Journal Entries
Dilemma
Posted Apr 8, 2004
Now, I've just been down the pub, so I might make less sense than usual. Also, my laptop says Windoze is 'corrupt' (yes, I knew that) so I'm on the lookout for a new OS. If anyone knows of one, please tell.
But here's the issue of the day. Or the Hypothetical of the day, if that helps.
If you knew that there was a very good chance that you had inherited a genetic defect that could be passed on to your children, and that could affect you in time, would you go and have the medical tests?
As the usual first symptom of the defect is sudden death, would you worry about your own future? Getting hit by a bus could be just as terminal, but not as quick.
If you weren't planning to have children, would you be concerned about the possibility of passing the defect to children you don't plan to have?
Would you just decide to go on with life as it is, choosing a short happy life over a slightly longer life with a greater degree of worry?
OK, it's not hypothetical. For me, this is the icing on the cake - it's not just my sister's heart, it could be mine too... As I'm unlikely to have children (it's Infinitely Improbable, in fact 
), I don't have to worry too much about that aspect - but I'm wondering if I should put myself through the mill and get thoroughly tested even though I'm quite relaxed about the idea of a sudden and painless extinction.
Or maybe that's just four-hours-at-the-pub talking.
Discuss this Journal entry [16]
Latest reply: Apr 8, 2004
What I did in my holidays.
Posted Apr 3, 2004
I'm back from a generally excruciating fortnight in Adelaide. Far too much happened to give a blow-by-blow account, so here's the headline items.
My sister's operation went well; the patient is now recovering at Mum's house. She has limited use of her left arm, but that will pass in time. The device has been fitted under the skin just below her left collarbone and wired into the heart muscles. In a great leap forward for medical science, her condition now has a name. Her heartbeat features a long QT interval - whatever that is - and for want of something better, it's now called 'Long QT Syndrome'. It seems that it is hereditary after all, in Dad's side of the family. Going back through the records, there have been three cases where relatives of mine have dropped dead below the age of 25, with no prior warning. These people probably had the same problem.
I saw the mad boy twice. He is making good progress, but he's not yet anything like normal. A lot better than he was, though, which is the main thing. He's on medication, and he has a top-notch psychiatrist... He hasn't done anything strange in the last few weeks, and he's now admitting to his problems in detail. That, I think, is the first step in recovery. He also said that hearing about my sister's troubles made him realise how lucky he is, and how it's changed his perspective on matters. So maybe it's all seving a purpose.
I spent most of my time around the house, or going grocery-shopping, but I did get an entire day off. I went with a friend to the Barossa Valley, and drank my way around several vineyards. It did me good to be back in real country again. 
One day of holiday out of the full fortnight - better than nothing...
Now, unfortunately, I have to go back to work... I don't want to do it, owing to lack of interest, but I see no alternative.
Discuss this Journal entry [20]
Latest reply: Apr 3, 2004
Sydney meet, 28 February 2004
Posted Mar 2, 2004
Just a few random jottings...
I headed into town at about 8am, and made it to Redpeck's hostel at 9. We met about three minutes later, while she was checking in. Then to Central, to catch a train to Circular Quay. The two stations after Central are underground, then suddenly at Circular Quay the line is a storey above ground level. The view from the platform covers the Harbour Bridge, Sydney Cove and the Opera House, which I why I picked that station. By the time we were there the pubs in The Rocks were just opening...
After a couple of beers, we went back to the hostel so Red could move into her room. On the way, jetlag hit her really quite hard, with visible effects, so I went alone to the meet.
I could swear Newtown station has moved a few blocks further from the Carlisle since my last visit - but I got there, sweaty, dishevelled and tired, clutching a copy of Hitchhiker's. Linus was at the bar.
Soon after, Feisor appeared, with cheese and biscuits and sugarplums. Platypus came along, and BadZen. My memory of events after this is a bit hazy; I can remember what happened, but I'm not sure of the order of events. Wowbagger and Amy were there, in paper form. I rang Red's hostel a few times, leaving encouraging messages for when she emerged from jetlag. Red did make phone contact; I passed the phone to Linus so he could impart local knowledge, and soon after she appeared by taxi. Lots of conversation ensued. Precisely what it was all about I can't be sure, but it was interesting and quite wide-ranging. The bits that I remember most clearly were about education, hootoo, children, Chumbawumba, jetlag, cooking bacon, and sparkling shiraz. They're all nice clever people, and there wasn't a dull moment. The supply of Coopers' Dark Ale ran out...
Sometime after midnight, after 'last drinks' at the Carlisle and a walk up the street, Red took a taxi to the hostel and I took another one back to Stanmore. I spent the next day as a piece of rubble on a couch.
That's an edited version of my already abridged memory. I just can't type long things at the moment. Something to do with being on holiday...
Discuss this Journal entry [46]
Latest reply: Mar 2, 2004
Here's what's wrong.
Posted Feb 8, 2004
I'm not necessarily on top of things just at the moment; there's a lot going on.
For a start, I have a new boss, and I believe he's a fool. But this isn't the main problem.
One of my closest friends has gone mad. No, really. He's psychotic. He's been detained twice under the Mental Health Act, but not for long enough. He's done some bizarre things in the last week, some of which could be seen as criminal acts. It's a very long story and I won't go into details here, but I am having trouble coming to terms with the drastic changes in his personality and the fact that he poses a danger to other people. He is receiving treatment but it isn't working.
I've just been speaking to my sister. She has a long-standing heart condition, and it looks like her medication isn't working all that well either. She may have to have a defibrillator fitted in her chest cavity, to administer a shock to the cardiac muscles if she has a further attack of arrhythmia. (She's 34 years old. She almost died when she was 19; she had a series of seven heart attacks in 42 hours, with no prior signs of trouble.)
There's a massive journal entry in each of these items, but I'll leave it here. I'm trying to cope with lots of stuff, and I'm not doing all that well. By putting the bare facts here, with no philosophical ramblings, I might be able to cope a bit better. They're in writing now; they're real; I simply *have* to cope.
Discuss this Journal entry [219]
Latest reply: Feb 8, 2004
Note to self
Posted Jan 28, 2004
Just while I'm thinking of it, here's some things I should write for the Guide.
Ecuador - history, geography, tips for tourists - 3 separate entries, probably.
Something about Mt Gambier - the only place I've lived that isn't written up yet.
Something about Mardi Gras (Sydney version) - the history, the party, the parade, and the political point of it all.
Mortis - a cocktail lounge to die for.
Lots of things about V Woolf, L Strachey & the rest of the Bloomsbury mob.
I wonder when I'll get around to writing any of it. (Further note to self - check the Guide for existing entries...)
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Jan 28, 2004
Ivan the Terribly Average
Researcher U539106
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."