Enforced Idleness

Hi everyone,

Another catch up post, I‘m afraid.  Sorry I‘ve been a bit patchy lately; the reason will become clear.

Monday was an annoying day - a stress claim I‘d geared up for in a big way, and where I had a major employer involved which there would have been long term benefits to impressing. Anyway, it was a real damp squib. The worker had no interest in negotiating, and then apparently told his solicitors of new relevant lay witnesses, prompting them to seek an adjournment. I was livid and instructed counsel to oppose the adjournment, failing which I wanted the worker‘s solicitor to give sworn evidence as what instructions he‘d sought and when. I would have been more forgiving if this firm didn‘t do this on a regular basis. In the end I was placated with an order for our costs thrown away.

By Monday afternoon I could feel a cold coming on and tried to get an early night. Epic fail. Could I sleep? No. Could I play with my phone, watch TV, listen to the radio, and eventually drive to the 7-11 to get Strepsils? Yes, I could.

Tuesday morning I felt a lot worse. Hideously congested and couldn‘t walk 10 feet without a bout of coughing.  I did something I‘ve only ever done once before in my working life and rang in sick. The trouble was, being sick presented me with my least favourite type of day - enforced idleness. Really, there‘s only so much “Dilbert on DVD“ you can watch and after a while the room just feels stuffy and icky. So I went for a walk and some fresh air a couple of times. My eyes felt awful so I really didn‘t have it in me to read. The only plus was being here at the right time to catch “Letters & Numbers“ on SBS and “Time Team“ on ABC (am I a nerd or what???).

I tried for an early night, but it was still pretty broken sleep. Still, I woke up feeling vastly better and headed jn to work. More prepping files for handover, and a lunchtime group meeting.  Not an exciting day, but it‘s Dad‘s 71st birthday, so I called him to congratulate him. He‘s doing well, and he was really pleased to get the latest update on Rachel (she went to see a doctor on Tuesday and did very well - she‘s surely a trooper!). Very proud of my little munchkin!!

Sadly, the sharehouse is getting a bit empty. Toby (the guy with the Korean pop music obsession) left at the weekend. Kym (a 50 year old site manager from Noosa) and his daughter left this morning. And Sophie from NSW leaves tomorrow. Sophie‘s the one I give lifts from work to now and again. I worry about her. She has real issues with depression, and she‘s basically having to move home to NSW after being unable to get work in Melbourne or pay her rent. She‘s a nice girl, but a bit messed up. I hope she‘ll be OK.

I‘m really touched, for my own part, by how things are at work. One of my colleagues has organized a send off for me, and it seems like folks will really miss me! I‘m not going to lie: that means a lot.

Ok, I guess that‘s the blog caught up.

See you tomorrow.