Hot and Dry

Still really hot here most days and still very dry. Unlike the monsoons that the North have been getting (Major flooding), we have received little to no rain. So we are now on level 4 water restrictions. This means no watering of gardens/grass or any plants outside, no washing of your car unless it is at a commercial car wash, no filling of pools (yes even one of the town pools has had to close), and many more to tiresome to even list. For those who wish to keep the plants in their garden alive, well a bucket in the shower, the laundry water and the dishwashing water are all good ways to try to keep the poor plants alive.
I drove up to Sydney earlier in the week (7 1/2 hours North of where i live now), and south / southeastern NSW is in even worse state than we are. As you drive down the highway dust storms just crop up and blow across the road. Even though we are a fairly "hot" country this is unusual for our area. They are predicting that at current rates and without significant rainfall that we will only have enough water to last until March (that is the whole of the North East Region). So if you are reading this and thinking about it we would really appreciate some prayers for rain. Specifically rain that would fall in our catchment areas.

So enough about the drought. The fires are somewhat under control now and have burnt just over 1 1/2 million hectares now, but the Dept of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) are saying that they are "controlled", so we are happy with that.

When i went to Sydney this week it was for an apptitude test and psychological test to get into the NSW Ambulance Service as a Trainee Student Ambulance Officer. So depending if they think i am sane or not :-}, i will find out in a week or so how i did. As much as i would love to get in i am not too stressed about it any more as i figure i can only keep trying to get into becoming a paramedic.

Banjo's leg seems to be healing although he keeps doing silly things and making me take him back to the vet. His vet says that we need a frequent flyer card now as i have had to take him back every week for the past 4 weeks. Good thing that i have gotten some OT lately :-). Anyway this week he had to go back again because the bandage slipped about 3cms and was nearly below the break. When i took him in and she examined him we found out that the rod in his leg had actually come out through his skin and was sticking out and "glued" to the bandage, so it was very painful for him when we tried to take the bandage off. So poor boy had to have more sedation so that the bandage could be taken off and a new one put on.