Expectations

Simon is in transit tonight. He is on the way from Lightning Ridge. He's been telling me about some gift he has to give me for some days now. After each day I've forgotten about it and then he tells me again. I suspect he's pulling my leg and it won't be much at all, ha ha. Will be arriving later at about 8pm he reckons. 

I've had a day of strenuous-ness. Ended work and my back was just aching. Oh I think I'm just getting old darlings. Chopping 5 pallets in a day is getting a bit much for this old dear. Got to work this morning and got the coffee and all before work. When I started I filled out my name and that on my time sheet along with my employee number. Couldn't remember what the date was so got out my phone and looked. Started writing it and as soon as I'd written "9th" I realised. ... Fuck, can't believe I forgot that. It's 6 years today that my wife died.... 

Texted my daughter saying I'd just realised what day it was. She sent back that she knew and was being taken to the cemetery this morning by her boyfriend. I thought about it and wondered if I should have had the day off, but as I need the money it wasn't an option today. In the past I would have, but it seems my attempts at moving on have been more successful than my daughters. And who can blame her? I thought more of my daughter today than missing my wife. Think today is more about my daughter now than anything else. My own mother died when I was 14 and it was devastating, her mother when she was 15. I so feel for her now in this.

She died at 10:30am. I took a moment aside by myself at work, remembering those dying moments. When I sat with her, holding her hand, saying goodbye as she slipped from this world. It's something I'll never forget.

The trip to the doctors yesterday went well. My lungs are quite clear after the slime disease. Have ended the antibiotics yesterday. I do hope the slime doesn't make a come back as has previously happened. Still have a bit of a running nose and cough. Will see what happens I guess. He did the referral for the Renal Clinic at the hospital and faxed it off. We joked that at least they thought I was going to survive another year until the next appt, ha ha. Discussed the new study, but in the end I declined to take part. What I should have been told previously is that I needed to be on HIV meds to be eligible for it. There's no fuckin way I'm going to start meds just for the sake of a study, given my last experience of them. He quite understood and was in agreement with my position.

The CD4 count being at 640, although down on the 700's for the first time in a while, was still very healthy and not at all indicating the need for meds any time soon. That reduction I'd say is to be expected after my Shingles episode along with a Slime Disease attack. Being as I'm not on meds I'd consider a CD4 of 640 a very good result. So did he.

The Federal gov here done their big budget thing for 2012-13 last night. I wasn't the slightest bit interested as I'm just so jaded with politicians, and looked at it as simply the budget before the next Federal election that was going to make people vote for them. Who knows if it will. It's certainly a good pitch though, appearing to target poor people doing it tough whilst bringing the gov budget back into surplus for the first time since the global financial crisis. I wasn't interested at all, until I came across this thing that will totally affect me:

Phase 1 tax cuts

From 1 July 2012, the tax-free threshold will rise from $6,000 to $18,200, and the maximum value of the Low-income tax offset (LITO) will be reduced from $1,500 to $445.

The first marginal tax rate will be increased from 15 per cent to 19 per cent, and will apply to that part of taxable income that exceeds $18,200 but does not exceed $37,000.

The second marginal tax rate will be increased from 30 per cent to 32.5 per cent, and will apply to that part of taxable income that exceeds $37,000 but does not exceed $80,000.

Phase 2 tax cuts

From 1 July 2015, the tax-free threshold will rise from $18,200 to $19,400, and the LITO will be reduced from $445 to $300.

The second marginal tax rate will increase from 32.5 per cent to 33 per cent and will apply to that part of taxable income that exceeds $37,000 but does not exceed $80,000. 

Link

So from the 1st July this year, the first $18,000 you earn will attract no tax at all. Zilch. Zero. Up from as currently the first $6,000 a year. Being as my income presently is only a pissy $30,000 or so gross on the 3 day or so week, this must have a major impact on my take home pay. Currently I pay about $65 a week tax. By my reconing looks like about a $20 a week tax cut, I think.