Count Down to Emigration...134 days.

It is the weekend again, and B is still panicking of how little time we have left, and how much we still need to do.  We have placed adverts for our bed and desk on gumtree, with so far no interest.  We might put a sign in our car window today to see if we can attract any attention to buy it.  If that doesn't work then we will have to resort to Autotrader.  As far as the rest of the furniture goes, I have made some posters to put up in various locations.

After my spree of CV posting last week I have had, (much to my surprise), a couple of responses, one positive, one more indifferent.  Either way, I am now trying to get myself more familiar with the whole pharmacy system in Australia, starting with PBS.  The Pharmacy Benefits Scheme is a means by which drugs are subsidised for the general public, but it seems a lot more complex than the NHS system.

In the NHS all prescriptions will have a fixed price for the patient (unless they are exempt).  Obviously private prescriptions can vary greatly in price, but these are a minority.  For the PBS system there is a dispensing price (different for each item), on top of this there is a consumer price (again this will vary from one item to another) then there are extra premiums indicated for brands, therapeutic classes and special patient contributions.  Lets hope that the pharmacies in Australia have everything pre-programed into their dispensing systems, otherwise it could take longer to calculate the fee than to dispense the prescription!  I feel this will be something that becomes clearer once you see the process in action.

After managing to complete a 9 (and a bit) mile run last week, I have been unable to continue training for my half marathon attempt, I have obviously pulled or strained a tendon or ligament or something in my foot, as I can now barely walk on it, let alone run.  I am going to rest it all weekend, and hope that it starts to feel better by next week.

B had to have an interview to prove his identity before he could get his British passport.  He had the interview in Bristol last Thursday, and all in all he seems to think it went alright.  They asked him questions about our friend Dave who countersigned his passport application, they asked questions about me, and they asked questions about his finances.  Most annoyingly they asked him for my date of birth, and he couldn't remember.  If I was responsible for issuing his passport, I certainly wouldn't give it to him after that!

Adam