What's been up with "our" Rossi ?

No not that Italian geezer
To start with guys & gals I am not posting this for sympathy, I just feel that I should explain to my mates why I have been AWOL & a bit quiet of late.
A potted history of Rossi
As some will know, I came to this fair country about 5 years ago, one of the reasons for this being that the father in law was diagnosed with a brain tumour. So I decided to give my lovely wife a bit of time with her family before the inevitable happened. After being told "your skills are in demand, you'll be over there in 3 months" I Sells the bike,the house & the business and end up waiting 15 months for my visa .
Finally, approved as a suitable candidate to become an Aussie resident, I jump on an airyplane for 24 hours and by the wonders of modern travel, arrive here safely - only to be royally farked about by the Plumbing Industry Commission for 6 months ( never mind that I had attained numerous awards, qualifications and licenses in the UK ) "the man" made me sit ALL of the plumbing exams I had done 20+ years previously plus my Electrical license had to have 40 hours minimum training, I couldn't just sit the freaking exam (apparently all due to some dodgy Indian certificates being available for download off t'internet - bloody hell, do I look like an Injun )
I passed and then got a job in a gas industry that isn't regulated by the Plumbing commission - so all $6k spent on exams / licenses etc. no flipping use at all
Anyways, last year me dear old mum back in blighty took ill, and a couple of months ago I started to get phone calls from my bro & sis saying I had better prepare to come back to see her as she hadn't got much longer left as they had found a cancer on the brain stem. How ironic eh ?
True to Rossi's run of good fortune, Linda had started her first day, in her first fulltime role since arriving here 5 years ago - only to tell them we were off to the UK for 3 weeks on Friday . Searched our passports out only to discover the Residents return visa would expire whilst we were away and without it we couldn't come back to Australia. Will my run of good luck never end ? I jump in the car & drive to the immigration office in Dandenong - passport and cash in hand, I wait in the queue to be told " Sorry, you need a letter of authority from your wife before we can put the sticker on the passport". He wouldn't accept a phone call or fax giving the go ahead, it HAD to be a letter ! Oh bugger !
"I'll be back tomorrow" says I. The very next day I arrive at the immigration office - take a ticket and wait with passport and $140 cash in my hand. Eventually I get to call "BINGO" as my number comes up and saunter down to the counter, hand over all the paperwork and hear the magic words "all done, that'll be 480 dollars, I'm sorry but it went up at midnight - If you had come yesterday it would only have been $70 each"
Smiling nicely, I handed over my credit card and can now safely come and go until 2013 and spent the cash on beer
A quick search on the net found us cheap flights via Japan, and another few clicks found us a hotel for an overnight stay ( great country but bloody hell food is expensive - and they don't even cook it ) We land in London the next day, met by my brother who drives us to mum's house - lots of memories but it's all packed into boxes so it was a bit like camping minus Stace's & Billy's antics ( so pretty quiet really )
We spend the next 3 weeks going backwards and forwards to the hospital, and decide to have a break and visit friends near to where we used to live in Lincolnshire, it's only a 2 hour drive and arrive just in time for dinner "at the pub"......nice but none of the "locals" are in and we pop in to a good mates and the conversation goes along these lines
Me - " I see Ian hasn't finished building his house ?"
My mate - " No mate, he's dead, died a little after you left"
Me - "Oh !, How's Sue & Chris getting on....will they be up for a few beers later ?"
My mate - " No, didn't you hear ? He died 3 weeks after you left"
Me - " F*ck it, I'm not asking about anyone else"
Back to mums house for a couple of days and then my bro drops us off at the airport. Back to Japan, 5 hour stopover and get back to good old Melbourne, been back exactly 1 week and get the dreaded phone call that "the duchess" has passed away (at least we got to see her).
Funeral was last Friday.
So if I have been a bit touchy or quiet or seem to have ignored anybody - it wasn't intentional.....just that my mind has been elsewhere

Last edited by Rossi on Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

Now the "good" bits to come out of it..........

I got a trip to England with my beloved wife
I got to drink "real ale" again
I got to bring back 15 kilo's of "english sweets" that I hadn't had for 5 years
I got to see my brother and sister
I now know that Australia is the ONLY place for me and my family (s'pose I better book in for the citizenship test)

Ahhhhh sod it WHERE'S THE BEER


See you lot soon I hope

Rossi, I am sorry to hear about your Mum.

I hope things begin to look up for you soon...

Geezuz Not much one can say after such a rough trot like that . Whack a little peck on Linda's cheek from me Mate . The one up near her ears if ya dont mind .

Sorry to hear about your run of luck and losing your Mum, mate.

Sheyit Rossi, dont suppose you want to play cards for money eh? Looks like you cant take a trick at the moment

I now know that Australia is the ONLY place for me and my family (s'pose I better book in for the citizenship test)

Paul

sorry to hear the sad bits...its very hard when another ½ of the family are 12000 miles away when someone gets crook or is fading
.... been thru this myself with Jans Dad (the missus sez 'allo to you and Lin ) so commisserations mate...its understood

and yes you are right, Oz is the best place. I had no problems getting Jan and the girls to take the citizenship test


cheers

Smitty

Thats really bad news Paul and our thoughts are with you..

Been through a troubling time myself over the last few months and it does get to you and the things you do.

Sooooo, my recommendation, Get to the GP's and drink heavily with the rest of us troubled fools...

Hey Paul,

Just come over to our place and we can drink lots.....
We've missed you guys, glad to see you back....
TnT

That's a bugger Paul...

Hope we can have a drink together at PI

Rotten luck mate, on the upside, it probably can't get much worse from here nad you did get to spend $70 on beer

Hey Paul, really sorry to hear mate. Always only a phone call/PM away. Happy to drag you and Linda to the pub sometime, and hope you will both be going to the GP. Just remember beer is neither an answer or a solution to problems - but it's a damn good side track

Take it easy mate, chat soon.

Sorry to hear the drama Rossi and the loss of your parents. That RRV is bloody expensive eh? Citizenship fee is only $140 if I recall correctly.

Agreed with Australia being the best place. Moved here 4 yrs ago I thought it would be temporary as I wanted to get an EU or US HQ jobs, ended up buying house, getting citizenship, have bikes etc... .

Hi mate, that's quite a run of bad luck and assorted awful times you had there .

Sorry to hear about your mum, but at least you got to see her before the end .

Keep your chin up mate and take it easy.

Mick

welcome home