And the beat goes on........La de da de da..

“Where does the time go?” I said to my friend Sue. “It’s now been 32 days since I last blogged. Given it only takes 21 days to break a habit I’m scared I won’t be able to write a single sentence again.”

“Of course you will” Sue laughed. “It’s like riding a horse isn’t it? You just need to jump back in the saddle. When you start writing again it will feel like you've never been away”.

“Mmmm, possibly’, I said.

I didn’t think the time was right to remind her that the last time I was on a horse was when I was 11. My grandfather and father were great horsemen. Naturally they had hoped that some of the next generation would follow suit. I was clearly standing in the shallow end of the pool when the horse whispering gene was handed out. It didn’t come naturally and even at that age I thought the jodhpurs did nothing for my thighs and I couldn’t understand why my boots didn't have stiletto heels.

My horse was called Blackie. She was special. I thought she was the fastest thing on four legs. Apparently the truth was she was very old, very slow, very patient and very polite. After three years riding, I never progressed up the horse ladder. I thought Blackie and I had ‘simpatico’ because she had a bit of a shoe fetish too. However, our relationship was unexpectedly cut short.

As it would happen, Blackie proved to be too polite and her patience wore thin. She was so polite that one day she came to a fence, stopped and let me go over first. She ditched me. I looked up at her with my mouth agape and was sure I saw a sly, toothy grin. Of course, no-one would believe me when I said she had done it deliberately.

I’ve been wary of quiet types with bigger noses than mine ever since.

Sue’s conversations are always peppered with 'horse talk'. I kid you not. She once looked at a picture of me from years gone by with long wavy hair and said I looked like Sarah Jessica Parker. Then without drawing breath she went on to ask if I thought SJP looked like a horse. I didn’t take offence because I know that she loves horses even if she doesn't have a soft spot for SJP.

And like many Australians, the love of horses is no more apparent than at this very moment. You see horse racing season is in full swing here.

The closest I come to horses or race tracks now is when I turn on the TV to watch the biggest horse race in Oz, the annual Melbourne Cup. The Cup has a central place in the Australian sporting tradition and the whole country stops to watch the race. Millions are bet, won and lost.

I turned on the TV last Tuesday, with the obligatory champagne in hand and heard the presenter say, “...in between races he has to see a psychiatrist because he’s a real head case.”

Poor jockey I thought....until .......it became clear he was talking about a horse!

Imagine - horses being treated by psychiatrists. How does that work I wonder? Do you hire a zen cowboy with an extra large couch?

Like every big sporting event there is always an underlying scandal. Horse racing is supposed to be the sport of Kings but apparently, as I learnt this week, it’s also the sport of Chechen dictators. The horse that came third in this week’s Cup is owned by billionaire Ramzan Kadyrov. He was described by a young Russian journalist who was later murdered as the ''deranged'' and ''virtually brain-dead, lunatic warlord Putin tapped to rule Chechnya.''

Kadyrov's militia, the so-called Kadyrovtsy, are still notoriously brutal, kidnapping, torturing and killing innocent civilians by the hundreds. I expect the third place prize money will only allow Kadyrov to buy a gold plated revolver because after paying fees, his trainer and jockey that’s as far as the prize money will stretch. Strangely, the horses that beat Kadyrov’s beautiful horse Mourilyan, are called Shocking and Crime Scene…………….....it’s almost as if the horses 'knew'.

Perhaps an 'animal' psychiatrist should spend some quality time with one particular horse owner. This filly is glad he was beaten. Imagine what Kadyrov could have done with millions in prize money. I truly hope he is made to stay off 'our turf' in future.

Well it seems that I’m now back in the saddle. Maybe I have old Blackie to thank for a few things after all (besides his lucky shoe collection that is).

I am closing comments until I can get around to visiting everyone and catching up with comments on your blogs.

In my next post I want to tell you about the wonderful book I received from the US written by a fantastic blogger, Linda Lou, from Las Vegas. I could not put it down and have read it twice so far. It made me laugh, cry and it filled me with inspiration. I will tell you all about it and its beautiful, talented author soon. For anyone who is stuck, looking for inspiration, wanting to start over, having a crisis, questioning their internal fortitude DO NOT MISS IT!

Take Care everyone and it’s nice to be back in the saddle. I’ve been totally preoccupied following all your advice from a few posts ago – no outcome to report yet but I will reply to your emails (sorry!) and let you know....

Here's a new way to stay in shape

I am not sure where this mountain top house or building is. Anyone know?

It took my fancy. All I know is if I lived there I would be very thin and a recluse. There is no way I would be dragging groceries up those stairs.

The Bank, a Butcher and a Dog

Thanks everyone for your comments on my last post. I appreciate your support and help and have taken all your comments on board and will keep you updated.

Anyhow, it's time to get this blog back on track with a few laughs.

I just didn't expect the local Butcher, Tom,* to be the one who would give me my next post.

Tom's daughter Anthea is currently in the UK for the next year with her cousin Tania on a working holiday.

They befriended an elderly couple who live in London and who they visit often. As the couple were going to visit their daughter in Spain they asked the girls if they would look after their old dog for a couple of weeks while they were gone.

The girls agreed and were happy to help out. The dog was dropped off with pages of instructions. They followed them to the letter EXCEPT, two days before the elderly couple were due to come home the girls woke up to find the dog dead in his basket.

They contacted the couple who were understandably very upset. They asked the girls if they could bring the dog back to their house the next day.

This was easier than it sounded. The girls have no car and only travel by bus and train. So, after some careful planning, they put the dog in a suitcase and started on their trip.

As they were walking up the stairs at the tube station a young guy offered to help them carry the suitcase up the stairs. They were thankful, as it was heavy.

However, when they got to the top of the stairs, the guy started running .......away..... with the suitcase. AND THE DOG!!

The girls chased him but lost sight of him.

Tom said he wasn't sure how the girls explained this to the owners but they understood (would you believe that story?) but he did say he would have loved to see the look on that young guy's face when he opened the suitcase.

This may be the end of the girls' dog sitting days I think.....I know my dog sitting days are behind me too after looking after my brother's dog earlier in the year. Let's hope it might be the end of the robber's days too...the shock when opening the case might have bought him to his senses.

Has anything happened to you while caring for someone elses pets, kids, houses etc?

* Names changed to protect the innocent.

Which Bank? Australia's most convenient one

I never air personal dramas on this blog but this time I really need your opinion. This has been part of a broader long running saga which some of you know a little about. It's not a funny story, sorry.

I am having 'major problems' with a bank and now I am going to make it public. SO PLEASE COMMENT IF YOU CAN! I need more opinions on this as I am losing patience and perspective and need help.

Tell me,

If you were one of Australia's biggest banks, the COMMONWEALTH BANK , and you got a fax supposedly from me which was sent from the United Kingdom at 1:10am in the morning (and my residence is in Australia) and it:

a) asked the bank to transfer say $77,000 from my Australian account into a foreign company account in no way attached to me,
b) showed a fax header with the name of a male person, sent from a fax number which was also the contact phone number given,
c) said that I had just been in contact with the Bank branch to arrange this particular transfer (I hadn't and the Branch only has 3 or 4 people in it so I am sure they could tell),
d) showed my Australian address and UK based contact details, address, email and phone details different to my personal account details held on the bank's record (which were current and which the bank used to contact me for credit card security checks), and
e) was signed with a signature that was verified against my 10 year old specimen signature held on the bank's record.

What would you do? Process it? Confirm it with me? Contact my personal contact details on record to ask questions?

The COMMONWEALTH BANK transferred this money immediately (the next working day) into a foreign company account, (not my account) without confirming this instruction with me.

They did this more than once unfortunately and I was not in a position to alert them immediately (I have made allegations to the police about all this - its under police investigation for this and other reasons which I organised not the Bank).

EXCEPT .........the one thing I did not predict in all of this was the Commonwealth Bank's stance on this. Totally dismissive, defensive and rude). It claims it authenticated the request with my signature (like cut and paste, photocopy or scanning weren't possible?) so end of story. Then they claimed at my prodding that clearly they must have been in contact with me, because there is an office stamp on the fax with a box ticked noting client contacted to verify transaction. They just cannot tell me how this was done and on what number or when. They also suggested that I must have changed my contact details given I maintain I was not contacted, but they do not have a record of those changes either. LIES. No matter how many times I have asked for the records I do not get them. It is apparently not up to them to prove anything. So the fact I contracted them to protect my assets means nothing? Again oddly, they have never asked me ONE question or queried anything despite my numerous letters, which anyone else would naturally have.

I have never faxed anything to the Bank in my life and never had any kind of agreement with them to accept faxed instructions from me. I had conversations with the acting Manager of my Branch twice (he is up and retired) about my plans for this money. This has been my only bank since I was 5, never had issues with them, and I am naively devastated. DUTY OF CARE? Means zilch. This is MAJOR.

The sad thing is that I have spent a l-o-n-g time diligently trying to get copies of all the source documents used by the bank (asking over and over again) to make these transfers to give to the police (three police forces involved - UK, Interpol and Australian Federal Police ) believing it was my job to do all of this. The Bank told ME to contact the Federal Police and appeared shocked when this was done. I also told them the UK Police told me that the Federal Police would get missing documents from the bank given they were not giving them to me. But now the bank says (when I phoned the Security area last week to ask how they were getting on with locating the final source doucments) that some documents were possibly lost, emails may have been deleted (even though it is impossible to do this because there are records on servers) and given searching was prohibitive (because it costs $60 a search), I would have to sign a stat dec saying it wasn't my signature on some documents in order for them to search for the missing and most important docs. Totally bizarre behaviour. I want all the documents they used to process these transfers not some. I am legally entitled to them. I have to add here that the UK police have been fantastic despite their delay in taking this on board.

Common sense or common courtesy or professionalism does not seem to apply here. And I would love to tell you more, because there is way more, but I will save that for court. I could do with some wise words, for or against the bank's stance. If I have missed something I would be happy to know. Maybe this is normal bank behaviour to accept faxes for such large amounts without verifying this on the customer account details held on file. I have asked this Bank in writing about their policy on this matter numerous times however apparently they cannot share their policies with their customers. This particular one about that particular issue with this particular person anyway. Yes, you read that right. However, if you ring them and they do not know who you are they are happy to give this information. They just cannot give it to me.

I am sure it will resolve itself somehow - with a lawyer and end up in court.

It's completely crazy and totally upsetting and I need advice if you have it.....