GOD GIVEN WISDOM

I have just come back from dropping Adam off at Eltham high and picking up some Codral Day and Night “Original”*. It is kept with the prescription drugs, not behind the counter. You have to hand your licence over to be able to purchase it. Last time Alana went to the chemist when we ran out, she did not get the right one which works really well. She got the Codral Day and Night “New Formula” by mistake. I believe that is why Adam has been sick with a cold for a week now, and he says the Codral he was taking dries out his throat and makes it hurt.

I believe in hitting a cold hard early on before it really takes hold. I might, depending on how I feel, give it a day to go away, which sometimes works for me. Then the next day I will use Codral Day and Night Original Recipe, and I know I should also use Betadine Sore Throat Gargle because even the doctors acknowledge it will kill germs that cause colds. I do this sometimes and teach my children to do so.

I’ve arranged with Adam to pick him up from school after the first two periods, which are woodwork. He left all his wood on a table ready to work on first thing this morning. He told me he did not get to sleep until 6:30 am. I asked why he was up at that time. He explained he had run out of water beside his bed. He just had to lie in bed all night long not getting any sleep and not being able to study either, as he put it he was just “stuck”. The noise I heard at 1:30 was not his laptop falling it was probably something else falling off his desk. At least it was not something falling onto his desk and damaging it as happened about two months ago.

Alana painted a dreary street scene and put Adam into it. It was for Deakin University, where she is training to become an Art, Visual Communication and Design, and Home Economics teacher. He really liked the artwork and asked if it could go in his room. He moved a small picture in a pine frame with glass, to a smaller wall so he could hang Alana’s unframed canvas painting where it had been.

It turned out he could not find any normal picture hangers with nails and so he had used the ones which are removable. I believe the weight limit should have been fine but he did not read the fine print which explained he should not put weight on it for a day. That same night the glass covered picture fell off the wall hitting the Vic Ash frame of his desk dinting it and smashing the glass into tiny pieces. Adam woke up with a start jumped out of bed landing in the glass. I went in and cleaned up, while he removed what he could of the glass from his feet. He could walk on them but could not seem to get all the tiny splinters out. I suggested sticking some wide clear packing tape to the bottom of his feet and then pulling it off to see if that would remove all the minute pieces of glass. I was amazed at how well it worked, and how much glass there was on the tape. It was only an idea that popped into my mind, not something I had any experience with.
We got a damp cloth and steam iron, put the cloth over the edge of the desk and removed almost all of the dints with steam from the iron. He said if he wanted to he could remove the rest of the damage by sanding and re-oiling it. He has not done so yet so he may never get around to it.

A little while later he hung up Alana’s canvas, this time after waiting the required time. About a week later, that fell off the wall too. So we have learnt never to use these hangers except for temporary things, like the Christmas wreath on the front door and paper pictures. If I’d known what was behind his glass picture I would never have let him hang it. I know it is never worth the risk of letting glass fall from a wall.

I just had a client call me. He rings every year to ask if I am still doing tax. This time I really tried to assure him, “I will be doing tax returns for a long time, I am only 52, nowhere near retirement age and I have hardly any super”. (That is only because I am self-employed and don’t charge enough to have spare money to invest in it).

I informed him that if I ever stopped doing tax returns I would write to all my clients and let them know. He told me he tried to get his car serviced from his regular mechanic, even drove there when he could not get through on the phone, only to find out he had retired without sending out letters to all of his regular clients.

I often picture myself at 70 years of age still doing tax returns because I do not have the super I need to retire. My aim is as soon as I have a little spare money to put a lot into a balanced super fund. That way I will be able to have a nice holiday overseas when I retire. But first I have to replace my carpet downstairs which some puppies pulled to bits when I was busy working.

This morning I threw away old passport photos which we didn’t get around to using. I’d worked out that the trip to Disneyland and other places in the US was more than we could afford to spare. None of us have a passport yet. Alana could have beaten me to need one. She was going to spend the money she earned at Subway on a trip to NASA with the school, but she went with me to an art exhibition at Monsalvat. There she saw a superb picture which she decided she would rather have than a trip to America (it did not cost as much as the trip of course). She truly has a love for art and values it.

I’ve picked up Adam from school. He is now going to try and sleep as he only had one hour’s sleep last night. I asked what he did while he lay in bed awake. He explained he could not read because of his watery eyes. He had spent an hour trying to clear his nose but that just gave him a headache. He had succeeded with Vicks Vaporub to clear one side which was only partially blocked. So we purchase Vicks Vapodrops because they sometimes work better than the vapour rub. Amcal only had Butter Menthol ones and Adam had specifically reminded me to make sure they had “no milk”. Unfortunately neither the girl behind the counter nor I could read the fine print. I looked for the ingredients list and was hoping to find in bold print some of the foods people are allergic to, like you get on some sensible labels on food, it was not there. Neither of us had glasses handy to check for sure.

Adam said he would have played an app on his phone which a lot of people download and use. It is just nature music continuous and quiet, which usually helps people sleep. But he has a new phone which does not have that yet and he knew that the stimulation of turning on his phone with the bright screen would keep him awake for the next hour. He downloaded that while we were in IGA. The house and dogs are quiet, so maybe he will sleep while I finally get some work done!

Another client called me wanting to check I was still in business! He was not sure my email would still be current. I told him I would always keep it and he could always mark the email with the prompt to get me to acknowledge receipt of the email then I would definitely do so.

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*Read the label and check with your doctor if it is alright for you as some people may be adversely affected if they have had stomach ulcers.