Know how you feel Blaze, for all the levity that has been going on in this thread, we will be doing the same thing, but you've gotta have a laugh now and then, hope Baroma and I have not upset anyone.

Hey for sure work is a 4 letter word especially when it gets in the way of nomading. It's great to be able to find a way of picking up work on the road so that it does not tie you down to one place for a long time. I'm sure that most of us on this forum have put in more than expected over the years and it's well and truely time for a change. I am counting the days till I shoot off - even though I still do not have an exact date - lets hope it's not the 12th of Never.

I would love to cut my ties and set off working when I can (and need to) but I am really tied until my parents pass on - they are both getting more fragile as they get older (82 and 84) and it was dad's turn to get acquainted with the footpath the other day - bruises, black eye and a skin missing from his face and hand. 

I need to be close enough to get to them reasonably quickly as needed (2 hr drive as it is).  One sister lives 15 minutes from me (and she needs to be "available" before I can go away for any length of time); but the other sister and brother both live in Gippsland so have another couple of hours further to drive.

However one sister and my brother have both just had back surgery two weeks apart and the other sister was at the Gold Coast for the weekend - so off I went.  Dad is moving much better and the swelling is all going down, and he is moving a little faster.