of losing my temper...

Categories: life-in-general

Date: 01 May 2009 10:06:11

I am so far beyond angry I can’t tell you. Mr Tasmania has just phoned me to inform me that an IDIOT of a truck driver, who is obviously not fit to be behind the wheel of a semi trailer, has not only run off our driveway (which is literally as straight as straight can be) but he has run over (Mr Tasmania’s word was OBLITERATED) 3 or 4 of our beautiful nearly 2 year old grevilleas.

I am so upset and I can’t show it ‘cause I’m at work … if the driver walked into the office right now I’d punch him in the face I’m that angry. It’s not just the grevilleas, they can be replaced, and it’s not just the fact that we’ll have to find the right types of the right size to match with the others because they’re actually supposed to be a hedge, it’s the emotional part of it that is really bothering me … we chose those plants TOGETHER, planted those plants TOGETHER, for OUR home, for OUR place, which we've both waited so long to do with the right person … and this idiot has just run straight over all that. We’ve not lost one single plant of the nearly 40 grevillias, 40 calistemon, 1 camellia, 1 michaelia, and 2 cherry trees that we've planted in the last two years, even with the depredations of rabbits, wallabies, digging blue heelers, peach and pear slug, no rain, and too much rain, and one obviously incompetent truck driver has made such a mess.

And now this moron has probably killed the grevilleas. Sure, he was driving a big semi trailer … but Mr Tasmania’s brother has driven semis down and up that driveway … our excavator driver friend has driven his massive dump truck up and down that driveway probably 30 times in the last 6 months, maybe more, a massive cement truck and pump has gone up and down that driveway in the last three weeks, the truck delivering bricks has managed it, and what on earth would this driver have done if he’d been doing a delivery in a residential area for goodness sakes? Taken out a few houses, maybe a bus stop or two, possibly a pedestrian? The word I want to call him starts with F and ends with wit and if you don’t have that swear word in your country (it’s a good solid Aussie swear word) I’m sure you can work it out … it’s only to be used in extremis and I think I’ve pretty much left the foothills of Mt Extremis and I’m heading for the summit!

I don’t lost my temper very often, it’s messy, there are tears (of rage), it’s loud, it’s often very very nasty, and there is usually collateral damage to those unwise enough to walk past, and I don’t like that part of myself enough to give into it very often … Mr Tasmania has seen me angry, snippy, snarky, sarcastic, shouting, crying, and loud, but in three years he has not seen me lose my temper – I’m probably the closest I’ve been to it in, oh, maybe 5 years … the last person to make me this angry was KombiBro … and he’s had nearly 34 years of practice at winding me up and knows just which buttons to push!

…. And I’m very tempted to just give in!

PS After a brief viewing in the semi darkness (which included viewing THE ROOF OF OUR HOUSE!!! Or at least the trusses, very very cool that it's now 'house' shaped!) the grevilleas are not quite obliterated though they are very very unhappy. I am taking the secateurs up tomorrow and will see what I end up with when I've taken off all the broken stuff. Even that might not be enough as the shock might be enough to kill them - Australian native plants are like goats ... they'll put up with any amounts of no water, bad food etc but something small ie the flu, being squashed by a semi trailer etc will kill them ...

Anyway ... I'll trim them back, feed them up, water them, and we'll remulch and hope for the best. I'm pretty sure our builder does not actually have the slightest idea of how we feel about these plants ... maybe I should print this out for him ...