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
) so commisserations mate...its understood
andi - 
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