Births & Deaths

After my training on Tuesday, Tony emailed the three presenters I’m to work with over the next two months, asking them to give me ‘presenter bits’ to read as a sort of taster for the real thing. Today I read the births and deaths or personal announcements as we also call them, I’m assuming out of a sense of downplaying the ‘death’ bit. In order to prepare, I arrived at the FATN half an hour earlier than normal to go over it with Janice (the presenter today). Not that it’s particularly difficult but it is a change from the simplicity of edit, paste and read.

But before I journeyed west to the studio, I had to take Carmen back to the vet for a check up on the cyst. I told the vet that it had been weeping, something it had never done before, and I was having to bathe it frequently. I had been told before that I could have it removed but, as it didn’t bother her at all, figured it was a bit pointless. Well, now it is no longer pointless. She has to have an operation to have it removed.

The vet cannot tell from an external examination whether it is malignant, benign or called Terry, so the only thing to do is to cut it out and send it off to be examined “under a microscope” as she explained. Honestly, did she think I was 10? Does she think I imagine they just sit it on a table and stare at it while waiting for it to do tricks?

Anyway, at great expense, Carmen is to go under and have a huge patch of her back shaved (apparently she’ll look like a skinhead) before having it cut out. She will be there the whole day. While obviously I am concerned about her, I’m not looking forward to having a miserable, fretting Day-z at home while we wait either.

I am wondering whether she’ll be all weird and drug addled like Brad was when we picked him up from the vet in Katoomba after his operation. He was very funny. His little legs were so uncoordinated, I had to carry him.

Because I have to keep Day-z away from the stitches, the vet recommended I give Carmen a t-shirt but I’ve ordered them both doggy coats. Not just for hygienic reasons either. I don’t want people thinking she has the pox! Or laughing at her hairless back!! Best protect her feelings as well as her health, if you ask me. Naturally Day-z had to have one too. To be honest, I was going to get them coats to combat the FSI problem anyway.

So, having been to the vet and going through everything that Carmen would go through, then taking them for a walk to compensate, I changed and went to FATN.

Judy, the presenter I’ll be working with next time, cornered me and told me I’d be reading her sport section. This made me laugh. Nearly all of the presenters hate the sports section. They have tried to drop it but listeners complained, wanting it back. One of the things I’m looking forward to is reading the sport! Janice, on hearing Judy, complained that I was only reading her births and deaths.

So I read them and I think it went well though, if I was being critical of myself, I’d say I was probably too light on the word ‘deaths’ when I said “This week we have 1 birth and 11 deaths.” Nerves affected my intonation. Either that or I find it impossible to be serious about anything.

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Following on from my post the other day about the 3 wheeled car…walking by the Reliance garage again today, I noticed that the two cottages beside it are called Reliance Cottages. In the photo below, they are the two built right next to the garage at the front right hand side.

Reliance cottages next to the garage

Sorry the photograph isn’t better but I realised the connection after I’d passed. Anyway, it leads me to think that the cottages were probably built for either the manager or the workers. Either that or they celebrate the success of the business.