Holy smoke, what have I done to deserve the long list of faulty products I’m getting? The latest is the Yamaha tuner I bought a few weeks ago. This is the second one to die on me.

The first one I received from Sydney was dead on arrival, just no power-up at all. I had to re-box it and send it back at a cost of $35 postage and a trip to the post office at Clarkson. I got the postage refunded by PayPal (but only in the form of a credit).

The replacement arrived and things were going well. It powered up and appeared to be working well, except that the remote control didn’t work. I went through a checking procedure and verified it was the remote at fault, so I posted it back to the Sydney shop and asked for a replacement. I still haven’t received one a week later.

But while I was manually tuning and using the buttons on the front, suddenly it seemed to get into a lockout situation and that was that – no sound from the DAB+ digital radio section. Dammit! I tried everything I could think of but nothing worked.

So, first, a completely dead unit, then a faulty remote on the replacement, and finally a faulty tuner itself. It has to go back. This is crazy. I question Yamaha’s quality control. I think this is a firmware problem. The unit is made in China, as just about everything is these days.

This joins the long list of faulty products I’ve had. Three successive faulty capsule coffee makers. A pair of lens adapters that fouled the body of the camera and had to be sent back to HK at a cost of $25, not recovered. A model train loco that was dead on arrival that cost me another $28 in postage to the UK, not recovered. I forget the rest at the moment but there have been other items. I’m gettin’ a bit tired of this. I think a common factor is “Made in China”.

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At last!  This ABC News item: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-10/is-it-time-to-change-the-nil-by-mouth-protocol/6765312 says that doctors are finally coming to realise that starved and dehydrated patients before surgery are not ideal.

I’ve been complaining in hospitals for years that disallowing any water before surgery was making me dehydrated, and lack of any food, specifically carbohydrates i.e. no breakfast allowed, was making me light headed, nervous, grumpy and generally feeling unwell before any operations.

Now they’re rethinking this rule and saying that a high carbohydrate liquid such as apple juice or other specially formulated drink should be OK. It should be given up to 2hrs before the op. At last! I’ve been telling the nurses and doctors that as a diabetic, it is bad that I can’t have some kind of food.

However, although it’s been adopted in the UK and US, this country’s medicos are still dragging their heels. Huh.

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I’ve been watching the Channel 9 program Kings Cross ER, about the emergency department of Kings Cross Hospital in Sydney. Gee it’s good. Very well made.

I compare it with the British made programs of the same type – I think one is called Kings Cross, but it’s in London. There’s also Great Ormond Street, also in London. Our program shits all over the UK ones. It’s far better made. Recommended.

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Another bad night. I was tired at 11pm and fell asleep easily with no Valerian, but I awoke 90 mins later and that was it. I couldn’t get back to sleep all night. I read a bit, rolled over and tried to sleep, and probably did, very lightly for a while, but I was wide awake at 4am and now at 0620am I’m writing this. It just means I’ll have to catch up a bit after breakfast again.

Trouble is, itching. Not rashes or anything serious, just constant little itches that need scratching briefly all over me. All over my face and scalp, on my arms. Scratch one spot and immediately another place needs it, and another and another and on and on. I’m not red raw or anything, it’s just nerves, I think. Difficult.

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The sheer nastiness of this awful Liberal government just goes on and on. Kapitan Rabbott first says we can only take a relatively few Syrian refugees but at the expense of refugees from other parts of the world. Then he sniffs the stink this releases and changes his mind, basking in the praise he gets as if he is such a compassionate bloke.

There is a long, long list of evil acts by this government, ranging from our torture camps on Manus and Nauru, to the terrible attacks on Professor Gillian Triggs, to the stupid joke about rising sea levels on Pacific islands which just shows the couldn’t care less attitude of Dutton and Rabbott. The list is endless. This government MUST be voted out in 12 months’ time. This one of the worst governments we’ve ever had.

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Good result in the footy, ay? Crumbs, I’m not much of a sports fan but to have the Eagles and the Dockers 1 and 2 in the finals, with one of these WA teams a very likely premiership side is quite exciting. I don’t watch the games, but I’m interested in the results. Good stuff.