I am writing, very frequently, to Dr Mal Washer, Federal MHR for Cowan, the electorate north of me. Michael Keenan, I am ashamed to say, is the member for Stirling which is my electorate.

Doctor Washer is a medical doctor, a GP, and we used to be at Kingswood College, UWA in 1965, at the same time. He graduated as a medico. I was on a different course. Boy, what a different course!

He relies on nurses. He is a member of the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the union hating party, the-no-apology-to-Aborigines party, the anti-refugees boat people, push-’em-back-to-Indonesia party. A Tony Abbott lover.

I forgot to mention – in my dental examination on Monday, they measure the pH of your saliva. Mine measured at 6.2, so it is perfectly true, I have an acid tongue!

It is true, I am one who no longer suffers fools quietly. I’m quite happy to tolerate people who can’t do any better, but when someone, a frequent visitor over many years with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics, continues, despite my repeated requests, to refer to refugees as “illegals”, I get angry. He is in my house when he says it! Yet he will not stop.

So, out!

His comment when all the refugees drowned off the sinking boat a few weeks ago?

“Why do they [the RAN/RAAF/Coastwatch/Dept of Immigration] have to bring them to Perth? Why can’t they take them [the survivors] back to Indonesia?”

I nearly blew my stack with him then, but I wasn’t sure of the answer.

The answer is, (a) because Indonesia won’t take them; (b) because we can’t just fly into Indonesian territory, land and dump refugees; (c) we have the best facilities to treat injured survivors; and (d) because we are Australians! It’s what we do. We are humanitarians.

Not this bastard. He’d be happier if they drowned. I’m referring to Mr Negative from yesterday, a long, long-time “friend”. Why did I put up with him for so long???

Minnie is fine. Here she’s lying on the side with the tumour. Five seconds before I took the shot, she was actually asleep on it, then she lifted her head. She doesn’t seem to feel any pain

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Here’s something you don’t see every day. This is an actual mortgage:

The bank phoned me today to say I can come in and collect the documents. Why? Because my former  equity loan account is now defunct, so the mortgage is discharged and “here are your documents”.

Here’s the discharge:

And here’s the actual Title Deed:

I’ve seen photocopies of this before, including when I bought the house, but this is the actual document and it’s at my right hand right now. Faskinatin’.

I was talking to the branch manager and he said, “Yes, you don’t see these documents very often because, from a few years ago, it’s all electronic now. There are no paper documents.” Wow, those servers better stay up!

Finally, I said I’m a bit nervous about having these documents in my house.

No worries, they will provide a secure envelope in the vault for $25 per year. No problem.

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That’s the good news. The bad news is that I guess I finally cut the ties with a long time “friend” today.

It was such a trivial thing, but he ran away, bolted out the door, rather than view a slide show I’ve made. Why? Because he’s afraid it shows how simple and silly/boring his own slide shows are. He hasn’t seen one iota of my show, he doesn’t even know what it looks like, he just knows he doesn’t want to see it. So he ran away for the second time in five weeks.

I laughed at him.

Why is it better than his shows? He could be doing the same level of show, but he won’t pay for the Pro version of the software. I think it’s because he fears he won’t be able to master it. How bizarre. We’re only talking the difference between $89 and $129! It’s just fear. He has told me he bolts from dentist’s chairs, for example.

This might seem an overreaction on my part, but I assure you this is just another in a long, long line of double dealing, scavenging, stealing from me, scrounging, asking me to feed him and provide him with beer etc, borrowing things and never returning them, etc etc. 

I’m afraid it’s time. Time to slough off the bad friends. He won’t come back except if he wants something from me!

Oh, I forgot to mention — he’s also known as “Mr Negative” by my real estate friend – no matter what I say I’m doing, he says negative things about it. “Home Open on Wednesday”? Nah, waste of time, you won’t get anyone through. “So what am I supposed to do? Refuse the agent’s request to open on Wednesday?!” Shrug of shoulders and weak smile.

Year after year, it’s been the same. No matter what I do or say, it’s the wrong thing. NO MORE!

Sigh.

It’s middday and the Carpet Call storm trooper has just finished up and left. Thank Dog!

I had a dentist appointment at 10am this morning, which if the job had been finished on Friday would not have been a problem. As it turned out, I had to leave that guy alone in my house until I got back at 11:30am. Him alone with Minnie. I was nervous.

When I got home, I heard a coupe of dog barks and found Minnie trapped in a small area between my carport wall and the house. She had wandered in there, as she does, and couldn’t find her way back out again. Why? Because the passageway was blocked by a pile of carpet scraps too big for me to lift out of the way.

I had to leave her while I went inside and sussed the situation.

When I saw the carpet bomber was preparing to leave and was outside near his car, I said, “My dog is trapped here (she had settled down on the brick paving to wait) – can you shift this stuff so I can get her out?”

“Yeah, mate, I’ll get to it in a minute, I’m just finishing up.”

I said, “No, can you move it right now please, I need to get my dog out.”

“Yeah, alright mate”, he says, in a tone as if I’m causing him aggro again!

Then finally, as he’s leaving, I point out the three large rolls of carpet in my laundry.

“What about these?” I say. Meaning, aren’t you going to take these? “No, those are leftovers for you” he says. He’s not taking them away. These are the rolls he left on Friday blocking my toilet door.

I’ve just been around taking photos. He’s left more pieces of nail strip in the passageways, just ready for me to tread on! 

There’s debris on the carpet, and there’s a small bulge in the carpet in one room.

So now, luckily the sun is still shining, but I have to spend the rest of the day moving my furniture back in before it rains tomorrow.

What a BASTARD. What a rotten customer service. CARPET CALL, Balcatta. Stay away from them!

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And the dentist? No decay, but my teeth are very worn down due to Bruxism, teeth grinding. I wonder why I do that???!!!!

A few days ago I wrote about the news item warning of side effects of an anti-depressant called Efexor (compulsive gambling addiction). I knew I’d taken it, but I couldn’t remember when, even though I remember its effects all too well. 

Today I’ve found my diary for May 2003, starting on Efexor. “Anxiety, nausea, stomach upsets, vision difficulty, prostate constriction, difficulty urinating.”  I stuck it out until Thursday 7 August, but had to stop. I can’t believe I went on so long.

I’ve just found the further details of the next anti-depressant drug I was prescribed, the one I wrote about last week. It was 8 August 2003, and the drug I took wasn’t Efexor, it was Edronax.

Guess what I’ve got in my cupboard at this moment? A packet of Edronax, prescribed only a month ago! Luckily, I didn’t start them.

Diary entries: 

Friday 8 August 2003 – started Edronax – UGH! Stomach upset, mild nausea, chills, shivers, back to bed for 1 hour.  Can’t face taking second tablet.

Saturday 9 August: After breakfast, again, UGH! Stomach churning, upset, chills, shivers, woozy.

Later: wobbly, slow.  Second tablet, couldn’t face food or drink.

Rotten night – floods of dreams. COLD feet. Couldn’t get them warm. Woke at 3am and very poor sleep afterwards.

Sunday 10 August: Can’t face tablet this morning. Breakfast OK. Still woozy, tired, headache, stomach upset. Lunch at Meryl’s place.  [This is where I wrote about feeling disembodied, weird, having to drive home.]

3.30pm  took 1x Edronax. UGH! Awful feeling. Tense, stomach upset, anxious, scared. Continued to bed time 9.30pm. Chills, shivers, distress.

Awful sleep, masses of dreams, waking every 1/2 hr to 1 hr, sweating, feet ice cold.

Monday 11 August 2003: work at TVW [how did I do it?]

Effects of Edronax slowly wearing off, but excessive sweating! Even in COLD evening, still sweating.

Tuesday 12 August: poor sleep again but not as bad. It’s wearing off. Sweating still.

3pm: saw Dr W… — Stop for 1 month or more (my suggestion).

Thursday 14 August: Feeling much better.

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So there it was, August 2003, burned into my memory, a week or so of terror and sweating.

And I’ve got a packet of this awful drug at my side right now, prescribed only a month ago!

Is this coincidence or my psychic abilities again? In yesterday’s Weekend West, Saturday 28 July 2012, there was an ad at about page 7:

I am in a state of nervous anxiety right now, Sunday evening 8pm. I have a dentist appointment at 10am tomorrow morning, which is anxiety producing enough.

But that carpet gorilla is due here to finish the job in the morning, and I wonder what I’m in for. I spent a good hour today taking doors off their hinges because I didn’t realise it was up to me to do it. He’ll crap on me if I don’t do it, or charge me $30 per door.

But as well, I’m going to have to leave him here alone in my house while I go to the dentist. F..ck!

I should add that I am feeling so much better that I went out shopping for food (and beer) this afternoon and clean forgot to take my stick. I did everything without it, too. I have felt for some time that the more I use it, the more I lean on it, but my legs are slowly regaining their strength.

Also, I had to reposition the three wardrobe flat packs in the workshop, because the boys had not raised them off the floor where water might damage them. It took me about an hour, shifting 2.1m high panels and doors, sweeping, vacuuming leaves and bringing bricks in to set them on, then lifting them back onto the bricks.

I did it! I was so tired at the end that I needed a sleep, but the point is, I can do it again now. It’s working!

Sometimes I think I’m a lucky, lucky guy. Very often, things just fall my way or I have lucky escapes.

But yesterday, Friday 27 July, I had the worst customer experience day it is possible to imagine!

It was new carpet day. I was looking forward to having a good clean carpet floor right now for the first time in many years (having dogs wrecked my carpet – always dirty).

At 8pm Friday evening and through now, Saturday 2:15pm, ALL my furniture and computer gear (except this laptop on the table) is outside in the cold and dew on the back patio and the job is only half done. I have my table and a few chairs, and nothing else.

The guy complained to me when he arrived and during the day for not having the house TOTALLY 100% cleared of things by the time he arrived at 0845,

I had 95% cleared it when he arrived and the rest was on castors. I assumed I’d be able to just wheel it out of the way as he worked, but in any case, Mike and Troy were due to come and would roll them outside. What’s the problem?

I showed him the rooms as I wanted him to do them in order, lounge and main bedroom already totally 100% cleared. We, Barry and I, had planned to move the wardrobes from one room to another as he did the job.

Oh no, he said I was supposed to have the house 100% cleared and he needed to put down the “clear edges” and wouldn’t be able to do it unless the house was totally cleared. “Clear edges”? Nail strips. I said I had never heard of clear edges and anyway, what was the problem, he could start on two rooms and by the time he was ready, Mike and Troy would have the rest clear.

Well, not good enough and he phoned his boss and complained about me. His boss phoned me and asked why I’m holding him up?

I said I’m not, but I can’t talk now, I’ll call back later. Boy, will I ever.

Barry arrived and talked to him, saying to do as much as possible and we would go out. Barry took me to lunch and tried, successfully, to calm me down.

Then after more aggro, the carpet storm-trooper left at 3pm, job not finished, saying he’ll be back on Monday to finish the job, blaming me for causing him delay.  The implication is that this will cost me extra!

I was sitting out the back among the contents of my house talking to a good friend Peter Dales, who had visited. 

I said, “But where am I going to sleep tonight? My bed is outside!”

The carpet storm-trooper just shrugged and turned and left, at 3pm.

My friend Pete Dales has just retired from a job servicing dentists’ and doctors’ sterilisers. As he said, you never leave a customer in the lurch like that, and especially you don’t knock off at 3pm with the job not finished.

CARPET CALL! NEVER EVER USE THEM! This guy was an aggro bastard. He was abusing me for not doing what he thought I should have done for him. Blaming me for him not being able to finish today.

He left me with all my furniture outside and no bed to sleep on, and loose carpet nail strips in the hallway, on the concrete, nails upwards. I have photos, and Pete Dales at 3pm saw the departure. Pete’s jaw was on the floor. He is my witness. He has been working in a customer service job and as he said, you never leave a customer in the lurch. That’s what happened to me today – this carpet slug left me hung out to dry. Or hung out to dew, actually.

Oh, as well, he left me with three rolls of carpet in the laundry blocking my access to my toilet. As you know, I’m a bit restricted in movement. Too bad, for this guy.

(Pete Dales saw my good friends Mike and Troy arrive and they brought my bed back inside, so I will be able to sleep tonight, but … )

Good old Barry took me out to lunch at Scarborough to calm me down, because I was in a state of nervous anxiety, wondering what this guy was going to do to me.

I’m writing it all down in detail because I’m going to make the biggest complaint in history to Carpet Call and I’m documenting it here. I have photos of it all, of course, and witnesses, four of them. All were appalled.

I can’t say anything yet because the guy has to come back and finish the job on Monday (I’m hoping it doesn’t rain in the next three days!) so I musn’t upset him.

But I was sitting here (outside, of course) almost head in hands all day from this guy.

And now, no TV because it’s all dismantled and outside, and I missed the Olympics Opening!! 

UPDATE: Saturday afternoon – I’ve got TV reception back and am watching the Opening repeated.

Fuck! What did I do to deserve this?

I’m a member of CHOICE on-line and they are running a customer experience campaign at the moment. Guess where Carpet Call are going to be featured?

I can’t say anything until Tuesday but I intend to march in there and say, “YOU BASTARDS!”

They’ve already lost Pete Dales’s business because he needs a carpet job and knows now where NOT to go.

Oh, and this morning I found a 2″ square piece of nail strip on my bathroom floor, nails upwards, just waiting for me to tread on it. Luckily I didn’t. He also left nail strips down the passage as well.

Sigh. I was reallly looking forward to sleeping on my double bed for the first time in over a year last night. Not yet – he hasn’t done that bedroom yet.

PS: I forgot to say – I heard an odd noise last night but couldn’t work out what it was, a whining noise. I found it this morning – he’d knocked the lounge room heater fan on and it was running all night! Not the heater itself, just the fan. But it’s cost me a dollar or two in power.

OMD! Luckily Minnie keeps me calm.