ONCE MORE AROUND THE BLOCK...THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Puff! Whew!  I’ve just finished my morning exercise.  Every morning and afternoon I run around the block.  Last week I upgraded; expanded, so to speak; which in turn increased the distance I have to cover.  Because my ice block kept melting I replaced it with a Besser Block; now I run around the Besser Block.

I bought two pairs of Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 33 running shoes.  One pair airs while I wear the other pair.  I’m a rebel; my Lorna Jane high performance, active-wear wardrobe is bursting at the seams. Draped over the racks I have trackie dacks in colours of the rainbow, ready for winter’s re-appearance.  Winter is some time off in the future, I know, but I’m hanging out for it; just not on the racks with my dacks. 

A thoughtful, unexpected gesture can change one’s mood within a split second.  And, boy, I could use one of those right now. 

I’ve had no home phone since Friday 9^th December, and was informed Tuesday morning, 13^th December, it won’t be up and working again until 22^nd December.  (Hopefully, the problem whatever it is is fixed then)!   The only strand of hair I had left was yanked out...so now I am bald!

I bit the bullet...altered my standing in the world...I am no longer the Last of the Mohicans...I bought a cheap little, no-frills, no bells, whistles and streams Telstra movile phone.  That is all I need to see me through until my landline phone service problems are fixed.  

Famous last words....

I live alone...I need some kind of phone access.  If I fell and did damage to myself...I need to be able to have a phone service!  No one would ever know if I'd cracked a bone, a hip...or whatever else...and so on....

I received the mobile phone Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morphed into a very long, frustrating, exhausting day...I spent from around 10.15 am through until 6 pm on Telstra 24/7 Support Chats...giving my information and all details of said problem over and over and over and over again, in order to have the mobile activated. 

I “spoke/wrote” with many different people.  And each time before our dialogue I waited on queues....you know how it goes...

One clown, towards late afternoon, after we’d had about 20 minutes of dialogue told me he could no longer “talk” with me because he didn’t believe I was who I said I was. 

I raced off and had a look in the mirror to confirm that it was, in fact me.  By that stage, even I was confused!   However, yes, it was as I suspected....I was me...and I still am me!

I copied and pasted every chat that occurred on Tuesday...and below is the portion where the idiot said he wouldn’t “chat” with me any further.  If he’d been within arm’s length of me he would’ve ended up on the deck...so it was just as well he wasn’t!

Quote:

“LEE  Why can't you proceed??

Dexter

After a careful examination on the account I have confirmed that you are not part of the authorized contacts. We want to continue assisting you. To accomplish this please call 132200 and say 'faults' so we can further continue with the account authentication.

LEE

Who is going to help me?

Dexter

After a careful examination on the account I have confirmed that you are not part of the authorized contacts. We want to continue assisting you. To accomplish this please call 132200 and say 'faults' so we can further continue with the account authentication.

LEE

No one? This is not good enough...not by a mile!

Dexter has disconnected.

LEE has disconnected.  End Quote

That chat with that little chappy made me very unhappy...very angry, to be precise!

Finally, as the time crept closer to 6 pm, my new phone was activated by a very helpful 24/7 Telstra Support fellow.  I thanked him very much and said if he ran into Dexter to give him a good kick up the backside for me!

All went reasonably well until Friday morning when was on a call to a friend...a friend who is not well, and who I call every other day, if not every day to see how he’s getting on.  His situation is the main reason I was frantic not having any phone service.

Matters on the home phone front and the mobile phone front have not gotten any better!

Mid-call with my friend the mobile phone died!  Nothing! Zilch! Nada!

I'm not fond of phones...and I don't make a lot of unnecessary calls; and I hate receiving unnecessary calls; but not having easy, constant access to one I hate more!

So back to the drawing board I went...back onto 24/7 Support Chat...I think by now I’ve spoken to everyone in the Support area of Telstra!!

After much to-ing and fro-ing, checking etc., the conclusion was reached that the mobile was faulty.  I was advised to print out a PDF form...take it with me to the Post Office; and return the phone to Telstra, who hopefully, in turn, will replace the faulty product.   

The situation I’m presently in is I have no phone contact whatsoever...and the status quo could remain until this time in 2017!!!!

Of course, the one strand of hair I had left has disappeared.  I have pulled every last strand out...I am totally bald!!

On the bright side of life...the kindness of strangers came into play....

One such moment happened to me the other day.  I was on the brink of losing my block.  I was teetering on the edge, not of the block, but the threatening brink of my composure. 

Feeling somewhat out of sorts, as you can imagine - everything was getting on my goat, and I don’t even have a goat!  My hip was thoughtlessly playing up and had been for a while.  I couldn’t blame the weather for my hip’s misbehaviour because rain was nowhere near the horizon at the time, nor was it hovering above.  The fact we’d had no rain for ages (and the heat) didn’t help my mood, either. 

It’s beneficial to one’s being to be able to blame something or someone when feeling cranky. 

My grumpy disposition was made worse by a yanked muscle in my side, something that surprised me because I didn’t know I had any muscles to yank! 

Happy days definitely weren’t here again! 

There I was in my local supermarket car park - juggling with and about to drop what I was holding under my arm while ungracefully struggling to open my car door, when, as if by magic, out of nowhere a hand touched my elbow and another reached across to do the deed at which I was failing miserably. 

A mellifluous voice said: “Here!  Let me help you.” 

The stranger’s soothing tone and generosity of spirit caused me to promptly recover my long-lost equilibrium. 

Turning my head I discovered my smiling Sir Galahad was a fine-looking fellow, in his mid-40s, at a wild guess. 

In a day (a couple of weeks) when I’d not been feeling the fittest, brightest, most cheerful star in the galaxy one kind gesture by a total stranger altered everything within a moment. 

I hope karma really does exist.  I probably will never see the thoughtful stranger again, but my wish is for him to be caressed by the positive wings of the “butterfly effect”, which, in turn, will bring only good things his way. His consideration certainly restored my faith in human kindness and human nature.  I bet he is a chip off the old block. His father must be very proud of him; he taught his son well.

When I think of blocks and chips I’m reminded of the first time I cooked potato chips en masse. An exaggeration, but at that endless moment I felt as if I had a thousand, unforgiving, impatient eyes boring into me, and 500 hundred hungry mouths champing at the bit. Late Friday afternoons in a fish and chip shop can be hell over a deep fryer, and as hot, as well; particularly when, within minutes, you also have a nearby restaurant to open for business.   

With a crowd of starving people queuing from Noosaville to Noosa National Park my very first effort at cooking a basket chock-a-block full of potato chips ended up being as dense and solid as a Besser Block. With no time to practice, it was an on-the-spot lesson I learned quickly.  I had no choice. No way was the converging, hungry crowd going away!

PS....By the way...try though I have...my Skype won't work properly for me.  I've uninstalled and reinstalled a couple of times.  I can see and hear the person I contact...but they can't hear me!   Any new growth of hair doesn’t stand a chance at the moment!

Barbecue Potato Chips: Uniformly slice 3 large potatoes (peeled or unpeeled, your choice) lengthwise and about 1/16-inch thick. Put them into bowl of ice water for 30mins; drain; spread out on paper towel to dry. Combine 1tbs chilli powder, 1tbs paprika, 1/2tbs each -sugar, mustard powder, garlic powder and onion powder, 1/2tsp each cayenne, cumin and freshly ground black pepper. Put 2-inch depth veggie oil in deep sauce pan. When hot enough work in batches; fry potatoes until golden and crisp; transfer to lined bowl; season; toss with spices.  

Crispy Crisps: Preheat oven, 200C. Carefully slice 2 med-sweet potatoes into thin 1/8-inch slices; toss in 1tbs olive oil; layer evenly on lined baking sheet; don’t overlap. Bake flipping every 5mins until centres are soft and edges crisp. Remove tray from oven; sprinkle crisps with salt; let sit to cool and crisp. Repeat process with 2 beetroots and 2 Swede turnips. Spicy Nut & Seed Dip for Chips/Crisps: Process until smooth, 2c assorted nuts and seeds, 2 med-tomatoes, 1tbs tamari, 2tsp cayenne, 1tsp turmeric, 4tbs lemon juice and about 1/4c water (if needed). You can vary the herbs and spices to taste. 

Mango –Yoghurt Ice Blocks: Blend until smooth, 2c natural or coconut yoghurt, flesh of 2 large ripe mangoes, 1 small can coconut milk and 1tsp cinnamon. Pour into moulds; stick a paddle pop stick in centre; freeze until set. 

Fruit Smoothie Ice Blocks: Blend strawberries and/or blueberries, 1 banana, 1c orange juice and 1 cup yoghurt until smooth; add honey to taste; pour into moulds; freeze.