On my daily drives for coffee and company I noticed that at the Mittagong Medical Centre around the corner where I live the Covid testing queues have doubled. At the local hospital the queues are now so long that people bring chairs and cushions to sit on. The genie has bolted. No matter now that the Government is urging only those with symptoms to get tested, more and more the panic is gripping the angst driven burgers. I can’t help but think of the lemmings analogy with people hurling themselves with great enthusiasm over the cliff. Surely, there is no better way than catching a virus or anything than standing for hours in a queue with both infected and non-infected people…
Christmas was not shared with my family because one grandson had met up with his friend who felt unwell and after due testing was found to be ‘positive’ This was about two weeks ago but with the long queues and huge numbers of tests the Covid testing labs have been overwhelmed and the results now take three to four days. It was thought safer to cancel the Christmas with family while one of the grandsons was in isolation. Instead, I was fortunate to get invited by a good friend and I had a lovely Christmas and not a word about viruses. It now turns out that hundreds were given negative results while in fact they were positive. It’s odd how the word positive has become a negative in the world of contagion.
Of course, I have now a two and half leg of cooked Royal Raan lamb in the fridge and am heroically eating it with stealth and determination. I did have my brother visiting me and he too helped the eating of the lamb along with a nice bottle of wine he gave me. ( An ambitious little number with lots of cigar and muffled pear ambience) We now face the New Year’s Eve and yet another public holiday. The fireworks have been cancelled and again crowding kept to a maximum of two people per 4 square meters. No loud cheering and kept to a D note only
I wish all my readers a healthy and virus free New Year with more cheer and less angst. We might have to let go of Covid fear a bit and demand not to be ruled by it. There is more to living than just nurturing an overblown fear of just dying.
Oosterman Treats Blog 
December 29, 2021 at 8:18 am |
So sorry your Christmas was stuffed! I agree about the queues also. Sure looks like a great way to catch the virus or heat stroke. Not sure which is worse. We had +40 here in the west and I think Boxing Day was even hotter not that it matters when it is that hot.
Still hoping to travel to either or both next year to Canada and Corfu. Have a wedding in September in Corfu. Fingers crossed. Hope your New Year is better. Xxxx
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December 30, 2021 at 10:31 pm |
Yes Sandy, wondering how your travelling plans work out, let me know if you would like a travel buddy? Never been to Corfu.
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December 29, 2021 at 8:22 am |
Wishing you a safe and healthy 2022.
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December 30, 2021 at 10:32 pm |
Same to you too, Peggy. A safe and healthy New Year. Lots of prosciutto asparagus spears.
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December 30, 2021 at 12:06 am |
Happy New Year Gerard and Bentley!
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December 30, 2021 at 10:33 pm |
Yes, A happy New year to you Beth. ( Bentley is wagging his tail.)
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December 30, 2021 at 6:58 am |
Aw, on your original Christmas plans changing.
But, so glad you had a lovely Christmas after all.
Keep safe, Gerard! And wishing you a good rest of 2021 AND a beautiful and healthy 2022!
(((HUGS))) for you! 🙂
PATS and RUBS for Bentley! 🙂
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December 30, 2021 at 10:36 pm |
Yes, Covid is causing lots of plans to go astray. My local café at Stumps has a Covid infected worker so the whole lot is now in isolation.
It is serious when it affects sipping lattes.
Have a good 2022 and hugs and rubs to you both
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December 31, 2021 at 7:59 am
That IS serious! 😮
Happy 2022 to you, Gerard! 🙂
🌃🥂🥳🕛🎊🎆
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December 30, 2021 at 7:12 am |
It is great that you had company and or with friends for Christmas. Indeed, covid is not going away anytime soon. It is, as we say, here
in the states, “a royal pain.” Wishing you a most wonderful New Year.
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December 30, 2021 at 10:38 pm |
You too, have a healthy and full 2022 year.
Whatever will be will be.
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December 30, 2021 at 1:32 pm |
That’s one of the most ghastly photos I’ve seen. Regimentation on the hoof, as it were. There are several issues associated with testing, including the fact that the tests can be unreliable in either direction, but there we are.
On the other hand, panic-induced testing does little to reassure unreasonably panicked people. I have a friend who has been tested multiple times in the past three weeks. She keeps getting results that show her to be virus-free, but as she says, “What if the results are wrong, or what if I catch it after getting a negative test?” Her doctor tells her to wait until she feels bad, gets a fever, etc., but she’s having none of it.
It’s too bad that your Christmas plans went awry, but good that you had some friends to share it with. I smiled at your comment that there was not a word about Covid during your gathering. It was the same here when I joined friends for Thanksgiving. It’s so refreshing to talk about birds and pets and plans for the new year, rather than “all that.” It’s one reason I avoid reading the news these days, apart from a cursory glance to be sure war hasn’t broken out or the aliens landed. If I stay away from the media, there’s no indication in my little world that anything is amiss.
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December 31, 2021 at 1:50 am |
Yes, it is a dreadful scene but a good photo. Apparently from Peru.
The whole issue of Covid and the way it is media presented is out of control and fear is now almost worse than the Covid.
Doctors are reporting severe spikes from people suffering severe anxiety and extreme levels of isolation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-31/gps-report-massive-spike-in-anxiety-with-covid/100732300
The queue around the medical center near my house was so long and to stand around in the heat would have been dreadful to experience.
I had my fourth test almost two weeks ago which came back negative. The advice now is to not get tested if without symptoms to avoid overwhelming the testing labs, Each day we read about false negatives and false positives sent out by the testing Authorities.
On top of all that they play a game here in Australia called cricket and they too do tests as well. Each test apparently takes 5 games or 5 days. It is all so complicated.
I bought a kilo of prawns unshelled and a bottle of wine which together with watching Dinner for One will give me a great evening.
Thank you, Linda for your generous sharing of a so many lovely words throughout this year and I hope to read many more in years to come.
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December 31, 2021 at 1:57 am
On a happier note, guess what I received as a Christmas gift? A jar of Manuka honey — from Australia, rather than New Zealand. In fact, the company that produced it is based in Mudgee. It seems to be something special, so I’m eager to taste a bit of your country!
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December 30, 2021 at 2:40 pm |
Sorry about the dents & dings in your Xmas plans, but glad you enjoyed the day and I admire your heroism in consuming all that delicious lamb. Best Wishes for the New Year, Gerard.
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December 31, 2021 at 2:10 am |
Yes Robert, each time I open the fridge hunks of this cooked lamb faces me. I think Bentley will get most of the rest.
You have a Good New Year too now, Robert.
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February 6, 2022 at 7:51 am
I suspect, the ‘lamb’ is probably mutton. 🙂
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January 1, 2022 at 9:40 am |
Happy New Year Gerard. May it be hmm what is it … free
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January 2, 2022 at 12:06 am |
Happy New Year to you too, Algy. And hopefully queue, masks and tests free.
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January 1, 2022 at 7:52 pm |
We managed our booster shots in a drive-through, Gerard. It was much more civilized than standing in line. We even took books along to read.
I think with all of the hullabaloo, I’ve only been tested once officially and once unofficially. The latter from our son-in-law, Clay, who works for Google. The company provides them with home based tests which are submitted digitally via phone. The whole process and time to get results is about 15 minutes. Results are quite accurate. That seems like the way to go to me! Glad you had a decent Christmas even with all of the hassle. The very best to you in 2022!–Curt
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January 2, 2022 at 12:13 am |
Yes, I was so Booster lucky and managed to walk in and out within 5 minutes and just around the corner from my place as well.
Since then the queues have been growing daily ever since they started predicting hundreds of thousands each day. The labs could not cope and now the advice has been reversed and not get tested if there are no symptoms.
The government is now scrambling to get the rapid tests in shops but even then it took time and some started ramping up the prices for the rapid tests by breaking open packets of 5 tests and selling them singly. Scamming it is called.
You have a good year too, Curt.
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January 2, 2022 at 10:39 pm
Scamming: Wherever there is a fast buck to be made, someone will be there to make it, Gerard, regardless of the morality of the issue!
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January 3, 2022 at 1:32 am
Yes, so true. and the Government does not want to make the rapid tests free either. They just ordered nuclear submarines from the US costing 80 billion and is also forever lowering taxation.
The health of the nation is coming last.
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January 2, 2022 at 6:08 am |
Just goes to prove that age old saying, Gerard..: “The best laid plan for the Indian Rann is apt to go astray”…all the best instead for the new year…
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January 3, 2022 at 1:36 am |
Yes, Jo. It will be next year before I will cook another royal Raan.
All the best for you and may the ‘freefall’ words keep on being writ.
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January 2, 2022 at 10:39 pm |
I’m sorry you couldn’t share the holiday with your family, but it sounds like your friends are very good stand-ins for family. I’m dying to know what that bottle of wine was. I’m always looking about for the perfect lamb wine. Continued good health to you.
I’m hoping that, since this new variant is really not very lethal, perhaps it is the virus’s last or next to last gasp.
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January 3, 2022 at 1:40 am |
Yes, it is a common story around town. Many Christmas holidays and family gettogether not happening for all sorts or reasons, mainly fear of Covid and state border closures.
A good lamb wine is Shiraz, also good for any meal or just in the evening while reflecting on the days past and coming.
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January 3, 2022 at 3:59 am |
Why on earth they didn’t think to separate symptomatic and asymptomatic people, God only knows. Is the federal Chief Medical Officer a Doctor? If so, he is an irresponsible one that I would not want treating me. Perhaps he is a PhDoctor in another discipline – marketing no doubt….
I had an experience like you with my son who had been to a wedding with someone who later tested positive, so it was a case of a drive by handing the Christmas dinner in a cold pack over his fence. A new experience I hope I don’t have to repeat.
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January 3, 2022 at 6:36 am |
Yes, but in the world of Governing logic does not seem to be available. There is a series of comedies waiting to be written about the era of Covid and earnest Health Officers.
The rules get changed to such a degree, one can now just do anything. Self isolation would be a nice holiday from the media and governmental advise.
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January 3, 2022 at 9:39 am
Indeed.
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January 22, 2022 at 9:54 pm |
Dear Gerard
Hello from the UK. Many thanks for this post. That photo is appalling. All the sheep lining up like lambs to the slaughter. If you ate all that lamb did it give you the latest variant which I understand is lamda? This is probably also known as tummy ache, but everything is blamed on Covid nowadays.
I love the video. I have friends who were based in Germany a while and they showed us this. I understand is a German staple at Christmas.
As regards Covid 19 however, the tests are a complete waste of time. I will explain if I may.
Covid 19 is the ‘flu, dressed up as a monster to scare people, re-branded if you will. This helps big pharma etc, control the populace and make more money.
The ‘flu is the internal toxicosis of the body, mainly via urea, partly due to metabolism of food and partly due to the many poisons in our environment which can and do enter our bodies in the air, food and water. The ‘flu cannot be transmitted to someone else as it is individual to each person.
Unless your blood is given to someone in a blood transfusion, for example.
I have had my fair share of vaccines, including polio I believe. I used to think vaccines were of some use until, at 60 years of age in 2020, I researched properly. I changed my mind.
Injecting poisons such as via vaccines merely adds to the toxicosis problem. Vaccines have never been of any use, it is merely that constant and persistent ‘advertising’ persuaded people that they were of use. The various deaths and harm have been well-documented over the decades. It is being documented now.
Vitamin D deficiency is the true pandemic due to indoor working and living away from the sunshine which, if we do the right thing things, will give us vitamin D (free!). Big pharma etc. are not keen on free as they don’t make much money out of it.
Vitamin D levels drop in the winter months due to reduced sunshine levels and as any gains in the summer months are depleted.
Lack of vitamin D causes rickets among other things. Polio was merely rickets re branded again for big pharma to make money. The polio vaccine was pointless. A good dose of vitamin D such as was once given via cod liver oil in a spoon (a disgusting taste I understand). You can now get this in capsule form of course.
Vaccines are neuro-toxins, if there is anything in them at all, as are most big pharma drugs. Therefore they are at best pointless.
If your immune system is in good order then by and large you will tolerate a poisonous vaccine. If weakened you will suffer various side effects. If your immune system is very poor you may die.
Boosting your immune system with vitamin D can go a long way to protecting you against the toxicosis, but vitamin C is very good as an anti-oxidant to help flush the toxins out of your system. By and large you should be able to gain your vitamins etc from good, untainted food. Highly processed foods will not help.
I have seen the statistics on Australia since February 2020. These show a close correlation between Covid cases and vaccination. It is abundantly clear the vaccines are causing the case numbers rise, as would be expected. Look at other statistics and you will no doubt see the same correlation.
I have done much on Covid 19 etc., here is my link to my summary. That gives access to the various other issues. I cover the statistics in the UK and USA and recently those in Australia.
https://alphaandomegacloud.wordpress.com/covid-19-summary/
The following explains the variants. These are merely fear techniques to fool the gullible.
https://alphaandomegacloud.wordpress.com/2021/12/02/various-variants-covid-19/
The following explains the media fear campaign.
https://alphaandomegacloud.wordpress.com/2021/09/26/fear-is-the-key/
It should be noted that fear tends to ‘freeze’ the body’s immune system from functioning correctly and can stop people doing sensible things. Like avoiding having foreign bodies injected into their systems.
And I wonder how many people would choose to have a vaccine if they had to pay for them directly rather than via their taxes (vaccination is not free)?
As regards reasons of variance of symptoms, if any, between those who are vaccinated the problem lies in not knowing what exactly in each vial; sadly people will sell nothing for something and the vial might contain only saline, it is impossible to tell without testing each vial.
Please note I do use humour as necessary on posts and pages to lighten the mood and help make the points.
May I take the opportunity to wish you a very happy new year.
Kind regards
Baldmichael Theresoluteprotector’sson
Please excuse the nom-de-plume, this is as much for fun as a riddle for people to solve if they wish.
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February 6, 2022 at 8:10 am |
I say, these are very interesting WordPress links! 🙂
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September 9, 2022 at 9:10 am |
[…] The queues are getting longer and more restless … […]
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