Jason Stringer

This is one of those blog posts that will attempt to make up for my lack of online activity over the past couple of months, bringing you up to speed as to where the hell I’ve been.

My wife and I are just now coming out the other side of a very dark, rough patch, both with regard to our emotional state and health. I have been away from my desk for a number of weeks and we have both seen healthier days. Family and friends began to poke fun at the fact that our joint must be some sort of death house. Ha. Very funny. And true, I guess.

Kerry’s SLE is out of remission, and it is letting her know all about it. She has been really unwell – the sickest I have ever seen her. She’s doing her best to cope with her body as positive as she can, but you can see it is taking a real toll on the poor girl.

I have ongoing ‘man’ problems which I will not discuss at this time, just in case you might be eating while reading this. Let’s just say I’ve had to walk a bit funny at times and I’ve had a handful of my good mates offer me spare parts if needed. Thanks for the generations donation suggestions, guys. Kept me smiling through this difficult and strange time. I appreciate it.

To give you an insight into how spaced out and removed from reality we are at the moment, check out this photo. As always, Kerry has to continually pop pills throughout her day to try and feel as healthy as she can. One day, we discovered that on the back of one of the packets for a pain killer, the gold foil tab had folded over just right to for the shape of a love heart with the empty plastic cavity. How precious. Is it a symbol of our ongoing love through unhealthy times which keeps us strong and brings us faith? Or is it a stupid coincidence? Well… we took a photo of it, so you can guess how we reacted. *Cue Twilight Zone theme song*.

I also had a birthday recently and turned 26. I have no idea what this means. I felt nothing. More and more it just becomes another day. I think my wife and friends believed I needed to recapture my youth even more because they all pitched in and bought me an original 1984 mint in-box Optimus Prime Transformers figurine – something I’ve wanted for quite some time. I loved it. I couldn’t get the smile off my face for hours afterwards; it’s been years since I had held one in my hands and transformed it. Before you think I am strange, know this: That figurine holds nostalgic feelings that relate back to my childhood and my earliest memories of my father. So the toy actually has real personal meaning with me and conjures up emotional memories that I want to cling to forever. I have no strange sexual fascinations with Optimus Prime. Though, I may love him. I cried at the age of 7 when he dies in the Transformers Movie. No, seriously. I think every 7-year-old boy who watched it would have cried at the time. Only, now that I think about it, my then-5-year-old little brother didn’t cry as he watched it with me. He just darted me a strange look, pat me on the back and said “Don’t worry Jay, it’s OK.”

I just realised he probably became the bigger man at that very moment. He’s never cried at a cartoon! Shit.

As you can see, I have new digs for my blog. I separated the blog portion of my online existence to allow the Quarter To Four site to exist more like a business portal. I am slowly pushing my lil business more and more so I think it was appropriate to make the change. Sometime soon I will update this blog to contain all my previous posts. I trust it makes no difference as no one truly gives a flying fuck.