Categories
dry needling courses

From dry needling to true love

courses for dry needlingAs a general practitioner in a private practice, I’m always trying to improve my skills. Well, I always intend on it but then get lazy and comfortable. My secretary, Marina Popopoulous is the real engine behind this business. She’s always pushing me to expand my knowledge. If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t even know what a staph infection was. But anyway, every time she does push me into bigger and better things I moan and groan about it. Like when she booked my my dry needling courses. New Zealand seemed a million miles away, and I really just wanted to spend my weekend relaxing. But then I realised that another professional in my field was going to be there: Dr Tatiana Kristeva, who is not only within the top tier of GPs, but also an exceptional beauty. Needless to say, my initial reluctant transformed into eager excitement.

So I got to the trigger point dry needling course, and there was Tatiana, looking ravishing in her trim suit and stethoscope. I was in love. We started talking, we even studied together, but all the while, I felt that there was something missing. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it…

I left New Zealand and returned to Australia, a little bewildered at why my excursion wasn’t as romantic as it had promised to be. Tatiana seemed really keen. She even invited me back to her hotel for some champagne and strawberries, but i don’t know, it just didn’t feel right to me. When I returned to the office, there was Marina, busily working away, interrupting her jam packed schedule to greet me with a big bear hug. With Mariana in my arms, that’s when I realised that the love of my life was here all along. Who would have thought that it would take leaving home for dry needling courses to bring us together. Ever since that day, Marina and I have been happily engaged. When she books me courses and conferences to go to, I still moan and groan about it. But at least now I know I’m coming home to the loving arms of my fiance.

 

Categories
exterior painters

Getting the roof repainted

roof painters MelbourneMy wife reckons I should get a job. She thinks I’m bored. She sees me peeking out the window spying on the neighbours and she tells me I ought to occupy my time better. She thinks she’s so smart. She always has to be right. What she doesn’t’ understand is that I’m accumulating knowledge. I may spend a lot of time in the vicinity of our humble abode but that doesn’t mean I’m not still learning, improving, growing. For instance, we recently we had to hire the interior painters. Near Melbourne, where we live, the air can alternate from being quite damp to quite dry, which has the effect of damaging your house paint.

Anyway, the painters came around the other day and I watched them while they worked. The did a brisque and faultless job on the walls, and not a drop on the carpet! — so I asked them to come back to do the roof which was looking a rather sorry sight. The missus came back on her lunch break to check up on us, under the pretence that she’d forgotten her lunch a home. She obviously didn’t trust me to supervise the operation. She reckons that busier you are the more you get done, but I reckon slow and steady wins the race. So I’m watching these guys work on the roof. What they did was use this fascinating high pressured hose to get rid of all the dirt, debris and chipped paint from the roof tiles. After that they did some touch ups by checking for renegade nails poking out and misplaced tiles. It was awesome, I reckon these guys are as good interior as they are exterior painters. Melbourne residents must be clamouring for their services.

After hosing down the roof with that miracle hose (wouldn’t mind using it on the kids from time to time) they painted the roof twice. It was brilliant. No mess, no fuss. No ladders in inconvenient places, no getting in the way of our daily lives.I made myself a tuna salad sandwich and came out to watch the show, sprawling my deckchair onto the front lawn.

Categories
accommodation

A Hotel, Prime Beach Property

great ocean road accommodationI’ve known since I was six years old that I wanted to run my own restaurant. I think it stemmed from my desire to be the manager of something, since even at that tender age I was chafing under the authority of my parents and I desperately wanted to be the boss. And if I was the boss of a hotel, then I would be the boss of everyone in it. And it wasn’t like being the boss of a restaurant, which has people in it sometimes and not other times. No, a hotel is always full of people, so I’d control all of them, and send them off to bed when I like!

Of course, that dream has matured somewhat, but I’d still love to manage a hotel, or at least some beach apartments. Somewhere in Lorne perhaps…lovely beach accommodation, not too bustling, unlike Sorrento in the summer. You’d have to have some serious chops to manage something out there in the rush months. My only experience comes from having watched the entire series of Salty Towers, which is really no experience at all, so I’m betting there are some courses I can do to learn how it all works. I’d expect there’s an entire elective on how to multitask, since hotel management sounds like a minefield of forgotten tasks and employees running this way and that, doing whatever they please in forgotten corners. Or maybe I’m just letting my enjoyment of Salty Towers colour my actual expectations. There’s still plenty to deal with, however.

If I went the beach apartment route, perhaps that’d be best for a beginner. I’d still be looking for a course to manage all the finances and such, but I really think I could start off with just that. People come along and just live in apartments like they would normally. No room service or front desk, just online and phone bookings. Maybe I should take a trip down to the Great Ocean Road and see the accommodation, ask people what’s involved. I really feel like I ready to make the step into business.

-Laura

Categories
Beauty courses

One proud daughter over here

beauty courseI am so proud of my mum, you guys. She’s just been through so much and she’s doing so well, it’s absolutely heartwarming. She’s such an inspiration, and for that, I’d love to share her story with you all here today.

When I was two, my daddy died in a car crash. He was driving home from work out in the country late one night and must have swerved for some reason because his car veered off the side of the road and hit a tree. He was killed instantly, the police report I was given when I was much, much older said. So mum was left to take care of me on her own. All her family is in America, and she could have easily run home back to them, but she chose to stay here. So she worked three jobs she hated to have enough money to send me off to school, but now that’s finished, I’m glad she realises it’s finally time she do something for herself.

Ever since I can remember, mum has wanted to work as a beautician. I know, it’s a bit of an odd career choice to pluck from thin air, but hey, it’s her dream not mine. But of course, to work as a beautician, you need to have a diploma of beauty therapy. Melbourne has a lot of amazing beauty therapy schools, that was never the problem. The fact of the matter is, well, was, that mum could never afford to do both. But with me to help out around the house, now, she finally can. So she enrolled in one of the best beauty courses in the country for next semester and, of course, got in. She’s finally decided her dreams are worth it and has made the commitment to follow the. You can see why I’m so proud, right? Go mum!

Categories
Legal

Planning My Will Around the Dregs

estate lawyersMy relatives flit in and out of my good graces so quickly, they’ve probably racked up some kind of frequent flyer miles by now. I thought my youngest daughter was ahead of the pack until Monday, when her card was the last one to arrive in the mail for the anniversary of my deceased wife. They all know NEVER to forget of course, but she obviously took her time with the postage. Any later and she’d have missed it by a day! If Melbourne writers of last wills and testaments weren’t so frequent around the home, I’d be in such a bit of strife. After all, this is basic stuff, and if they can’t keep up then they should get out of the frying pan. Is that the phrase? And into the fire…I suppose it works. The fire of my wrath, while the frying pan is a metaphor. They’re all dancing sausages, spitting and hissing at each other while they vy for my approval. And I’m the chef, turning them over to see if they’re properly cooked…or just pink in the middle, deceiving me so that I get some kind of food poisoning!

That last bit is particularly apt. They might think they’ve put me up in a really nice nursing home, but the food they serve is far too predictable. Mash every Wednesday, fish and chips every Friday night, and one time they just served mash with mincemeat inside and called it ‘hash’. I don’t care if it’s doused in lobster sauce, it’s still just a recycled meal!

Anyway…I have some efficient Melbourne lawyers who know estate planning and succession, at least. They’ll let me know if I need to make revision, or how to slice a person out, or put them back in, or how to slice them out THEN put them back in but in a way that makes them think that they’re out for good. That way I get to see how they react, and adjust accordingly…

Categories
podiatry

Obscure foot conditions

podiatrist

I’m one of those people who’s always getting sick. It’s just one thing after the other. It’s gone beyond the point of being annoying now, it’s just become a joke. The worst thing is that on top of your run of the mill illnesses that I get more frequently than most, is that I also tend to get obscure ailments as well, that no mere mortal doctors can help me with. For example, last month I has something up with my gut and the poor GP, who was dumbstruck, had to send me off to the gastroenterologist.

Now there’s something up with my foot and so I’m looking into podiatry. In Cheltenham, where I live, there are a couple of shops I can visit with podiatrists working there. I need to make an appointment with a professional because my home remedies aren’t working. I thought it was sprained at first so I wrapped it in a bandage. I’ve had a sprain before though and this one feels different so I’m thinking maybe it’s into a sprain. I’m hoping it isn’t something more insidious. I’m hoping that at the very least it isn’t worse than getting an ingrown toenail.

My girlfriend reckons that I’m probably going to need some Orthotics. Near Cheltenham, the podiatrists that I mentioned specialise in these, so if I do need orthotics (which I’m hoping that I don’t) they’ll be able to help me with that. I have my fingers crossed that my feet will be back to normal soon.

One of the worst things about getting sick all the time, is the build up of medical expenses. This is especially true when GPs can’t treat you and you need to see specialists because specialists are generally not bulk billing, and on the rare occasion that you can get a medicare rebate, it’s just usually just a fraction of an enormous bill.

Categories
signage

Signs for our new shop

My husband and I are starting a chocolaterie. It’s been our lifelong dream and we finally have enough money to make it happen. We’re actually in our late fifties and we’ve worked hard our whole lives, me as a nurse, hubbie as a construction worker. We always wanted to create the business signs to carry us into retirement. It was a romantic dream that we imagined as an old fashioned family business, like a French sweet shop from the thirties. We thought it would be a lovely way to grow old, making chocolate and putting smiles on kids’ faces.

We had to do everything from purchasing the hop to hiring the sign writers. Melbourne is a big city and there’s plenty of business for a quaint chocolate shop like the one we wanted to create. We bought a combined shopfront with a house attached to the back. This is exactly what we wanted for our lifestyle, to be close to work. The area is ideal, it’s in the city in an arcade with some other sweet shops and artisanal stores that sell beautiful hand crafted products. We want our chocolate to be both delicious and aesthetically pleasing, top of the line and based on ancient French recipes inherited from my husband’s grandmother.

Next step was getting the business signs. Melbourne, being such a big city, is bursting with signs and ads, it’s really a bombardment of the senses. That’s why it’s important for us to stand out. We need to get an A frame sign for the front of the shop. I think this is particularly old fashioned and nostalgic. We also need the sign companies to create window frosting with our distinctive shop name design. I haven’t thought about the design aspects too much yet but when we do hire the signwriter, I’ll ask them to create the right atmosphere: family values, delicious chocolate, and geared towards the kids.

Categories
fridge repairs

Macabre fridge repairs

fridge repairs

Like many artistes I don’t make a helluva lot of money. That’s why I like to make large purchases second hand, especially when it comes to furniture and white goods. You can save a lot of money by getting pre-loved items to furnish your house with. Well recently I bought a second hand fridge. Fridges cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars when you buy them new, but I guess many people don’t want second hand fridges and they go pretty cheaply.

You get what you pay for really, because a lot of the time they’re in need of fridge repairs. In Sydney, where we live, you can find a tonne of cheap fridges but there’s usually something wrong with them, like the light doesn’t work or they smell like three-week-old fish n chips. The last one I owned was so dang noisy I couldn’t sleep at night. My hair was falling out and everything. I’d use earplugs and even knock myself out with a vanilla vodka night cap, to no avail. Eventually I got the damn thing repaired, which set me back a bit but was cheaper than a new fridge at least. That was years ago. My latest buy has a whole new set of problems…

The dang thing dates back to the seventies, so the broken freezer goes into overdrive. I might have go get my oven repairs in Sydney while I’m at it, cos that thing needs a maintenance too.

I know I should have purchased a more recent model but I couldn’t help myself. When I saw the thing going for sale on an online auction I just had to have it. The previous owner claims it once belonged to Jeffrey Dahmer. You can still see the stains where putrefaction once dripped from the decapitated heads of his victims. The stink has long gone and it’s been sterilized, now it’s just a bloody macabre piece of memorabilia from one of history’s greatest horrors.

Categories
folding platform step

Folding platforms are not ladders

custom platforms

People say that sailors are superstitious, you should try factory workers. I work at a rubber factory and boy are these guys superstitious. The guys always wash their hands three times when they’re off the clock and on their way home, and one guy even carries around a lucky rabbit’s tail. Me, I don’t believe in any of that stuff. But they’re trying to persuade me.

The other day I walked beneath a kind of folding platform step that gets wheeled around the factory. It basically looks like a big portable ladder but it’s more sophisticated and more suited to factory work. Anyway, after I walked through that, the boys just just dropped what they were doing and gawked at me. Seriously it was like a ghost had passed through the office. They had this look of horror on all of their faces. I go, “Oh, come on, boys. Seriously?”

They go, “You just walked under a ladder!”

I go, it’s not a ladder, it’s an aluminium folding platform, for crying out loud! It’s one of the custom design platforms.”

They wouldn’t have  bar of it. After that, it was like I had the plague. None of them would get eart me,. ?They were convinces that Something was going to fall on me and if they came anywhere close they’d get crushed too. I was cursed. I saw more charms appear around the factory, horseshoes over the front roller door, and more of those rabbit tails. People were throwing salt at me, it was nuts. I’d just about had enough of it by that stage, when one day I was walking straight up to work , just outside the property along the footpath when I spotted something on the floor. I knew what it was but walked up to it casually. First I waved to the guys who were loitering out the front having a ciggie, then I approached the thing I’d spotted on the footpath, bent over and picked it up. I held up a fifty dollar bill and held it up to them. Their instant shock melted into a cheer. I was no longer cursed and worklife could move on.  

Categories
buyers advocacy

Buyers advocates for rich ladies

house buying

Word of mouth is the best advertising you could ever hope for. When my sister was buying properties during her thirties, she tried a few different buyers agency until she settled on one that she really liked and stuck with. Ever since then, she’s recommended them to literally everyone she comes in contact with. Seriously, she’ll bring it up when it’s not even relevant — like if she bumps into an old acquaintance or at children’s birthday parties. She’s just nuts about them. It’s no wonder because they helped her buy her dream home and they also made her a lot of money. So when it came time for me to choose a buyers advocate around Melbourne, well I felt compelled to choose my sister’s one.

It’s no wonder good old Sis used to rave about these guys cos they really helped me out a lot. I landed myself the perfect property. It’s a big white mansion with roman pillars in the front that used to belong to a famous mafia guy in Melbourne. It’s in a really rich suburb surrounded by other mansions. Sometimes, young people come from poorer suburbs to collect junk off the side of the street when hard rubbish time rolls around. But I call the police on them cos it’s illegal. The police would ordinarily be way too busy to bother coming for such a trivial matter when people around Melbourne are getting stabbed and having domestics, but as soon as I mention the suburb that I’m in they come instantly. That’s what privilege gets you!

The buyers advocates in Melbourne CBD are really the ones to thank for my getting the chance to live in this great place and to send my children to a fancy school. Jenna has a learning disability but I expect she’ll be a precocious youngster by the time she gets to grade six and then I’ll send her to a grammar school.