Saturday, November 4, 2023

Tipping over or taking a fall

I am not sure at exactly what age you cease to trip over and instead take a fall.

We'd earlier visited the recently renovated recreation area when the spa was filled with four young people, with a small boom box playing, loud enough but annoyingly so. The views of the city were terrific. 

I went up on my own to take photos with my camera and two of the young men were lounging beside the pool. Truly, I didn't take much notice.

This step is quite obvious in this photo but in full sun without the riser being shaded, it wasn't to me and down I went, breaking my fall with my hands, one slightly bruised. More alarmingly I had my camera in one hand and my phone in the other and they shot towards the pool. There was no need to quickly jump up as my phone and camera stopped short of the edge of the pool and so no need to swim. I assessed damage to myself  and one of the young men called out to see if I was ok and needed help.

I slowly picked myself up and took a panning video that did not work out, and fortunately photos too. 

When I told R about my misfortune, he remarked that he didn't see that step up either when we were both there and only realised there was a step when I stepped up. 

The hotel lifts were displaying a notice that the recreation area would be closed the following week for builder rectifications. Once home, I informed the hotel of my incident, and included this hotel. The hotel responded with an apology and the step would be investigated. 

One of our favourite hotels and where the red patch is beside the hotel is a lovely decked area. Unfortunately it is also down the hill, near where we ate at the Italian restaurant I mentioned in my last Sydney post. 


High rise towers are not necessary to have a high density population. The are low to medium rise. 


The iconic King's Cross tower apartment with the iconic Coca Cola sign at its base. Nice views from the building, I am sure but it comes with water leaks galore and you can hear neighbour relieving themselves while in your apartment. 


Looking down at Woolloomooloo. 


Hyde Park.


The war memorial, again.


Diagonally opposite our hotel on the corner of Liverpool Street and Wentworth Avenue. I might quite like to live there.


I am not sure as I don't think I've checked if Griffiths Teas still exists.


Looking down from the pool to the spa.



Even if the step was in full sunlight, I am not sure how I missed it. 

36 comments:

  1. I am very glad that you didn't sustain any lasting damage - and that your phone and camera were ok. And thank you for alerting hotel management about that step.
    You can hear the neighbours relieving themselves? NOT my ambient music of choice.

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    1. EC, cheap and flimsy walls, as are ours between rooms within our apartment but very thick between apartments.

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  2. I'm glad you were uninjured after your misstep. I'm not sure I believe that your attention wasn't diverted elsewhere . . .

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    1. JB, I may have been seeking the best location to take photos. I'm sure you believe me. Haha, normally you would be on the money, but truly, I wasn't being lecherous.

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  3. That is quite some step. You were lucky not to have caused yourself too much damage.

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    1. JayCee, none of us want to 'break a 'ip'. I was lucky to fall up the step and not down.

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  4. Falls are deadly. It takes away independence. It is more about taking time to be "safe" which is very hard to do when old habits die hard.

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    1. Roentare, as I have seen over many years. It is about four years since I last tripped. Just after getting new variable glasses, I tripped on one of the boxed edging around the trees in Swanston Street. I try to be careful and look down now. Clearly I failed to do so this time.

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  5. Stalker
    When I was training to be a teacher thousands of years ago a group of us travelled to Gosford via the Fish and Chips train to do our prac teaching at Erina HS , . I caught the train at Strathfield station . It was a fast train for its time took about an hour …. Useless info for you but I was reminded of the Griffiths tea signs at various intervals along the railway tracks indicating how far it was to get to their headquarters

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    1. Stalker, of course your memories are not useless and I remember from the windows on the Gippsland train seeing signs for Griffiths Tea and also where the train ran adjacent to the Hume Highway.

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  6. I'm good at tripping; I'd have fallen over a crack in the pavement!

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    1. Bob, you being so young and all that, you are more resilient than I am about tripping over.

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  7. That wasn't a fall. That was a trip caused by poor design. You are not old yet.

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    1. We aren't quite yet old, are we Merlot. It just feels like it to me at times. It really is poor design.

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  8. People trip over things like that all the time. I do, I trip in here, slide on hairballs, step on brush tines up cat combs that can puncture my foot. My latest was my knee suddenly gave under me, after too much work in a day. I didn't hit the ground because I grabbed a shelf. Anyhow, these things happen.

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    1. Strayer, yes they do but the older you get the worse the impact is and the recovery takes longer. Given what you do, I am not surprised you have accidents.

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  9. Well, if you had a camera, you were focused on either taking a picture or looking for a good place to take a picture, and perhaps that distracted you.

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    1. Kirk, looking for a place to take a picture and not as Jabblog obliquely suggested in a comment looking at the two young men sunbathing at the pool. For once, I am innocent.

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  10. It looks to be a high enough step to be noticeable, so I'd guess your attention was focused elsewhere as Kirk has said.

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    1. River, you do have to take away the shading and I am normally quite careful about such things, but yes, it was totally my fault.

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  11. I've been tripping more than usual lately on raised paving on the footpaths here, but so far have been able to "catch" myself and not fall down. I may have to write to the council about the pavers. Many, many people around here are older than I am.

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    1. It is not until you get older that you start to notice such things, and young people simply don't get it, as we would not have when we were young.

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  12. Oh dear, you have been in the wars of late, so pleased you didn't hurt yourself too badly. The photos are really good and what a view you had.

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    1. Margaret, I didn't bounce back like a sponge cake, but I was grateful it wasn't worse. Thanks.

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  13. Perhaps the step edge should be defined with a painted hazard design strip in black and yellow to make it as obvious as possible. As for Woolloomooloo - what a lovely name for a place... or is it a lavatory for sheep and cattle?

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    1. YP, it could be that, but a little more classy would be silver dots. Ha, you remember my such and such p word for how to spell the place name.

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  14. 'You know you're getting old when people rush to your aid after a fall rather than fall about laughing' a comment from a recent card.

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    1. So true Marie. I can't remember falling about laughing. Oh yes, I can, but it is not repeatable.

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  15. Old is always 10 years or more older than we are,

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  16. I know for most people who need affordable housing, the choices are to move into high rise towers in the centre of town, or to move beyond the last suburbs of the city.. to the semi-rural area beyond. Neither is a great solution for most families.

    If I couldn't afford an unattached house, I would rather low rise flats totally surrounded by gardens and trees.

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    1. Hels, don't we privileged baby boomers feel so bad for young people who can't afford to buy and barely afford to rent, but what can we do? They do need to lower their aspirant standards though.

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  17. I can imagine that step would disappear in the sunlight. I like the idea of adding dots in a contrasting colour to it. Glad that you are okay.

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    1. Pat, such things are pretty well standard practice now, as they should be.

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  18. Yikes, that sounds quite dangerous! I'm glad you informed the hotel and didn't hurt yourself. Why didn't you let those young men give you mouth-to-mouth?!

    I love all the photos of the city skyline and the architecture. Funny how that King's Cross building looks so elegant and yet is apparently so shoddy.

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    1. Steve, you may well wonder about me being so choosy, but I didn't find either of them attractive.

      Steve, I expect because of where it is, the apartment building was controversial at the time. A few celebrity types bought in but probably never lived there, or if they did not for long.

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