Trenna’s Diary Summaries From Her iPad (with photos)
Intro and extra clarifications by Greg, the rest by Tren
As I’ve said previously … In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources.
As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there are many of them) to help her and I recall our many experiences. It was probably another preparation she was making to tell her story, or knowing her, making it easier for me to tell her story.
Introduction
This summary is of 1990, it starts just months after Trenna and I were married, but as you will see at the start of the year she was admitted to hospital to have open heart surgery.
This summary of the year 1990 was created on Trenna’s iPad on 16 October 2014, and it was last edited by her on 19 January 2015.
Trenna’s Words and Greg’s Comments
1990
REFERENCE SOURCES:
Our meal calendar
Our memories
Photos from Family + friends.
Greg’s work diaries
My personal diary
My gardening diary
Dates we purchased items
Medical visit & procedure dates
JANUARY 1990
5/1 – Greg leaves Curtin Guild
GM in 2023: I had been working for the Curtin University for a year whilst on a secondment from the Curtin Student Guild (the students’ union.) I had to decide whether to go back to the Guild of stay at the University. I chose the latter.
8/1 – Greg started work @ Uni, Academic Secretary
GM in 2023: I chose the University as they had offered me the position of Academic Secretary of the University.
8/1 – 25/1 – me RPH heart surgery
GM in 2023: So, just two months after getting married, and just three days after I had started a new job Trenna had an operation at Royal Perth Hospital to replace her aortic heart valve with a metal one, and to replace a portion of her aorta with a piece of Dacron.
The operation did NOT go entirely to plan, but I will write a separate post to tell the story.
February, March, April 1990
GM in 2023: Trenna didn’t note anything for these three months and it was mainly because she was still recovering from her heart surgery at the start of the year. However, from our photographs I see that she went with her sisters to a reunion of Mofflyn Homes people and met up with Mum White and others. Mum White gets a mention in the very first of The Kitchen Tapes, HERE.
I remember Trenna coming home and telling me that the ex-staff were happy to see the Seckington girls and delighted to find a family where everyone was alive, and with no family members in prison!
MAY 1990
25/5 – bought my leather jacket from Myers $499 was $800
GM in 2023: It was great leather jacket, really soft leather and not very heavy, but it was a design that was a bit late 1980s, early 1990s. Trenna got a few year’s use out of it, but when we moved to Darwin we were frightened it would get mouldy, like most leather goods there. So we sent it home.
I still have the jacket.
JUNE 1990
Sat 9/6 – Australian Rally Championships @ Curtin.
GM in 2023: I surprised when I heard that a special stage of the Australian Rally Championship was going to be held in the asphalt carparks of my employer. It was only 5 minutes from our place so Trenna and I went and watched.
AUGUST 1990
Sat 11/8 – HBF Dinner
GM in 2023: Trenna’s employer had an annual dinner that was an opportunity for people to dress up and have a dinner dance. Awards, such as for long service were awarded at the dinner. I only went to a couple of them but they were fun nights.
SEPTEMBER 1990
Thur 13/9 – 5pm meeting with Nevis Brooks
GM in 2023: We bought our house (off my Dad) about a year or so earlier and had been putting every available cent we had into the mortgage. In a year we had paid off most of the loan. (There will be a separate post about this too!)
So, we were now feeling confident we could afford to do some much needed renovations. Top of the list was to bring the laundry and the toilet in from outside.
We had had a couple builders over to discuss the work and to give us a price, but all the ones so far couldn’t do all the things we wanted. One couldn’t reproduce the ceiling cornices, another could, but couldn’t reproduce our existing skirting boards.
Nevis was from Brooks Construction, and as it turns out he could meet all our needs. He got the job.
Thur 20/9 – Sat 22/9 AITEA Conference
GM in 2023: I have looked at my work diary from 1990 and the conference of the Australian Institute of Tertiary Education Administrators is in there, but there are no travel plans, so I am assuming it was the National Conference and that it was held in Perth that year.
OCTOBER 1990
Wed 3/10 – 2pm meeting R&I bank for home loan
GM in 2023: By October we were ready to get a new mortgage to renovate our Kensington house. The R&I Bank was a Western Australian bank. I had banked with them for years. With two incomes and an excellent record of repayment we didn’t have any trouble getting a loan.
Thur 18/10 – Nevis & Stewarts Pest Control
GM in 2023: The significance of this date is that it marked the start of our renovation (not withstanding the next entry). Nevis, the construction supervisor and the pest exterminator met on site and sprayed our soil where the renovation was to occur in an effort to stop termites. Who knows what noxious chemical they used in 1990, but I’ve seen very few termites at my place since then.
Fri 26/10 – Our Reno’s begin!
GM in 2023: This is the day Nevis arrived with his brothers, some other workers, earth moving equipment and trucks and started demolishing our laundry, toilet and other parts of the house. We actually lived in the house whilst the renovation work happened around us. We were told it would be finished by the end of the year.
An interesting point is that Trenna decided to keep a record on our PC of the work as it happened. One reason was so we would know in what order various trades and tasks were completed, so that if we did renovations in the future we would be better prepared. I think what actually happened was that it whetted Trenna’s appetite for record keeping and story telling.
It was the start of the records that fuel this site.
NOVEMBER 1990
Fri 2/11 – I leave HBF
GM in 2023: After her heart surgery in January Trenna had several months sick leave at home. She then returned to work in the Staff Training department of the Hospital Benefit Fund. However, the opperation had taken a toll and she would get quite tired during the day. Her boss was very understanding even letting Trenna have the occassional nap at work.
But Trenna, who took her work very seriously was not happy that she wasn’t doing the job fully. Then the news came of a proposed restructure at work. She and I discussed it, agreed that I was now earning enough to support us both, and the mortgage. We agreed that she could stay at home, keep an eye on the building works, and after that manage the household.
It worked very well.
Sat 17/11 – Bart & Marie’s Wedding
GM in 2023: It was a good wedding, but I don’t think there are any Trenna relevant stories to be told. I still see Bart & Marie regularly.
DECEMBER 1990
Sat 15/12 – Ann’s Xmas Party
GM in 2023: Again, I don’t recall any Trenna stories from that night.
Late Dec/90 – 1st renovation house, completed in 3 months
GM in 2023: Amazing to hear in this day and age, the building job started on time and finished on time.
