Movie Review: The Seeker - The Dark Is Rising

Sick of sitting at home recuperating, I decided I would see this. This sort of film is right up my alley but it was only okay. I was a little lost, even at the beginning. I suppose one would need to read the books to understand it better.

Plot: On his 14th birthday Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) finds out that he is the last of a group of warriors - The Light - who have spent their lives fighting against evil - The Dark. Will travels through time to track down the signs that will enable him to confront the evil forces. The Dark is personified by The Rider (Christopher Eccleston).

A Painful Recovery

Today is day 3 of my recovery after my tonsil operation.

I was warned by my surgeon that today would be one of the worst days of recovery and also to watch out for bleeding which can be dangerous.

My throat and ears are extremely sore (still haven't taken the morphine yet but may take it tonight) and I do have some bleeding which I am keeping an eye on.

I'm finding that eating Minties is helping with my throat, more so than lozenges - go figure!

Random Facts 18

1. The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.
2. The main purpose of growing rice in flooded paddocks is to drown the weeds surrounding the seedlings.
3. It takes on average 90 squirts from a cow’s udder to make a litre of milk.
4. Horseracing regulations require no racehorse’s name to contain more than 18 letters.
5. Sheep will not drink from running water.
6. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
7. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England, egg whites were a popular form of laundry detergent.
8. The Hollywood sign was erected in 1923.
9. In Elizabethan times, carnations were used to spice wine and ale.
10. Up until the age of six or seven months, children can breathe and swallow simultaneously.

Long Overdue Operation

I finally had my tonsils removed yesterday after suffering excruciating bouts of tonsillitis off and on over the last 25 years.

I was up by 4.30am because I needed to be at the hospital by 6 (my operation wasn't until 10) so was pretty tired and kept snoozing before they came to get me.

When I came out of theatre my throat was absolutely killing me and I was starving. Thank god for morphine!

They took me up to my room and brought me some sandwiches, then not an hour later my lunch came around and I had ordered ice cream! Man that felt good on my throat. I had the room all to myself until the next morning for only about 30 minutes until they went off for their procedure.

I kept sleeping on and off all afternoon, waking up only when they came in to check my vitals or to give me my medications.

I had ice cream with dinner and one of the nurses managed to find me an icy pole when she woke me around midnight for another check.

I was a little bit stressed because they managed to lose my overnight bag which had all my belongings in it including my ipod as well as some throat lozenges which I was dying for. I didn't get my bag until the following morning not long before I was discharged.

My voice is different which they say will eventually correct itself and I am a walking pharmacy with the amount of medication I will need to take. Thankfully I've not had to take the really strong stuff (similar to morphine) because that has some nasty side effects.

I was supposed to have another procedure done at the same time on my nose to improve my breathing, but the anaethatist was concerned about the risks. Apparently my tonsils were so large they were obstructing over 75% of my airway which was causing my sleep apnoea and my snoring. Since they've been removed I've not been snoring!

I have 2 weeks off work to recover! Now I'm off to have some jelly!

My Space

I've been playing around on My Space trying to create a profile. I haven't found it tobe an easy thing to do. Blogger is so much better!

More Sad Work News

We are having a pretty bad run at work lately.

Back in July a good friend and someone very dear to all of us passed away from cancer, and just a couple of weeks ago we had another person from a different department pass away after a heart attack.

Today we were pulled off the phones to be told that yet another person from our department had passed away from a heart attack. She had been on dialysis for the last 3+ years and had already had a failed kidney transplant.

I have been at this company for 7 years and this is the first year that there has been anybody who I've worked with, directly or indirectly, who has passed away.

It is very depressing.

A Night Out With The Girls

A few weeks ago I started organising a team dinner for last night. There was supposed to be about 15 of us going, including partners, to the Brisbane.

I got to the pub at the arranged time of 6 to find there was a queue outside because it was full with people who had been to 'Spring in the Valley'. I queued up with the other person that was there and we were discussing the likelihood of actually getting inside, getting a table and of getting food when a third person turned up.

We finally got inside and went for a wander to see if anybody else had arrived earlier (I had given them all my mobile, but so far nobody had called) but couldn't spot anybody we knew, although I spotted a fair amout of talent.

We stopped at the bar for refreshment then headed back outside to take up a vigil near the entrance so as to spot any latecomers. We were just going to head out when I finally got a text - another 2 had arrived and were outside in the queue.

We voted to go somewhere else and piled into cars and headed over to the Como in South Perth only to be told when we got there that it was a minimum 45 minute wait for a table and longer for food. By this time it was well after 8 and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and that was only a couple of slices of toast.

We ended up going to a little french patisserie called the Globe and the food and service was devine! We stayed until they were closing up at around 11.

From there 4 of us went on to the casino, our team leader went home early.

I haven't been to the casino in at least 7 years and it has changed so much. There are now 'pokie' machines, which I only just experienced last year when I went to the Crown casino while I was in Melbourne. And the dress code has been relaxed so that you can wear jeans and sneakers and collarless shirts (for the guys).

I searched high and low for a machine to play Poker on (which I learned to play before 'Fish' or 'Old Maid'). I ended up winning $35 which covered my expenses for the evening - bonus!

We only stayed about an hour because it was just so damn hot in there. It was good if you found a cold spot under the air conditioner, but just so uncomfortable.

I dropped every one home and fell into bed around 3am this morning. I was so exhausted, but enjoyed every minute of it.

Public Transport Chaos

For the train closure I had planned on working a late shift (starting 11.45 and finishing 8pm), driving down to Subiaco and catching the train in, but that was dashed when I found out that the Fremantle lines were closed too. I thought fate had smiled on me because I was given the early shift (starting 7am and finishing 3.15pm).

So on Monday, expecting minor delays, I was up and in the shower at 4.30am, dressed and had breakfast and walked out the door an hour later. I was at Currambine train station, waiting a good 15-20 minutes earlier than I needed to ... and... there was no train.

6.00 am came and went, still no trains. By this time I was contemplating jumping in my car and driving like a lunatic to try and get a parking spot at Glendalough train station (where there is minimal parking) and catching one of the buses which were shuttling passengers to Perth.

I decided against it thinking that there wouldn't be too long a delay. By 6.30, I had given up on catching the train, and knew that I would have no chance of getting a parking spot at Glendalough and dreaded the thought of driving in to Perth and trying to get a parking spot there either, so I rang my Mum who came and picked me up and ended up driving me in to work. My Smartrider card was debited even though I hadn't actually caught the train. *grrr*

Now remember, I was supposed to start work at 7 - I didn't get into work until 8! Our front desk security guy didn't get in until almost 9. The trains were that full they weren't picking up passengers at some stations.

I thought it would be easier going home and that it couldn't be any worse than it had been that morning. Well it wasn't as bad, but it wasn't good either.

After work I spoke to someone at the information desk and was advised that I would need to call a special phone number to have the fare put back onto my Smartrider card. I then ran across to catch the replacement bus.

We were waiting for the traffic lights to change when a bus in the next lane decided he wanted to try to squeeze between us and another bus in another lane. Next thing you know BANG! He misjudged the size of his bus and ran into the back of us (opposite of where I was sitting), so we were sitting on the side of the road for 10 minutes while the drivers sorted out insurance stuff.

I can't wait for the trains to be back to normal!

Movie Review: December Boys

I was only one of about 8 that was in the cinema for this movie tonight. It was a beautiful story and shot in South Australia.

Plot: Four orphan teenagers – all born in the same month - growing up behind the closed doors of a Catholic convent in outback Australia. For years, the boys watch younger kids leave with their newly adopted parents and have come to the realisation their time may never come.

The Reverend Mother gives the boys something to look forward to by sending them to visit the seaside for the first time. Their long awaited holiday doesn’t turn out the way they planned until they meet Teresa and Fearless, a young autocratic couple that would make the perfect parents.

As men, they remember back to the ‘60s when, as boys, they spent their first tumultuous summer by the sea as they sabotaged each other’s efforts to be the one chosen. only to discover the real meaning behind what is to be called a family.

A Fallen Eagle

Perth woke to the news this morning that a prominent former West Coast Eagles football player, Chris Mainwaring, died early this morning.

Movie Review: Die Hard 4.0

I've seen Die Hard 1 & 2 numerous times, but never from the very beginning. I've always started watching about 20 minutes in, and Die Hard 3 I've never watched. I like the action, and, for an older guy, Bruce Willis isn't half bad either. I hired the first 3 movies and watched them last week, so that I would be prepared for this one. It was action-packed the entire movie. I especially liked the car in the elevator shaft scene! Classic!

Plot: A terrorist breaches an FBI facility's computer system, and computer hackers are assassinated by the terrorist mastermind Thomas Gabriel , instead of being paid for their collaboration. The FBI, unaware of the killings, dispatches NYPD Police Detective John McClane to visit a known hacker, Matthew Farrell, as part of their investigation regarding the breach. Gabriel's henchmen attempt to assassinate McClane and Farrell, but their targets escape.

McClane and Farrell go after the terrorist when he kidnaps McClane's daughter, taking down as many bad guys as possible along the way.