gale force winds.

The rain tumbles still, heavier now. Through all this I have continued to work to the my best capabilities, slowly and carefully of course. Mornings are painful till the panadeine and prednisilone kicks in making afternoons easier.

With this tale of woe you will see why I haven't blogged. It's not any fun at all to talk about it and it robs you of the interest and desire to share thoughts. I know I am a pain in the arse and the whole event bores me to tears.

So let me tell you about my acupuncture man as he has become a friend to me. He lives in Berwick and works from his house.  He's university qualified and has worked learning also in China. He is of Chinese father and Maltese mother. At some point his father met his mother in India. He is married to an East Timorese lady and he has two daughters. His wife was a refugee. He was born in 1977 and he barracks for Nth Melbourne. He has an interest in the punt. We discuss all these things and more while I lie on a table in my underpants as he sticks 18 needles into me, in my arms and legs and chest and shoulders, before he leaves me in quiet dozing and dreaming. It's most pleasant. He comes back and heats up some of the needles with some sort of burning stick, although he did not do this today, he left me for twice as long as usual.

When I first rang him I asked him did he think he could help with polymyalgia.

"I think I can help with anything," he replied.

How many visits will I need to make?

" Three to six," he said.

"I'll give you three for starters," I told him.

I have booked in for a sixth next week. I want to trial this right through. Nothing has cured this weird affliction but I am coping and working and fulfilling nearly all my commitments if falling behind on work at the farm which doesn't really matter when I consider the stage my career is at - nearly at the end.

I am disgusted with politics and many things outside my sphere of influence so I choose not to waste one minute of  my time on them.

Rickyralph is five ahead of me in the footy tipping. There's still enough rounds for me to catch him, remembering last year I swooped in the last round from 3 behind to do him on the post. Extraordinarily, Lib is leading and twelve ahead of me and I concede that is an unassailable margin.