Long time; no blog

It's been a long time since I've published anything.

I've probably covered off some of these life events in previous posts, but it's been a rather disjointed few years.

Stay tuned for a disjointed update.

Including:

• Replacement Transpacific cruise
• Cruise cancelled by a wee pandemic
• Cancer diagnosis
• Living with an ileostomy
• Cruising with an ileostomy
• Ileostomy reversal & recovery.
• etc

Geez, how'd that happen? UPDATE

 Following on from the previous post, here's an update on what's happened since.

May 2021:

Both chemotherapy & radiation therapy conveniently ended in the last week of May. The wait for next steps began.

June 2021:

The fatigue was too much at time. Very short work days as the effect of both treatment slowly eked their way out of my body.

July 2021:

Surgery confirmed for August. Quick trip home to visit mum & sister at end of July.

August 2021:

The joy of bowel prep (not as bad as for the colonoscopy) in readiness for being put to sleep on a table for a while.

Woke up mild delirious, unknown if I proposed to doctors or nurses, but aware my anesthetist owes me a very large Bacardi & Coke. That collect ain't gonna happen for some time.

Also woke up to catheter & ileostomy bag. Mild shock to the system. Expected the first as part the operation, & warned about the second. Took a couple of days to find my feet, & the joy of having a pee was a welcome relief.

Discharged a week later. Nurse wanted me in for another nigh, but overruled by doctors who thought home was best.

To cap it off New Zealand gets first cases of COVID-19 Delta strain and whole country goes into various stages of lockdown.

Off work for the rest of August with series of home visits to slowly learn the process of changing the bag. Highly frustrating time.

September 2021:

Back to work (from home) on hours I can. A very generous & understanding employer. 

Home nurse visits & education continued. Also big learnings in regard to what food to eat, what to limit, and steps to take when things take a wild turn; bags of fun. Managed to do first solo bag change towards the end of the month and have continued since then.

COVID-19 Delta strain lockdown levels adjusted depending on serious of community transmission in region of country.

Appoint with the chemotherapy oncologist also recommendation a new longer course of chemo; same drugs as before, but with added 3-weekly infusion at hospital, that plus added anti-nausea medication. 4 rounds of this will take me up to Christmas, so no firm plans made for this festivus.

October 2021:

First social outing in over two month. Slow walk to local pub, only one wine consumed, but a meat pack won. That some foods for the week or two sorted.

First actual sit-down not-at-home dining out. Pancakes & bacon; also a learning experience.

New round of chemo starts Tuesday the 5th. 2 weeks of treatment & one week off. 2 weeks of being less than social & hopefully much of the rest week to build up to being a bit more normal. Then repeat another three times. Due to the potential immunity reducing side-effects of treatment I'll be working from home for another 3 months.

Hopefully 2022 will have my insides back from the outside into my insides & life will be a bit more normal.

Geez, how'd that happen?

 So if you read the last blog (thanks whoever did) or read my tweets, you'll have found out that I've been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Here's the shortened version of the <cough> "journey" (apparently that word isn't the best descriptor):

Warning: There will be words & waffle.

Oct 2018:

Went to my usual medical practise, (but couldn't see the usual GP) because of a bit of blood in the poos. Had the finger (med, it's not that bad), sent away for blood tests (nothing unusual found), and told to monitor. The blood where it's not wanted disappeared.

Oct 2020:

Went to my doctor because blood was back. Another finger, more blood tests, and a referral to specialist.

Jan 2021:

Specialist referral received. Yep, unless you go private, things move slow on the public list.

Feb 2021: Here's where the shit get's more real

Went in expecting a sigmoidoscopy; that's a small camera into where the sun don't shine. A bigger finger later, and specialist recommends a colonoscopy.

March 2021:

Colonoscopy through public healthcare. A very interesting watch, totally recommended for those not squeamish about what goes on in their insides. Unfortunately the nurse who usually gives out the results and counselling wasn't available so the doctor who did the camera came up with "You've got cancer" & here's the report, & you'll be got in contact with. Wow, fuck you mate.

Contacted by the more sympathetic nurse, & given a far better lowdown of what's to come.

Just of a week later a CT scan of chest, abdomen, & pelvis to confirm where cancer was and if it had spread. Plus an iron infusion for good luck.

 A couple of days later, a MRI scan to check the local area & surrounding bowel. Then back to the specialist for quick look at results. Confirmed size, location, and possible treatment options.

A couple of days later, got the news. Due to catching the cancer early on it's not the aggressive short-term treatment, but the longer 6 week combination of daily chemo tablets & radiation therapies.

Late March, met with the Chemotherapy Oncologist. An excellent doctor who explain the therapies very clearly, wanted to get me started ASAP, but had to wait until his colleague had seen me.

April 2021:

Seen by the Radiation Oncologist. Again covered what I'd already heard, but explained more about that side of the treatment.

Couple of days later in for another localised CT scan, & body tattoo dot to help the lasers align.

Home visit by a community nurse. Another well spoken professional.

20th it all starts. First radiation treatment, but without chemo (prescription in hand). No side effects, but warned that effects of both treatments will be accumulative. Took the first dose of chemo drugs that night.

Late April the brain fade & nausea is becoming a thing. More tablets to try to combat that. Nausea is easy, the brain fade not so. Brain fade possibly also due to a lack of liquid before taking chemo tablets; so daily diet/intake adjusted.

May 2021:

The pains & fatigue are intensifying. Paracetamol is all I'm allowed due to interaction of other painkiller with other drugs I'm on.

Last Wednesday was the first day I couldn't cope with work. Fatigue & tiredness hit me within an hour of starting & soon sent "home" (already working from home).

Survived a very satisfying day in the actual office. Great uplifting banter from colleagues that I'd not physically seen for many months.

But that level of intensity totally me for Friday, & stayed at "home" again. Hoped the weekend would see me better.

Nope, despite a trip into town for a nice steak, any form of physical activity just added more fatigue & tiredness. Tried curling up to sleep, but brain not obeying body.

Today, Monday, just like Friday. My brain just hasn't wanted me to be a function human being until I started writing this. It's only down here now because of solid concentration on one task; feel free to point out spelling/grammar errors after you read.

So there it is. The story so far. I'm roughly half-way the treatments & I just really kinda thinking of packing it in workwise until it's all over an done with. People to talk to about that, & decisions to be made.

Apologies for waffling on. Feel free to comment.

Hopefully, to be continued.

That was a year 2020/2021

Nothing much has happened over the last year, so here's a summary.
No dates, but trying to be in roughly chronological order.

• Measles panic started hitting the world. One of the stops on our planned trans-Pacific cruise got rerouted
• COVID-19 corona virus struck another blow, and things really started fall apart.
• Ship, Ruby Princess, we were on for the planned for Apr/May 2020 cruise got quarantined in Australia.
• Lockdown came into full effect in New Zealand. Cruise got cancelled, but could work from home.
• Fun and games with travel refunds.
• The quickest refund was for a non-refundable hotel room. Thanks Accor, & sorry that the hotel we'd have stayed in is now a inbound traveller quarantine facility.
• The cruise refund became messy. It processed as a credit rather than refund. We were told it could take up to 3 months to correct. Accepted the credit as we'd be able to use that on a later cruise.
• The refund for flights is effectively impossible, because of booking through a travel agent. It may be the traveller's names on the ticket, but because they didn't pay the carrier they're not eligible for the direct refund.
• Plodded along working from home until the levels of lockdown became more relaxed. The biggest thing that became available at next level was takeaways. Far better than cooking or reheating at home every night.
• We then got to a more social level, and could actually eat in restaurant & pubs. All very socially distanced and had to be in & out in 2 hours. Still a number of covidiots couldn't comprehend that.
• Yay, we were one of the first countries in the world to "eliminate" community spread of this bug. The doors were more open, & we could hug others again. We could travel internationally out, but coming back you'd have to pay while you sat out 2 weeks of managed isolation.
• Not feeling to well. So went to the doctor. Men, here's the reminder to get the finger. Uncomfortable as it is, it's an indicator of what's going on up there. Got referred to be put on the list for further examination.
• Managed to visit family over Christmas/New Year break. Starting to use the flight credits.
• Went to a retrospective presentation of Van Gogh's work (sat through two sessions to get money's worth), then had an enormous "bottomless" yum char style lunch. Didn't at for nearly a day after.
• Got in to see a specialist, with very quick referral for a deeper inspection.
• Would have been on another cruise to celebrate my sister's birthday, but again that didn't happen. Fortunately only $2 lost on that.
• Had a camera where the sun don't shine. The doctor that performed the procedure couldn't find the appropriate nurse, so blunted it out with "You've got cancer". Thanks Mr medical professional. Stunned. Fortunately the nurse called me a couple of days later to go the results I'd been given. (Let's talk about this in another blog.)
• Used up some more of the flight credit to celebrate sister's birthday closer to home home. Broke the last bullet-point news to Mum & sister. Went as well as can be expected.

So, it's been an eventful time since the last blog entry.

There'll be another entry soon hopefully with the gory details of my diagnosis & upcoming treatment, but just a reminder now that if your body isn't acting as though you normally think it should then do take it to your GP.

Let's try that again...

After a few months of recovery we're ready to try that cruise again. This time in reverse from Auckland, across the Pacific Ocean, and back to Vancouver over the course of April/May 2020.

Hopefully no medical emergencies this time!

It didn't happen...

Unfortunately my partner suffered a knee ligament injury at the start of our journey to meet the Ruby Princess in Vancouver & sail south.

Despite the original hospital taking x-rays & confirming no breaks, three days of hobbling on crutches led to our travel insurer to advise we should not board the boat & re-present to hospital to scan for any blood clots.

Nothing there, but Dr #2 advised safe to fly home ASAP.

After night in Vancouver another 12hr flight (arriving 4:30am) we're now waiting for a final flight home (2:30pm).

To make it worse, one of our bags were mistakenly uplifted with the owners identical brand/colour left on the conveyor belt. By the time they'd answered their phone, they were already 1 & 1/2hrs away.
Luckily, once alerted they got the bag to their local airport to be sent back for where they'd uplifted. It's in our favour because our airline won't forward their bag, until we receive & confirm ours.

Overall a week of disaster after another, & bad diet due to limited mobility.

Hopefully insurance will cover most of what cruise fares we lost & additional unexpected costs.

We'll try again once all better...

In the meanwhile, here's our first experience of Vancouver transport. Big up to all the medicos we encountered there.

It's happened again...

For all my readers, all one or two of you, it's happened again.

1) Job Change
Apparently I must mean something to someone, because they wanted me ASAP. I couldn't even get a week off from leaving old role into new one. Finished on a Friday, and started the following Monday.

Fortunately the skills I've acquired over the last 4-ish years have got me up to a reasonable canter in the new job.

Big pluses, so far, is no more not getting paid for >40hr week efforts, and far more supportive colleagues/management so far.


2) Another Cruise
Still across the Pacific, but this time from Vancouver to Auckland. 

This was booked in March, asked about in the new role interview, and not an issue. The only problem for me will be negative leave when I get back.

New places to visit, experience and photograph. Better & cheaper internet so less reliance on free wi-fi, and more frequent food pics to torment readers with.

Hopefully not so long between entries next time.

It's Christmas and it's happening again...

Another Christmas and again we're off on another cruise around the south-west pacific.

This time next week my partner & I will be very near boarding on 2 weeks out of Sydney, first stop New Caledonia, port hopping around Fiji, & back to Sydney.

The good thing about cruising at holiday time is that the boat ain't full of OAPs waiting to pop their corks or looking for a senior fling.

The bad thing is that there's plenty of families & their offspring.
Gone are the days when you could actually bring the bad behaviour to the attention of the parents, & a clip around the ears would resolve the issue. Now days imps can literally get away with murder because touching them will be a breach of universal law. Actions don't matter & consequences of bad actions ain't a thing to these entitled little toads.

Anyways, hopefully it'll be a fair & fun time full of new experiences, and a break to relax from an interesting work year.

Happy holidays to all. If you're not holidaying then make the most of whatever you're planning to do.

Nearly a year since last post...

and nothing much has changed apart from every workmate in my team over the last nearly 4 years.

This will be a ramble of mixed words, experiences & whatevers over that time.

4 years. After choosing to change from the easy stuff that would come to an end to got to the hard stuff which just about killed my brain I've actually survived 4 years. FFS.


I've been pretty much stagnant since the last blog because I've put too much effort into doing work to my own perfectionist standards & not enough into the rest of life. I literally cannot think of what I've achieved in both work & home place over that time.

The short sharp learning lesson is that you can't please all of the people of the time & when you do apparently your efforts are not always appreciated. Aim to be average unless you can constantly be outstanding.


Your are your ruler of your destiny & life is what you make of it.
Surround yourself with situations & people you want to bring goodness to you life, BUT do not be afraid to ask for help.


Enough waffle. Eff knows how long I'll leave this up after I post it.

Older, unfitter & older, but...

Workplace bullying has led me to purchase a Fitbit.

The best thing about it is it's a new toy that'll keep my mind occupied away my age & general unfit state.

The worst thing is, apart from an admission of my age & general unfit state, is setting it up. Who needs to use all the features on a smart phone the you don't normally use for real life?

Anyways, here's to an unreal expectations of 10,000 steps a day & cursing a thing on my wrist where there's been nothing there for nearly five years.

This may be my last blog if I don't meet the demands of my new fitness assistant.
If it isn't, then perhaps my mindset changed & I'm living better...

Now, time for a chocolate & energy drink laden breakfast. I might as well go out with a bang.



Oh... & by the way, we went on another cruise. Starting to not mind them too much to do a second.

Long time, No post

As the title says, it's been a long time between figurative drinks.

It's been a hectic time the last year.

• Changes at work.
• Death of a parent.
• Support from an unexpected place.
• Sorting with all the bits of cleaning up an empty house.
• And an upcoming cruise to bypass part of the New Zealand spring.

Nothing special to say, other that point two makes you think who's going to be affected when you pass.

Fortunately my father seemed to know his time was near. He'd sorted his finances & his will was simple - 2 children get half each.
He was also a meticulous and organised hoarder. There was a manual for every power tool & everything was in it's place. That was a great benefit when we had a garage sale; you bought a power drill you got the tool, the case & the instructions.
On the opposite side, there was several trailerloads that brutally went straight to tip or recycling.

He was a quiet unassuming man who did a lot for the local community.

Sorting through his emails there was so much he did, via the resources of the local Menz Shed, that I'd ever known.

I couldn't speak at his service, because I didn't have the words. Best left to his brother & a nephew.

This is the first time I've written about him since his passing.

Thanks to all those who've supported my sister & I through the process. Even to the executor & real estate agent who did the jobs, but never made it feel like a sad process.

There were a few hindrances & unexpected roadblocks, but those events are best left.

Another year of challenges ahead.

Christmas (and New Years) on a boat - Review

Recap: So this year for Christmas we decided to escape the usual rotation and set sail from Sydney on the Dawn Princess around Vanuatu & New Caledonia.

Looking back at what we did it was a little like but a bit shorter than the original itinerary it was meant to be:


Day 1: Sydney (Depart)
5: Vila, Vanuatu
6: Wala, Vanuatu
7: Luganville, Vanuatu
8: Mystery Island, Vanuatu
9: Lifou, New Celadonia
10: Noumea, New Caledonia
11: Isle of Pines, New Caledonia
14: Sydney (Return)

In reality it was:
1: Sydney (Depart)
5: Champagne Bay, Vanuatu
6: Champagne Bay, Vanuatu
7: Vila, Vanuatu
8: Mystery Island, Vanuatu
9: Lifou, New Celadonia
10: Noumea, New Caledonia

14: Sydney (Return)

Wala & Luganville were cancelled due to issues with docking facilites still not ready after cyclone damage. No explanation was given to the disappearance of the Isle of Pines. Oh well, what you haven't seen you can miss.

Short version was the cruise was better than expected.
Despite mostly 97% Australian passengers, Kiwi jibes expected, most everyone on board was friendly.
Being a Christmas/New Year cruise, the age range was around 2 to 92.
Kids seemed to get board on the leg back to Sydney so getting a lift that hadn't had all the buttons pressed was a minor miracle. Exercise walking up & down stairs was probably better anyways.

Which leads on to the food (why exercise in needed). Ranged from disappointing to 5 star.
Nightly meals were a set time/seating in a dining rooms. You could eat as much as you like from the high class menu.
Similarly, if you got sick of quality you could visit the buffet. Range was from meh to eat-all-the-food.
Finally, a trip to the steakhouse (extra costs involved) was no complete without a full stomach.

Onboard facilities were OK for a mid-sized ship. Easy to get familiar and again much exercise from walking from one end of the boat to the other getting to shows between theaters.

Don't want to rabbit on; you can't really describe cruise life until you've done it for yourself & you can't describe your experience as everyone else's was different.
It was the perfect cruise for the first timer. It covered two annual celebrations, a variety of ports of call & 6 days of variable open water.

Had doubts, enjoyed, would do again, but probably not in the immediate future.

Oh, and here's a couple of pics...

Christmas on a boat - Preview

So this year for Christmas we decided to escape the usual rotation of hers, mine, home & book a cruise.

For some unknown reason other than something different, we're going to find ourselves on a giant tin can in the middle of the south-west Pacific for around two weeks.

Judging  by the variety of people who arrive into Wellington from these floating hotels they don't all seem to be senior citizens on their last sea-legs, but then again don't all look like fictional characters from 'The Love Boat'

Hopefully it won't rock, suck or turn into the chunder boat that occurred a couple of years ago.

What's the worst that can happen???

History of The Eagles - Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland

Basically, they rocked. Nothing more to say, other than they rocked, they rocked, they rocked.

The aisle Nazis impress upon who they could get to "No photos." So no photos were taken.

Seldom do I agree with restaurant reviewers...

... but in this case I'll make an exception.

The insert in a recent edition of our local Saturday paper (yes, we still get a paper & yes, it only has one Saturday insert) contained a less than flattering review of a new 'gourmet' burger eatery.

Not wanting to take that on face value we left it a couple of weeks and went today.

In short, 2.5 stars (from 5) would be a struggling review:

• Fries - Crinkle cut, over cooked & over salted. 2/5
• Coleslaw - Tasted like there had been a special on coriander this week & chef needs to get rid of the overbuy. 1/5
• Wine - Served in unclassy tumblers. Pinot Gris was acceptable 3/5. Chardonnay tasted like remains of last Wednesdays quarter bottle 2/5.
• My burger - 'Smokey' ordered without the onion wasn't too bad. 3/5
• SO's burger - 'Standard' burger had no mention of pickles/gherkins in the description, but 3 sizable chunks ended up on the place. 2.5/5

Oh, and the plates... Who needs a lazy susan when these annoying things spun like a dreidel. Cut spin, fork spin. FFS, mildly frustrating.

The new restaurant has opened in the space that has previously been occupied by a couple previous of long-lived establishments. Based on the original reviewer findings, "Nobody lingers here" and our experience, I don't think it'll last the same distance as its previous occupiers.

That's just my opinion. Everybody is entitled to their own.

Twitter feed

I've added a feed from my Twitter because that probably gets inanely more frequently updated than this blog.
Feel free to follow me over there, or not.

I'm keeping the blog for longer rants that need more than 140 characters.

Movie Review: Lucy

What were Scarlett Johansson & Morgan Freeman thinking when they signed up for this?
This was almost the third movie I've walked out on, but stayed simply because I'd paid $9 and needed to see how this trash ended.
Totally unclear about how it attained a 66% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience rating is closer to the truth.
Enough said.

Day 1: Back in the city

After a few months off, it's a temporary assignment as a desk jockey. Still better than no income. Day 1 today.

Why no updates for a while...

Sorry for not being my normal boring self.

I've been the sickest I've ever felt in a while. The only side benefit is that I've lost 5kgs (~11lbs) over the last few weeks.

Brain cleanse is almost complete. There's only so many crap movies you can watch over winger.

Job hunt will resume shortly.

Other abnormal service will resume shortly.

Until then...

April's Movies - Trash TV

After spending most of the month house-bound in sickness & foul weather with nothing constructive I really wanted to do, here's a list of the movies (& release years) I have watched over the course of the last month.

I use "watched" loosely because many I fast-forwarded because they were pretty dire.
In no particular order:

• 21 and Over (2013)
• Back In the Day (2014)
• Cubicle Warriors (2013)
• Dredd (2012)
• Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
• A Haunted House (2013)
• The Hunger Games (2012)
• The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)
• Iron Man 3 (2013)
• Life of Pi (2012)
• Prowl (2010)
• The Purge (2013)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
• Ted (2012)
• This Is The End (2011)
• Trance (2013)
• Beautiful Creatures (2013)
• Happy Thank You More Please (2011)
• Jobs (2013)
• Magic Mike (2012)
• Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
• Paper Giants: Magazine Wars Parts 1 & 2 (2013)
• Power Games: The Packer/Murdoch Story Parts 1 & 2 (2013)
• Safe Haven (2013)
• Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2012)
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
• Side Effects (2013)
• Astro Boy (2009)
• Brave (2012)
• After The Sunset (2004)
• Fool's Gold (2007)
• Pretty Woman (1990)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

In general, most were just rubbish running in the background but there were a handful that were hidden gems or familiar flavours that hit the spot at the right moment.