Die Adelaider Zeiten
The Adelaide Times (better than the New York Times)
Edition 11 – Saturday 25rd December 2010
http://brian-vogt.customer.netspace.net.au/DAZ11/index.html
Written and edited by "der umherziehende Reporter"
Continuing in the tradition of Die Rüsselsheimer Zeiten (35 editions in 19 months, 1998-2000),
this is my summary of the past 52 weeks in Adelaide.
Year 2010 has been some of “the same old things” mixed with a few major surprises.  The old saying “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it” has been attributed variously to Charles D. Warner or Mark Twain.  This year, somebody finally seems to have done something about it.  South Australia is heavily dependent upon the River Murray for our water supply.  The Murray is fed from (amongst others) the Darling River which has its origin in Queensland.

By this time last year, south eastern Queensland had heavy rain and flooding, but that water flowed east to the sea.  So we were still in drought and subject to water restrictions.  Then around February this year, heavy rain began to fall in south west Queensland.  After several months, the water has finally reached the lower lakes of the River Murray and almost everybody seems to be happy again – although the river level is now uncomfortably high in some places.  More water is on the way, as parts of Queensland are in flood again.

South Australia also had good rainfall throughout the year.  Our reservoirs filled, and there was enough “environmental flow” to properly flush out the rivers.  The state government responded (rather slowly) by withdrawing the water restrictions, which means that sprinklers can again be used in private gardens and in public parks.  In recent weeks I've seen 2 new lawn tennis courts in the North Adelaide park lands.  South Australia is starting to look pretty again.  We even had floods 2 weeks ago, as many areas of the state experienced One month of rain in one night.  I didn't suffer any damage.

My brother Wayne has been living in Launceston, Tasmania since mid-2005.  During January and February this year, he suffered from depression and hallucinations.  At the beginning of March he was taken to his local hospital's Intensive Care Unit and put into an induced coma, due to a severe heart problem and kidney & lung failure.  Dad spoke on the phone with the medical specialist, who advised that Wayne's chance of survival was very small.  However, they brought him out of the coma after 7 days, and he has partly recovered – now using only 2 or 3 prescribed drugs for his heart.  He can only do a little bit of taxi driving for work.

Picture: Wayne on a holiday in Hobart later in the year.

At this time last year, I was halfway through a visit by Anke von Belino whom I met in her native Germany during 1999-2000, but currently lives in Sweden. One of our hikes went from Mount Lofty down to Waterfall Gully and return.  During the return, on a very steep ascent, my heart beat rate went close to 180 per minute, and I needed a long stop to recover.  The main reason for my retirement from tennis 10 months earlier was a strong feeling that my heart was unable to keep me moving at the required speed.

Trials and fibrillations:  In the early morning of 30th July, I felt a vibration in my chest; no discernable pulse in the carotid & radial arteries!  I was quickly able to get my heart beating again, but the beat rate was often around 175 per minute, so I called for an ambulance.  The paramedics used an electrocardiograph (ECG) and confirmed my suggestion that I had fibrillation, but fortunately only in the atria.  I was taken to the Emergency Department (E.D.) at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), where I was kept under observation for about 6 hours, during which time my heart beat pattern stabilised itself without any outside interference.  My problems were described as Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia (rapid beat rate).  A cardiac nurse was on duty – she was able to get me into a long term “study” of Professor Prash Sanders who is a world-renowned cardiologist (and whose parents I happen to know).  During the following 5 weeks I experienced many repeats of AF and Tachycardia, each time visiting the E.D.
Professor Sanders and several colleagues privately operate the Cardiovascular Centre where I've had several consultations with the cardiologists (“It's an early warning sign” and “It's partly because of your age”), as well as a Stress Test (on a treadmill – very high blood pressure) and heart echo imaging.  I was instructed to correct my diet (avoid sugars and saturated fat), increase my level of physical exercise, and lose 15 kg of weight.  I have reduced from 97 kg to 86.4 kg, which is considered to be good progress, and my heart's performance is usually much closer to normal – admittedly with a bit of drug assistance (Perindopril).  During the past 2 weeks I've been able to include a lot of slow running in my daily 7.9 km walks.  However, I took a turn for the worse yesterday – AF and Tachycardia for the first time since early November.  I am typing this while lying on a barouche in the RAH E.D. where the friendly medical staff are monitoring my blood pressure & irregular beat and feeding me another drug.  The medical officer managed to contact Prof. Sanders, and significant changes have been made to my regular medication.

This year my father and I attended 2 BMW Motorcycle Rallies – one in Warrnambool, Victoria (620 km from my home), and one at Naracoorte Caves, South Australia (same route, 350 km from my home).  Dad wants me to do the navigation, so I lead the way on my 1977 model R100RS, and Dad follows with his 1982 model R100RT and trailer.  Pictures below at Warrnambool in May :
(a) Me checking in.  (b) Dad at Warrnambool, receiving the awards for the oldest rider (87) and oldest combined bike & rider (28 + 87), and announcing his impending retirement from attending rallies.

Pictures below at Naracoorte Caves in October :
(a) Guided tour through 2 caves – I remember seeing this in about 1961, and Dad remembered seeing it in the mid-1930s.
(b) Dad preparing to return home from his last rally.  This day ended his 30 years of motorcycle touring.
I continue to be an active member of the Prospect Road Uniting Church.  I often operate the PowerPoint presentation of the ministers' liturgies, hymns etc. during Sunday morning worship services.  It's fairly easy, but sometimes there is something unusual they forgot to warn me about.   Sometimes the stumble is my fault, but we get there in the end.
On Monday afternoons I've been attending Bible Study, led by my long-time friend Les.  When Les went on holidays for 2 weeks in August, he asked me to lead the studies.  In response to one of the ladies having mentioned The Full Armour of God, we decided to make that our topic.  The group liked it so much on the first day that we continued with it the next week.  Internet resources make it fairly easy to prepare for, but a leader must be wary of the many websites that try to lead people into the divergent theologies of small special interest groups.
During this Advent season, one of our ministers has been leading another study group that is investigating the real story of Christmas – as told in the Bible.  An elderly lady was surprised to find that (like the rest of us) she “knew” the real story of how Mary rode on a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  Where's the donkey??  There is no donkey in the story!  Actually, there are 2 stories – one in Matthew, one in Luke – each told from a different perspective.  Lots of other things you see on Christmas cards are also not in the stories.  Now that we've had our mythology surgically removed, we can concentrate on what the Bible is trying to tell us.
I continue to be an active member of the Hillman Car Club, and was again re-elected to the position of Social Events Officer – co-ordinating the people who volunteer to organise specific events.  In addition to this, I organised our September and October runs, using pieces of the 2010 & 2011 Tour Down Under which are designed for excellent scenery.
I also continue in the appointed position of Webmaster (since 2001).

I'm on the organising committee for the 2012 Hillman National Rally to be held in Renmark.  My main task this year was to produce a promotional PowerPoint presentation (including audio commentary), with help from 2 other members.  The presentation was very well received at this year's Hillman National Rally in Geelong (Victoria), and a surprising number of people paid their deposit money immediately.
My involvement with the Gideons continues.  In May I was re-elected to the position of Treasurer of my local group (inner north eastern suburbs).  As in previous years, I placed Bibles in the rooms of several Hotels/Motels along Main North Road, as well as distributing pocket testaments to Year 8 students in several schools.  I spoke in 6 churches about the work of the Gideons.
I attended the State Convention at Port Lincoln in April.  It was my first visit to Eyre Peninsula since about 1967.  A side attraction for a small group of us was a visit to a retired tuna fishing boat (pictured at left), currently undergoing restoration on dry land.  For several decades, Port Lincoln has been a very prominent location in the commercial fishing industry.
On the employment scene, I remain without work.  During the first half of this year I came to the conclusion that my time in Information Technology is finished.  With my heart problems starting at the end of July, I have been unable to present myself as a viable candidate, so no job searching was done.  This hasn't become a big problem yet.
Dad's main career was operating Kapunda Joinery Works (furniture manufacture) from 1950 until retirement in 1990 (aged 67) when he closed the business with no employees, and retained the property as a very large hobby shed.  In recent years it's become a financial burden, and at his age he no longer needs such a large facility, so he sold it (including the fixed machinery) to a local builder.  In June, I assisted with the clearing sale of the loose contents including a small amount of timber stock.  It was the end of another era in Dad's life, and again, at the time of his choosing.

My cousin Carolyn posted this message in Facebook :
The greatest man in history had no servant yet they called Him Master.  He had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.  He had no medicines yet they called Him Healer.  He had no army yet kings feared Him.  He won no military battles yet He conquered the world.  He committed no crime yet they crucified Him.  He was buried in a tomb yet He lives today.

If you're reluctant to agree with that, you'll need to be content with this cute story from the Australian point of view :
Six White Boomers.

In any case, many of you might identify with this digital story of the nativity.

Ich wunsche Euch frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr !
(I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !)
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