laura_seabrook | The Day After(or, Proof of the Cosmic Sense of Humour)

Well, it's Xmas Eve, and what a day it's been. I feel so tired, but also so happy, as I think I've picked a "cosmic joke" in the events of yesterday and today.

Today, I really didn't want to go out at all, to drive on the roads anywhere, or do much of anything, but I needed to. Yesterday Ang lent me $200 so that I could get my car insured and then be able to get it re-registered (and I did). That however put her on the spot, as that was all the available cash she had. I needed to find a way to pay her back.

Didn't do much of anything for the first part of the day. The muscles in my neck and shoulders were hurting really badly. I didn't think it was whiplash, just a result of the tension from yesterday. Didn't get out until late morning.

I went to Cardiff to check my bank. I had $163 in my "savings account, but I didn't know if my mortgage payment ($110) had already been taken out of that, and neither did the attendant at the bank (there was no record of it). I had about $100 in money orders that I could cash, but the rest would have to come from an advance from Centrelink, the agency that pays my disability allowance. I drove to Charlestown where there was both a Centrelink and a branch of my bank -- almost freaked trying to find parking -- almost had another panic attack, but I didn't.

At Centrelink and this time around, the arrangement for an advance was much simpler than before. The last time I'd got one I had to fill out all sorts of paperwork about what it was for and to show that I could budget with reduced future payments. How it works is this - you can get an advance of up to $500 every 12 months, but also have to pay it back at about $38 per fortnight -- in a way, the government gives an "interest free loan" to it's beneficiaries.

After a chat with the lass at the counter, she convinced me that there was no point in getting an advance for anything less than $500, so I went for that. There was a moment of suspense when the computer system checked to see if I was eligible for any advance yet (I'd had to take one last year for the car rego). As it happened, the first day I was eligible for an advance was -- today!

I went back to my bank to double check the details. After getting the advance, I was told that it would take 2-3 working days to clear, so I wouldn't have the money until next week. I mentioned this to the attendant at the bank and she suggested I phone their mortgage section to defer the mortgage payment. I did this (they had a phone just there for such things) and discovered that the mortgage payment had already gone through! The $163 in my account was after that deduction. That being the case, I withdrew $100, cashed the money orders and went to Ang's to repay the loan.

When I got there she was out, but I left the money (and a gift) with her house-mate. It wasn't until I was driving home that I realised something -- I hadn't needed the advance. I'd actually had the money to repay her,in fact I'd already had the money to pay for the insurance, and just hadn't known it!

there I was back on the Solstice, contemplating how I was going to get my car re-registered and where I was going to find the money to pay for University next year; not knowing where it was coming from. And here I am two days later, with the car re-registered, and with enough money (if I'm careful) to pay for University this year! Whether it's The Goddess, Jehovah, or the "ten thousand things", it has a big sense of humour. I can see the joke here, and I'm laughing along with it. I've cried a bit too, but in the end what happens, happens.

When I got home at last (I did a certain amount of food shopping on the way, and met no less that three people I knew in the process, there was a storm coming in. I fed the pets, and then settled down to watch an episode of "Buffy" I'd borrowed from the public library system. It's a wonderful atmosphere in which to watch the show, thunder and lightening crashing down (even though Pegasus hid under the house)!

And now I'll be doing nothing but watching episodes of "Dr Who" that I've taped off free-to-air TV. I feel so tired after today, but so much less stressed. In fact, I might post this tomorrow, and in the meantime fall asleep watching TV. Seems like one way to see in Xmas Eve.