Sunday, March 15, 2009


I'm employed for now, as a locum with Beaucare in Beaudesert about an hours drive from home. I've rented a unit in Arundel, 4 km from Mum's, and although it's rather small it's starting to be home.

I'm the Family Support Officer in a team that contains, the Community Development Officer, (the team leader) me and a Youth Worker. The Youth Worker is a great guy, a Maori, huge, and much fun, he's a single Dad of four late teens and a new grandson. The work is more crisis work, especially housing, which just isn't available in Beaudesert. We cover the old shire of Beaudesert, and I spend Tuesday at Jimboola, wednesdays on Mt Tamborine and thursdays will be Rathdownie. It's great to be part of a team and have like minds to bounce ideas and possibilities off. It's also exciting to again be establishing a program.

I still spend time with Mum about 4 days a week, yesterday we had an interesting day, I got to Mum's just on 11am and her neighbour Cassie, came out on her walking frame calling out "help - fire" I thought I should investigate, got Mum to ring the carer, and went to see what was happening. There appeared to be no flame just lots of dark smoke so I went in and the stove was on and the pot had burned and the heat had started to melt the plastic fittings to the stove exhaust- no smoke alarms - so I turned off the stove and opened the windows and doors. Cassie was very distressed, the carer arrived having called 000 and I went down to the gate to direct the fire brigade. Two big trucks with sirens blaring turned up, gues there wasn't much happening at Sunday lunchtime.

Mum and I then revised our plans and went to the Pines for lunch at the cafe. It ws quiet and very nice, we then went to the Sothport Sharkes club, where they have real sharks, in huge tanks, and I got very excited as I won the jackpot of $50 three times, then Mum won over $700 - so we both did well and came home happy.