Monday, January 28, 2002
I have put off writing this inevitable entry for days. Jacquie passed away on the 24.1.2002 at approximately 7:30pm. I don't know what else to say.
Proclaimed Happygrub 9:48 PM
Thursday, January 24, 2002
There always seems to be a stark antithesis between the entries that I post and the bright colours and "happy grub" on this page. Never more so than today however. I was working at my casual job at Kmart, helping to complete the monotonous task of stocktake. I was then told the news, news that makes you feel pretty bad for whinging about having to do stocktake...Jacquie, our 17 year old collegue, bright, bubbly and always happy - was lying in a coma. She had called in sick to work as she had a bad headache that she assumed was a migraine. Later in the night she began to vomit violently, started shaking and then could not move at all. Her family rushed her to hospital where she slipped into a coma.
Jacquie has a blood clot on the brain and is not expected to live. Jacquie, who never has a bad thing to say of anyone, who thinks the best of people to the point of naivety. The girl who is looking forward to starting year 12, getting her learner's driving license, who was playfully complaining the last time I saw her that she had just turned 17 and had still never been kissed. The girl who never walks, but bounces from place to place. She has an energy and enthusiasm for life like no one else I know.
I just had to go back and change the last paragraph from past to present tense. Its so hard to try to retain hope while the nurses are so blunt: "She is not doing very well; she is not expected to pull out of it."
We left work early today and got permission to visit her in intensive care. Her hair was shaved off, and she was hooked up to an overwhelming number of machines that are essentially living for her. It was such a shock to see someone who was always so incredibly animated lying there, so quiet and so still. All I could think as I spoke to her was that this could very well be the last time I ever see her. They are testing for brain activity tomorrow, and if they are unable to detect it they will be turning the life support system off.
I find it so difficult to comprehend the fact that all of the life, personality, soul...essential being of a person is contained, well, can only be expressed to us through a fragile body of flesh and bone. We rely on it to function and take for granted the fact that it does. Seeing her lying there silently allowed me to see past her spirit and all that is essentially Jacqueline, and realise that within her body there exists a blood clot, just underneath where her head was shaved, which caused her body to shut down and threatens to snatch her soul away and take it somewhere else where we cannot get to it, at least for now. At death we are just a body. The hands we held of the people we loved, the eyes we looked deep into, the larynx producing the voice that we heard...is no more than flesh and bone. It is so difficult to fathom the fact that all of that which a person is, is contained within this vessel, and that this is all that is left behind when we are gone. We are all so vunerable.
I guess I shouldnt write of death while I write of Jacquie, as her fight for life continues. It is just that it is never far from our minds now. All we can do is cling to the hope that she is one of those people you hear about - in a coma, not expected to live, who miraculously pulls through much to the amazement of the doctors. But as I said, it is so hard to retain this hope.
Proclaimed Happygrub 12:02 AM
Wednesday, December 05, 2001
Our world became a little darker on the day that George Harrison died. The song "Something" always brought a tear to my eye because it is so beautiful, and now it will for a much sadder reason.
John Lennon died right near the day of my birth, and George died on my 21st birthday. Even though it has been 21 years since they have seen each other, I hope that it is like they never were apart. Eventually all of the Beatles will be reunited and will rock on for all time. That would make Heaven an even more wonderful place to be. Rest in Peace George Harrison.
DON'T SMOKE!!!
Proclaimed Happygrub 12:49 AM
Wednesday, September 05, 2001
Two rival pizza restaurants had again managed to rope their poor employees into being plonked on the side of a road, wearing a sandwich board advertising the specials. One restaurant must have decided to send a worker out and the other, not wanting to be outdone, sent one of their unfortunate workers out. They were both stuck on a corner, right across the road from each other. Just standing there, perfectly aware that the other was there but trying not to look at them. Quite funny really. I WANT TO SEE THEM FIGHT. Even yelling, "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" out of my car window doesn't rile them up enough to engage in combat. If they had fought, we could have REALLY found out who the best and most dedicated employee was. What better way to show your employer that you care than to beat the hell out of the rival sandwich board guy. It would probably increase their business, and would be gosh darn entertaining for the rest of us too.
Proclaimed Happygrub 11:40 PM
Monday, August 20, 2001
First off, I would just like to thank those who got back to me on the dropping of the soap issue. There was an overwhelming response (okay...two people) who led me to consider some consequences of dropping soap that I had forgotten about. But they are still very important points.
The first that was brought to my attention concerns the action of bending down to pick up the soap. Often upon doing this, the less experienced soap picker-upper-person (this is a scientific term...derived from the Latin "Soapus Pickerus Upperus") will find that they may accidently misjudge the angle of their bend. This may result in the buttocks receiving a shock as it touches the cold tiles of the shower. If the unfortunate person has already picked up the soap, they may drop it again and have to repeat the action. It is advised that they are more careful this time.
The second consequence really struck a chord with me as I have experienced this in the past. You know how sometimes you accidently bump the hot or cold water tap when you are retrieving the soap? You then freeze or get scalded. Sometimes when you bump a part of the shower, such as the afore mentioned tap handles you can even experience physical pain, especially if you manage to hit the funny-bone area.
I think I have covered most aspects of soap dropping and retrieval. I am now bored with this issue. I have to think of something else to babble about. That or I could get a life...
Proclaimed Happygrub 4:52 PM
Wednesday, August 08, 2001
Last night I dropped the soap in the shower. Three times! If there is one thing I (and most people that I am aware of) hate, it is dropping the soap. There are four main reasons why I personally hate dropping the soap:
a) It can hit you (usually on the foot) on the way down. This can hurt.
b) You have to bend down to get it, which is just an inconvenience.
c) Sometimes when you pick it up, it is a little bit grimy, which is gross.
d) The soap is then disfigured for many showers to come.
I think I should make a web poll in order to determine which of the above is most irritating to the general population of the world
I will never get around to creating a web poll so if you have a particularly strong idea or opinion regarding this important issue, please email me at [email protected]
Proclaimed Happygrub 3:13 PM
Tuesday, August 07, 2001
The 5th of August would have been my dog Sandy's 13th birthday, but we had her put to sleep on the 25th of February this year. (Same day as Sir Donald Bradman died) We actually made the choice to end her life, and it is the hardest choice to make. She was a large (beautiful) red Australian cattle dog and was rather old, especially for a dog of her size. The Sunday morning it happened, she wasn't well at all, unable to take the summer heat. Being that it was a Sunday, nobody was really available to help us, so we had to wait for hours for a pet taxi. By the afternoon she seemed a lot better, which made it so much harder. She was so excited when they put her on a lead - she thought she was going for a walk. She trusted us. We couldn't even be with her when it happened. She was with strangers. I wonder if she still would have been with us today. I wonder if we made the right decision. I hope so. R.I.P. Sandy xoxo
Proclaimed Happygrub 3:46 PM
|
|
|
