Reccy.

Sel (fish) is moving.

While Ben's on the improve in Germany, I'm heading to Tas for a week. The main aim is to organise accommodation for his return but also to scout for any work opportunities in the north east and, more generally, get a feel for what it would be like to stay long term.  The car will be full of stuff, all of it useful: a bicycle, clothes racks, boxes of books, Casio keyboard, clothes, plates and kitchen utensils, Honda service items and parts, misc hardware items and tools. One of the tasks is to find somewhere to store it all. Ben's old shed in St Helens is still available for rent but it would be more practical to find somewhere closer to Weldborough.

In other news of the day, Sel (the goldfish) is moving house. It's sad when dependents grow up and move out. Sel will be living in a bright airy apartment in Prahran. Ollie, the resident cat, will, no doubt, have to adjust to the new tenant who noisily shifts little stones around the glass tank in the middle of the night. Hopefully the newcomer's little habits won't cause any friction in the established household.

One year ago - Exeter.

One year ago today Ben was camped in Exeter Tasmania waiting for motorcycle repairs. Today, he's living in a guesthouse in Berlin-Buch Germany waiting for his nose to heal. Outside it's a chilly -3°C and everything is covered in ice. He's been seeing an ENT specialist at the outpatient clinic and recovery is going well. A few days ago the doctor, Dr Rathert, removed two silicon sleeves from inside Ben's nose. Each sleeve was surprisingly large (imagine the peel from a wedge of orange, that size), and both patient and doctor were amused at how something that large managed to fit in there in the first place. Visits continue for another week at least.

After much searching, health insurance has been purchased online; thanks to the help of an english-speaking insurance broker in Kronberg. All that remains is to get some kind of residence certificate and those two documents together should satisfy official requirements for a visa extension. The return ticket had to be re-booked last week and Ben is now scheduled to return home at the end of March.

Back in Melbourne, some of Ben's mail arrived yesterday, redirected from Weldborough. It included invoices totalling €383,31 from the hospital in Freiburg, which were posted back in December and have to be paid immediately. Payment has been sent by IFT (International Funds Transfer).

Still awake?

Theatre staff were surprised when their laconic yet good-humoured patient was completely unaffected after an anaesthetic was administered. It took a little while to discover that the drip had come adrift and was delivering precisely measured volumes onto the floor. They laughed, corrected the problem and the patient went under. All went smoothly and Ben's now recovering in his hospital room. There's some pain and his nose is slightly blocked but, despite that, he feels clearer. After one more night, he'll return to Berlin. There's a follow-up visit with the ENT specialist in Buch in two weeks time.

ENT op today.

Helios, Bad-Saarow
(web image)

Ben has an ENT operation today at the Helios Klinikum in Bad-Saarow; a very scenic location on the shores of a lake and surrounded by forest. The septoplasty procedure will be performed by Chief physician Dr. Thomas Schrom. Google's translation of the ENT Department's web page from German to English is almost perfect:

"Surgery is necessary, then we use the latest surgical techniques - such as endoscopy, microscopy, laser and minimally invasive surgical procedures - one that is very stressful for our patients and gently."

We're hoping for a straightforward surgical procedure followed a smooth recovery.

Readership.

Blogger stats for this week.

A check of the stats shows the locations of blog readers in the last seven days; most are in Australia, followed by Germany, United States and Canada. Ben probably isn't a reader since he hardly ever uses a computer or the internet. Lately he's been feeling well and spends his time doing exercises, walking and riding the trains. He still travels south to Karow to buy fruit and has discovered a good supermarket a few stations north in Zepernick. He likes that supermarket because it's not overly heated like most other places. The sun made a rare appearance the other day and Ben found himself standing on the station, facing the sun with his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, there were two other people doing the exact same thing.

There's still no progress on the visa extension as he hasn't been to the immigration office yet. The timeline has compressed slightly due to the delay, leaving just one day (today!) to go to the office, apply and get approval. Without the extension, his return date will be early to mid February and even that requires a change to his return ticket, because of the upcoming ENT op. He likes to calmly "wing it" while I'm more of a nervous bird.

Evening update: Winging it got him as far as Wedding Station and then the nervous bird received an SMS asking for directions. Thanks to the internet, a computer, Google Maps and Skype, directions have been SMS'ed:
From Wedding S-Bahn station go SE along Mullerstrasse. Turn RIGHT into Fennstrasse and cross the bridge. RIGHT into Heidestrasse. LEFT into Friedrich-Krause-Ufer. Hope that works, I'll stay near the phone for a while.

Late late update (3.30am our time): Has to return to the office on Monday. Application should be "a okay". Timeline is further compressed: immigration office opens at 7am, three train trips and a hospital admission 80km away by 11am. Op is Tuesday, not Monday. Error was made by an editor.

Short trip next week.

Berlin Buch to Bad Saarow: walk (or bus) to Buch station, three trains (Buch to Berlin, Berlin to Furstenwalde, Furstenwalde to Bad Saarow) and then a short walk. Two hours duration. Unable to work out the cost because tickets are only sold at the station.

Close the door please...

"Close the door please, we don't live in a tent," said the specialist as his patient intentionally left the door of the over-heated office slightly open, yet again. "Actually I do live in a tent," was Ben's cheerful reply and, for the next ten minutes, a German ENT specialist learned something about a strangely-named island called Tasmania and his unusual Aussie patient who has actually lived in a tent for the past ten months.

The final nose diagnosis is a deviated septum (yet another unlucky roll of the genetic dice) and the procedure to correct it is called septoplasty. It's a minor operation that will be done at the Helios hospital in Bad-Saarow, about an hour south of Berlin. I'm not sure why he has to go there instead of staying in Berlin Buch, perhaps it's something to do with availability and dates. The procedure is scheduled for Jan 16; one day for the operation followed by two days recovery. The original booking was for Jan 13 but the specialist changed it when he discovered that day was a Friday. It seems that superstition still lingers in the high-tech medical world. Flying is verboten for at least two weeks after the op but Ben wants to stay longer than that anyway and is applying for a visa extension till the end of March. Visa extensions are not easy to get but we're hopeful the Ausländerbehörde (Immigration Office) will approve the application on medical grounds.