‘Long in the tooth’ refers to the way in which the gums recede revealing more of the tooth. It takes time and indicates age.
Just had some root canal work done and while gently brushing the tooth, the damn thing lifted straight out. This at least gave me the chance to check the quality of Derek’s work. A day without tooth because the ‘Dentist is closed’ and carbon fibres now make up a bionic tooth. Just as well I’ve picked up extra shifts to pay a bionic bill. I’m not complaining. He’s a very good dentist.
I’ve gained some courage in relation to finishing off some building work and my body aches less than it did a week ago. It still hurts and I’ve had a nervous tic in my right eyelid, for a week or so, which I’ve had before - twice - both times when a great deal was required of me over extended time.
The weather is kind - not too hot or cold and the scattering winds have ceased. Knee high blue Iris’s replace the Bluebells. The garden grows.
A ‘daughter dear’ has taken a step to silence the internal critic. Reading and writing is an easy process for me. It isn’t for her and thus she feels inadequate in a way that she can now correct.... because she recognises a genuine cause for her discontent. She’s taking a remedial ‘reading and writing’ course. Sadly, many of those attending are doing so because continued social security benefits depend upon attendance. They’re just going through the motions.
Daughter dear can rise above this shallow approach and I encourage and tease out some of her thoughts.
We had a ‘team meeting’ at work. I don’t loath them but they’re of limited value because we also go through the motions with lots of blah about teamwork but the important issues of competence are just too difficult to deal with.
‘Why don’t you put in a ‘grievance’?’ suggests my ‘new’ network manager when I raise the issue of two co-workers who - by their absence - have contributed greatly to the smooth running of a group home for the disabled.
I did fire off an email to him the following day in which I pointed out that this ‘grievance’ has been raised more times than I care to remember. I have literally painted a house white to draw attention to those suspicious marks which could be vegemite but almost certainly are not. It’s been to no avail.
There are people who are so hardened in their corrupt approach to life that they gravitate into areas in which their laziness - which is what it is - can be hidden. Working with the disabled. It’s despicable.
My second grievance points out that the ‘Department’ itself has failed in its ‘duty of care’ by not supervising the ‘workers’ in any adequate way.
I don’t expect to win friends and I don’t look for battles but sometimes you have to take a stand.
In the meantime, many of the four or five of you who read this live in countries where ‘an ordered life’ is something that you’d dream of. A dentist! Group Homes for the Disabled that often do have the resources to ‘improve quality of life.’! Wow.
Boats loads of refugees who basically want a land in which to ‘live in peace’ arrive. Millions would love to follow. Meanwhile the rivers run dry and I can illustrate what a tired and ancient land is Australia.
Our large hardware store has been cut back into a sandstone cliff. Much of the Blue Mountains is sandstone. What amazes me is that the clean sandstone - unbroken by cracks - rises a sheer thirty feet before the two feet of crumbling dirt which supports the bush above. Large gum trees are anchored in two feet of soil and rock. The roots don’t penetrate the concentrated sandstone. It’s all very fragile.
It’s when life gets hard - which it is for most of us - that you and I are either part of the problem or we choose to diminish that aspect of our existence by becoming part of the solution. This is why I’m so delighted that daughter dear has the clarity of mind to recognise what she needs to do to improve her situation. It’s why I’m a bit disheartened that I need to ‘put in a grievance’ in respect to a man older than I and who ‘should know better.’
‘Enuff of crap’
I’ll need to see if my songs still mean anything before The Clarendon’ next week and I ‘remember’ that life does still have more to offer.